April 2021 - 8

NEWS

Hunting harvest
sets record for tooth aging
LARAMIE - It was a record-setting year
for the 2020 hunting season in Wyoming
when it comes to tooth aging.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is on pace to gather ages from more
than 4,000 big game teeth from the 2020
hunting season. It's more teeth than have ever
been collected from big game harvests in the
state due to increased hunter check-stations
efforts and research projects. Teeth also are
collected from wildlife captured for research
projects and relocations, winter mortalities
and road- killed animals.
Molly Bredehoft coordinates the tooth
aging program for Game and Fish, based out
of the Game and Fish Wildlife Forensic and
Fish Health Laboratory in Laramie. Bredehoft
said the number of overall teeth the lab will
age this year, which includes trophy game,
bobcat, bison and a small number of contract
teeth for individual hunters and outfitters is
projected to be more than 5,000.
Wildlife managers use this data, along with
other information, to analyze age classes to
make sound management decisions and learn
more about population dynamics.
Bredehoft said in 2019 the lab sampled
close to 4,000 teeth from big game animals.
The 4,000-plus teeth analyzed from the 2020
hunting season were aged in four months.
" The way we accomplished processing all
of the teeth was with many extra hours, along
with help from the lab director, forensic program personnel and fish health personnel, "
Bredehoft said.
Pronghorn tooth submissions saw the biggest boost in 2020.
" We've aged 827 pronghorn teeth so far, "
Bredehoft said. " That's much higher than just
a few years ago in 2018 when only six teeth
were submitted and analyzed. In 2019 our
number of pronghorn teeth increased to over
500 due to a research project at the University
of Wyoming, and this year's high numbers
are due to the continuation of the research. "
8 | April 2021

Molly Bredehoft, Wyoming Game and Fish Department tooth aging coordinator, ages a pronghorn tooth at the Game and Fish's
Wildlife Forensic and Fish Health Lab in Laramie. (WGFD photo)

Bredehoft also said there were significant
increases in mule deer and white-tailed deer
teeth due to increased hunter check station
efforts.
In 2020 the oldest hunter-harvested
pronghorn was 13.5 years old. For other big
game, the oldest recorded ages were:
* Elk - 16.5 years old
* White-tailed deer - 12.5 years old
* Mule deer - 12.5 years old
* Moose - 11 years old
Teeth from wildlife are analyzed using a
technique called cementum annuli analysis

tooth-aging. Each winter, rings are deposited
in the root of an animal's teeth. Those rings
are counted to determine the animal's age.
" This method is similar to counting rings
on a tree, " Bredehoft said.
Hunters who submitted a tooth sample
can easily check their individual results online
by logging into their Game and Fish account
with their username and password. Hunter
data will be linked automatically, including
tooth aging results. Hunters can also use their
license number, name and date of birth. A
listing of ages by species is also available for
anyone to browse.
- WGFD staff

April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2021