Aging a Bull by teeth

[CK85]

I just received a letter from a wildlife biologist stating that the 4x6 bull I shot this year was determined to be 2 1/2 years old. I am curious how accurate counting the annuli in the cross section of a tooth is?  Our group harvested 3 bulls a 4x4 a 4x6 and a 5x5. All of the bulls were considered to be 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years old.

[Broken Arrow]

Hard to tell. I have seen two Rosie's, both 5x5's with complete different set of aged ivories. Here is what I go off of:

http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/planahunt/huntingGuides/dea/agingElkBrochure.html

[dreamunelk]

I just received a letter from a wildlife biologist stating that the 4x6 bull I shot this year was determined to be 2 1/2 years old. I am curious how accurate counting the annuli in the cross section of a tooth is?  Our group harvested 3 bulls a 4x4 a 4x6 and a 5x5. All of the bulls were considered to be 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years old.

It is 100% accurate.  Tooth wear is very subjective.  About 2.5  or less someone who knows what they are looking at will be quite accurate.  Beyond that it is an educated guess.  Points have very little to do with age.

[CK85]

I agree 100% that all bulls grow at different rates. I just have a tough time thinking a 6 point bull is only 2 1/2 years old. I would say for at least the two bigger bulls we harvested that they would be at a.minimum 4 1/2 years old.

[dreamunelk]

Antler development is very complicated.  Genetics plays a role but, most importantly it is nutrition on a bull that is healthy with no injuries or genetic predisposition.  A bull that receives an injury to certain areas, say the left rear leg, on one side at the right time will often have a abnormality on the opposite side.  Why one bull grows larger antlers then another from the same area is the riddle.  Being nutrition is so important in development.  Take me pages to explain my thoughts on it.  One thing to look at is the spread at the pedicle.  Each time it sheds it looses a little more on the outside then the inside thus increasing the spread.