Help w/judging...please
 

Just thought I would ask the experienced ones on this issue. I am just a southern hunter that chase whitetails the majority of the time. I have been working in west central Wyoming for the past three months and have seen a great deal of wildlife. One thing I am not sure about, is how to tell the difference between adecent antelope/deer and a trophy one. I have no experience on field judging these animals and don't really know where to start.I thought you guys might be able tohelp me. I will post pictures of some of the biggest one's I have seen and been able to take pictures of. In my opinion, I think they all would be shooter's, but what do you all think?

Thanks for your time,
Trent

RE: Help w/judging...please
 

You're going to have to define what a shooter is to you. Most of those would be shooters for me but most of those would not make B&C minimum.

RE: Help w/judging...please
 

Shoot man shoot!

If you are looking for a Booner, learn to do the math. I don't like to do math while I'm in the field, so just shoot! Try not to tag out right away though, because that's kind of a bummer :(

RE: Help w/judging...please
 

Score is something better left for after the shot.:D

To me personally, everyone of those is a shooter...the antelope in the back is a bruiser...as are a few bucks.

ALL of them are BIG to me though, which is all that matters...are they big to you?

RE: Help w/judging...please
 

They are all nice animals and are shooters unless you are stuck on getting a B&C. Great pictures.

RE: Help w/judging...please
 

Usually you can judge a mule deers spread by the length of it's ears. When they look alert they stick straight out to the side. Tip to tip a mule deer is about 25-30" wide. Then look for tine length and mass. The 3rd picture down is about a 170" mulie I would guess. All those deer are nice but I don't think any of them would go B&C.

Judging an antelope is difficult but usually you want the cutters to at least start above the ears and then keep going. Then you want a good curl on the top. With a good set of glass you can see a very mature antelope by the ivory tips. Scoring an antelope you want length and girth. The spread of an antelope means nothing but looks cool with a good spread.

That is a quick general guide before harvesting one. As far as official score good luck as mule deer and antelope usually will not give you the necessary time to judge them unless you spot them before they spot you.

RE: Help w/judging...please
 

Anyone of those animals with horns would be a trophy to me. IMO any respectable animal that was a challange to hunt and you had a memorable trip is a trophy. IMO, just because it don't make B&C doesn't mean it's not a trophy.

RE: Help w/judging...please
 

Not book animals but very nice in my book. I'd have a hard time passing on any of those deer unless I had a special tag that was once in a lifetime, then they'd all have to walk as there are muley much bigger than that in certain areas. That's part of it too, the area you are in may not have any bigger animals so you need to factor that into the "shoot or not" equation. I know we have bigger deer around here if you can hold out for them, but most people would have a hard time passing on those.

RE: Help w/judging...please
 

Thanks guys, I was not necessarily asking if they would make book, just curious if they were considered a "trophy". I know everyone's interpretation of a trophy is different, but I consider a trophy an animal that is worthy of the wall.

I have a lot harder time telling whether or not the goats are good than I do the mulies. All those stupid goats look the same to me. Where I work I will see several hundred a day, it is unbelievable.

Thankyou sclwald, that was what I was looking for. How to field judge them in order to decide how big they are compared to other mediocre animals.

RE: Help w/judging...please
 

For mulies, spread is not all it is cracked up to be. Most people tend to try to measure the widest point on the rack, which is not correct. Mule deer bucks that tend to really score well have 1) LONG tines, and 2) good MASS. Long eye guards will also help the overall score. My guess is the buck on the top is around 160. He has great lower development, but look at his back forks, they are underdeveloped in comparison to his fronts. That will hurt his score. Most would consider that a trophy, but it would not make the books for that year, let alone overall. The second buck would probably be a 150-ish buck, but hard to tell from that angle.

That one antelope in the back, he's a good buck. Not OH MY GOD good, but a very good buck. Either would be a nice trophy for a anyone but the purest of trophy hunters, and any of them would certainly be nice mounts.

Also, from the well pad on the last antelope, I suspect you are in the Pinedale area?