What score means to you

[huntindude]

One thing I tend to notice when talking amongst hunters is a wide variance on the importance of a bucks score. Personally unless I kill a deer that I think may make the record book of course I would care about the score. Other than that, as long as the deer is mature and looks like something I would be proud of I could care less about a meaningless number. I get kind of confused when I hear guys talk about a deer they either passed on or saw on TC and say " that buck was beautiful but I don't think he would score high." I dunno, maybe I am the oddball, anyone else feel the same way I do?

[popup_menace]

I'm more about herd management than score. I'll kill a young doe if my capacity is high and I have a surplus fawn crop (i.e. Twins on almost every mama doe). Those deer are almost as much a trophy to me as a big buck. To me, the best reward of hunting is putting meat in the freezer while maintaining a healthy and thriving deer herd.

[lameduck]

0

[super_dave]

It all depends on what/how you're trying to manage the property. We have a self imposed, 5 or 130 rule that will help us establish a healthy and older deer herd. So for me score is very important. We want to get to the point where we pass a 140-150" deer to have the opportunity at a 170.

[muzzlebrake]

Well you can try them raw, baked, broiled, boiled, roasted, fried or stewed but you still can't eat them ol horns. Taking out the older bucks that ain't never gonna amount to anything except breed more junk is most important to me.

[txdukklr]

more curiousity for me. I will say that I'd like to best my best but I've gotten a kick out of shooting every single deer i've ever shot and more out of those that I've helped get shot.

I'll also say this deer is one of those deer that scored much lower then you'd expect but he has horn in every single place that didn't score. the amount of mass carried all the way through the tines was ridiculous.

[huntindude]

It all depends on what/how you're trying to manage the property. We have a self imposed, 5 or 130 rule that will help us establish a healthy and older deer herd. So for me score is very important. We want to get to the point where we pass a 140-150" deer to have the opportunity at a 170.

good idea here, I do agree looking at score in terms of "classes" is a good way to mangage a deer herd, ie. 130 class, 140 class etc. I am mainly ranting about the people that shoot a darn good buck that scores lets say 147 and dont seem happy with it because they thought he was a 150

[Backwoods101]

I have a 151 11 point in my garage and 9 point that is pushing 130 on my wall in the living room What makes a deer a throphy to me is the story leading up to the harvest.

[huntindude]

more curiousity for me. I will say that I'd like to best my best but I've gotten a kick out of shooting every single deer i've ever shot and more out of those that I've helped get shot.

I'll also say this deer is one of those deer that scored much lower then you'd expect but he has horn in every single place that didn't score. the amount of mass carried all the way through the tines was ridiculous.

we need a "like button" very pretty buck

[150class]

I like to best my previous buck with the next. So score seems to set a standard for me, however if there is a buck that really stands out that might not score as high he could be a arrow.

All depends on the situation at hand. Whether there's history with the deer or maybe a certain characteristic he expresses.

I get very frustrated when I hear guys talk about a deer they either passed on or saw on TC and say " that buck was beautiful but I don't think he would score high."
^^^^^^^^^^^
Also it seems silly to get mad at someone else's preference....

[huntindude]

I like to best my previous buck with the next. So score seems to set a standard for me, however if there is a buck that really stands out that might not score as high he could be a arrow.

All depends on the situation at hand. Whether there's history with the deer or maybe a certain characteristic he expresses.

[B]I get very frustrated when I hear guys talk about a deer they either passed on or saw on TC and say " that buck was beautiful but I don't think he would score high."
^^^^^^^^^^^
Also it seems silly to get mad at someone else's preference....

[/B]

probably could have worded that differently as I always have a "to each their own" attitude hunting is for fun and relaxing, I dont get mad over silly stuff like that. fixed the original post "confused" was the word I was looking for

[doright]

If they passed on it or saw it on trail camera then it is like the fish that got away. It can be as big or small as you want it to be. For me score is a non issue other than when someone is describing a deer it helps to visualize what they or describing. I could tell you I saw an eight point or I could tell you I saw a 130 class eight point.

[Mailman]

On our place SW of Dallas, with Tuthdoc, we ran cameras most of the year so we always had a pretty good idea of what we were chasing. I was raised in my hunting experiences by John so I hunted alot like him, probably to a fault. He obviously had way more experience than me, but I tried to emulate him, so I hunted like him, but not nearly as well...

He would lock in on a particular buck and chase that deer until he got him, the deer broke a tine, or the season ran out. I did the same thing, but while doing that I passed on quite a few deer that weren't the deer I was chasing, but anybody would have been happy to kill. I am seeing a white-horn 9 point I should have drilled, and there was that 10 point that wasn't quite wide enough... Some of my best memories are the ones that got away!!!

I always wanted to kill mature deer, and then I looked at the rack. I never chose a deer or passed a deer based on what I thought he would score. It was that initial viewing, did he tickle my fancy? I once traded Tuthdoc a 153" 11 point, so I could sit in his blind and chase an old 10 point that probably scored 130". He killed the 11 and I never saw that 10 in person... You win some, you lose some.

For me score has merit because it identifies the caliber of deer that you are hunting or have killed. It also shows the progression of a buck as he gets older, it shows the progression of your management plan, and also gives us something to argue about around a Campfire.

I know some guys who hunt purely for score, and I see no problem with that either... To each his own. I am never going to tell someone how to hunt, what to hunt, or that I am better. Hunting for me, is a lifestyle, it is something I have had in my blood since I was old enough to remember, I Love It!!!

[huntindude]

good stuff so far. I hope I didn't stir the pot to much as I am relatively new and this is a great site. I guess I will hold off a little longer before I start a spike thread

[8pointer]

One thing I tend to notice when talking amongst hunters is a wide variance on the importance of a bucks score. Personally unless I kill a deer that I think may make the record book of course I would care about the score. Other than that, as long as the deer is mature and looks like something I would be proud of I could care less about a meaningless number. I get kind of confused when I hear guys talk about a deer they either passed on or saw on TC and say " that buck was beautiful but I don't think he would score high." I dunno, maybe I am the oddball, anyone else feel the same way I do?

I really like your post


For me, I look at score as another way to praise the animal with a great deal of respect for the deer and all involved of helping that particular deer get there (Supplemental feeding, letting mature etc). From a shooting perspective, it doesn't take any more skill to shoot a 180" buck over a 120". To shoot a mature buck is a trophy in itself, no matter what is on top of his head. If you like him, that is all that matters.