Score me...Massive pronghorn

Adventurewriter

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-23-14 AT 03:28PM (MST)[p]This is one my favorite antelope buck I have ever hunted. I called him Captain Hook...old buck with a ear half missing...bowlegged. By far he was the most massive buck I have ever see which makes some judging hard. I looked at him allot and think he length was about 14 1/2 to 15...but the exceptional part was his character and mass.

I tried to get him with my bow but never could fiqure out where he watered and was not able to close the deal in the flat country he lived in. ( I found the water hole the next year...damn) I had to go overseas and knew I could come back later with a rifle (wy) and took another nice buck high 70's but not anything like Captain Hook. Never saw him after that year

Any thoughts????

5338186hook-1.jpg


90082557hook2.jpg


67546086hook3.jpg
 
I literally have had my glass on 5,000 bucks over the years...his mass was by far the best I have ever seen I have a BC pronghorn on my wall that has 7 inch bases and the bases were way heavier...am I dreaming could they be eight inches on mass #1 and #2??? I am betting for sure he was at least 4 and 3 three on 3-4 mass. I have been fooled with length on a massive buck and with the hard hook back which will stretch the tape further. He looked to have really no deductions to speak of...
 
I'll agree this is a great buck, mass measurements which of course is a key should be really good plus with the hooks I'm thinking he's close to 15". I would think somewhere between 82 and 84 with limited deductions. Thanks for posting since I didn't draw an antelope tag this year I needed a fix
 
Love the buck, I hate the deduction part of scoring. Too me nothing better then a non typical in any species.

?If men were angels, no government would be
necessary.? John Adams
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-24-14 AT 11:16AM (MST)[p]From the pics you have, there is no way of knowing the mass measurements for sure. All the angles of the photos are from the side, you need a front look to know for sure.

I think you're right on for length, I'd say 15 give or take an 1/8th or two.

I question the 4 and 3 measurements on the 3rd and 4th quarters. Mainly because the prong is pretty low and you wont get the 3rd mass measurement right above the prong.

As others have said, pronghorn, IMO, are not an easy animal to judge.

My best estimate from the pictures, would be

L--15
cl--6-5
c2--6-6
c3--3-6
c4--2-6
prong 6-2


Gross 82-2

Probably net 80 and change.

You obviously got to look from all angles at this buck, and if your mass estimates are higher, the score would be much different.

Heres a buck my wife shot, that IMO, has very similar horn shape.

IMG_4298.JPG


IMG_4302.JPG


IMG_4299.JPG


This buck officially net scored 80 4/8...dont recall the gross score for sure, but wanting to say 81 6/8, it lost quit a bit on the difference in the prongs. BTW, I over-estimated the length on this buck by about 1 inch... I thought for sure he was 15.5-15.75 all day long. He wasnt even quite 15. I thought it would net score right at 82 after looking at him several times over 3 days.

I had all the mass measurements and prong pretty much spot on, the length, not so much.
 
Because of his mass he was really hard to judge....never seen anything close to his mass on the hoof so kind of uncharted waters for me...for sure I would bet he was over 7 inches in the first two and about half the time I was thinking....jeeeze he might go 8...I have seen 7's and for sure he was heavier...

So my guess was some where in the low 80's...kicking my own butt for not finding his water (likley ) until the next year...
 
I had an officially-scored 85" buck in my hands a couple days ago. This buck of yours is in the same class +/- a couple inches.

It's a hulluva trophy!

Zeke
 
I don't think he goes 15" in length. But I do give him 7+7 below and 7 above on mass. Prong is 6 or slightly better. If he's 14& 1/2 on length, he'll go 83 or so. Of course, I could be wrong. But I doubt it. :) Stud buck.
 
Serious mass always makes a pronghorn look shorter than he is. His overall head size can do the same thing if he is exceptionally big like my sons buck that Zeke held the other day. With the horns in his hands Zeke's brother (who is a very seasoned hunter...antelope included) guessed he was only 14 1/2" in length, but he tapes an even 16". I'd say, based on my experience with my son's buck this buck is in the same low to mid 80s category.
He's a dandy any way you look at it.
 
Little Bighorn That is what was throwing when watching him live...sometime she would look "short' From the front he looked really short those hooks were right in line with the upper horn...then I would get a side look at him and up my estimate. I knew mass could make them look short...but still struggled with it...as a mentioned before with that missing and bowlegged in the ass-end you could tell he was a really old buck. Drew that tag three years in a row as a premium tag and then have gotten skunked two in a row now.

For sure he was my number one buck that year...dug a pit in his main area and laid there for three days dawn to dusk just hoping for a chance. I had a week to hunt and did'nt see him...so moved to a waterhole and was ble to score with a very nice high 70's buck.....but this buck with haunt me. I found the next year the water he most likley used was just out of sight and did'nt show up on google earth. Lifelong bucket list is a BC buck with my bow...looks like he could have been it...
 
>Oh, the ones that "could have
>been"......
>
>Zeke


I try not to think about em but they keep me awake some nights!
 
Plus 1 Adventurewriter, let's see him LBH.



For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.

Thomas Jefferson
 
Ran the man pronghorn man Eli Grimmitt at the SCI show this weekend...mentioned this thread and if he rememebers to look want to hear this thoughts so bumping the thread up...
 
Any front views? Or better side views with the bucks head upright?

From these pics I'd say 83. I'm not seeing as much mass as you are. Something like a 6-6/8 base and 7-1/8 first. Unless he's swollen from the front. Most of the guesses seem to be pretty good given the pics.

www.PronghornGuideService.com
 
Eli from one angle I would go nooooo your kidding yourself and then from another angle he would look dynamite...but by far the coolest buck I have ever watched and I watched him allot wish i was watching him on my wall right now.
 
I took a video of a buck several years ago that looked incredible through my spotting scope. When I got back to my truck that evening I reviewed the tape to get a 2nd look at him. After looking at the video I thought he was 84ish and I would go after him the following day. I found the buck the next morning at first light. I took a look through my spotting scope from about 3/4 mile away and he still looked pretty good compared to other bucks he was with and I had seen in the unit. When I got up to him I was shocked at the ground shrinkage! Sometimes it's amazing how different bucks look in photos, video, and through heat waves in a spotting scope. Lesson learned not to get a better look at as close of range as possible without heat waves! From that year on I never trusted what a buck looked like in photos, video, or spotting scope with heat waves.
 

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