Have any of you scored your buck before and after the 60 day drying period? Or even later then the 60 days.

After I harvested my buck this fall I scored it 3 different times. The first time was a shot in the dark (literally, friend holding flashlight and I scored ), and I got 162 3/8. The next two times I got 160 1/8". (This is all gross score btw).

After getting my buck back from the taxidermist after 4 months, I scored him again and got 155 5/8".

Im not a professional scorer by any means, but I do know how to do it and couldn't beleive I was off that much.

Would a rack shrink that much? Or should I go back and score it again. Could have been an addition error.

Almost 7" sounds like a lot more shrinkage than I would say would happen over even a lot longer period of time. I'd venture to say you hit on it and one or more of the times you've measured it there was a math miscalculation.

5" inches would be what it shrank. The 162, I wouldn't say was accurate considering the circumstances. I remeasured the day after the kill in the day light and got 160 both times. Ill measure it again sometime this week and see what I come up with.

Why not just have it officially scored?

The 5 inches it shrank could be a few things pope maybe it shrank all of that, maybe it shrank and your score was little diff who knows. I have found that my bucks will shrink 3 to 4 inches over the years. It also has alot to do with were they are kept. Woodstoves or a person that likes it warm in there house all time will not help. It is crazy how much moisture they can loose. I found an 8 pointer that ehd got and he was 168 when he left and 164 when i got him back so your not crazy.

Thanks for the replies everyone,

Woodsman88,
I'd rather learn to do it right then pay people to do it and then never learn. Even though having him officially scored would help, because I would know if my score is close.

iowa whitetail,
Thanks for clarifying that i'm not crazy! Haha. I imagine my measurements are off a little bit. But I wouldn't think 5" off!


Ridge Runner,
Thanks for the copy and paste. Being a official scorer, that post would be the best reference.

Just for the sake of my bragging rights to my family and friends for shooting a bigger deer then them, ill say he shrunk that much

Ill score it again later on this week and see what I come up with.

Thanks

I just had my deer scored that I measured at 165" green, and it came in at 170 4/8ths officially - so go get that thing scored officially!