20-Year-Old Doe Killed In Lowndes County

Jeremy Kendrick with a Lowndes County doe killed that was aged at 20 1/2 years old.

Jeremy Kendrick, of Lowndes County, may have just killed the oldest confirmed deer taken by a hunter in the state of Georgia and possibly tied for the oldest in the country.

“Ever since I started hunting that property in Lowndes County nine years ago, I have gotten pictures of this doe,” said Kendrick. “She had an ear deformity, so she was easy to identify.”

On Nov. 21, 2024, Kendrick was planning to shoot a doe for the freezer; he didn’t realize that the deer he picked out to shoot was the old doe with the floppy ear.

“After I walked up to her, I recognized her. I knew she was old, but I took her to my friend Jeremie Wallace, owner of Life Outdoors in Valdosta, and he told me that she looked to be over 15 years old. He’s the one who told me about DeerAge and helped me send the teeth there for age analysis,” explained Kendrick.

DeerAge is a company that ages deer and compiles data about the species through its Wildlife Analytical Laboratories in Missoula, Montana. It is operated by a veterinary diagnostic laboratory and uses the process of cementum annuli aging, which measures rings in the teeth, much like rings in trees. Cementum, which is connective tissue that forms along a tooth’s root, is deposited on the roots each year and results in these ring patterns. In the winter, a dark-stained ring (or annulus) is formed. This dark ring is what the specialists use to count the deer’s age.

DeerAge.com says that the ideal teeth for aging deer with this process are the front lower incisors (front two teeth), and the root must be included since the root is what is analyzed. Molars can be used, but they are more difficult and time-consuming to interpret.

“Eruption-wear aging (a method for estimating the age of deer based on wear and replacement of teeth) is common but has been scientifically proven to be inaccurate and an unreliable source of data in managing wildlife. In a study performed by Montana Fish and Wildlife, eruption-wear aging resulted in 62% accuracy for mule deer, 43% in whitetails and 36% in elk. Cementum annuli aging yields 93%, 85% and 97% in mule deer whitetails and elk respectively,” states the information provided on DeerAge.com.

Charlie Killmaster, the Georgia State Deer Biologist, said, “Cementum annuli is more accurate at older age classes, but southern deer can be tricky because we have two equal nutritional stress periods (late summer/late winter) whereas northern deer have a more profound stress in the winter. This is what deposits the growth layers in the teeth like rings on a tree. If the lab isn’t skilled with southern deer, there may be a tendency to age them older than they are. With that said, I do believe some individuals can reach that age (20 years) in some rare circumstances.”

Killmaster continued, “Most deer in Georgia live to two to five years, but some individuals may live for many years longer. Females are more likely than males to make it to more extreme lifespans since they aren’t quite as vulnerable as bucks from rutting behavior. For a deer to reach 20 years of age, it takes a perfect storm of decent habitat, good health, strong teeth and refuge areas from hunting pressure. There’s no doubt she was a wise old owl to make it that long!”

We reached out to Heather Marlatt, Director of Operations for Wildlife Analytical Laboratories, concerning potential differences in southern versus northern deer teeth rings.

Marlatt explained, using an actual image of Kendrick’s 20-year-old doe tooth, “I don’t think any experienced reader would make that mistake. The yellow (arrows) are the year lines, and you can see the couple of red (arrows) I added are the ‘extra’ lines that aren’t counted. Could an inexperienced reader make that mistake? Possibly. But after looking at so many whitetail teeth you can spot it right away. One is dark and one is faint and blurred and they are almost stacked. Yes, two lines but one year.”

So, according to Marlatt, Jeremy Kendrick’s Lowndes County doe is 20 1/2 years old and therefore could be the state record for the oldest hunter-killed deer.

Jeremy honored the old doe by doing a skull mount and getting the Certificate of Aging from Wildlife Analytical Laboratories.