Judging muley racks.

K

Kman

Guest
I looking for advice on how to field judge racks. Can i assume most mule deer ears are about 22 inches tip to tip? When people talk about a 30 inch buck, i assume they mean outside spread.
With a 30 inch outside spread what should i look for in comparison to the ears.What would you expect a inside spread of 22 inches to equal what width outside spread. Thanks, Ken.
 
Ken the ears are a good way to judge but you have to keep in mind the size of a deer's head, some bucks have bigger heads than others. We have killed bucks in the desert with 26 inch ears and some that are 23 inch. That is only 3 inches but that is the difference between 27 and 30 inches. If the buck you'r looking at is big bodied and mature you would probably think that buck may have 25-26 or so ears. Also consider where you are hunting, hotter country will result in greater ear spread. Old men have very large ears and so do old bucks! Look at the front shoulder width(most bucks about 20 or so inches) then look at the ears for the spread. For a buck to be a true 30 inches he should be a considerable amount past his ears!
Travis
 
Havent had any ground shrinkage using a 22? ear spread on any mature deer yet.
I think a lot of people make the mistake of using 24? to 26? ears too much. These deer are the exception not the rule.
 
i wouldn't expect the ears to be any more than 24. if you do, i think you are settin' yourself up for a let down. the majority of deer around here in southern utah have 22-24" ears.
 
You decide on the ear length. I use 24 for bucks that look mature and 22 for the young ones.

This one might sound a little odd but I look at were the first fork is if it is inside the ears he most likely doesnt have a chance at 30". This is a deer specific thing but the wide ones seem to fork at the tip or past. Cheaters dont apply here obviosly.

Charecter will get them killed just as fast as width in my book.

I am no expert and that is a sure thing.
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-08-06 AT 08:13PM (MST)[p]Ground shrinkage________________no. But we have killed deer in the Az desert with 28" ears. That is why I was saying you have to consider the deer first. True you don't want to give EVERY buck 24-26 inches but many mature desert WILL have 24-26" ears. Some bucks have genes for wide ears while others have genes for not so wide ears! To many people look at the ears and not the body of the animal first! The farthest I have been off in the last 8 yrs using this technique is 3 inches.............................. we thought the buck was 24-25 but when he hit the ground he was 28.

Also keep in mind a buck very seldom has his ears totally flat. The ears are always changing but the body is ALWAYS the same!!!
Travis
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom