My Bull Old Or Young What Do You Think

[Bighotdog 3]

[attachmentid=168]Shot this bull last October and was told a few interesting things about it. Now my problem was that one, he had a real worn down rack which you can see by the pic. Also he only had bottom teeth, nothing on the top and I mean nothing not even one. So my question now to all you pros out there is how old do you think he really was. I want to hear all your feedbacks on this issue. Maybe I can learn something from everyone. After I read your posts I will write my answers that I received from a close friend and very skilled hunter. So come on down and don't be shy let it go and voice your opinions. Oh ya I forgot incase this helps he weighed aprox. 850lbs and had testicles the size of my great grandfather.

[Guest Big Moose]

INTERESTING

I'll have to think on this one.

Can you smell the smoke?

[Bill Arnott 2]

Well... I don't know your Great Grandfather but I do know that moose can live well past 20 years.

Cows tend to be longer-lived as they do not have to endure the rigors of rutting activity each year. Tough to tell much from the photo but I can see the pronounced "eyebrows" that are an indicator of an older animal. The rack doesn't always mean much as genetics play a big part in their growth.I'll guess he was at least 12 and maybe a lot more. Did you turn in the jaw to have the actual age determined?

>Bill

[Guest Big Moose]

That would be my guess that it's an old bull with crappy genes as far as the rack goes.

[TANGLED 0]

No top teeth? Your moose had no top teeth because they never have top teeth. Neither do deer. As for the rounded off smaller rack on a decent size animal maybe genetics or diet.

TANGLED

[Guest Patch]

Here's a site that tells you how to age a deer by it's teeth. A moose is very similiar...check the amount of dentine worn off, that'll tell the tale.

http://www.whitetails.com/deer_info/age_determination.cfm

[Bighotdog 3]

I see there has been a bit of help and info here but I am still a little confused cause I got some different answers. My first thought was that this bull was infact an oldie with bad genes. Then my friend at work with alot of experience told me that it was just a young bull. He said first couple of years they don't have top teeth and then they get them in the second to third year. He said the young bulls rack was like that because he was probably scrapping anything he would see. Now the funny thing is the butcher who came to our place to debone the meat said that this was a prime young bull. He is the head butcher at Maltese and been there for years, so he must know his meat. Anyway this is why I am still confused, I will try to find more info out in the next little while.

I see there has been a bit of help and info here but I am still a little confused cause I got some different answers. My first thought was that this bull was infact an oldie with bad genes. Then my friend at work with alot of experience told me that it was just a young bull. He said first couple of years they don't have top teeth and then they get them in the second to third year. He said the young bulls rack was like that because he was probably scrapping anything he would see. Now the funny thing is the butcher who came to our place to debone the meat said that this was a prime young bull. He is the head butcher at Maltese and been there for years, so he must know his meat. Anyway this is why I am still confused, I will try to find more info out in the next little while.

[TANGLED 0]

Bighotdog

Please ask your friend with alot of experience to please post some pictures of a moose with top teeth.

TANGLED

[Bill Arnott 2]

I see there has been a bit of help and info here but I am still a little confused cause I got some different answers. My first thought was that this bull was infact an oldie with bad genes.

- It could be an old bull in decline whos body does not devote as much energy to rack development.

Then my friend at work with alot of experience told me that it was just a young bull.

-This is also possible as all animals do not have the potential to grow big racks.

He said first couple of years they don't have top teeth and then they get them in the second to third year.

-Hmmm. A moose will have formed both it's bottom & top teeth by the time it is weaned. With the mooses diet these are essential to grind up its woody food.

He said the young bulls rack was like that because he was probably scrapping anything he would see.

- A mooses rack is completely formed by the time it begins scraping to remove the velvet.

Now the funny thing is the butcher who came to our place to debone the meat said that this was a prime young bull. He is the head butcher at Maltese and been there for years, so he must know his meat.

- Fine quality meat can come from any animal and has more to do with a clean kill and proper cooling and care after the animal is down.

Anyway this is why I am still confused, I will try to find more info out in the next little while.

[Guest canuck]

Lets clear up the teeth thing. Moose do have upper teeth however they are molars.

Moose Skull & Teeth

The image on the right shows a replica female moose skull. The skull length is 63cm or 24.5 inches.

A moose's teeth are specially designed for eating plant materials and for browsing on bushes and small trees. In all they have 32 teeth made up of 12 ridged molars, 12 premolars, 6 incisors and 2 canines:

information obtained from http://www.smouse.force9.co.uk/facts.htm

[Guest canuck]

Here is some more information for you Bighotdog.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/mammals...seage/aging.htm

[Bighotdog 3]

Here is some more information for you Bighotdog.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/mammals...seage/aging.htm

Thanks alot everyone for all the good info. I am now alot closer to understanding the aging process. Hopefully if and when I shoot my next animal I will indeed try some of these new things out to truly determine the age and see how it goes. Once again thanks everyone for the good info.

[Smokey 1]

I agree with the young moose theory. Hope you enjoyed the meat.

[mitch 7]

anyone else find it funny that "tangled" has no more replies since the skull pic, lol

[Bighotdog 3]

anyone else find it funny that "tangled" has no more replies since the skull pic, lol

Ease off there big guy some of us take to our little mistakes differently. That my friend is the reason why I posted this in the first place. I could have assumed I was right the first time I thought about this whole thing but I was unsure as too the answer. Now however thanks to our experts here on this fantastic website I now know that next time I go to shoot a beatiful looking moose I will pause and ask them to smile then count the disgusting rings around there teeth. Then if I like what I find out according to my professional calculation i might or i might not shoot him. HAHAHAH once again thaks alot for the advice everyone and happy camping and fishing this summer.

[Gone8to1248 158]

Ease off there big guy some of us take to our little mistakes differently. That my friend is the reason why I posted this in the first place. I could have assumed I was right the first time I thought about this whole thing but I was unsure as too the answer. Now however thanks to our experts here on this fantastic website I now know that next time I go to shoot a beatiful looking moose I will pause and ask them to smile then count the disgusting rings around there teeth. Then if I like what I find out according to my professional calculation i might or i might not shoot him. HAHAHAH once again thaks alot for the advice everyone and happy camping and fishing this summer.

I agree with BigHotDog there Mitch, people ask questions on here because they don't know the answers and sometimes people respond with bad information because THEY don't know either. So there is no need to critisize them or stir up problems on here. For a guy who is always asking for directions to everyone elses spots and what they are catching I would carry my hat in my hand and becareful of what I say. Have a nice day.

gone8to1248

Bernie

[TANGLED 0]

mitch

In defense of myself, I understood what bighotdog wrote was the misconception of many hunters that he was actually looking for front teeth. I apologize if my previous posts were taken as attacks by some know it all hunter/angler that this board does not want or need. Thanks to snowball for the good information and to others for their input.

TANGLED

mitch

In defense of myself, I understood what bighotdog wrote was the misconception of many hunters that he was actually looking for front teeth. I apologize if my previous posts were taken as attacks by some know it all hunter/angler that this board does not want or need. Thanks to canuck for the good information and to others for their input.

TANGLED

[mitch 7]

HE NO WORRIES I WAS JUST KIDDING AROUND I NEVER MEANT IT TO SEEM HARSH. SORRY ABOUT THAT! I ASK JUST AS MANY QUESTIONS AS THE NEXT GUY THAT'S WHAT THIS SITE IS ALL ABOUT, SHARING INFORMATION, SORRY IF I OFFENDED ANYONE ,NOT MY INTENTIONS.

CHEERS, MITCH