How Old is My Deer?

Text by William Jensen
Photos by Craig Bihrle

JPG-Whitetail Buck

Originally published in:
North Dakota Outdoors
(November, 1996)

Official Publication of the
State Game and Fish Department
100 North Bismarck Expressway
Bismarck, North Dakota 58501-5095

Game and Fish biologists sometimes run deer checking stations to gather information from hunters about harvested animals. One of the most common questions from hunters is: How old is my deer?

If you've ever brought your deer to a field check station, a biologist probably aged it for you by looking at its teeth, and told you some basic things about how they did it. But you probably still had questions about how the deer's age was determined, and wondered if you couldn't do it yourself. This guide will help successful hunters estimate the age of either mule deer or whitetails.

This resource is based on the following source:

Jensen, William.  1996.  How old is my deer?  North Dakota Outdoors 59(4):2-6.

This resource should be cited as:

Jensen, William.  1996.  How old is my deer?  North Dakota Outdoors 59(4):2-6.
     Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online.  
     http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/mammals/deerteth/index.htm (Version 16JUL97).

This article was first published in the November 1996 issue of North Dakota Outdoors, an official publication of the North Dakota State Game and Fish Department.

William Jensen is a biologist with the Department's natural resources division.

Downloading Instructions -- Instructions on downloading and extracting files from this site.

deerteth.zip (190K) -- How Old is My Deer? Installation: Extract all files and open index.htm in a web browser.

How Old is My Deer?

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