Interesting read about old does

https://www.qdma.com/articles/what-i-learned-from-ancient-whitetail-does

Very interesting read!

very interesting. Bet they made a lot of fawns

20.5 years old, damn. Bet that was a smart old Momma doe!

Don't you know it!!! Thanks to the OP for posting this. Good article

how do they test age other than teeth?

Wow I always thought deer had a lifespan of about 12 years! Great article!

Not necessarily about the article, but talking about old does reminds me of an issue I used to have with a club I was in. Everybody always talked about hoping a big mature doe would come out this evening so they could kill one for meat. I would contest that they should be shooting a yearling (or otherwise young doe) instead. I have no scientific learning on this, just observation, but ALL the old does I would see had babies, and very often twins, and even a few would have triplets. They were better, more protective mothers, thus overall more beneficial to the herd. We had one doe that had triplets two years in a row, we called her "old flop ear", and made her off limits. She was a COW, huge doe, and for whatever reason one ear flopped. First year we saw her she had three knothead babies!!! Opening morning of bow season she walked right under me with those babies, she looked cross-eyed, crazy, and half bald! LOL Bless her heart!! Next year she would bring three babies out on a greenfield every evening (never noticed what they were). I got out of that club the next year, so who knows what happened.

In general old does make better mamas. They have the best fawning areas for the survival of their babies.

Dang I've killed a couple 10 YO's but twenty. Dang she was one smart cookie.

I knew a fellow that killed a doe whose teeth looked like that. Makes me wish now he had gotten her aged.

Wow. I figured the natural lifespan was 10 years at the most under ideal circumstances (captivity). Learn something everyday.

Dr. B

I killed an old doe at Oakmulgee WMA on a muzzleloader hunt in the 80's the biologist said was at least 13 years old. They were amazed, she was an old survivor...,until she met my Renegade .50 cal. Oh those were some fun hunts!

there was a peace in Deer & Deer Hunting on old Does, a old doe could be barren & be a matriarch in her area, and will defend her territory, and run other deer off.

I've never once checked the teeth on any does I've dropped. Never even crossed my mind. I'll be doing it from now on. Very interesting.

I agree with you, I talked to a biologist and he said you should always try and shoot yearling does, they eat twice as much as an old doe and are more likely to only drop single fawns, I then asked him about the chance of shooting button bucks by mistake and he said the benefit definitely out weighs the cons

If you shoot a single young deer in a field its most likely a button buck the doe has run off. By waiting till you see several deer you can cut down on shooting buttons. Then you simply avoid shooting the biggest one .

(cementum annuli analysis ) Deer teeth have growth rings in them similar to trees. The lab cuts the tooth and " reads" the rings under a microscope. It's not 100%. Other than teeth, I know of no accurate method other than putting a tag in their ear when born.

We shoot big does without fawns. Average doe weight last year was 112lb and without looking at my paperwork I believe 4.5 years old. Out of only 5 does off 1000 acres.

I need to shoot these salt lick hoarding does but those usually have twins.

Good read, thanks