What do you guys think?

3rd tooth back is bicuspid and not tricuspid so he is for sure 2.5. Deer lose the tricuspid tooth and replace with the bicuspid between 1.5 & 2.5.

4th tooth back (1st molar of the 3) is wider on the dentine than the enamel so that puts him at 3.5.
Back two molars have very little dentine showing so my guess is the teeth say 3.5


Is your 2nd picture the same jawbone as the 1st & 3rd because it looks different to me?

Yes. All the same jawbone

3.5 from those pics.

3 looks like a solid guess to me.

I guess I need to do a better job of aging them on the hoof. He was a big-bodied guy, and I let that sway my decision.

Honestly, I think you made the right call.
He didn't have a lot of tine length and it isn't like he was going to grown 10" tines in the next two years most likely.
It looks like you are in the south texas area and I'm sure the country you are in is more than capable of producing more bone than that at 3.5 years old.

It also looks like he had very short brow tines as well.

I'd have given him a dirt nap for sure myself even at my little place in far eastern bexar county or at my lease in Schleicher county out west.

Also, keep in mind tooth wear is not an exact science when aging especially if you guys are on a feed program.
We killed a deer several years back that we knew was at the very least 8.5 because we watched him every year and figured he was 1.5 7 years prior to killing him when he was a beautiful little 10 point.
We tried to kill him the year before when we knew he was 7.5 at minimum buy my guy flew an arrow right over his back at 22 yards and actually gave him a little scar from it. lol
When the same hunter smoked him the next season at 34 yards I opened his mouth and his teeth aged NO more than 6.5 and in fact I would have called him 5.5 from one side because his first molar was not even cupped all the way. Now, this deer was both a cornhead and a protein hog so I suspect that is why his teeth were wearing much slower than normal. He grew from 7.5 to 8.5 probably about 7-8" and was a 168" slick 10. Who knows, if we'd have let him go another year he may have grown more being his teeth were in such great shape still.

Dr. Harry Jacobson from Miss. State told me one time, that the deer in their research pens could be age pretty accurately till age 4 by toothwear. From 5 on it was not nearly as accurate for them. They fed protein but also had planted clover/food plots in the pens also. I tend to agree that deer age can be accurately aged to 3 on most all deer, 4 on a lot of deer....then after that it is really just more of guess based off of any history on the deer.

Buck I killed last year toothed out straight up 5.5 but historical pictures where 6.5 as we had 5 years of definitive pictures

Well see what annui say

That makes absolutely perfect sense sir.

annui???

Sorry spell check got me

Cementum Annuli aging. I sent lower mandible for WT and MD

Spell check my azz...you talk like you write....

lmao
hahahahah

Thanks BOBO
Some of us here just aint that edumicated yet

You ain’t too old for an old fashion headlock and wedgy!

Heard almost this statement verbatim from Jack Waymire (ODWC biologist).

Doesn't the cementum annuli method need hard winters? Their turn in sheets ask for weight and your idea as to age, things I would think should be immaterial.

I switch from incisor to whole mandible. I’ve only had one age older then I thought. My wife killed mason county deer and I thought it was 4.5, teeth where in between and annuli hit 5.5. After going back through pictures I found some I had taken and realize she was right he was 5.5 that year.

I’ve sent them in from Webb alway to up to Colorado.

Definitely 3.5. Would need to see a top view of the 5th tooth to say if 4.5 or not but based on what I can see of the 6th tooth I’d say not 5.5.

I’ll get you a pic of that tomorrow.

I dont put much faith in tooth wear. Its something to look at, but many of the 5+ year old bucks we have shot had very little tooth wear.