Do the PGC Biologists and staff still use the eruption-wear method for aging deer?
The age of white-tailed deer can be estimated by tooth wear and replacement patterns. Like children, deer replace their teeth in a systematic fashion. Age can be determined by the stage of tooth replacement through 2.5 years old. Once all “baby” teeth have been replaced, determining the age of a deer relies on tooth wear. As a deer gets older, their teeth wear down from grinding their food. These wear patterns are generally predictable to a point. There are many factors that influence individual tooth wear patterns of deer: type of food eaten, soil types, injury, individual chewing patterns, etc. Once all teeth are replaced, it is difficult to determine the age of a deer with certainty based on wear patterns alone. This is why the Game Commission ages deer into only 3 categories when collecting harvest data from processors every fall. Trained Game Commission deer agers can reliably and consistently age deer to 6 months (fawns), 18 months (yearlings), and 30+ months (2.5 years or older)
