When Does a Buck Start to Look Impressive

[47]

On the last day of the hunt, according to TV shows.

[texas shag]

A free range buck over 150" gets my attention, regardless of age. for me, age in the determining factor of harvest, as well as if my ticker really gets going. But 150" of antler will cause me to throw up the binoculars real quick and start studying in detail.

[Encinal]

Impressive is about ratios.

If one or more aspect of score is extremely disproportionately larger to the other aspects, the deer is impressive. I.e. Width, Mass, Tine Length/number, beams

If the antler size is favorably larger than the deer's body size, he is also impressive. This could be because the deer is young or because the deer is small bodied.

The inverse is true as well. Large bodied deer that score more, are less impressive than a deer of equal antler size with a smaller body. (ground grow).
Large antlered deer with all aspects in proportion tend to score more than expected (ground grow).

[Bisch]

I think it is over 125 for me. I have never had a place that you would see 140's or bigger, and I have never seen one that big while hunting. if I ever do though, I hope I can keep from shaking long enough to get a good shot off!

Bisch

[AntlerCollector]

It depends on where I'm hunting. 4.5 yo buck 135+ does it for me in the hill country. In East Texas just the shine in their eyes from the Q-beam gets my heart pounding

[mikeyb_23]

For me probably around 135, with a big body.

[stickman]

Big bucks are great to see, but what's fires me up is when I see a 1.5 or 2.5 year old deer with great potential. No, you cant know for sure what they are gonna be but it's the patience, time, and work you put in to make sure that deer stays alive and healthy that really gets me going. Sure wish I had pics of this but just hear me out. I watched a deer that had a particularly curious rack at 1.5yrs of age. He wasn't very big but was narrow and fairly tall. Over the next few years he put on phenomenal mass maintaining about a 12-13" spread. That's when we gave him the name tree trunk. By 5.5 he was a 160ish" deer height, mass, and time length. After not having seen him when he was 6.5 I was pretty discouraged, thinking poachers or a fight may have ended him life. That year came and went, no sightings, sheds, no nothing. The following year I saw him at 7.5 years old from 3-400 yards away and immediately recognized him, told my friends dad where he had been and for him to go hunt him. That evening the buck was killed, scored in the upper 170's with the same 13" width, crazy height, and Tree trunk like mass. That whole story started when he was 1.5yrd old.

[tbgascorer]

I have seen more 115-125" mistakes than you can shake a stick at. That, to me, is the point where your average hunter starts getting very anxious.

[Jspradley]

... when he walks in front of me

[Ryan81]

I get excited when they are older than 3.5 and nobody has shot them because they needed meat or the neighbors would've.

This

[KactusKiller]

Id say any rack that is 130+ really gets my attention when I first see a buck.

[rattler03]

It depends for me. I'd say any buck over 140" is for sure going to get me excited, but a 125" 8 pointer probably will too. Its just hard for an 8 point to compete on score alone with deer with 10 or more points, but that doesn't mean they look any less impressive to me. As someone said above, any buck that has something exceptional (mass, spread, tine length, non-typical points, etc.) can get me excited even if it doesn't score too high. Every buck is different, but in a lot of cases I'd probably rather shoot a 130" buck with a lot character than just a straight, nothing unique typical 145".

[Thumper]

This is very subjective. Some here hunt high fence. Some here may only see a few bucks a year. Some hunt the Edwars Plateau where a mature buck might weigh 120lbs some hunt the panhandle where a buck might go 220lbs.

What score do you personally begin thinking a buck looks impressive. For me I think a deer starts looking inpressive around the 145 mark. When I see a buck scoring in that range in person it gets my heart beating a little more quickly or it casuses me to take considerable pause while browsing trail cam pictures.

Im not saying thats the criteria for shooting a buck passed on 2 this year in the upper 40s lower 50s. But it doesn't change the fact they looked good!

What say you green screen. When do you start getting excited by a rack?

17 yards......

[xman59]

when he looks like he is over 150#, i like big bodied deer

[mjbtexas]

I get jacked up over a blur of movement...I have hunted all my life. I have only harvested a handful of bucks...and when a barely 100" 5.5yo central texas buck walked out, you'd have thought he was a king ranch double drop.

So. I just love deer/antlers. I have seen a few 170" wild bucks in south texas. I didnt get jacked up because I wasn't a paying hunter (that is NOT a complaint, just talking about excitement levels) . But still, one of my favorite memories. So, I guess for me it was about the hunt of drawing back...thats the ticket right now!