Scoring Whitetail Deer
Why do people want to shoot big bucks?
How Antlers Develop
Describe scoring process
Rack competition
Build the highest scoring antler set you can in the time allowed.
Materials: tape, wire, cutters, scissors, newspaper,
Scoring process details
Practice scoring
How does someone score a buck?
Antler Terms
Boone and Crockett Club Measuring System: the most common way to score whitetail antlers
Coues deer: similar to a whitetail- in alaska
Point: must be at least 1 inch long, cannot be thicker than it is long, measured from tip of point to edge of beam
Abnormal points: non typical in their location
Beam length: the measurement from the bottom of the bur to the tip of the beam
Brow tine: first point
Bur: where the antler connected to the bucks head
Symmetrical: lines up from side to side
Spread: Width from widest point to widest point
Green scoring: when one wants their deer scored prior to it drying out. This is not official and just an estimate.
Drying scoring: official way to score a deer, must be 60+ after harvest date
Pedicles: smallstalk like structures above and in front of a bucks ears
Typical vs non typical
Drop points
Spikes
Photoperiod:controls antler growth
Antler Terms
Velvet: covers the developing antlers with a layer of skin and hairs- this is called velvet--- the fuzzy covering is laced with blood vessels that supply nourishment to the growing antlers
Shed: as days become shorter in late summer male hormone levels rise, causing antlers to stop growth and harden- the velvet then dries and sheds within 24 hours- usually late august early September in north
Casting: aka antler drop
Button bucks: male fawn