A buck is coming in hard and fast and you've got mere seconds to decide if he is a shooter or not before he passes and is out of range. THis is a challenge to me and a couple of my bucks the last 4 or 5 years have been smaller than I would have liked because I made the quick decision and made the wrong decision. One was 8 with nice tine length and nothing for a spread, the other was a beautiful 9 with almost a 20 inch spread but the way he was holding his head didnt allow me to see he had pretty short tines. In this same scenario, what do you look at in the rack that helps you decide quickly how big a buck is? I need to get better at this.
I think it honestly is just experience I wot take the ahot until I get a good look at him but I can understand what your saying that's why I say experience is key here
I understand where your coming from. I hunt in some thick woods where when you see a deer its already 20 yards or less from you and its difficult to judge unless he hangs around you for awhile. The buck shown in my signature just popped out of a pine thicket 20 yards from me and i thought he was a typical 8. Turned out to be a non typical 11 point. We all wish the buck we shot was bigger but if your instinct is to shoot it then its probably a decent deer.
I usually look quickly to see if the rack is past the ears, then look quickly at the mass and tine length. But this comes with experience at quickly judging deer on the move through thick brush. you have to remember that when i do this it all happens within a couple of seconds therefore experience helps. You'll eventually start making the right decisions. Hang in there
watch hunting shows, force yourself to make a quick judgment call at first glimpse. Most of the time you will get to see these bucks upclose. I would do this with my dad when I was young. usually i can judge a typical to within a few inches with just a few seconds. Like everyone has said its completely experience. When we bring new guys with us to Saskatchewan we tell them to focus on width, inside spread outside the ears is 17"+. from a profile view main-beams that extend out to the tip of the nose with a respectable width is usually 20"+ main-beams. A deers Ear is usually 7-8 inches long. Judge Mass circumferences off the diameter of the deers eye, usually 4" circ. Base of a deers ear is 6-7" diameter. And the biggest tell tale, when you first see the buck and say Holy Sh*t... he's a shooter for you!
Drivetacks hit it on the head, if I have to think about it at all he is not a shooter. The holy $&#+ factor is my guide these days. Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
I've kind of had the same question with how people judge it. That gives me a good idea what to compare to. Eyes and nose is good tip. My holy ____ comes very quickly and easily so I need something else to judge. Thanks
Beware of some of the "hunting shows". They shoot a 125" deer and swear its a 150". No names mentioned!
I looked at alot of racks. My quick system is if the weak (smaller) side has 20" of tines and if fairly thick (not skinny) and as wide as the ears it will score about 120". If 25" then 130 or so. A smart guy told me one time ... if you have to figure out if it is big enough - it's not.
There is no checklist for me. No criteria. No inch mark. I have one of these build into my gut. When it hits between cool and wicked, receptors in my right hand are triggered and my bow is drawn.
I've measured a lot of racks which helps me understand what a set of antlers needs to look like in order to achieve a certain score. In a time rush...which often happens in the field...the first things I try to quickly judge would be tine and beam length. If the rack is pretty spindly I will probably notice that right away too. Spread is relatively insignificant other then I might look cool if it is really wide.
Same here. Tines length and beam length first. Mass is noticed as you look at the first two things. Inside spread is the last thing I worry about and not very important to me. Tim
