field judging

[WyoAces]

I was hoping to get some opinions on the best way to field judge a trophy buck based on width.

 

[huntercameron]

Some times you can go by ears when there extended usually ear to ear is 22-24 inches . So see how much past each ear is , and add it to 24 inches . Im sure theres other ways . Or you can be jsut plain good at guessin width.

later , hunter cameron

 

[losthuntr]

measure as many antlers as you can, then judge the antlers one at a time, estimate the inside spread usually by the ear width like posted above, the more horns you score the more natural it becomes. Its worked for me, don't know about anyone else.

Happy Holidays
MJ

 

[HogWild]

I used the ear trick when juging my buck, after he was down. I was 4 inches off on the width. I used 23" on the eartip to eartip and figured it out to be 24" or so maybe 25". It turned out that the bucks ears were 26" wide, and my buck was at 28". Biggest ears i've ever seen on a Muley. If you want to see a pic, it's in the big buck contest for this year here at MM under California Trophy.

H.W.

 

[TFinalshot]

I think losthuntr is right on. You also must decide what you're trying to accomplish by measuring spread. I mean, are you using B/C as your model or the "I got-a 30" buck" as your model? A lot of guys claim 30" bucks but they don't tell you that they measured the widest outside spread, regardless of its location or geometry. In the end, it's all up to you but it makes a huge difference when field scoring live deer.

I also would caution you on using spread as the determination, that is, if you're trying to find a good scoring buck spread is only a very small portion of the total. If your after spread only, be careful about judging with the ears as they tend to vary by a few inches. Also, when judging by ears pay very close attention to the spread distance, inside, of the main beam. A buck can look much wider than he turns out to be if the main beams are not real wide but the rest of the antlers are, or the main beam curves or narrows up. In fact he can look like he's 2" outside the ears on each side but turn out to be only 25" wide becasue the inside spread of the main beam is narrow.

Finalshot

 

[BigPig]

If you want to judge a buck, look for deep forks and tine length. This will generate the most score. Width is nice but really does not add up to much when calculating score.

 

[Texas_Hunter]

I have never killed a wide buck, but with my limited exposure, I look for deep front forks and tall back forks. I also think mass is awesome on a mule deer - if I see a buck with good front and rear forks, and a massive rack - irregardless of the width - I will be shooting.

The two biggest bucks I have killed had 24 1/2" and 25" ears tip-to-tip. The others were in the 22" and smaller range.

 

[WyoAces]

thanks for all the tips