So how do you know when you do see one? First, practice makes perfect. Go to your local taxidermist and have him or her help you score some of the bucks on the wall. Estimate its inside and outside spread, length of beam, average mass, length and number of points. By practicing on wall mounts, your judgment out in the field will be much easier.
Antler spread is one of the easiest to identify. An average deer in the state of Michigan has a measurement of about 18 inches from tip of ear to ear. You can then estimate the antler spread of the buck you are estimating by using this measurement. But don’t put too much emphasis on this. The inside spread of the antlers is only one total. If it’s 20 inches, then a total of 20 inches is added at the end of the final score.
The length of the beam will be doubled. In other words, if the length of the beams were 20 inches each, then the total would be 40 inches added to the end total. When estimating the length out in the field you should note that most antlers curve backwards before going forward. If the beam curves backward then forward to its nose, you are looking at approximately 24 inches. A total of 48 inches would then be added to the end total.
Continued...
Antler spread is one of the easiest to identify. An average deer in the state of Michigan has a measurement of about 18 inches from tip of ear to ear. You can then estimate the antler spread of the buck you are estimating by using this measurement. But don’t put too much emphasis on this. The inside spread of the antlers is only one total. If it’s 20 inches, then a total of 20 inches is added at the end of the final score.
The length of the beam will be doubled. In other words, if the length of the beams were 20 inches each, then the total would be 40 inches added to the end total. When estimating the length out in the field you should note that most antlers curve backwards before going forward. If the beam curves backward then forward to its nose, you are looking at approximately 24 inches. A total of 48 inches would then be added to the end total.
Continued...
© 2006 by "DiscoveringArizona Inc." · All Rights Reserved · E-Mail: jayq@discoveringarizona.com
Many archery deer hunters today have set higher personal standards as far as hunting trophy bucks. They seem to be putting more demands on themselves simply to locate a record buck and to harvest it, only to have it put into the book of records. There is one problem with this theory, record bucks are far and few between. Harvesting a record white-tail buck while bow hunting is like winning the lottery, rare, but it can happen and does happen every year.
In the top ten big buck states, Michigan ranks number nine, while Wisconsin is at the number one position. The state of Wisconsin averages about 893,000 hunters each year, while Michigan will average around 1,125,000 white-tail deer hunters per year. Wisconsin has 3,125 Pope & Young bucks and 273 Boone & Crocket bucks.
Michigan has 576 Pope & Young, 60 Boone & Crocket bucks in their books. In order to harvest a record buck during your archery hunting season, you must first be able to identify and score a buck out in the field. Now, how often does it happen that you see 150-class or even 160-class bucks out in the field?
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