Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I see a rash of posts lately with the question "What do you think he will score?" included somewhere.

My question is do you guys REALLY care what some book says your deer scores?

and if that "score" turns out to be less then you hoped..........do you then feel not as good about the deer as you would have if the score was higher??


It is mind boggling to me how some people can have this HUGE brute of a buck on the ground and still need the validation of someone else to say how good a deer it is.


Maybe I am reading into it wrong..........I mean I could see if depending on the score you have a new world record and lots of income on the line........but I can't imagine any other scenerio that would warrant any concern over what number they say your deer falls into.

140-150-160-170............how important is that??...........when compared to the true treasure of the memory of that hunt that only YOU get to play over and over in your mind for the rest of your life..........and the years of stories you tell when someone sees him on your wall.


Just seems like scoring has been obsessive around here lately so I thought I would ask.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

i really could care less what it scores i am with you on the memories and stories you can have and tell. but then again when i am hunting i could careless how big the deer is or how many points it has if its dumb enough to walk past me it should be shot. in my book all deer are trophies no matter how big or small

just my 2 cents

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

i really dont care what a buck scores, a nice buck is a nice buck. i dont really hunt for antlers cant eat them anyway. if you score a on big one great thats all good but would you want media all over you and people coming over everyday asking to see him? maybe for a little bit but then i think id go crazy:eek: but yea im a meat hunter, if a good buck comes by great ill shoot him but other than that no i dont care what a buck scores. IMO

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I really dont care about score either. I have two pope and youngs and never put them in the book.. I'd rather work HARD for a buck and have it be a GREAT hunt and be a smaller buck, than shoot a BOOK buck and happen to walk onto some preserve or someones back yard and shoot it.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

NOPE... never have measured one and probably never will. It just doesn't concern me. If
someone tells me a buck scored something... I say to myself... how nice for the deer.
Was it nice, big or bodacious.:)

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

You can't eat bone...well, you can, but it would be sorta hard!

davidmil, Nice fishin poles you got there! :);)

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I could care less. I hunt for the meat. I would sooner take a big doe over a small buck with a big rack. I like to make sausage, steaks, cube steaks, jerkey, hamburger, bologna and whatever else we try. I will take whatever deer comes in front of me whether it is 50 lbs or 250. First come first served....Biggest in the group though takes the weapon of choice. I concentrate on filling every tag I have in either of the three seasons with whatever weapon is legal at the time..and then I go back and fill up on bonus tags until the season is over. 11 deer last year, 34 between the three of us here. 5 deep freezers and many meals later we are nearing the bottom but fillin' er back up!!!! Who cares what they score.....

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Yes I do care what my buck will score. I don't pass judgements on any other persons Bow kill. I will reserve the right to say "nice deer" if it was done with a gun.

Enjoy of the hunt? Yes that is what makes it so much fun. I've had the opportunity to watch some really nice bucks just this season alone. Knowing they wouldn't score high enough to top off the year being my personal trophy. I have let bigger deer walk now over the years then I have killed. You know now they seem to be getting more and more plentiful. Real fun is watching a very nice buck under your stand and let him walk waiting for the bigger one. Try it, it's addictive.;)

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

You are so correct. It is kind of disrespectful to the animal you just harvested.

IMHO, the only reason for scoring is to one-up someone else (read: immaturity). If you felt good about the deer when you shot it, what does it matter now that it is dead?

EVERY deer is a trophy in my book. Sure, I hunt for the big boys just like most, but I give it my own personal score first - that determines whether the arrow flies or not.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Yeah, I care what a buck scores. When I look at a buck through my bino's if I dont think he will score over a certain number and if hes not a mature buck, then I dont shoot. I lease part of the ranch out to a group of guys each year. I wont allow them to shoot any "trophy" bucks unless they are mature, and I have to know the score of the deer (along with other things) for my personal records. Around here measuring a buck is the first thing that is done after he is shot and field dressed. I'm not in a competition against anybody I simply like big deer, and I like shooting big deer.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I like the meat, but I hunt for the rack. It's kind of like going for a 6lb bass over a 1lb bass.

I enjoy the challenge of eluding the usually smarter, older trophy bucks.

.

It's not really disrespectfult because I only shoot what I plan to mount. I actually think it's more respectful because it'ds not the "it's brown it's down" theory.

