1. Aging White-tailed Deer by Tooth Eruption and Wear
Joe Hamilton
QDMA

2. Why Age Deer? To allow comparisons within sex and age classes
To determine
appropriate
harvest strategies
To track progress of
management efforts

3. Both of these bucks are 8-pointers, but without knowing their age, you can’t compare them

4. Jawbone Removal

5. Anatomy of a Jawbone Back Front Lingual Crests (tongue side) Back Cusp
Incisors
Buccal Crests
(cheek side)

6. Anatomy of a Jawbone Enamel Dentine (white) (dark) Premolars Molars P1

7. Tooth Eruption and Wear Technique
Based on two processes:
1. Tooth eruption is the process of gaining additional teeth over time and replacing temporary teeth with permanent ones.
2. Tooth Wear – is the process of tooth erosion over time with age.

8. Tooth Eruption
Whitetails are born with three temporary teeth (premolars). From this age until they are about months old, they replace these temporary teeth with permanent teeth and also gain three additional permanent molars.
All whitetails 18 months of age or older should have six permanent teeth on each side of their lower jaw.

9. Tooth Wear
Enamel (white)
1 ½
Dentine (dark)
3 ½
5 ½

10. Tooth Eruption and Wear Technique
Advantages
Requires no specialized equipment, costs nothing, and can be done at camp
Can be learned by most deer hunters and managers with sufficient practice
Disadvantages
More subjective and highly dependant upon ability of individual ager
Believed to be somewhat affected by soil and habitat quality

11. Separate Into Three Age Classes
Aging – Step 1
Separate Into Three Age Classes
Fawn (6 months)
- three or four total jaw teeth
2. Yearling (1 ½ years old)
- six teeth, but temporary third premolar (P3)
Adult (2 ½ years old)
-six teeth, but all permanent

12. Temporary vs. Permanent Premolars
(one crest)
Temporary premolar
(three crests)

13. Separating Deer Into Three Age Classes
Adult M3 P1 M2 M1 P3 P2
Yearling M3 P2 P1 M2 M1 P3
Fawn P1 P3 P2 M1

14. Fawn (6 months old)
Key – Only 3 or 4 fully erupted teeth

15. Yearling (1 ½ years old) Keys – 6 teeth and temporary 3rd premolar
Generally fully erupted
Note permanent tooth erupting, may already have replaced temporary tooth if harvested late in season

16. Estimating Age of Adults Based on Wear
Aging – Step 2
Estimating Age of Adults Based on Wear
This technique is based on the width of the dentine on the molars compared to the width of the surrounding enamel.

17. Question -
Is the dentine (dark) on the lingual crests approximately twice as wide or wider than one strip of surrounding enamel (white)? No
Yes

18. 2 ½ years old No M1 P3
Keys – six teeth, permanent 3rd premolar (P3) and dentine not twice as wide as surrounding enamel on the first molar (M1)

19. 3 ½ years old No
Yes M2 M1
Keys – The dentine is twice as wide as the surrounding enamel on first molar (M1) but not the second molar (M2). The back cusp is starting to show noticeable wear.

20. 4 ½ years old No
Yes
Yes M3 M2 M1
Keys – The dentine is twice as wide as the surrounding enamel on the first and second molars (M1 & M2) but not the third (M3). The back cusp is also starting to form a “cup.”

21. 5 ½ - 6 ½ years old
Yes
Yes
Yes M3 M2 M1
Keys – The dentine is twice as wide as the surrounding enamel on the first, second and third molars (M1, M2 & M3). The back cusp is heavily cupped and slanting.

22. 7 ½ +
years old
9 ½ +
years old?

23. Next time you harvest a deer, give aging a try!