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Jimmy Fuller sent in these trailcam shots taken on public land in Bland County.
Like me, he's not experienced with estimating antler scores so he was hoping someone would offer estimated Boone and Crockett scores on these bucks.
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures.
Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism.
After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters.
Can't really tell on the top picture, but I'm going to guess maybe 120?
Now the bottom pictures....shoot I'm going to say 140-150?
Hard to tell really!
Comment by J.R. — November 5, 2009 @ 1:32 am
110-120 for the top photo & 140 for the bottom photo? I'm not too good at estimating either, but both deer look to be mature shooters in my book!
Comment by Matt — November 5, 2009 @ 1:40 am
I'm am not a score guesser either but they are both shooters.
Good luck chasing those two!
Comment by tscottw55 — November 5, 2009 @ 4:20 am
Both are great looking public land bucks for sure.
I'd go with 125 Gross on the top buck, he has pretty decent G2s and G3s.
The 2nd buck is tough because of the pic, but he looks to be an 8 point that is wide and pretty heavy with good tines as well and great brow tines. I would imagine he would break 140 if I were guessing.
Hopefully we will find out what they score soon!
Comment by Nino — November 5, 2009 @ 6:45 am
I have my K&J Bow-Camera mount that attaches to my bow stabilizer so I might just venture out into the woods and try to record a hunt for the firs time today.
Seeing all the joy in this years hunters photo's have lit a fire in me....
Mark I'll say that buck go 130.
Comment by Static Lines — November 5, 2009 @ 5:37 pm
Thanks for the feedback guys. I was putting these bucks at 115-120 and around 140. Good luck and put the big ones face in the leaves.
Comment by Jimmy — November 5, 2009 @ 7:26 pm
I would say about 115-120 on the first buck and depending on tine length I would say 135-140 on the second.
Many people just want to look at a rack and immediately score it... By doing some quick math in your head you can get pretty close. With GameCam pics you have to go on some assumptions but you can generally get a good estimate...
For an example let's use the first buck...
Let's give it a 16" spread
Let's give it 20" main beams (measure from base to tip of beam)
G1's are about 2"
G2's are about 8"
G3's are about 7"
Circumference measurements are the hardest to guess. Unless it's a real spindly rack or one with heavy mass I'll generally give it a 5", 4", 3", 2" (You get 4 circumference measurements even with an eight pointer for example).
So... if you add that up for the deer above you come up with a total score of:
20+2+8+7+5+4+3+2 = 51
Being as both sides are pretty close we would double that for 102. If the bucks rack was totally different on each side we would do the math for each side and total. This will give us our total antler measurement.
51*2 = 102
Then we add the inside spread (16) to give us a total score of 118.
102+16 = 118
Hope that helps!!
--Awesome explanation, Freddy. I have to admit I was underestimating the numbers a bit. I tend to really do that bad with fish. Just hate to be the guy who gets all excited about his 6-pound bass that turns out to be a 3-pounder. Would be too cool if Jimmy is back on here with one or both of those brutes. mt
Comment by Freddy McGuire — November 5, 2009 @ 7:52 pm
I score alot of deer in my spare time and am alot better at scoring when i am not hunting...go figure...the first buck is maybe 115", the second deer is a mature deer. It is hard to see where his tines end but he will push 145" all day long. Nice deer especially the second one, I think he might be a little better than you think..good mass measurements and long beams.
--In case people are wondering, this is one of the OTHER Mark Taylors. mt
Comment by mark taylor — November 5, 2009 @ 10:54 pm
105B.C. & mid 140'sB.C. the younger buck has great potential, let him walk if all possible. the older buck got that way because he was not killed at 2.5yrs old. good luck.
Comment by Bo — November 8, 2009 @ 5:37 am
I'm like most of you, I think the top buck is right at 120. It is really hard to tell just how much mass both bucks have because of the velvet, so that makes this a little harder for the second buck. I would say the bottom buck may go 145, but is probably closer to 135-140. Still a great trophy (especially if someone could get'em with a stick and string).
Comment by Tyler Sheets — November 8, 2009 @ 8:13 am
Bo
It was a great pleasure meeting you and your wife at Dick's I hope you have a great hunt in Illinois when you get a chance send us photo's of those Illinois bucks.
Take care and have a happy safe trip.
Comment by Static Lines — November 11, 2009 @ 8:59 pm