3 1/3 years or older...probably not over 5 1/3. After 3, using teeth alone (by replacement) to determine age is not possible. You have to go by wear, and that is dependant on a lot of different environmental/forage factors. Seeing that the third cusp is worn flat on the last molar, the teeth are stained and show some wear, but the first couple of molariform teeth are still in good shape, 4 1/3 would be a safe bet.

MG

thanks for your input ive never aged by jaw before and this was my first one ive studied. were trying to make a log book of the deer that get taken off the ranch, weight, jaw, score etc. so the learning curve will go fast i hope.

I believe they sell a "jaw bone key" that you can get out of Cabela's or Bass Pro. Has a series of jaw bones replicas that you can compare to what you harvest. Maybe worth getting...good luck.

MG

You actually need to see the teeth/angle the photos more from the top rather than from the side to compare the dentine and enamal wear as it relates to the buccal (outside) and lingual (inside) sides.

I agree it's probably 3 1/2, maybe 4 1/2.

Google "aging whitetail deer" and you'll find a bunch of info pertaining to tooth wear and age. I have a string of about 35 jaws from deer shot off our lease (I had them aged by a friend who is a vet and a wildlife biologist). They range from 1.5 y.o. spikes to 6.5 y.o. does. Even with a big sample like that, it is still hard to match a fresh jaw with the correct age range. And, your jaw might not correlate well to my set of "standards" since he didn't come off the same acreage.

Here's one site of many:

http://www.dccl.org/information/deer/deerage.htm

http://www.deeragingtool.com/ is the best reference for determining the age of your deer that I have ever seen.

I have one and it is about as handy as they get. It helps to have actual deer jaws to compare yours to.

Based on the pics, which are not ideal for aging, I'd say he is 2 1/2 possibly 3 1/2. More than that the little tooth at the back is sloping off, that is certainly not true for this deer as far as I can tell.