Judging antler score on whitetails

[lou-lou]

Going on a trip to brown county, illinois in about a week, the outfitters has a antler restriction of 120, anything below is another 500.00 fee. I'm from NY and don't have a lot of expeirence with judging trophy deer in the wild. Any tricks that you guys use to judge them. As example a 130 class buck would have at least a 4 inch g-4, is that true or is that just myth. The deer out there are much bigger than here, I just don't want to get nailed with the extra fee, considering a 130 class buck would be the biggest thing that I have ever seen in the woods. Need help. Thank you in advance.

[Angus74]

if your guide says nothing under 120,, id try to make a mental picture of what the typical buck of that score would look like... For starters,,,, id say to look for a spread at least as wide as his ears,, his ear tips should be around 16-17 inches at forward position.. Id also look for it to have at least 8 but maybe 10 points,, remember the more points will also bring up the score.. Id also say that your typical 125 inch 8 point will have probably 10 inch g-2s,, and 7 inch g-3s,, with decent eyeguards and decent mass.. Try your best to look for all these things,, and they mey differ and make up score in other areas,, but this may help you some.. good luck

[LLBUX]

Almost all 2 year old bucks will score below 125. They are fairly easy to identify since they look so young. They will weigh about 165-180 pounds as well.

A 3 year old will show lots more mass and weigh about 200 pounds.

A 130 class buck will be outside his ears, have 4-6" brows, 8-10" G2's, 4-6" G3's and beams about 22-25".

The buck below scored 134" gross and was taken last year in Pike. He was 3 years old.

Good luck!

[Lady Forge]

Lou;
Larry will also have some bucks skulls with racks with the scores on them in the club house for you to use as a reference to help you to learn to judge and identify a 120 class and up buck.
Have a great hunt!