Is it just me or do people grossly overstate the size of the deer they see/pass/miss. This is my first taste of actually seeing a buck that I would pass. Everytime someone sees a "shooter" it's always a "freakin booner"(sarcasm). What is this strange phenomenon? I would think you would err on the smaller side, just in case. Weird.... Rant over
I was thinking about this very thing in the tree the other day. Much like fishin stories, we are known to exagerate. My father in law always ways that catfish would have went 15lbs easy, but you brought those dang scales with you and it only weighed 4...I would also love to be in the tree when some of the "passes" are made, you know 73 yards, quartering to through a thicket...Yeah i was just giving him another year to grow. To answer the original question, I think MOST do it all the time...down here in Georgia all the lost deer are 12/14 pointers with a spread "insert arms as wide as you can get them". All the deer "passed" are great big ol 8 pointers. And most of the kills are...well pretty much what you would expect.
I was thinking about this just the other day, Brandon. I have my own theory as to why people do this (esp. deer they "pass" on). But, I'm guessing it's best kept to myself. I don't think over-stating inches is necessarily relegated to deer people don't shoot (at) or miss. A guy supposedly shot a "140's" buck on an adjacent farm last year. I finally saw a photo of the buck. I'm taking all my future bucks to this guy for scoring.
Gentleman killed a booner across the river from us last Tuesday. Finnaly saw the picture on a local forum and it may go 150 gross. Huge deer by anyone standards, but he could not even be happy with that, had to add 20 or so inches to what was already a super buck for our area.
My rule of thumb is to subtract 10 inches from what I "think" the deer is going to score and that's usually much more accurate. Field judging deer is tough. Not many of us get to see trophy class deer in front of us, in hunting situations, very often. When we do it's very easy to let our emotions get the best of us and add a few inches. So far my "10 inch rule" has been working out pretty well this year.
I tend to short change deer a bit when I estimate score. Tho' on last year's buck I thought he was about 115" the first two times I saw him. Then the day I shot him I thought he was a little closer to 120". He scored 118 6/8" ... my bad.
That's what I do too. And I'm still usually under scoring them. I tend to do the opposite and underestimate deer. But, yeah just like fishing stories. People just want to make it out to be more than it is. Buddy of mine stopped by to show me his 130" buck he shot the other day. I'm not even sure it made triple digits. Just congratulated him. I want him to score my bucks someday.
I don't usually see big deer (around here that is about 100+ inches) so I am not usually off by that much when I am field judging. I had a 8-9 point bed down below me two days ago that I thought would go 90 inches--he might have gone 100 I am not sure. It is not hard to field judge 100 inch deer, but I bet it could be difficult to field judge deer that are 130+ inches as things start to blur.
I usually take off 10-15 inches of what I think a deer is from the stand. That (most of the time) puts me pretty close to what the actual score is.
I don't ever see bucks at home to even field score.But when I was out west this year I was pretty close to what I thought the buck i shot would score. I told my friend before I even got my hands on him that he was probably 125-130. He ended up going 134 and change. There is really nothing to gain by exaggerating, because hopefully you will have to put the tape to him eventually and the numbers will speak for themselves.
I'm usually ball park, but I too will score it lower. I would rather come up to the deer after I shot it and say holy $hart he is bigger than I thought than to walk up on him and say wow he shrunk!
I don't usually have that problem, we just don't have many big deer where I hunt. I know for a fact 99% of all the deer I've ever seen have been under 120", and the vast majority of the bigger ones would have a hard time scratching 100". So its fairly easy for me....shooter (if it looks big - 100" plus) or not. Not sure I could accurately judge deer over 120" on the hoof, unless I had a long time to look at them. I would agree though, most people over estimate the size.....even if they aren't quoting inches. The heat of the moment I'm sure has alot to do with it.
