Elk Field Judging

R

Randy

Guest
I'm going hunting on the 18th to Unit 15 in New Mexico. I've been reading through this site and see alot of information on the Elk antler size, for example a 350 Bull. I've seen elk with large antler in the field, but I'm not sure of how to start when it comes to the estimation of size.
I know for muley deer if the antlers are past the ears it's around a 22 inch spread. But I don't have a clue when it comes to trying to determine the antler size in the field for elk. Does anyone have any tips??
 
Hey Randy, Its hard to judge a 350 bull if you don't know what one looks like. Find an elk mount or some sheads to put a tape on. Run the numbers and you will start to see just what it will take to score 350. Your going to need 150+ inches per side.
As for field judgeing I always look for whats wrong with this bull! look for short thirds or small 5th & 6ths.
Are the brows and bays 12 inches long and thin or are they 20 inches long and as big around as your forearms. Its not hard to see a wide rack compared to a narrow one. but judgeing mass and tine length quickly can be difficult. Sometimes very large body bulls will look like they have small head gear. Look for good whale tails and no short tines. Add some mass and spread you'll make 350.

Good Hunting
elkron
 
Elkron, Thanks for the information. I've seen the ones with the wide racks but haven't paid much attention to their mass or lenght of tines. I know they have a few nice racks in the store at Quemado, I'll stop in and see how much they scored. I can't wait!! Once again Thanks.
 
I'm new to this forum and was reading past articles and I noticed that you were hunting in unit 15 and wondered how you did on your elk hunt. Kerry
 
Kerry,

It was a good hunting trip, we hunted mainly on the old 15B side. My buddy got a nice 5X6.

Randy
 
There is a video out there that I believe is ryan hatch's I am not too sure. But it depicts the differences in size between a 300 bull, a 350, and a 380 i believe. Watch this video and it should be able to help you field judge your elk better. I will try to see if I have it in my collection and get back to you.



-Cass
 
I use the following as a field judge that is quick knowing in my mind whether the bull is a shooter or not.

I look at the tops, if they have a strong pronounced Y with good tine length and distance between the points then it is a shooter in my book. I make sure the bull has both browtines and the thirds, but don't really focus that hard on them. Doing this kind of judging, we have been able to take a couple 320 - 330 Class bulls and only one of our bulls scored under 300 and that was a 290 bull that was a 6x5 - missing one of its browtines - just didn't grow it.

Also, for beam length, if the bull sticks his head back and his antlers touch his rump he is a really good bull. I have only seen one like this and he had awesome tine length and we guessed him at 370ish - he dwarfed the 330 bull we killed 1 hour later from the same area.

I hear alot of people say they only want to kill a 350 Class or better bull when they have never gotten one. I might be in the minority, but to me any bull that scores over 300 B&C is a good bull. Having seen numerous elk mounts at local establishments and sporting good stores, many of those are 300 Class elk with the ocassional 330 and rare to see one over 350.

I have attached a pic of a bull - tell me if you would shoot this bull or not ....the man in the 2nd pic is 5'10" and weighs about 180 for reference. I will tell you the score after you look at him.

dadright.jpg


kneeleft.jpg


dadbll2.jpg
 
hate to disagree texashunter, but a bull elk that can touch his butt with his horns is a myth. ain't no such an animal. if the beams come past his ribs when he tips his head back, he's a good one. a huge bull may have 60" main beams. figure in the curve of the beam, and a 60" beam (of which i've only seen 2) might reach 50", maybe. a big bull is a lot longer than that from his shoulders to his butt. ain't no bull alive can touch his butt with his antlers just by tipping his head back. i don't think i've ever seen a bull that could touch past his flanks and the bull in the middle picture might score 300. i'd guess 290.
 
