big elk

[Yeti]

I have a trophy tag and must be able to tell the difference between a 360 verses a 390, how???

[bigbulls]

You are hunting with a guide????? Most likely.

He will let you know the difference. If not, a 360 elk is definetly huge but 390 or 400 inch elk, there will be no question or doubt about it in your mind. You will know in an instant if you have a 400 class bull in front of you.

Basically his rack will extend from his nose to his rump and will be as deep as his body is from his back to the bottom of his chest.

I sure as heck would not pass on a good 360 inch bull no matter if I were hunting in a "trophy" unit and could possibly have the chance at a 400 inch bull.


Go here if you want to see the difference between 360 and 400 inch bulls. Scroll down to the bottom and click on the "350 inch bulls" or "400 inch bulls".
http://www.kingsoutdoorworld.com/trophy_room.htm

[BowElkFreak]

Our group has a few 350 class bulls with one going 380 and have drawn some trophy tags here in Utah five years running. It has always been our goal to shoot a 350 class bull on these hunts. Like bigbulls said.. 400 class bulls just have that presence or that holy cow, crap your pants effect on you. We use the royal point and further back to really judge elk. You generally don't have to worry about the first 3 points. They will echo the bull all the way back. Look at the royal points, then the next 2 or 3 and take note of the length he goes back from the royal point and the size of the forks. You don't want to see "crab forks" back there. He just won't score. You want to see nice big forks that stand out. If he breaks to a 7, you want to see how long the 5th point is and again his 6th - 7th fork. All of this still takes practice, but if you look at those pics in the link bigbulls provided you might see some of these characteristics. Using the royal point and back method also works well when you don't have alot of time to decide if he is a shooter.

Good luck and hope you bag a big one!!