PGC Big Game Records Book
 

I shot a nice symmetrical eight point buck back in Oct '23 that my taxidermist green scored at 129 0/8 gross. The minimum score for the Game Commission's record book for a typical archery whitetail is 115 0/8 net. I used the B&C spreadsheet to score them myself after the 60 day drying period and came up with 125 3/8 net. I've been trying to get it officially scored by the PGC since mid December but so far no luck. It would also qualify for P&Y (125 0/8 min net) except for the fact that they won't accept crossbow kills so my only real option is the PGC book.

The first thing I did was to email Bob D'Angelo who is in charge of the PGC book. He has given me the names and email addresses of two different Game Wardens who are official scorers but so far neither of them have responded to my emails. I understand that they are probably still swamped with work right now but it would be nice if they could at least acknowledge that they received my messages or give me some idea of when they might be available. Has anyone else ever tried this? I guess if you want to drive that far you can also take antlers to the PGC booth at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg to have them scored...

BTW, the shed in the photo is one that I found in Nov '21. I don't know if it is from the same deer but it sure looks similar. I found it about 1/2 mile from where I shot the buck last fall.

Usually I PGC has a measuring session at one or two regional offices each year. What county do you live in? When I was sill working people would bring their deer racks and bear skulls to the HBG Headquarters to be measured. Give it a few more days to se if the officers call you back.

Thanks. I'm in Clearfield County.

OK I know a guy in Lebanon Co who probably would have done your measurments for you but you ae too far away. If you don't hear anything soon call Bob back in HBG.

NICE PA buck!

Is your guy an official PGC scorer? Bob told me there is a scoring session at the NE Region Office in Dallas, PA on March 2nd. Only problem is that's 180 miles and about a 3-1/2 hour drive from me. I normally wouldn't even consider that but my taxidermist already has the cape back from tanning and I don't want to hold him up either.
Bob also gave me the name of a scorer in Jersey Shore which is a little closer. I talked to him a few weeks ago and he said he was trying to organize a scoring session there but I haven't heard anything further from him yet either.
At this point I'm trying to decide if I should just give the rack back to the taxidermist and try again to get it scored after it has been mounted.
Decisions, decisions. LOL

Thank you!

Yes he is, he is a retired director of the informatiom education division.

Good news!

After my last post I went out this morning to check trail cameras and look for sheds. No luck on the shed hunting but I did get a video of a decent basket racked eight point.

I assume this is just a coincidence but not long after I got back to the house I received a call from the first warden that I had tried to contact back in early Dec. He is in Blair County.

He said he didn't think he ever got my first email and that he had been contacted about it just recently by the second warden that I tried.

Anyway, we have a scoring session scheduled for March 6th in Huntington which is only about a 60 mile drive.

Great, let us know what it measures.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be somewhere in the 120's which isn't all that impressive but considering my age and where I hunt I seriously doubt I'll ever get anything better. But it would be nice for the deer to get a little recognition.

BTW, here's the mount from a nine point I got on my property during the 2021 PA archery season. It doesn't score as high as last year's eight point but at the time I assumed it would be my best ever.

Nothing wrong with that deer, nice and wide and good mass.

Might surprise yourself this fall, who knows!

- Jake

One of this year's survivors is that wide eight that is very similar to the mounted nine from 2021 but I doubt he will ever outscore last year's buck. Here's a recent video of him at the front of a stampede past one of my cameras.

Just got back from Huntingdon. The official net score was 125 1/8 which is a whopping 1/4" less than my own unofficial net score which shocked the heck out of me considering that was the first deer I have ever tried to score. One of my buddies went along and took a rack from a buck his younger brother got in 2013. It was a ten point and netted around 127. Very nice buck as well.

Congrats your guess was pretty good.!

I should get my buck scored I have no idea what it would go. Congrats on cracking 125!

It wasn't really a guess. If you go to the Boone & Crockett website they have a spreadsheet that you simply enter the measurements into and it does all the math for you. When I did my own score back in December I used a simple seamstress flexible tape and got pretty close. The official scorer used a combination of a small diameter flexible cable, a folding ruler and a 1/4" wide steel tape. He also used masking tape whenever he needed to hold the cable in place as he went around curves or if he needed to mark reference lines. He used the cable to get the length dimensions and then transferred those onto the wooden folding ruler. The 1/4" steel tape was used only for circumferential measurements.

The flexible tape I used was really too wide to get accurate circumferential measurements and that is where we had most of the differences between his and my numbers. I took a print-out of the chart with my scores and it was fun to compare numbers. I was within an eight of an inch on almost every measurement and quite a few were right on. I did have one brain fart where one of my measurements was like 3/4" too long but it evened out in the end because the rack was actually more symmetrical than I had it so that meant there was less of a difference from side-to-side and therefore a smaller deduction from the overall (gross) score. The B&C method places a lot of emphasis on the symmetry of typical racks. Mine had only 2-3/8" of side-to-side deductions.

Here's a link to the B&C typical whitetail scoring chart:

https://www.boone-crockett.org/score...whitetail_deer

I actually know how it is done. I was an official mearurer for The PGC records book for 13 years.

Awesome! So can you still do any official scoring? It sure seems like they could use your help.

No I can't, I have been retired since 2008 and haven't done any measuring since about 1989.

That's cool ot. I'm sure you've had your hands on some great PA deer over the years

- Jake

I have seen some dandies.

Does anyone know where to go to purchase a hard copy of the PGC Big Game Records Book? Is the 2024 edition out yet? If it's on their website it's pretty well hidden.
I was able to find the entry list but not how to get the actual book. I was also able to verify that my buck from last year has been entered.
Since Bob D'Angelo recently retired does anyone know who is now in charge of maintaining and updating the book?

You may be able to order it on their website or you can go the the HBG headquarters at 2001 Elmerton Ave Hbg PA and buy it at the counter in the lobby.

Thanks. I think I found some other answers, sort of. I was perusing the 2024/2025 Hunting & Trapping Digest and noticed some info at the bottom of page 41. While that is more about buying a member patch it does say that the 2024 edition of the record book doesn't go on sale until October.

I assume you will be able to order a copy by calling the number shown (888-888-3459) on page 41.

I was also able to find the 2023 edition of the record book here: https://huntfish.pa.gov/products/catalog/miscother
so I assume you will be able to order the 2024 edition in the same location sometime in October.

Awesome Buck congratulations as well as congratulations in making it in the book of records! I had an 8 pointer scored up here that had made the record book for Maine.. It to took a long time finding an official scorer but eventually got it done. Then it took a long time hearing back from them. Mine was taken with a muzzleloader though..

Yes, I believe so.

Got a cool surprise today. Several months ago I sent my nephew a photo of my buck from last season which also includes the tracking dog that found it and asked if he could do something with it. He's a pretty decent artist but has never been much into wildlife. He came by this evening with the finished product. He did it as a pencil drawing.

The mount was done by Jordan's Taxidermy of Punxsutawney, PA.

Both the art work and the mount are great!

Thanks OT!