A Whitetail Scoring How To.... (Tutorial)

This is a thread I made a while ago... Putting it back up for those who may need the help...

I decided to write this up in an attempt to answer some questions and to shed some light on the scoring process to those who are interested...... This was done with just basic "tools" you most likely already own. This by no means is an "official" score but will get you really close.


Now to start measuring your buck you will need a few basic "tools", such as a masking tape, a writing utensil, a piece of paper and something that is circular and rigid. A heavy duty zip tie would work among many other things if you do not have metal band deer tags like I use.



This shows all the "tools" I used to score this rack.

My first step is to tear pieces of masking tape about an inch or so long. I then place the pieces along the main beam at the "point of origin" of each tine. You also do this for any non-typical growth. If the non-typical growth comes off of another tine, you still follow the same procedure to find it's point of origin and mark it off of the antler tine.



Use the masking tape so you do not have to mark the rack with your writing utensil.

Now, I will use my metal band deer tag to mark the point of origin of each tine. To do this you want to draw a line across the base of the tine where it meets the top of the main beam...... What you are basically doing here is determining where the top of the main beam would be if there was not a tine there at all.... If you can mentally envision the rack with no tine present, your line would need to be where the top of the main beam would have been.



This shows where to place the straight edge to create your point of origin.


This shows one side of the rack with each point of origin marked. Do the same to each tine on both sides.

OK, we are now ready to start measuring the rack. I always start with the main beam measurement. Start with the tag end of your tape at the burr. Follow along the center line of the main beam on it's outside edge.







I will use some of the masking tape to hold the tape in place as I measure the main beam to ensure the tape doesn't slip on me.



This main beam measures 22 4/8's.

OK, we are now ready to start measuring antler tines. Place the tag end of your tape on the point of origin you created and follow the center line of the tine all the way to the tip of the tine and record your measurement. Do this for each typical and non-typical tine.

You are to measure to the nearest 1/8. For example, if a tine measures 5 3/16's long you would round up to 5 2/8. If the tine was just short of 5 3/16 you would mark the measurement down as 5 1/8. So basically, like previously mentioned round to the nearest 1/8.






This tine measures 9 3/8's inches.

Ok... Onto the mass measurements..... These are very simple.... For each mass measurement you are to take the measurement at narrowest point.... In other words..... You get credit for the smallest area of circumference for each of the 4 locations per side, not the biggest.

The first measurement is to come between the burr and first point. The second measurement comes between the first and second point. The third measurement comes between the second and third point. Finally the last measurement is taken between the third and fourth point. If no fourth point is present (like an 8 point) you take the mass measurement half way between the third point and the end of the main beam.

This is the incorrect place to take this measurement! You do not take this measurement over the burr!!!!!!



This is the correct place to take your first mass measurement!



Here is another example of where to and not to take a mass measurement from. This goes for each and every mass measurement.

Do not take your measurement here! It is always taken at the smallest area.



This is the correct place to take the measurement.



Finally inside spread. Should be self explanatory but here is a photo anyhow..... Keep your tape "square".... Mine is out of square a little bit in the photo.. I was working with the camera on self timer for that photo.



There are many categories for rack scores... " gross non-typical, net non-typical, gross typical, net typical."

Ok.... Time to add it all up!

Right...........Left........ Difference

MB 22 4/8.....21 7/8...... 0 5/8
G1 3 5/8.......3 7/8.........0 2/8
G2 9 3/8.......8 0/8........ 1 3/8
G3 7 7/8...... 8 2/8.........0 3/8
G4 4 3/8...... 5 5/8........ 1 2/8
G5 2 4/8.......................2 4/8

Abnormal Points.

