Eye appeal vs score

cabinfever

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I recently visted a good friend of mine who is a taxidermist. He had 2 big typical racks he just took in. One buck grossed right at about 190 and the other was 201 gross(this buck netted B&C). He held both of them up side by side and said which one would you shoot. I let my eyes do the thinking and ended up picking the 190 buck. He agreed that he would have done the same thing. How about you? Eye appeal or score!

Mike
 
Part II

The 190 buck is 32 inches wide and had good mass and huge back forks.The 201 buck had aversge mass with good eveything and very little deductions. He is 30 inches wide.
I know when I 1st saw the full body mount of the Burris buck in Cableas there were a couple other mounts near by that I honestly thought were better looking bucks, yet these bucks didn't score nearly as well.
 
Definitely eye appeal to me. The about perfect buck to me is the massive BC buck recently posted. May not be too wide or have a lot of length but the eyeguards, mass and dark antlers are what do it for me.
 
i like my deer like i like my women, they better look good! eye appeal before score, eye appeal befor waist size!
AQ.
 
Eye appeal for sure!
I would rather take a dark horned massive buck, than one with great tine length, average mass, and more width. Some of the best bucks I have ever seen were only 28" wide, but they had dark horns and great height.
 
Too much pride here; I've dreamed of putting one in the book since I was six or so (1977). That's when Mr. Warren wrote Utah's Biggest Bucks and my Dad gave me a copy, been addicted ever since.
 
Well, seeing how most guys "score" with their eyes, I will go with eye appeal. Unless a guide told me that one for sure would book, or be some kind of record, then I would go for score.


:( Somebody didn't like bouncing betty :(
 
If you want to talk eye appeal vs score, look at the buck from Canada that BCboy posted.I can't get more than 187-191 gross, but that buck is a shooter for sure. Mass and tine length are what does it for me.

Mike
 
Eye appeal for sure. In the end, the book is just words on paper, but a great looking buck hanging over your fireplace...priceless.

Mark
 
To me these two bucks sound so comparable that I would probably take the one that offered the best shot. I'm not much of a spread man myself, after all it is a measurement of air and not of antler growth or "bone". The buck that exhibited the most character is the one I would choose if I had enough time to make a choice. And as far as net score vs. gross, "NETS ARE FOR FISH"!
 
Eye candy ALL THE WAY! Give me a 180 gross typ with 5-8 little 2 inch stickers on a 195 gross main frame! LOTS of Mass too.
 
Depends on the situation. I archery hunt them and have never been in a spot to choose either appeal or score. Never had 2 big bucks laying close enough together to have that option. I hunt anything over 160". If it meets this then will go after it. But do like the character of a buck over score.


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eye appeal...I'll take a good heavy horned animal over one that will score a few inches more anyday
 
Eye appeal for me too. Mass first then tine length and width do it for me.
 
I don't think the B&C scoring system does justice to lots of bucks. I love a thick massive buck way more than a spindly horned 30"er. Mike Eastman shot a buck he called "the club" that was narrow and tall with lots of mass. I love that type of buck. I would take mass over tine length any day. A big nice typical with good mass would be hard to pass on, but if it was next to something massive I would have to let it walk.

Dax
 
Eye appeal here also. I like the looks of a mounted buck with mass and trash, more so than a spindly horned "book" buck..
 
One more for eye appeal. I have seen lots of "trash factor" bucks that have been killed and wouldn't book or score well, but I would love to have them hanging on my wall.
 
the best-looker, for sure. B and C is only ONE measure of a trophy and is NOT the be all and end all when it comes to bucks. not to say that book bucks aren't nice
 
Eye appeal for me. I like mass, dark horns, and ivory tips for elk. Mass, and a little trash for deer. How the animal was taken and conditions also determine a trophy to me.
 
I say eye appeal also. However, isn't that subjective? Some people like typical some like non-typical. I had this choice years ago in the Kaibab. I had two relatively big bucks come under my tree at 10 yards. I had a clear shot at either buck. A non-typical 180 ish buck and a typical 170 ish buck. The 170 typical had a nicer/bigger main frame but the non-typical looked better to me. I took the the 179-7/8ths non-typical not for a higher score but for "my" eye appeal.
 
Beat me to it Pugsie. Almost everyone stated eye appeal but their personal discription varied tremendously. I would shoot the buck that appealed to me the most also but that would be a comparision of those two bucks. In one instance I may choose width over anything else if the width was exceptional and not pencil horned. In another instance I may pick the mass or trash if that was what caught my over the other buck's width. Not a fan of bucks that aren't symetrical UNLESS there is exceptional mass or trash. The dream buck would have it all, width, heigth, mass and trash everywhere but those are 1 in a 1,000,000.
 
There may be some cases where you do have the opportunity to chose. In my case, however, I did not. I was hunting the general season Utah hunt in '97, and not only was my buck the biggest I saw that year, it was the first and only buck I saw. Opportunity knocked without much of a chance for me to choose so I shot him and put him on the wall. To me, the quality of the trophy is proportionate to the quality of the story behind it. My buck may not be the biggest or maybe even have the greatest eye appeal to others, but to me he is MINE, so I like it and he appeals to me. If I had a choice however between two bucks and one scored higher than the other, I would go with the one that I thought was best at that moment and would live with it whether that means giving up on either eye appeal or score.

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 

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