Deer age guess

lazarus · Oct 26, 2016

So the doe I shot this past weekend, my neighbor with about 10x the hunting experience I have guessed it was a yearling, I at first thought it was a fawn. But I am not sure. I should have checked its teeth and didn't. Maybe a small yearling?

My estimate is 80-90lbs live weight and 65-75lbs field stripped based on hauling it to where I stripped it as well as dragging it back to my car and lifting it in to my car. At most it was 5lbs or so below my low end estimates. At most.

For a size comparison I am 6'1" and 190lbs.

It seems gangly, and certainly wasn't all that big, but the head didn't seem quite so stubby to be a fawn doe, was at least on the upper end of fawn weight for a doe and its torso seemed kind of longer and not as compact as a fawn.

Thoughts?

wilcam47 · Oct 26, 2016

most likely this years early fawn most are typically born in May or June. Or its possible a late fawn from last year. Either way its going to be tender!

lazarus · Oct 26, 2016

Just pouring over pictures fall doe fawns don't look all THAT different to my eyes than yearlings. Both are gangly, by the yearlings seem slightly larger, a little longer in the torso and the head is a bit longer and not and stubby a snout. Which seems to me what the one I harvested looked more like.

But considering my experience of last year harvesting a probably 3 1/2 year old 8 point and now one doe that is maybe a yearling or possibly a fawn...I guess I just have a bit of an easier time placing buck ages of fawn/button, yearling, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 and older and then very old/declining from age.

lazarus · Oct 26, 2016

Absolutely looking forward to chowing down. I am just trying to get a better handle on aging them.

wilcam47 · Oct 26, 2016

lazarus said:
Absolutely looking forward to chowing down. I am just trying to get a better handle on aging them.

you can make a good guess by their appearance but the best way is to look at their teeth. Ive been pretty good at guessing the age of the ones we've gotten.

https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2010/7/14/how-to-age-a-whitetail/

highli99 · Oct 26, 2016

Fawn.....veal of the woods.

Mini14tac · Oct 26, 2016

You can tell if it is a trophy fawn, if after you gut it, you can weigh it with a fish scale!

outrider58 · Oct 26, 2016

It's hard to try and age fawns vs yearlings for me. I tend to watch behavior over size. Fawns exhibit more of a puppy dog curiosity and play exuberance, where yearlings have lived through a full year watching their moms and exhibit a more cautious, purpossful attitude.

You can also look at the hair and utters and such, but that is also difficult to discern between older fawns vs younger yearlings.

Melnic · Oct 26, 2016

highli99 said:
Fawn.....veal of the woods.

yup, but They lived a much better life than a calf in a box. Plus a higher chance of living longer.

Derwood · Oct 26, 2016

Check this out: https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0755.pdf

Outrider makes a great point. Very young fawns tend to trip over their feet and act goofy like a puppy (or Bambi on the frozen pond early in the movie).

Was the meat lighter color than adult deer? My hunting buddy once took a fawn and the raw meat was almost like the color of pork. The tenderloins from that animal were easily one of the best foods I've ever eaten.

lazarus · Oct 26, 2016

It looked pretty similar to the 3 1/2yr old buck. That nice scarlet red color. I only observed it for a minute as it was feeding before I shot it. I really don't know one way or another, but my neighbor still guesses a young/late yearling. I really wish I'd checked the teeth.

Now I've gotta wait till December before I can see if the big 6 point I saw squirrel hunting is still in the same part of the park. It might be. That part doesn't seem to see as many hunters and it never noticed me. One in the freezer means my patients level is much higher to just sit there all day. Though being December my stamina might not be as high...

dist1646 · Oct 26, 2016

That's what we call "sammich deer". Good eating though!

outrider58 · Oct 26, 2016

Another fawn giveaway is their heads are triangular(very much the way a mature buck's head is), whereas a does', including yearlings', heads are more elongated, almost rectangular in shape. I'm guessing your deer lazarus, was a yearling.

thomfantomas · Oct 26, 2016

did it make you feel better to kill bambee?

outrider58 · Oct 26, 2016

thomfantomas said:
did it make you feel better to kill bambee?

Is it supposed to?

lazarus · Oct 26, 2016

thomfantomas said:
did it make you feel better to kill bambee?