3 2/8........................... 3 2/8
4 0/8............................4 0/8

Mass

H1 4 6/8........4 5/8......... 1/8
H2 4 2/8....... 4 1/8 .........1/8
H3 4 6/8....... 5 0/8......... 2/8
H4 4 3/8....... 4 3/8......... 0


Total Right.. Total Left...Total Difference

65 7/8........ 68 2/8..........14 1/8
(+ abnormals
73 1/8)

Inside spread

17 1/8

Gross Non-Typical- 158 4/8 (Gross non-typical includes every inch of antler no deductions.)

Net Non-Typical- 144 3/8 (Net non-typical includes the gross typical score, minus the side to side differences, but then you add on any abnormal points.)

Gross Typical- 151 2/8 (Gross typical score includes all typical points, including deductions that are not considered abnormal points. Abnormal points are never added to the typical score.)

Net Typical-137 1/8 (Net typical includes all typical points, then subtract all side to side differences andany abnormal points.)



If you have any questions post them up and i will try my best to help

 

Thanks for taking the time

 

hey dawg...quit one for you... Maybe you sould add in how to measure circumfernce on an 8 pointer?

And now I see how you gain over a half inch of tine length...you use a fat marker and measure to the other side....good job!!

 

Well done once again Scott!

One tip I got from watching the P&Y scorer do mine and Mike's bucks. Instead of using a flexible tape to measure, he used a piece of flexible metal wire to take the measurements, then straightened it out and measured it with a straight ruler. I believe this helped him be a little bit more accurate as the width of the flexible tape wasn't causing any issues. Also, it works for those of us who don't have a flexible tape measure at home.

 

Use a pencil, and remember to round down. You will be less likely to lose anything after drying period. And like Justin my scorer used a flexible wire with a roach clip at the end of the tine then measured it. That is how I do it now and is as accurate as they do it.

 

Thanks for the tip on the wire. I'll try that when I score my dad's Wisconsin buck.

 

I did list how to measure an 8 pointer... read it again Mitch'o

I used the sharpie so the lines would be very bold and easy to see for the tutorial.

 

Nice job Scott.

 

Very nice Scott, well done! The only thing I do different is I use a length of small flexable cable. It has a tab that hooks under the burr and after I run it the length of the MB Ill clip an aligator clip on it at the MB tip them measure cable.

 

I have an official P&Y 1/4" tape and their wire with the lug.... I use those tools when I measure my bucks...

This post was done this way because I doubt most people would go purchase these tools just to measure their racks. This is why I used common "tools you most likely already own" for the tutorial.

 

Gross Non-Typical- 158 4/8

Net Typical-137 1/8

Thats intense,

Thanks for the write-up Scott.

 

aaaaahhhh!! Im wit ya

 

Thanks. I've always wondered how they were scored.

 

Excellent job, Bucko!! :D

 

Nice write up, thanks for the info!

 

I was wondering if you could clerify something from the pope and young website. With their scoring sheet it gives you 3 different places the measure the spread. One is the inside spread, the other is the greatest spread and the last one is the spread between the tips of the main beam. After the 3 boxes that you can fill in those measurements, it says that the spread credit may equal but not exceed longer main beam. Does this mean that you can use which ever of the 3 spread measurements is longer, or do you add them up or do you just do what you did and use the inside spread measurement?

Here is a link to the diagram that I'm talking about. The boxes are the top left ones.

http://www.pope-young.org/pdfs/ScoreSheets/wtc_typical_r6-2008.pdf

 

You can only use inside spread, tip to tip and greatest spread are only for refrence...

For your other question. Lets say for example your longest main beam is 22 4/8's and the inside spread of the rack is 24 inches... You only get credit for 22 4/8's inches of your inside spread, not the full 24 inches since the spread is greater than the length of the longest main beam (22 4/8's).

Hope I made sense there.

 

Yeah that helps lots. Thanks for all the info. This is a great thread.

 

http://www.dto.com/hunting/downloads/popeYoung/

Here is a link to the P&Y scoring charts for all animals if anyone is interested.

 

This should be a sticky ... I was looking for this thread.....