Pronghorn age?

[eelgrass]

It seems we always hear about the age of mule deer, elk, and whitetail deer, and how it takes so many years to develop maximum antler size. It's the same with sheep horns. I don't recall much discussion about pronghorn age though. I wonder how long they live and at what age do their horns reach their potential? I assume their bases get bigger with age, if nothing else?

Any insight?

Eel

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

 

[jims]

From what I understand it doesn't take many years for antelope to grow B&C horns like it does for deer, elk,moose, or sheep. Similar to mtn goats they grow pretty good horns early in life. In fact, I'm pretty sure Mr Antelope....the Grimmett's wrote an article where they claimed it only took 3+ years to reach B&C. From what I've seen....I would agree. I am guessing that the the horn sheaths on antelope reach a maximum size around 3 to 4 years old and don't increase in size much after that time. After 3 or 4 years old other factors play a roll in what the horns look like in any particular year since they grow a different set each year. Similar to deer and elk genetics, winter, and nutrition all play important roles.

You pretty much have to look at their teeth and cross section of a tooth to age them. I believe the first 3 years antelope gain a tooth/year on the bottom of their front jaw. The more warn down the teeth...the older they are...but that depends upon the vegetation they eat and soil in the area (that wear teeth down). I've shot a few old timer bucks over the years that had missing teeth and teeth wore down to the gums. Obviously winterkill, hunters (number of tags), predators, disease, drought, and other factors determine how long they live. I would venture a guess that a 7 to 8 year old antelope is getting pretty darn old.

 

[littlebighorn]

I read an article about pronghorn age/horn growth and this particular study indicated that horn growth was greatest at 3 years and then started to slowly decline. They said that unlike most animals, mass actually decreased with age. It is only one study on a private ranch setting, but the results were surprising to me.
My son killed a monster buck a few years back but his body was huge and his head was way bigger than any buck I have seen. I don't know if that had to do with age or just genetics. It seems he was an old buck in decline, which makes me wonder what he would have looked like at age 3?

 

[BuzzH]

I think it may vary from state to state as well. I know that all but one of the highest scoring bucks my wife and I have shot were all 4.5+ years old. I believe that most Wyoming bucks are likely their best at 4.5 or 5.5 years old. The 3 B&C bucks my wife has shot were all 4.5+. I killed a buck that was over 15 inches and scored 78ish that was only 2.5 years old, thats one that likely would have been better in a couple years. It was obvious he was a young buck as a much smaller (horn wise), but older buck, was chasing him all over.

No way of knowing how old they are past 4 unless you turn in a tooth to a lab. Tooth wear is a guess...as a best case.

As to how long they live, I think they can just as long as elk and deer. There was a doe near Laramie that moved into a small pasture near I-80 7 years ago and was an adult then. She must have died this spring as the last time I saw her was in January and she never left the same small pasture for 7 years. Assuming she was 3-4 years old when she moved in, she was no doubt 10-11 years old, probably even older.

 

[eelgrass]

Very educational. Thanks to all of you.

Does anyone know at what age a buck starts losing their eye sight?J/K

Eel

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

 

[sageadvice]

Eel, My Ca Lope from a few years ago was 3.5 years old. At least, that's what they told me after they had a tooth a good long while. He didn't look old to me at the time, i knew what he was when i shot him, his 14 1/2" rack scored 75+" green.

Some of the bigger better bucks i seen while the week long scouting, looked like they were older than younger to me.

As far as fact, do they get bigger or smaller as they mature? Wish i knew, good question, i'm interested in the replies.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[greatwestern]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-15-14 AT 11:28AM (MST)[p]Great question, don't have any hard answers, just a couple observations from over the years

This is the mandible from a buck I killed this season, pretty worn down. The buck was always by himself in his little "crater" home range, and didn't like any other goats at all. Other bucks, does, it didn't seem to matter. Anyone that wandered into the crater got run off immediately, followed by a scrape with urine. He seemed to be a cranky old bugger even before I seen his teeth, but I have no idea how old he was, or how his horn size would correlate to his age...

We started seeing a crooked-horned buck up on our ranch back in 2009, and he is similar in that he is always alone, except during the rut proper, when he always has a large group of does he is tending. Have seen him every year since (last time just a couple weeks ago), and his horn size has remained pretty constant over the years, with maybe only a couple-three inches in variation. Though I do think this year is perhaps the smallest his horns have been, and he looks skinnier in the body as well. Again, I have no idea how old he is, but he's got to be getting up there. I'll see if I can dig up some pics of him from different years.

Maybe I should send in a tooth from this years bucker, as I'm now even more curious!

Anyway, very interesting topic, would love to learn more

Cheers,

Adam

 

[jm77]

http://azantelope.org/Facts___Research/Horn_Growth_Study/horn_growth_study.html

Seems that according to this study a pronghorn buck might have his best horns at age 3!

 

[eelgrass]

Thanks for the information. Pronghorn are truly unique and I feel blessed to be able to enjoy them. They are also excellent table fare, IMO.

Eel

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

 

[NVBighorn]

I usually count the annual rings on their antlers... ;-)


I love hunting antelope and they are one of the best tasting animals if taken care of properly.


[font color="blue"]I don't make the soup,I just stir it.[/font]

 

[Adventurewriter]

Lats of great pointa...I think the sweet spot is 3-5 years old...but the most important thing is simply gentics......some buck no matter what will never go more than 13 inches...you get a good gentic buck and a easy winter and dry summer ( I guess they eat more scrubby mineral stuff when green grass is not so avaialble) and if they are in the sweet spot on age and they have a chance to show thier best...

 

[greatwestern]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-21-14 AT 08:09PM (MST)[p]Thanks for the link JM...very interesting, especially the age data. I've always believed that antelope live quite a bit longer than people seem to give them credit for

As far as the peak horn growth data is concerned, after a bit of thought it makes sense...to use a loose analogy: generally speaking, in a sheep ram's horns the most significant growth occurs in the first half of an average lifespan, then begins to drop off exponentially in their later years, and the cumulative growth cycle (including a "bad" year's relative poor growth) is evident in the horn itself since they are permanent...the antelope leave that information laying out on the range somewhere every year

Always interested in wildlife study, so thanks again for posting up this info

Cheers'

Adam

**edit--- I also agree that antelope is one of the finest of the wild meats, its just too bad they're so small no!

 

[CPAjeff]

Thanks for the link the article, very interesting! Antelope are pretty amazing little animals!