Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Eye to nose measurement?

Rous14

PMA Member
We killed some bucks on the farm in IL this weekend and when you check the harvest in over the phone they ask many questions one of which is the length from the front corner of the eye to the top of the nose. They’ve asked this for years so not new but what significance does this have? Correlation to age maybe?
 
We killed some bucks on the farm in IL this weekend and when you check the harvest in over the phone they ask many questions one of which is the length from the front corner of the eye to the top of the nose. They’ve asked this for years so not new but what significance does this have? Correlation to age maybe?
That probably puts them within some marginal accuracy on age. Gives a flavor I bet.
 
I thought it was the likelihood of Covid transmission ;)

Seriously they have been asking this for 20 years, have never once seen it used in a report or study. I feel like it is an age guess, but have no clue. I know I have shot some long snouted and short snouted mature deer so not sure what the accuracy is.
 
I've taken 6 buck in Illinois but don't recall them asking for that eye to nose measurement when checking them in but the last time I hunted Illinois was 2010. Taxidermist do use that measurement though.
 
I've taken 6 buck in Illinois but don't recall them asking for that eye to nose measurement when checking them in but the last time I hunted Illinois was 2010. Taxidermist do use that measurement though.

Yeah they ask for that and the circumference of the base. Not sure why either would really be relevant, and I have to believe that the variability in this is huge based on who does it, where it is taken, etc.

Seems odd, hopefully they use it for something
 
Some sort of indication of age was the only thing I could come up with in my head but I’ve never heard or read any biologist referencing it so I’m still curious. Maybe an email to the ILDNR asking them is something I’ll do one of these days.
 
Deer range from 7/ 7 1/4 for young bucks to 7.375/7.5 for 3ish yr olds to pushing 8in for old big mature bucks from a taxidermist perspective. Im not saying this is at all accurate just what ive seen over last 25 yrs . Thats from front corner of eye to tip of the nose. Deer come in all different sizes just like people! So its a very general way to age . Your not going to have a 1 or 2 yr old with a 8in nose to eye measurement and probably not gonna have a 6yr old with a 7in measurement ect...

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
 
Seems like the spur measurement on turkeys. Not a guarantee on each animal (I have seems toms with nub spurs), but with enough data gives the DNR an idea of the age structure of the animals being killed.
 
Top Bottom