Bird Hunt Dog

I Thought some of use could use some help with judging the scores on buck. So If you have a pic and and official score please post them here so we know what a 130'' and ect... looks like!!

I know I have a tendency to under judge them. Also If you have any tips that you might use to quickly judge deer.

Thanks for any replies.

longbowman

Use the deers ear as a ruler. The average width of a deers ears when alert is 16" tip to tip. The average length of a deers ear is 6". So when you look at the rack from the side you can look at the ear and determine beam length in 1 1/2 ears or 2 ears etc... The tine lengths are done the same. The average width of a deers ear at it's widest point is 2 1/2". So you can get a good idea on the mass measurements of the antler by comparing them to width of the ear on the deer. These are all averages but I used to score for P&Y while living in Montana and I can usually get within 5" even by a picture if I can see enough of the rack.

John Deer

Here are a few things that will help you quickly estimate a gross score on a buck in the field.

1. The ear spread, for an alert buck is 16 to 18 inches, so if the main beams are at least as wide as the ears you know you've got at least 16-18 inch spread.

2. A deers ear is between 6-8 inches, so you can use that to estimate tine length.

3. An antler that curves in at the tip rather than staying straight indicates a long main beam.

4. The circumference of a deer's eye is approx. 4 inches. You can quickly estimate the mass of the antlers by comparing them to the circumference of the deers eye.

Check out this website http://www.shanepotter.com/fieldjudging.html it goes over what I've already stated plus gives you a couple of other pointers.

BigLouie

Cant' help much with "field" scoring, but can help a little with spelling:

"i" before "e" except after "c"

Bird Hunt Dog

I just noticed that also![&:]

Blodg

Good advice above. Another tip to estimate the actual number of points quickly is to see how many points are sticking up off the main beam above the brow times. I refer to a buck as "2 up" or "3 up" etc. If you see two points sticking up (G2 and G3) then it is an 8 point because you add the brow time and the tip of the beam to get 4 for that side (and then double assuming a symmetrical rack). This is much easier and quicker than actually counting each point. It still cracks me up when you hear a guy talking about the "17 point" he saw the other day, most real hunters know that it is near impossible to count points that exact in the field.

I will say that in my experience in actual bow hunting conditions you do not have a lot of time to judge. My minimum is 125 or a mature buck so when I see a buck coming if he is wider than his ears and has decent mass then I figure he is a shooter and then ignore the antlers from that point and concentrate on the shot and remaining calm. Another method I use to indicate a mature buck when looking from the side is how far does the tips of his main beams protrude torward his nose. If they are near his nose then you know he is a nice one.