If you were a successful hunter in the state of Vermont last season and submitted a tooth sample to the Fish & Wildlife Department, you can now quickly find out the age of that deer on the department’s website.
Vermont Fish and Wildlife was able to assess the age of over 4,600 that were taking during rifle or youth seasons thanks to the 2,672 teeth collected and the 1,937 deer that were examined by biologists.
“We are thankful to the thousands of hunters who were willing to support our deer management efforts by providing us with a tooth from their deer,” said Deer Project Leader Nick Fortin. “We are particularly grateful to the handful of dedicated reporting stations that collected a tooth from every deer they reported. This effort would not have been as successful without their assistance.”
The department is now turning its focus to bone. If your deer was found to be three years or older and was not examined, Fish & Widlife officials would be appreciative for the opportunity to measure its antlers. Hunters can physically bring their antlers in to a district office or send pictures to AntlerPics@vermont.gov.
Image: By Brian Stansberry (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons