Trophy whitetail judging

[Jimss]

I'm heading on a whitetail hunt this weekend with potential for a whopper. I was wondering if there's any websites available with field judging pointers for distinguishing between 140, 150, 160 vs 170+ whitetails? I've done a little web and youtube searches with little help available. If anyone has any pointers...please post them!

 

[Jmac603]

Me personally, I would look for character or a rack that "spoke" to me. I would also look for a big bodied deer. We don't have this problem in New England, but I wish you luck on a giant and can't wait to see the photos!

Jason

 

[tyeager2964]

A whitetails ears are usually 8 inches tall. Their eyes are usually 4 inches around. So for a deer to score well it usually requires a ten point with g2s longer than the ears and g3s that are pretty close. Mass should carry through the antlers and be larger than the eyes. Spread can be measured with ear to ear width usually 16 to 18 inches. Main beam length can be considered good when the tips approach the nose but minimum should extend pass the eyes. This doesnt always account for main beams that sweep up or curve in a lot.

Bottom line the above very rarely happens where I hunt but those are the guidelines. I usually look for mass mostly as that is what I like. There are lots of 8 points with big mass that score well. I consider any deer that I immediately know is a shooter as a trophy.

 

[bsnedeker]

I look for a big old neck, and a big old belly. If he has a big hanging belly he's an old buck!

Sorry, don't know anything about putting numbers to antlers.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Btaylor]

Going along with tyeager above, if I am trying to make a quick call on a score I will add tine and beam length estimates for one side, double it, add an estimate for width and add 30 for mass. That will get you a close rough estimate. Then if the deer has better than avg mass add 5. if the deer is real spindly subtract 3.

Sounds like you may be hunting a managed property and if that is the case, I would be more concerned with field judging for age rather than score. There look at things like where the neck hits the brisket when the deers head is up. Neck hits at the brisket then you are most likely looking at a fully mature deer. Other characteristics would be size of front shoulders in relation to the hind quarters, back/belly sway.

In my experience, you kinda have to study on a good 3yo and sometimes 4yo's. You may look and think well he checks most of the boxes, I think he is mature, ah well maybe. If a good 5yo+ shows up they will look like a tank compared to the others. Confidence in field judging for age an score takes looking at a lot of live deer and even then you will still get them wrong occasionally.

 

[tyeager2964]

Also an easy rule of thumb is this. Most average 10 pts will go 125 or pipe and young. Most big 8 pts wont. That isnt to say a mature 8pt isnt a trophy.

You really need to decide in your mind what is a trophy and as I said above for me that is when I first see a deer and immediately know I want to shoot it.

Big body big neck flat face and sometimes just a mean attitude do it for me.

 

[Cactus kid]

the quickest way I have been told to do it is use a 100inch base score and add tine length. It will help you with snap judgments.

 

[Btaylor]

the quickest way I have been told to do it is use a 100 inch base score and add tine length. It will help you with snap judgments.

That premise is a good one but I think you probably need to adjust the base number for what the avg deer in your hunting area would be. You example of 100 would be 10-15 inches high for here at least for all deer. 85 would probably be a safe number for our avg 4yo. Good way to come at it though.

 

[NebraskaStickHunter]

If you are going to a place with trail camera pics then have someone give you there rough scores along with yours to see how they compare. Real life experience is the best way. My rule is if you see the buck and say holy “#%*€” then it is a shooter. If not, let it walk.

 

[Cactus kid]

That premise is a good one but I think you probably need to adjust the base number for what the avg deer in your hunting area would be. You example of 100 would be 10-15 inches high for here at least for all deer. 85 would probably be a safe number for our avg 4yo. Good way to come at it though.

This is a great point. In texas I use an 85 base. When I hunt kansas, a good bodied deer will get a base of 100. Works on coues as well. A good way to establish a base is to ask some one in the area for pictures of "shooter deer" that were killed with their actual scores. Take the average moonbeam length + average mass + average spread and you will get a rough base score to start with for the shooters in the area.

 

[bignocks]

I guess I rarely have time to mentally go through a score on a whitetail. Seems like I usually have about 5 seconds to decide. I will say deciding which deer are shooters based on cams have helped me a ton with seeing a familiar characteristic on a deer and knowing rt away Im going to shoot it. Other than that its just a gut feeling for me. Usually If you have to talk yourself into shooting it I find I will usually regret it in the way of score.

 

[Jessica_Graham]

One quick reference point on width regarding a Midwest or Wester size whitetail, a rack that comes out just past the width if the ears is usually an 18 inch inside spread.

 

[NDGuy]

Here's about as close as you can get. I had this buck scored last week finally as I knew he was close.
He grosses 127 3/8 and netted 124 3/8. I am now officially part of the Po and Yo club.

At least now I have a solid reference point for what I need to be at least P&Y!

 

[Jessica_Graham]

Here's about as close as you can get. I had this buck scored last week finally as I knew he was close.
He grosses 127 3/8 and netted 124 3/8. I am now officially part of the Po and Yo club.

At least now I have a solid reference point for what I need to be at least P&Y!
View attachment 90481

Nice job!

 

[NateK]

I am no expert by any stretch but what has help me is to have a few bench marks a buck has to meet. #1 is age so I look for a big neck that blend into his chest. This is always where I look first because it gives me a better idea of the bucks body size which helps judge the rack. The next items will be stuff like X” outside the ears and XX” tines/main beams. This really helps me quickly confirm a buck is as big as he looks. As mentioned above I reference ear and face length to make the snap judgments. By setting three or so thresholds like this I can typically avoid mistaking young bucks with great frames for actual “big buck”. Where I hunt in west TN a 140” 4 year old is a pretty big buck so probably substantially smaller than what you will be after but you can set the requirements wherever.

Mass is also really important to me. A buck with a heavy rack (especially one with trash) is typically (or no typically) in danger!

 

[NateK]

If you are going to a place with trail camera pics then have someone give you there rough scores along with yours to see how they compare. Real life experience is the best way. My rule is if you see the buck and say holy “#%*€” then it is a shooter. If not, let it walk.

Good advice! I will say I’ve had a few instances where I had the reaction described above when I saw tines of a young deer with a great frame but when I got to it I was amazed by the ground shrinkage!

 

[Brian Fahs]

On mature Midwestern bucks I use the 100 inch plus tines length meathod. Usually pretty close.

Another example is on a mature 10 pointer take the length of the g4 x10 plus 100. A ten with 4 inch g4s will gross 140 or close to it. This pertains to mature 4 year old or older bucks not 2 year olds.

In my 40 years of chasing and killing these deer I have noticed a trend in field judging whitetails. Up to 130 inches most guys will guess about 10 inches high. Over 130 estimates are often 20 inches high. When judging a buck from the rear or running away add another 10 inches to both.

If you are hunting a property with a minimum score management system in place , if you have to try to figure out if a buck is big enough it probably isnt. If you your first reaction is OMG..... shoot!

 

[Hoytman]

On mature Midwestern bucks I use the 100 inch plus tines length meathod. Usually pretty close.

Another example is on a mature 10 pointer take the length of the g4 x10 plus 100. A ten with 4 inch g4s will gross 140 or close to it. This pertains to mature 4 year old or older bucks not 2 year olds.

In my 40 years of chasing and killing these deer I have noticed a trend in field judging whitetails. Up to 130 inches most guys will guess about 10 inches high. Over 130 estimates are often 20 inches high. When judging a buck from the rear or running away add another 10 inches to both.

If you are hunting a property with a minimum score management system in place , if you have to try to figure out if a buck is big enough it probably isnt. If you your first reaction is OMG..... shoot!

I agree Brian. The OMG field judging is my approach. (Year 41 of hunting is coming up)!