I mean, like glad she was dead? No. I kind of feel bad about it. But I feel really good about a relatively clean kill. Great that my first harvest wasn't an only harvest (is "repeat" deer hunter now). Happy that I have venison for the freezer to feed myself, my wife and my kids. Happy to harvest a deer relatively early in the season so I don't feel nearly as much pressure and worry about harvesting at least one this season.

Also a little sad I didn't get one like this from last season (still lots of season left).

The upside is that at vaguely 65-75lbs field stripped the doe was a LOT easier to throw on a harness and drag it the maybe 600yds out of the woods. Took me about 15 minutes compared to 90 minutes to get that buck, about 110-130lbs field stripped, the 200 odd yards back to my car (used a trail vs no trail and dragging one rear legs first or stupidly by the front legs for the buck).

POP57 · Oct 26, 2016

I'm not a hunter but curious. Is there a rule about harvesting a young deer as far as age, and time of the season?

outrider58 · Oct 26, 2016

POP57 said:
I'm not a hunter but curious. Is there a rule about harvesting a young deer as far as age, and time of the season?

No. Not in Md. region B

lazarus · Oct 26, 2016

outrider58 said:
No. Not in Md. zone 2

Not in any part of Maryland that I am aware of. There are limits on the number of "small" antlered deer you can harvest basically two 4 point or less per year bucks. But if the antlers are small enough (less than 3" in length) then they count as antlerless. One of those odd and awkward nods to the fact that a button or really small spike may be hard to identify as a buck and not a doe.

If it is a 5 point or more (well, 3 or more points on any one side) then you can harvest up to 4 in a year under the right circumstances. You can harvest one in archery, one in muzzleloader and one in firearms seasons. In addition if you take two does at any point, you can get one bonus stamp to take an extra buck in any of those three seasons (limit one per hunter per year). IIRC the does must be taken in Region B (everything east of the middle of Washington county) to get that bonus stamp, but the bonus stamp can be used in all of Maryland.

Another sort of "relaxing" thing on taking the doe. A button buck would count as an antlerless deer, but a spike would be antlered. If it had been one (I had enough time and it was close enough I could at least tell it wasn't a spike at 60yds with no binoculars), it would mean in the late muzzleloader season I'd need to be really careful on what I shot so I didn't take a second buck. Well, unless I got another doe and then purchased a bonus buck stamp. Which might happen, but I am not counting on certainly.

That said, if I took a decent buck, I'd be more than happy to be super careful to ID the deer before even considering a shot. But I'd probably be annoyed if I took a little spike imagining that then I'd run in to some 10-point monster buck later in the season or something and couldn't harvest it.

outrider58 · Oct 26, 2016

lazarus said:
Not in any part of Maryland that I am aware of. There are limits on the number of "small" antlered deer you can harvest basically two 4 point or less per year bucks. But if the antlers are small enough (less than 3" in length) then they count as antlerless. One of those odd and awkward nods to the fact that a button or really small spike may be hard to identify as a buck and not a doe.

If it is a 5 point or more (well, 3 or more points on any one side) then you can harvest up to 4 in a year under the right circumstances. You can harvest one in archery, one in muzzleloader and one in firearms seasons. In addition if you take two does at any point, you can get one bonus stamp to take an extra buck in any of those three seasons (limit one per hunter per year). IIRC the does must be taken in Region B (everything east of the middle of Washington county) to get that bonus stamp, but the bonus stamp can be used in all of Maryland.

Another sort of "relaxing" thing on taking the doe. A button buck would count as an antlerless deer, but a spike would be antlered. If it had been one (I had enough time and it was close enough I could at least tell it wasn't a spike at 60yds with no binoculars), it would mean in the late muzzleloader season I'd need to be really careful on what I shot so I didn't take a second buck. Well, unless I got another doe and then purchased a bonus buck stamp. Which might happen, but I am not counting on certainly.

That said, if I took a decent buck, I'd be more than happy to be super careful to ID the deer before even considering a shot. But I'd probably be annoyed if I took a little spike imagining that then I'd run in to some 10-point monster buck later in the season or something and couldn't harvest it.

Yes, and there are doe restrictions in region A. I guess I was thinking doe(or antlerless deer which includes young bucks).

Deer age guess

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