Sizing up bulls

[Bigggcountry]

Since moving to idaho I have been  meat hunter. I have only hunted cows. This year I drew the unit 31 bull tag. This is a very limited tag and is known to have some large bulls in it. Last year out of the 50 tags given out 36 of them harvested 6 pts or better. What do I look for in field scoring?  I plan on doing a lot of scouting. I've already spent a few hours infront of my computer looking over the area on google earth.

 

[Hycntryhtr]

Field judging bulls especially in velvet can be a little rough even for experianced guys. The first thing I look at is the 3rds.. Then mass, length of all points, main beam. I'm no expert, but look up jay Scott's articles on scoring live bulls. He and Darr colburn are the best in my opinion. Best of luck!! Show pics

 

[RUTTIN]

Don't get to caught up in score, everyone wants to shoot a 360 or whatever. If it looks good to you and you will be happy, shoot it and have a good time on the hunt, congrats on drawing the tag!


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[montanaelk31]

Don't get to caught up in score, everyone wants to shoot a 360 or whatever. If it looks good to you and you will be happy, shoot it and have a good time on the hunt, congrats on drawing the tag!


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X2. The trophy is in the eye of the beholder! Sometimes it's the story that's the trophy....
Having said that. I judge 6 pt bulls by first giving them 200 inches if they r a mature 6. Then add up the length of the tines on 1 side X 2 and adding it to 200. My reference is knowing the distance from the nostril to the eye is 12. You can field judge in seconds using this. Check your accuracy by youtubing "field judging elk". You'll be surprised how accurate this technique is. Congrats on the tag, don't eat it!

 

[Bigggcountry]

Thanks for the input so far guys. I know the the true trophy is the pursuit of the animal, but I also know that this is probably going to be my best chance at taking a true giant. After my crash course at judging bulls on YouTube it seems to me that if their headgear stops at their shoulders they are around 300, mid rib is closer to 330 and hips are closer to 350. Sound accurate?  My hunt goes from October 15th thru November 8th so I will have enough time to find the bull I want to take......  Hopefully. 

 

[ElkManDan]

you really have to look at tine length in addition to mainbeam length to judge an elk.  Last year I shot a bull with 54 inch mainbeams that scored 335" and a bull with 50 inch mainbeams that scored 370". 


Here is how I judge a bull.  A mainbeam with normal spacing between points will be right around 30 inches where his 4th point splits off the mainbeam.  from there back estimate the rest of the mainbeam.  A mature bull that looks big should be around least 50 inches.  Mass of a mature bull will be around 50 to 55 inches.  A bull starts looking wide once it gets over 40 inches.  If an elk has these qualities you can start with a score of 200.  From there it is as easy as estimating the average length of the 1-5th point on each side and adding to 200.  If you think the average length of the tines is 15" then the bull would be a 350" bull. 


Even this method takes a bit of time to master.  It is difficult to average tine lentgh unless you have spent a bit of time studying and measuring antlers.  I am no master by any means but I was able to judge both my bulls last year within 5"

 

[montanaelk31]

I Agee with Dan...tine length is everything on elk. I hunt SW Montana and were lucky to get a main beam over 50". But we get our share of 360 bulls each year!

 

[ElkManDan]

Just like others have said though don't get caught up in the score of an elk.  I usually base my standards on the quality of the tag.  Last year on my tags I was looking for a 5pt or bigger on one tag and any bull over 300" on the other and I must say that I really just got lucky to take the bulls that I did.

 

[Bigggcountry]

I'm not wrapped up in the score, but I'm pretty sure this will be my best chance at taking a bull of a lifetime. I will never be able to go to New Mexico or Arizona.  I couldn't agree more with the true trophy is the pursuit. These are majestic critters

 

[lang]

Anyone remember the article from I think Eastmans that you judge the rack by comparing it to the rectangle around the main body of the elk?  It seemed a pretty good, faster than trying to estimate tine length around the entire rack.  Have looked around online and haven't located it.