I believe each persons ideal of a trophy is different. A new hunter may feel a doe is a trophy. The next year just getting anything with horns may be a trophy. Then a 16" may by a trophy and so on.

I am to the point where I won't shoot and arrow if it's under seventeen inches wide, but I certainly was just as excited shooting my first basket rack buck.

I just try to increase my personal best from season to season. I think we all do this weather it's a golf score, big fish, or bowling game, or whitetail hunting.

Cybersniper

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I don't really care what he scores but its nice to have a common measuring stick to be able to talk to other hunters so they can get a better picture of what your saying etc. Thats prolly why gross is the more popular number, to talk about all the bone they grow, not what they don't grow symetrically. Besides, its fun too, you can bug your buddy....or he can bug you. My buddy arrowed a 3 point muley that grosses just under a 100" so we says it part of the spoon and cricket club...its fun.

B:D

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

not a bit

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I hunt deer, not numbers. [&:]

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Well it is nice to get a monster,but cant eat horns.Here in Pa you better count points or you could end up in the pokey.Point restrictions here

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I could care less about the actual # it scored. I do let a lot of the small guys walk in search of Mr. Big, but it's all about the hunt for me. This may sound strange, but to me a small buck that you harvested that gives you a great story or memory is much more of a trophy than a 160 class buck that comes down the trail stops 10 yards broadside and you kill it.
I have a small 6 pointer mounted (as well as some monsters;)) that I only had mounted cause it was the best hunt of my life. To make a longgggggg story short....8 years ago I still hunted (ended up crawling on my belly) this guy all day. I saw where he bedded down and I crawled to about 50 yards of where he was laying and I myself laid there on my stomach allllll day long waiting for him to get up and browse so I could get a shot. He did NOT move until about 30 minutes before dark. Then finally he got up and came out behind the thick nasty crap and poked his vitals out into a shooting lane. 9 hours or so later I harvested him. Lot more to the story than that but that's the short version. Now that is what it's about for me.:D

Oh yeah I think he scored 85 1/8" or so.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

yes and no. I think being able to correlate the score to a known size in my head allows me to understand how big a deer someone shot. I just look at it as counting points. Its just a number that gives a description of the rack.
Now as far as what I will shoot, I don't care what it scores, just how it looks. If it is nice looking to me, I'll shoot it. I won't shoot something much smaller than what I already have, unless it has some sort of uniqueness to it, as in the case of my buck this year. I am also trying to shoot older bucks, regardless of rack size.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Nope. I like a good lookin mature buck. That's what I go for. I may measure if I get a MONSTER, but a mature buck with a 15 in spread is AOK with me. :D

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Looking for those lost balls again NY???

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

LOL I did happen to come across a couple of Titleist that seemed to look familiar.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

When everyone is talking about what a deer scored it sometimes takes the best part out of hunting. I try to remember the hunt and how everything went when I remember deer I have taken. Not what the score of the rack, but more of the chase that went into putting you on the path the deer was going to travel, the excitement of watching it close the gap, and the shot you made. I was lucky enough to harvest a nice 10 point buck last year, and I havent had it measured because yea it might go 140 but should I feel dissapointed if it went 130 or less? Anyway I think we are all thinking right and scoring is just a way for us to further measure the great trophies we sometimes get lucky enough to get.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I dont care what it scores as long as its bigger then the last buck i shot then im taking it.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I hate to see young bucks get shot, or young does. I liken it to children that still need the guidance of their parents before they are pushed out into the real world. So I pass on immature deer. Personally I find no satisfaction in shooting a young buck or doe, they are niave and uneducated. I fill my freezer every season with deer and elk. I will only harvest a mature buck, mature doe and mature elk whether it be a cow or bull. I almost feel sorry for the youngsters as I see them making dumb mistakes. I go so far as to spook the crap out of them just so they get educated a tad.