Im almost always lower or right in the ball park when guessing the Bucks I have shot, but this year I really cant explain what happened waaaaaay offffff
I am pretty close generally.... Except for this year. I was way off. I left this out of my "harvest" story this year as it was so long to begin with. I did however tell the guys who called me and asked for the story (TJF, dubbya etc) When the buck I shot this year was coming in on me broadside at a trotting pace, I grabbed my bow looked him over and quickly field judged him as a low 130 inch 8 point and hung my bow back up. I continued to watch him, once he got almost directly behind me he turned his head toward me..... Right away I recognised him and knew I may have blew it, badly. The screw up (hanging my bow back up before I was 100% on the field judging of the buck) may have cost myself the opportunity at this buck. I quickly grabbed my bow and had to carefully slide it between the tree and myself (no easy task when your target animal is like 5 yards away). As soon as the arrow cleared the tree trunk, I drew back settled in and everything worked out. True be told, I missed that buck by 20+ inches at first glance by missing all of the junk. Moral of the story, do not hang your bow back up until you are 100% sure of your target animal.
Same as the big fish that get away...they always get bigger with each time the story is told. I guess some feel it makes for a better story. I see this in fishing all the time. As people exaggerate what they catch, others have to exaggerate for the fish to seem "big". If guys are catching 25" trout all the time, then that legit 22" trout doesn't sound so great. Even though those "25 inch" trout were really 21"-22". So others exaggerate too so people are impressed. This will never end, and only seems to be getting worse thanks to the internet. I like to say "it was a solid 22, and at least 25 in internet inches. So with deer, I think it also applies. It seems guys are seeing "150 easy" class bucks all the time. That legit 130" doesn't sound so great for the "awe" factor of the story. People also seem to see a lot of "he had to be at least 20" wide" bucks too. Someone mentioned the "passing" of bucks, also. I love it when someone mentions they "passed" a buck, only to find out it was 70 yards away. A guy the other day justified the "passing" by saying, "Well, I could have called him in and shot him if I wanted to." Hahahaha...I actually LOL'd on that one.
So much truth to that Scott. Many years ago I saw what I thought was a low to mid 120's 8 point that I had passed on twice before. Never grabbed my bow but when he got broadside at 10 yards I knew right away I blew It as he was a ten point that would go about 130 Inches. Never again will this happen. Every deer I see I now grab my bow regardless If It's a doe or not. As for Inches I generally score my bucks low for some reason. The 143 Incher I shot In 2007 I wasn't going to shoot. I had him In front of me and under my tree for at least 15 minutes before It dawned on me that he might make books. I think I've let probably another 2 to 3 other bucks by that I should've shot being I under scored them too. I don't know why I am like this, been trying to fix It for a while. I look at the source on whether or not to take them serious with their score estimates. Most are so far off It Isn't even funny. Then you get some people who get pissy when I tell them I let a mid 120's buck by or that I saw a great buck but It was too far away for my recurve. They look at me like yeah right. You can see It In there eye's and I've felt the vibes on here too with some people.
Hey....I elected not to shoot (at) the 1st 3.5yr old I've never attempted a shot at, at 9 this morning. 15yds, broadside. He had a perfect mainframe 5point side on his rt......and a G1 and nothing else on his left. I just couldn't pull the trigger on him. Had his rt. side had longer tines, I'd either be skinning him or crying, right now. He's also the 1st buck I've seen in my woods with 5 perfect points on a side. Best news is.....he's at least the 2nd (if not the 3rd) mature buck I've had within 25yds in the last 2 AM's. Two of 'em have been @ 10yds and 15yds.. It's definitely a great time to be hunting, here.
I have a buddy that does this. Earlier this season he shot a good buck with his Muzzleloader and he calls me and wants to meet with me to show me how big it is. When he shows up and I see the deer I'm thinking (to myself) this is a good deer and he may go 130" max and he's telling me how it's over 140". Then a few days later he and I and my dad are out on a piece of property and I almost step on a good buck that's bedded with a bow. He runs across this open pasture and off into a draw on the opposite side. Again we all saw this deer for 8-10 seconds in full view. I thought man that was a nice 130" deer. My dad agreed with me but my friend says "oh he'll go close to 150". I don't know why people overembelish things but I think it's just in some folks nature to do so.
