Pronghorn age?

[canvsbk]

Just back from Wyoming with a question about pronghorn age. 2 of us were out hunting when the C O stopped by camp and talked to the other 2 guys. He showed them how to age a pronghorn and felt that 1 of the bucks they had was 8 1/2 years old. When we got back, with a buck in the truck we all looked to see if we could age it.
Here's the deal - it only had 4 teeth left, all on the bottom. It was a very large bodied buck and he was apperantly a fighter as the prong on his left side was broke off and he was pretty scared up in the face. Huge body but only 4 teeth left on the bottom with zero evidence he ever had any others.
Any guess as to how old he might have been?

 

[Joe Hulburt]

Up to age 4 pronghorn can be aged by looking at their teeth. After that it's just an opinion until one of the teeth is cross sectioned, at least that is my understanding. If you google it there is a quick way to tell up to age 4 based on their baby teeth falling out.

 

[npaden]

Old.

You can guess how old they are based on tooth wear, but after about 5 1/2 years old it gets very subjective.

Here's the jawbone from my buck this year. He was estimated at 7 1/2.

If I were aging like I would a whitetail I would have probably guessed him at 6 1/2.

If you really want to know you can send in the lower incisors to a lab and have it aged with cementum annuli for about $20.

 

[Dinkshooter]

You can take the guesswork out. Save them for a while and get the cheaper rate. It's fun you can guess then get the results. Usually I am far to disorganized to get in done.

http://www.matsonslab.com/html/Services/HunterServices/Hunters.htm

 

[Duck-Slayer]

Wow, I did not know that antelope can survive that long in the wild..... I figured at about 5 1/2 they were pretty much dead... at least a buck.... here in Idaho I doubt any get much past 3 1/2, but that's my opinion.... I have seen some 2 huge bucks in Idaho that would surpass the state record but they were so wild as soon as they saw a 4 wheeler or vehicle, didn't matter how far away they ran until they were way out of sight...
Matt

 

[Point Creep]

Resurrecting an old one. I plan to send in a tooth (Matson’s lab) of a recent WY antelope, but wanted to see if anybody who knew how to estimate age by lower teeth would chime in?

I think by the incisors he’s clearly 4+?

What does the lower jaw show.

I mostly didn’t want to kill a nice 2 year old on my WY hunt and that seemed to be the majority of bucks that looked decent.

 

[Wild Bill]

I'd say 3.5 to 4.5 is a safe estimate, with 4.5 being the most likely.

More wear than you'd expect on a 2 1/2 year old. Molars aren't worn down too much to where I'd say he's older than 5.5.

Here's a page I've looked at in the past for reference. North Dakota Game and Fish - Aging Pronghorn

 

[Point Creep]

Unless I’m missing something - if they have all 4 adult incisors, that means he’s a minimum of 4.5?

 

[kwyeewyk]

Unless I’m missing something - if they have all 4 adult incisors, that means he’s a minimum of 4.5?

I read as minimum 3.5:

Front teeth of a 3.5-4.5 year old pronghorn:
Front teeth all permanently in place. Pronghorn is at least 3.5-4.5 years old

 

[6mm Remington]

I think it's really hard to get a very close estimate based just on looking at the jaws and the teeth. In 2019 I shot a really nice boar grizzly bear in Alaska. The guide and my outfitter both estimated that my bear was 8 1/2 years old. When I got the age record from the lab after they checked a tooth by counting the rings he was actually 14 1/2 years old.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Resurrecting an old one. I plan to send in a tooth (Matson’s lab) of a recent WY antelope, but wanted to see if anybody who knew how to estimate age by lower teeth would chime in?

I think by the incisors he’s clearly 4+?

What does the lower jaw show.

I mostly didn’t want to kill a nice 2 year old on my WY hunt and that seemed to be the majority of bucks that looked decent.


View attachment 416862View attachment 416865View attachment 416864

Definitely 4+ based off incisors. No idea beyond that.

 

[jimss]

As mentioned above, it's possible to age the first 4 years but after that it likely is a guessing game depending upon the soil and browse that the particular antelope eats. My guess is that if you have enough jaw samples from a particular area you may have a better feel for estimating age of bucks in a particular area.

My guess is that what antelope browse on in sagebrush prairie in Central Wyo is different on teeth wear compared to teeth wear on the far Eastern side of Wyo that is majority of grassland, subshrubs, and forbs. Antelope eating mostly sagebrush may tend to wear down teeth quicker since they need to bite it off and grind it up more before swallowing than the same antelope eating the majority of less woody subshrubs and forbs over 1 year.

Another factor may be the health of the shrubs that bucks are eating. If eating extremely woody shrubs in poor condition vs tender shoots on healthier sagebrush plants. Antelope in Wyo often wander short to long distances depending upon snow depth in winter, drought conditions, water availability, and nutrition of browse.

My take on it is there are quite a few factors on how quickly teeth wear on bucks that come into play and there are other factors that come into consideration that vary from one location to the next.

To answer your question, after the first 4 years you are guessing unless you send a tooth in to be analyzed.

 

[BuzzH]

No question 4+, and if I had to guess I would say 5 or 6.

Which is about when a vast majority of pronghorn in Wyoming have their maximum horn growth.

Oldest buck I've had lab aged was 8.