Tips for scoreing bucks on the hoof. Lets hear them!
I have seen alot of guesses on TBH on scoring deer, and while I am definitly not an expert, I use a few tools to judge deer and wanted too see what others use as well to field judge bucks so we can help others get better at it as well. Lets hear where you hunt and how you field judge your deer!Here's a few I use.
I use the eyeball to help calculate mass. If the bases are equal to the width of the bucks eyeball then I usually assume that the bucks bases are between5-6in. There are 8 mass measurements. So that being said if the buck carries this same mass almost to the tips of his horns, then the buck will have some where between 30-40 inches of mass especially if the bases are even bigger than 6 inches. Most deer will carry between 22-30in of mass in my area.
Knowing your area is important as to how to field judge deer as well. In my area if a buck is just even his ears the buck is about 14inches wide. In other areas of the state or out of the state they could be 16+ inches wide. Either way, width does not add a significant amount to the score of a deer as much as we love those wide bucks. For instance if a buck is 25 inches wide vs only 16 inches wide the difference in score with the same point lengths would only be 9 inches yet the 25inch deer will look twice as big. There are some high scoreing deer out there with skinny racks. Also, remember bucks heading away from you always look wider than they are.
Beams are super important and since there are two of them they are twice as important as width in my opinon. A buck with antler swooping out past his nose will usually be around 22-25 inches per beam in most cases. Of course this depends on the on the curve in the horn and the width of the buck and it will take a little more skill to learn to judge. Most bucks in East texas where I do most of my hunting, have some where between 17-22 inch main beams.
I've got more but I'd like to hear from some of yall how you score a deer from a game cam pic or from the stand. Lets hear them!
I use the eyeball to help calculate mass. If the bases are equal to the width of the bucks eyeball then I usually assume that the bucks bases are between5-6in. There are 8 mass measurements. So that being said if the buck carries this same mass almost to the tips of his horns, then the buck will have some where between 30-40 inches of mass especially if the bases are even bigger than 6 inches. Most deer will carry between 22-30in of mass in my area.
Knowing your area is important as to how to field judge deer as well. In my area if a buck is just even his ears the buck is about 14inches wide. In other areas of the state or out of the state they could be 16+ inches wide. Either way, width does not add a significant amount to the score of a deer as much as we love those wide bucks. For instance if a buck is 25 inches wide vs only 16 inches wide the difference in score with the same point lengths would only be 9 inches yet the 25inch deer will look twice as big. There are some high scoreing deer out there with skinny racks. Also, remember bucks heading away from you always look wider than they are.
Beams are super important and since there are two of them they are twice as important as width in my opinon. A buck with antler swooping out past his nose will usually be around 22-25 inches per beam in most cases. Of course this depends on the on the curve in the horn and the width of the buck and it will take a little more skill to learn to judge. Most bucks in East texas where I do most of my hunting, have some where between 17-22 inch main beams.
I've got more but I'd like to hear from some of yall how you score a deer from a game cam pic or from the stand. Lets hear them!
I look how the neck meets the body, leg length, hips, shoulders, belly, back, hocks, the over all size, the head. I put all those parts together and make a fairly educated guess. Sometimes the attitude of a deer might influence my decision a year, but rarely more than a year.
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