field judging elk
 

doesanyone has any tips on scoring elk in the field

RE: field judging elk
 

I have a knack for eyeballing elk, I think just looking at alot of them and knowing their score helps.

But their 4th point, their sword point....is easy to identify, then 5th, 6th etc...so using that method you can quickly determine whether a bull is a 5x5, 6x6 etc....

mass, width, main beam length.

You may want to know what you're holding out for, ie 300" + or 350+ etc....and knowing that base score, and not shooting anyting below that....so anything that looks bigger, take, and be pleaslantly surprised.

RE: field judging elk
 

-If all the points are at least 12" long on a 6x6 bull you are looking at a 300+ inch elk. (on average)
-Bulls are typically weak on either their third or fifth point. One small or missing point will kill a score.
-Lengthaddsway morepoints than more. The b&c scoring system sometimes dosen't do justice for heavy horn bulls.

For me it isa lotharder to score a bullin the field than ona wall or in a picture. Especially ifI amthe one pulling the trigger or releasingthe arrow. It is easy to get caught up in the moment. To me a trophy is in the eye of the beholder and who cares what some scoreing system says. Hope this helps.

RE: field judging elk
 

If he can scratch his ass with his 6th point he is a shooter! JK

The more elk you look at the easier they are to judge. I judge anything over 300 as big but other people wouldn't touch a 300 bull. As above mentioned a trophy is in the eye of the beholder. If you shoot a raghorn bull and work your ass of for him and pack him out on your back he is a trophy to me. It's all in the eye of the shoot..

Great suggestion to look at the G4 as it will stick out there on a good bull.Then the whale tail will tell you a good bull as well. (Split of G5 and G6)

RE: field judging elk
 

I agree with sclwald on this one! If you see a whales tale and they can rub their ass with it.. You deffinately want to shoot that one!

RE: field judging elk
 

For quick judging try this
Eye guards=as long as the forehead to nose tip
2nd point=just as long and curles
3rd poiny=atleast 1/2 the lenght of the 4th
4th(sword point)=double the length of the eyegaurd
5th =as long as the 3rd
6th=ifit passes his huanch(or ass)
7th=bonus
8th=bonus

Mass=bases atleast as big as a softball,mass at the 4th pointas wide as a your hand(if you have big hands all the better).
Now go look at all bulls you can find on the net.,Bowsite.com used to have a judging game in their interactive section.
Good luck
BBJ

RE: field judging elk
 

Watch as many elk hunting shows as you can on TV.

They will generally give you the approximate score of the animal they shoot and it can help alot. Also sometimes they will comment on some of the ones they pass on and give an estimated score on those. The tactics are often not very useful as they generally hunt low pressure private land, but you get to see plenty of elk antlers to judge. There are a couple shows with public land elk hunting that can actually be useful though.

400" is a total monster that will have you falling all over yourself, there would be no doubt in your mind about if it was a shooter or not. For most folks 350" is a serious trophy on public land and you won't have much doubt on one of those either. For me personally 320"ish is what it is going to take to go on my wall as a full mount and that's a good solid 6x6 with good mass and decent spread. Tine length is important as previously mentioned.

300" will get you a 6x6 withdecent mass and a few short tines or a really good 5x5 with great mass and good tine length canget to 300" also. This would be a decent elk for most and I personally have never shot a bull elk so it would be hard for me to pass up any 6x6 or a good 5x5.

250" - 300" is going to be a weaker 6x6 and medium to weak 5x5's. These are going to have broken or very short tines and limited mass and spread. These still go on some folks walls but usually as a european type mount.

That's my basic laymans scoring effort.

I found this site that has quite a few pictures of elk with the score under the picture - http://www.kingsoutdoorworld.com/trophy-room/elk-bb.shtml

Good Luck.

RE: field judging elk
 

thank npaden,
I'm not to bad at judging bulls in pics or mounts can get within 15 points ussually but from 500 yards its a different story.

RE: field judging elk
 

Judge this one for practice. I shot it two years ago.

RE: field judging elk
 

RE: field judging elk
 

RE: field judging elk
 

Good mass and spread. Not much for 2's and 3's on that right side. Good brows and 4's on both sides.

On first glance I would have guessed a little under 300". Somewhere around 275". Then I put a pencil to it and came up with 280"ish. If it wasn't for that weak right side and what looks like the G6 breaking off on the left side it would have been pushing 300" IMO. That is assuming that you are a fairly normal sized dude and not a midget or a giant.

It would still be a shooter bull if I saw one like it in 3 weeks in Wyoming! :D

RE: field judging elk
 

I think your close npaden,I'm geussing 286.Maybey Sclwald could pm us the right score.Still a nice bull for Public ground.
BBJ

RE: field judging elk
 

I would P my pants if one like that gave me a shot in 2 weeks. :D

RE: field judging elk
 

I will give a few people a few more guesse's and then let everyone know. I also will PM those who requested it. I was very satisfied with this bull. Not bad but there is better. I just had him plaque mounted. He kind of ruined me last year
as I didn't shoot anything that wasn't bigger than he was. Unfortunately I didn't even pull the trigger last year.This year I have the "ITCH" again andam looking for bone.

RE: field judging elk
 

im gonna say 279. nice bull sclwald, good luck this year

RE: field judging elk
 

Since hank375 posted his score and he is the thread starter I will just tell the score. This bull scored 288 4/8. Great thread hank375 glad I had an example for you to test your field judging.

RE: field judging elk
 

Okay, you don't have to believe me but the piece of calculator tape in my hand from yesterday (I'm an accountant)actually ended up at 288"! :D That seemed a little high to me so that's why I went with 280"ish.

Of course I was probably off on most of the individual measurements.

On the left side I went G1 - 15", G2 - 12", G3 - 15", G4 - 20", G5 - 2"
On the right side I went G1 - 15", G2 - 10", G3 - 6", G4 - 20", G5 - 5"
I gave both main beams 36" and the inside spread 36" and gave the circumference measurements 30" for each side.

P.S. - That is Gross Score. With the weak right side it would get knocked down a bit on the Net.

RE: field judging elk
 

Here is the exact measurement.
Left side G1-16 7/8, G2-14 4/8, G3-12 3/8, G4-15, G5-3 7/8, G6-4 2/8
Right side-G1-17 2/8, G2-9 3/8, G3-5 1/8, G4-14 7/8, G5-5, G6-6 4/8
Main beams were 41 Left and 42 Right
Inside spread 38"
I don't know what you mean by 30" for circumference measurements unless you are adding then I have Left 20 7/8 and Right side 21 5/8

All in all great guessing off a picture.

RE: field judging elk
 

Saw a video about 15 or 20 years ago. Had a fantastic, how to judge elk segment in it. It was by Jay and Jeff Ulmer (I think). I Think they were from NM or AZ or somewhere down there. See if you can do a search and find them boys. I am quite good at judging elk. It comes from hundreds of elk field judged killed and scored. They really did a great job with all the tips needed to help a beginner get the right thing going.

RE: field judging elk
 

beautiful elk sclwald.

Score
 

What do you guys think this guy scores?

270-280? ;)

Big enough for me to shoot.

Nice elk. My guess is 290, but here is a link to the B&C score sheet:

http://www.boone-crockett.org/bgReco...elk_wapiti.asp

Please post the results.

Taxidermist says he's 300 +-5