How to Age Whitetail Deer on the Hoof
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At some point or another, a whitetail hunter will face a dilemma in the woods or fields. A deer steps out into one of your shooting lanes. It’s a buck – great. It has decent-sized antlers, but is it a truly mature deer? Shoot or Don’t Shoot? That’s the split-second decision that can haunt a person for years. Do you risk shooting an immature deer that could go another year or two, or do you risk walking away from a potentially great buck?
Sure, you can accurately get a deer’s age by examining its teeth from the lower jaw. But how many deer will let you play dentist before you decide to shoot? If the answer is anything north of zero, you may be hunting in a petting zoo, which I believe is frowned upon in most states. Thankfully with today’s information sharing and increased interest in quality deer management, there are several fairly reliable ways you can estimate whitetail ages in the field. Using certain characteristics of the body and with a little practice, you can estimate an age class with reasonably high confidence. Naturally, an age class guess will vary from one hunter to the next. But as long as you’re consistent with your own approach, it shouldn’t make much of a difference in the long run.
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