MLD - Deer Jaws

[Stann Potts]

We're starting MLD this year and they have asked that we keep all deer jaws. Anyone have a good system for labeling and storing the jaws? Concerned about odor and waterproof identification...

[keatonskidmore]

we are also starting MLD this year..havent been asked to keep the jaws yet..just to age, score(if buck), and weigh them, i'll ask my biologist about this

[Aggiebush]

Always save the same side of the jaw, we do the left side.
Cut the gum down to the bottom of the bone and around the inside of it.
Cut the bone in front of the teeth and again behind the last molar.
Remove jaw bone and clean any extra meat off of it.
Boil it good to get the marrow out, and let dry.
Write your info on the side of the jaw with a sharpie. (Permit #, age, date)
Freeze in a baggie until the end of season.
Put in a box and place in the attic for a few weeks to dry and cure.
Mail to your biologist, or take it in person.

I like to save mine when he is done checking the ages, so that we can use them for future aging. They are great tools to use for comparison.

[Death from Above]

we keep ours in a fish basket. label it with a sharpie.

[qzilla]

Cut the jaw out and cut away all the big meat that is easy to get. Then let them dry out. After a day or two you can basically pull the membrane off and then use a small knife and clean up around the gum line. They will be super white and won't stink.

If you are cutting the front incisors out don't let them dry as you will have a good chance of cracking them. Either keep them cool and moist until you can cut them or you can just do them from the start.

You can drill a small hole in the jawbone and then use a trash tie or small wire and put a tag on them. This also makes and easy way to store the incisors in a small bag.

Or if it is just the jaw you can use a sharpie when they are clean and dry. Works great.

[1point]

Just pour a little salt on em and store them outside where they can dry good, no stink and mark them with a sharpie. Make sure the varmits cant get to em'.

[conroetomkat]

We have metal tags numbered 1 to ??. We attach the tag, with a zip tie, that matches the number on the kill log that you have recorded the carcass info. We then put them in a fish basket. Our biologist usually comes buy in the middle of the season and ages the jaws we have. He doesn't come back till after season and does the rest.

[Mike Murphey]

We cut out the jaws and keep one side. After removing them, we place them into a pot of boiling water and gently cook them for 30 minutes to cook off the meat. When they are dry, we use a sharpie to place a number that is the same number from the log book.

[dozer]

Not to hijack but I have a question:

Aggie, why always the same side jaw bone? I ask because not all deer chew on the same side. The more worn jaw is the better to age off of.

[rtp]

Not to hijack but I have a question:

Aggie, why always the same side jaw bone? I ask because not all deer chew on the same side. The more worn jaw is the better to age off of.

X2, curious. I was always told to keep the side that showed the most wear.

[Stann Potts]

Thanks for ideas. We're going to go the fish basket route. Still need to firm up the label method, gotta shoot over 50 deer, which is a lot of jaws, tags and boiling. Anyway, appreciate the insight.

[jenningsshuter]

Fish basket and sharpie always worked for us. As long as we kept the numbers on the jaws in sync with the log, we were in good shape. I'm curious about the same side jawbone thing too. We had some from right and some from left and never had a problem.

[dragonsdaddy]

We cut out the jaws and keep one side. After removing them, we place them into a pot of boiling water and gently cook them for 30 minutes to cook off the meat. When they are dry, we use a sharpie to place a number that is the same number from the log book.

be careful that you don't boil them too long, or the teeth will get loose.

[Stann Potts]

To follow up, I bought some zip ties with the "flag" so you can write on them. Ebay - 5 bucks for 100. Just got them in. Wrote on um with a magic marker. Can't get it to smear or anything. Even ran some water on it, holding up great. The area to write on is pretty small, but I can put the log #, sex and weight.

[Miki]

You only need the one side the chew on. Drill a hole in the bone and put them on a string. Or like some said use a fish basket.