Field Scoring Deer
 

Is it me or does it seem like a lot of people will say things like "I saw a 162 maybe a 163". I can't tell a 160 from a 170 especially in the field with a moving deer. I used to not know a 140 from a 180. I have an app on my iPhone that has helped a lot, Rate That Rack. You can guess the score of bunch of different deer and it tells you the correct score. I can at least get within 5-10 points now. Does anyone else have any secretes to scoring deer in the field?

Assume a deer has a browtine and main beam point so count only the points in between, ie a 10pt buck will have 3 pts on a side plus a brow plus the main beam point.

I think most guys say he was a 150 maybe 160...etc....i've never heard a guy say a deer was 163 maybe 164, I could see a guy saying 160 maybe 165...etc...

Almost no 8 pts will be booners...very rare, so 10pts or more tend to be the booners/big deer, even 10pts can be far short of booners. I'm talking 10 point main frames.

Kinda a pet peeve of mine when guys count every lil point on a deer and then exclaim they shot a 22point buck! when its a 10 pointer with stickers...

I see alot of what you are talking about myself with these ridiculous television shows on these days. I personally believe that all of this scoring garbage is becoming a significant factor in an already declining sport. When I was a young kid growing up and shot a 6 pt buck I was thrilled to death but these days well if its not 4.5 yrs old and scores 140 or better well we have to let it walk. Dont get me wrong I enjoy big deer with the best of em but what message is being sent to these kids today who happen to watch a television show telling them the 4pt they shot that they should feel guilty about it. I was so excited when i 1st was able to get direct tv for the hunting shows as I live in the sticks but after the last 5 to 10 yrs of this crap on tv and thats exactly what it is I cant stand it anymore. Watching some fool hunting and blowing on his own personal brand of calls and miraculously here comes a 185" 13 pt deer. I will only let my 13 yr old son watch some of them because of the stupid stuff they say and push about deer and hunting in general. Anyways back to your question. i am not any authority or good at field scoring deer myself so sorry I cant help you.

+1 Thunder!!! I've quit watching all but 4 or 5 shows that are on the two main hunting channels I get because of what you stated! Put all those experts on public land like a lot of people hunt on, or even on private land that somebody hasn't done everything for them but shoot the deer from their prehung tree stand and they wouldn't kill squat!!! My favorite is Stan "give me a second" Potts---NOT!!!

Guys that say they saw a 162" or 163" buck are blowin' smoke. Anyone that has enough experience can make an educated guess that is very close, but when they dub it down to guessing a buck's score (that they saw not killed) to within a point, that's a bit ridiculous. I know some hunters are extremely good a scoring deer before putting a tape on it, but that's after the buck is down and they've had a chance to really exam it.

Personally, I usually give a range....130 to 140 class, etc. there's a less likely chance of being way off :-)

Agree with Thunderchicken. When did hunting become just about what a deer scores? The best part of hunting for me is the success after all the off-season's hard work. It's the feeling of a successful hunt/season following day after day in the stand in the cold, heat, rain, snow, and anything else mother nature can throw at us. The experience is what hunting is and will always be for me.

I'm quite certain Stan killed a 190 or 200"+ deer on public land...

I agree with much of what you're saying though.

I don't get to watch any of these shows pretty much anymore, all I get is VS, they took away our hunting channel without having to sign up for some other package and I already think I spend twice what I should be paying for cable, don't get me started! haha.


With all the hype on deer scores I hear about these days, I still see dinks being shot all over the place and guys saying they'd love to shoot a big boy one day, all the while they would never shoot a doe or pass up on a small buck.

I dont score deer.it gets too technical and sometimes people tend to forget what hunting is all about(not monster bucks)
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