Reader John Savasta shared that on Dec. 9, he took a very old
buck that likely wouldn’t have made it through the winter
because its teeth were totally ground down. Deer abrade their
teeth at a fairly constant rate because of the hard minerals
inadvertently chewed while browsing. That abrasion can vary
slightly, region by region, depending on soil types.
Nevertheless, the extent of tooth wear is a deer biologist’s
most reliable measure for aging. By age 10, an age few deer
achieve, all teeth will have abraded to the gum line, dooming
them to starvation. Deer would certainly live much longer if
they had a good dentist. Savasta’s old buck’s rack, though an
impressive 21 inches wide, had atrophied to only four points.
Just a few years back, it must have been massive, as antlers
typically peak in size during a buck’s prime — between 4-1/2 and
7-1/2 years old. Savasta wondered why this over-the-hill buck
was still making a territorial scrape on the ground when he
spotted it a full month after the rut. Outside of th