How To Score A Mule Deer In The Field

Seeing a true 180 plus type mule deer doesn't happen very often anymore, in any state. Follow along with each tip in order to find out how to properly field score a whitetail!

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How to score a mule deer in the field. Scoring can help field judging. Measuring whitetail deer antlers determines how significant a hunt was before you mount the rack. A trained eye is needed to put an accurate score on a buck through a spotting scope.

How to score antlers answer a: Under the boone and crockett clubs scoring system, the gross score for a typical mule deer is the sum total of measurements of his inside spread, length of his main beams, length of points, and eight mass or circumference measurements. At 200 yards, you are going to be able to make out the curved main beam from base to end with your naked eye.

When field scoring deer, your best reference point to get an idea of the frame size will be the bucks ears, eyes, and nose. In some cases, it can lead to awards for exceptional hunting. Scoring a few mule deer racks can also help you when field judging deer because it gives you a better understanding of what measurements make a 160 class buck versus a 190 class buck.

The measurement of the main beam and the width is almost the same, and you can make a quick assessment using the width as well. Ignoring the back two abnormal points, this deer is going to score around 185+ and is clearly a mature mulie. Measurers present at the special panel were (l to r) dallas smith of utah, justin spring of montana, dallas leo of utah, and roger atwood of idaho.

I do know one thing besides some select areas in the usa it takes something special to get a mule deer to the 180 mark and the most important thing is age. The first step in this process is establishing your reference points. The boone and crockett scoring.

This deer, courtesy of wikipedia, has a similar inside spread, but he has much heavier main beams. And based off that you can kind of judge how big they are. Its still a good benchmark, but a true monster buck may or may not be over 30.

Look for width at the main beamthat is where score is measured. It usually takes about 60 days to dry the antlers.step 2, make sure the antlers are dry and the skull plate is intact if you want to. This is my rack bracketing system for field judging a gross rack score.

You can guesstimate math but if you want a quick field verification just see how wide the rack is and if its at or outside the ears and if the rack is square and the deer is pretty symmetrical than you can guess it to be around 130. Add all your numbers together to come up with a gross score. Mule deer may not have as much going on above their heads as other members of the deer family, like []

Before shooting a mule deer, consider making a field judgment on the size of the main beam. By definition, a typical mule deer will. These two criteria alone will generally put a buck into the 80 and better range.

This amazing mule deer was shot in colorado, on september 2, 2018. A mule deer buck will be a nice finish to this goal i set some years ago. Depending on mass and deductions.

To become adept ad field judging tine. Also present to oversee the special panel, was records chairman, roy grace of arizona. The best way to get proficient at this game is to practice a lot on photos and antelope mounts.

Forks, mass, width, points, etc. I'd really like to see as many pictures of 170+ mule deer to get my mind right for field judging. As far as characteristic every deer is different.

Step 1, dry the antlers thoroughly before you try to score them. Now that youre serious, take a quick mental measurement of his frame. As long as his prongs are at least decent, this buck should score well.

I'm just 1 animal away from finishing my colorado archery big 8. There you have it, the process is really pretty simple. If the main beam is small, you should let the mule deer walk as it is yet to mature.

Leo typical mule deer killed in platte co., wy, 1993 can you guess the score?

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