As for antler score, I love big mature bucks that have been educated,. yet I could care less if he scores 125-190 as long as hes 3.5 years or older. ( I used 125 as a starting point since most bucks here that make 3.5 generally gross that ) These mature animals force you to do the little things right. They make you a better bowhunter imo. They don't make the same mistakes on the average that a younger doe or buck makes. At the end of Elk season, I am always happy to harvest a BIG OLE COW elk over a small bull. I see in my neck of the woods a lot of hunters that JUST have to have a bull, no matter how old he is, just to say "I KILLED A BULL" and the same with bucks. "I KILLED A BUCK". Well I would much rather kill a DOE OR COW for the meat than to kill a young buck/bull or young doe/cow. If your a MEAT hunter you don't NEED TO KILL a buck or bull ...The does and cows eat just as well or better. As for young hunters, like my sons coming up, I would encourage them to take any animal they had a good shot on.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

It's all about the hunt, the kill, and the memories for me. Score, to me, means nothing. On the other hand i do enjoy guessing at any given deer's gross and i do score my deer merely for, if you don't mind my saying, "sh*ts and giggles." Thats my opinion.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I only care about how many Lbs. of jerky meat I get!!

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Score doesn't matter if it did we would never kill a thing.baseball score mean's something not deer hunting

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

The actual score does not matter to me, but I hunt for the challenge of shooting a mature deer. And there just isn't much of a challenge in shooting a young buck (or doe). I agree with everything Shed33 said in his post.

I won't criticize the guy who shoots the first deer to walk by for the meat, but those types should not criticize those of us who hunt the big ones for the challenge. Waiting for a nice one lets you observe so much more and for me it makes the hunt more enjoyable. I get more satisfaction from letting a decent 2 1/2 year old buck walk than I would from actually shooting a small buck especially when you know 95% of the bowhunters out there would have took a shot at him. Some of you know what I mean and many of you will never understand but that's OK.

Again, I look for a mature deer but the actual score is the last thing I think about when I see him coming torwards me. Now after the kill it is fun to see what certain antler types score and it is fun to guess and see how close you can come. But does that make a 3 1/2 yr old 150 a better accomplishment than a 3 1/2 yr old 125? No.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Absolutely!

Although it isn't about "the Book".

I am intrigued by many of the replies. If antler size wasn't important to most hunters, there wouldn't be the high demand for the prime hunting areas that there is in the various parts of the country. Magazine covers would sure look a lot different, and the name Mitch Rompola would only spark a discussion if he was your neighbor or relative. :)

Having said that, it doesn't matter to me what someone elses preferences are. If a hunting partner shoots a small deer I congratulate him and enjoy "his moment" just the same as I would if it was a "Booner". The fun of course is in the journey not just the destination.

But for me, my mission is to let the string go on a mature buck. I do not need, nor do I seek, validation from anyone else on any buck that I am lucky enough to get. In fact most of the people in my area don't have any idea if I get a good buck or not. I don't show off any of my kills. I obtain what I seek in the magnificent memories and satisfaction that I carry of the encounter with that animal. Memories, not only of that particular animal, but many others that I observe, and interact with, in the course of my pursuit of a mature deer. In that respect my experience is no different than most of the replies to this post, just that in most cases, size usually comes with maturity, therefore yes, I do care what the buck scores.

I am fortunate to live where I do. I am not elbow to elbow competing with seven dozen other hunters for a year and a half old six point. I can afford to be picky. If some of my tags go unfilled, I don't fret.

I didn't always feel this way. Just getting a deer used to be all I needed. But as with many things in life, time changes a person. In part because of where I live, in part because of the time I can spend on stand, number of deer killed, and certainly because I love the challenge mature animals present, my hunting experience has evolved to the point where I get no satisfaction in taking a young animal. Of course a mature animal doesn't automatically equal a 140 + class buck, but the odds are certainly better for an older buck to be a heavier horned animal.


If size equals "score" then yes, I do care what a buck scores. I would be lying if I said no.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Of course I care what it scores, if it's a big one. It 's interesting to know how a large buck compares to others. No one cares what a small buck scores, however, go out and shoot a 220" buck and then tell me you don't care to know it's score. If so, you would be an odd fellow, indeed.