I have to agree with RLH on this one. If you saw a bull that had good tine length and could touch his rump then you probably way under judged this bull. A freind of mine shot a bull that grossed 399 and only had 54 inch main beams, but his royals were 26 so it made up for the short mains. A bull that can touch his rump is one of the oldest wise tails around. Maybe some crazy hi breed deer with a huge bull rack could touch his rump, now that would be somethin to see!
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-25-04 AT 12:49PM (MST)[p]RLH is right on. For a mature bull to be able to touch his rump with his beams they would have to be 80 inches long-give or take. There is no such thing as a bull with 80 inch beams. They simply do not exist. The longest beams I have seen were on Dan Agnews' 2003 Arizona bull. The beams were 66 and 64. The longest beamed bull I have videoed had beams measuring 63 inches. The bull scored 392 P&Y and the ends of his beams were no where near his rump. Beam length is a very important factor in a bulls score but it is not everything. Last year I saw a bull harvested that had 58 inch beams but only scored 310. In 2002 I helped a hunter here in Arizona harvest a 407 B&C bull that only had 51 inch beams. Look at the total package of the bull and try not to get too hung up on one area such as beam length or width. If you have to sit there and dicker over whether the bull is big or not, then he is not big. A truly huge bull(370 and up) will look unbelievable. There will be no doubt as to his size. At that size the rack will appear to "float" over the bull and will start to overshadow the bulls' body size. A big mature bull will usually have about 30 inches of main beam from the burr to the back of the fourth point. If you can look at the fourth point and see the same amount of beam coming back then you have found an EXTREMELY rare 60 inch beamed bull. From the burr of the antler to the end of the nose is usually about 16 inches. If you see a bull with fronts coming out past his nose you have really got something. Even better if the thirds appear to be as long. When viewed from the front a bulls body is about 24 inches wide. If the bull appears to have ten inches of space on each side of his body to his rack you are looking at about a 44 inch bull, which is very wide. The fourths on a B&C bull will usually be over 20 inches and the fifths around 15 inches or more. Mass is very hard to judge and is not as critical to the score as tine length(you still need mass though). A long tined bull will not look as heavy as a short tined bull. 30 inches of mass per side is pretty average on a big bull. If you see a bull that meets this criteria drop the hammer on him fast, he didn't get that big by being stupid. Now having said all of this, scrap it and shoot the bull that makes you happy. The score is pretty neat but the true measure of a trophy is how you feel about the animal in your heart.

CHIEF
 
I agree with the posts concerning "butt scratchin" beams. It's not gonna happen. Any bull 340 gross or better is a bull of a lifetime. It's cool to hear about the big boys. Reality is that unless you're lucky or able to spend a lot of time in the field. The big boys are safe. Acquiring permits is the real issue these days. Just give me a ticket to the dance! BTW I believe the bull in the picture is 280 - 290.
 
a guy i hunted with this year got one that has 63 and 65 inch main beams. pretty amazing rack. busted off probably 40 inches of antler and will still score around 360 net. it's 46" inside. one thing i look at when first judging, is how does the rack look on the elk. if the rack looks out of place, like it makes the bull look small, shoot him. had this screw me up once tho. ended being a dink bull with a nice rack instead of a huge bull with a big rack. and as elk get bigger racks, the length of their body is growing too. this big bull this year was as long as a thorobred horse. weighed 500 lbs at the locker. i've hung a couple that were heavier. one grossed over 400 but the other one had dink brow tines and was only about a 350 bull. but like said above, if it makes you happy, shoot him. i've seen some big grins with just a cow.
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-25-04 AT 01:26PM (MST)[p]randy


make things easier, measure small side [antler], add thirty inches average mass, double the score add forty inches average width for a large bull.
you should be within ten inches of net score
 
This is how I field judge an elk in the 350 inch class.

1. First two points must be out to the elk's nose.
2. As the elk is walking with the herd watch the bull walk, his main beam will be at his shoulder blades. This should put him around 55 inches + or - 6 inches.
3. The 5th and 6th point must be about a 8 inches (ear length) long.
4. The antlers must have mass.
5. Last, look at the sword time (G4) and that should be the longest defined point. Look for mass and length, the longer the better...

You should be in the 350 - 360 inch bull area.

TheHunt
 
Thanks for all the information.

RE:Texas_Hunter Elk Pictures
1st Picture - No
2nd Picture - No
3rd Picture - Yes

How was my guessing?

Randy
 
Well said guys.Fast and easy His head will look small. Look for long tines brow or eye gaurds on a big bulls eye gaurds curl up sometimes 3/4 the length of his nose. Look for space between the tines. Make sure there is a big fork behind the forth and the forth always points straight up this will get u 300-330 and the forth must have legnth. General spread space between the beams and the body. Makes the body look narrow. But a must kill is when the third is long low sweeping wide when the third is as long as the forth. kill him. For it is the third that takes years to develope and this is where he gets his big # width. Look for the third point that drops down and out 380+ my dream bull. Now everyone go look at all the pic's and check out the third points monster's
Rut
 
Eastmans has a elk judging video out. i cant remember which one it is. buts its good. they kill a couple elk but then the rest is all on field judging. its good.

Garrett
 
The picts are all of the same bull definately not a shooter for a trophy!! my 2 cents worth but still a good bull if not trophy hunting!
 

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