Oh, and if it's big buck, I'm not going to mount the backstraps on my wall, it's going to be the head with antlers. :eek:

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I coouldnt care less any deer I am fortunate enough to take with my bow is a true trophy to me. And when I stop feeling that way I will also stop hunting them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Well, a 4 pt.er wouldn't score much.... I think.... no, I don't care.:D

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Yes, it does to me. Let's face it, in most cases a young deer is much easier to get the drop on than a mature deer. I associate big numbers with older deer and a bigger accomplishment.
Are you telling me that if all deer had the same rack(say,the rack of a 1/2 year old 4 pointer), you would hunt as much as you do?
I wouldn't. I would hunt, but probably would not be obsessed with it.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I don't care what my deer scores...I only care if it's a big doe for meat, or a big buck to brag about to my buddies. I don't shoot anything in between...Meat/Trophy...in that order.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Yes it means everything. But not the final score, I call it the "wow factor". If it's a deer that I'll be proud of, when I see him on the hoof, I'll be proud of him when I put the final tape on him and send him to the taxidermy guy.

I'm not a meat hunter and I pass my share of smaller bucks. That;s my choice, it hasn't always been this way but it is now and has been for the last 3-4 years. I don't try to shape others into my view-point and I expect the same courtesy.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

I see a lot of guys saying stuff like "I don't say anything to people who shoot small bucks and I expect the same treatment in return"


No one is saying anything about either scenerio being right or wrong.

All I was asking is does the SCORE really mean that much to people.

Look at the Zaft buck......reguardless of the foggy details ;) That is one freaking awesome deer. However when iy was scored it turned into "Just another big deer" score wise anyway. Now say what you want about that deer but damn I can't see how someone would think any less of it just because of some arbitrary number assigned to it from a group of strangers trying to sell a book.


I shot a big buck (for my area) last year and had it scored because I didn't even know how it was done and was curious. He scored 122 1/8". That number means NOTHING to me. It doesn't make me think he is a better deer then a 110 class buck or any less a deer then a 140 class buck. That buck is such a rare find in the woods I hunt and provided me with such a great memory I will treasure for life...............that no number could ever come close to expressing.

When people ask me about my deer I show them a picture or the mount.


I just view "scoring" as a search for validation or approval from others and a tangible way for guys to say that their deer is "better" then others.


I can't possibly comprehend how someone could be disappointed or feel less about a buck they killed based soley on some ficticuos number given to that animal by a total stranger working for a money making book seller.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

ABSOLUTELY

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Atlasman, we are just trying to head-off the QDM topic. You've been around long enough to see those topics on the boards. They tend to get ugly and we (or at least I) didn't want to go there again by responding to your thread.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

The decision on the scoring of this buck was HUGE. It meant the difference between being an archery world record typical whitetail with all of the monetary rewards and residuals or as you put it "just another big deer". Hence Zaft's disdain for Pope & Young, and a reason for disappointment. I don't think anyone looks "down" on the actual animal because of a scoring decision.


Maybe I am reading you wrong, but it seems the essence of your post is
disparaging to those who are interested in scoring their bucks. Therefore you get the comments like you alluded to.

Your opinion, and one that you have every right to have, is fine. However, the words you use to describe your reasoning are very belittling to to a large group of upstanding and outstanding hunters. If you had said something like "scores don't mean that much to me because every deer is a trophy in my eyes" I could understand that just fine. But to make the above statement is down right offensive.

Perhaps there are some, but I don't know of any true bow hunter that fits the above description. Many hunters have bucks scored that though they qualify, are not listed in the "money making book..". The numbers by the way, are not "fictitious", they are factual. Actual measurements, real numbers. Of course you know that because you had one measured.

I know of a guy that killed a buck that scored 169 7/8". He really wanted to net that 170 mark and qualify for Boone and Crockett. Was he disappointed in his buck or the experience because he missed it by an eighth of an inch.? Not at all. Was he disappointed that he didn't hit the 170 mark? Sure, but it doesn't make him feel less about the buck!

When I look at the totality of your posts, the one that seems to be hung up on scores is Atlas. ;)

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Without a doubt.

That's kinda sad IMO.

RE: Do you REALLY care what a buck scores??
 

Well i'm glad they are not all alike, and we don't have to worry about that. I rabbit, squirrel and other small game hunt and they are all alike (basically) so i'd still hunt.
But the obsession of chasing 1 buck all year or a certain quality of deer is certainly consuming. It's a different passion than just shooting what-ever-comes-by. It gets personal, so I can see his point.

Once again I'm not putting anyone down or saying this or that about how "you" hunt it's just my thing.