Can anyone help me learn to field score?

[CMS2272]

So I moved out west about 3 years ago so this will be deer season number 3 under my belt.

With that, I have been putting in a ton of work in the offseason scouting with the hopes of killing a nice archery velvet buck. My one issue is I have found a couple of deer over the past weekend, but don't know how to "rank" them outside of character. Yes, size isn't everything and I'd be happy to kill any, but can anyone help me approximate size of these deer? Additionally, how much should I expect them to grow between now and mid august?

Two different bucks pictured below. One 3x3 and one high and tight 4x4 with crab claw fronts.

 

[RockAndSage]

Any of those are nice bucks, especially for a relatively new archery hunter. Best guess is they're running between 140 and maybe 160-ish, but some better photos would help dial that in. Good rule of thumb: They always look a lot bigger from behind.

 

[HuntandFly]

The 3 point is around 115-120, the 4 point will struggle to break 140 with the short forks.

These are fine bucks, and you should hunt what makes you happy. But they are both 3.5 year old deer at most, just for your reference when trying to age/score deer.

Edit to add: these bucks are almost done growing based on these pictures. Very little change to score or size will occur from here.

 

[CMS2272]

Thanks for the input to both of you. Gonna keep looking and hope these continue to stay hidden in their basin!

Side note: the note about their age is extremely helpful as I’d assume they get a lot bigger over the next few years

 

[Hnthrdr]

Huntandfly nailed it, likely younger bucks keep hunting plenty of time to turn up other bucks, generally when you find a big one it’s pretty evident. Especially if they are around other deer/ bucks they will have a bigger body, head, and antlers.

 

[HuntandFly]

Thanks for the input to both of you. Gonna keep looking and hope these continue to stay hidden in their basin!

Side note: the note about their age is extremely helpful as I’d assume they get a lot bigger over the next few years

These bucks don’t looks particularly genetically gifted, but could absolutely become cool old bucks with a couple more years

 

[PNWGATOR]

Keep it simple to start:

What makes a 160 inch Mule Deer? Basic field judging. - Flat Tops Wilderness Guides

Do you really care if you can tell the difference between a 190″ and a 215″ deer? Me neither. In those situations, I just shoot it! It is more useful when hunting public land to know how to judge a 2-3 year old deer from a 4+ year old mature deer. This is usually the […]

www.flattopswildernessguides.com

 

[CMS2272]

Yeah I shot one that’s extremely similar to the crab claw last year that scored mid 170. Same basin.

Mostly I’m interested in the 3x3 just because of his width, and never seen him before so wondering if he’s pretty young.

 

[WCB]

Yeah I shot one that’s extremely similar to the crab claw last year that scored mid 170. Same basin.

Mostly I’m interested in the 3x3 just because of his width, and never seen him before so wondering if he’s pretty young.

We need to see a picture...if the buck you shot last year is anywhere near the crab claw buck from the pictures above...no way it scored 170.

Better pictures would help but that crab claw buck would be lucky to hit mid 130s.

 

[CMS2272]

To clarify- I meant similar in terms of frame. Picture of the buck from this weekend is much much smaller.

 

[wytx]

Those bucks will keep growing until some time in Aug. They should put on a little tine length but not much more mass or any width.

 

[24valve]

@PNWGATOR provided a great guide, after reading that you can test it out by reading through some of these threads and try to guess the score before reading it in each post:

Thread 'A thread to test your field scoring'

Sep 18, 2025

Alright guys I had a brain storm. As a fella from the east, I don’t get to look at a lot of mule deer until I’m on my hunt. This is a bit of an issue as every mule deer looks huge compared to a whitetail. So I thought why don’t we make a thread where you can practice before it’s the heat of the moment? Plus, you can guess a bucks score all you want but at the end of the day there’s no way to know till he’s dead. So here’s my solution:

Post a few pics of your bucks from different angles. Mounts, grin n grins, whatever.

Then below that post what it scores.

Maybe someone already did this...

• Treeratslayer
• Replies: 42
• Forum: Mule Deer

• 

I

Thread 'Mule Deer Age Thread'

Jun 26, 2025

A few notable people have been doing it for years but there seems to be a growing trend of getting mule deer bucks lab aged. State Game agencies also seems to be using lab aging more and more as a management tool to understand what is really happening with our herds, hunting pressure, and trophy quality. It's also just fun to know more about a specific buck. I jumped on the band wagon last year.

This thread isn't meant to be for debating the merits or management implications of lab aging. Rather, it's just to share the information that we get from aging our bucks. It will be too...

• idelkslayer
• Replies: 94
• Forum: Mule Deer

• 

A note on velvet bucks, you can generally tell how much more they are going to grow by the shape of the antler tips.

If they are round and bulbous, he is still growing and will get bigger:


If they are tipped and pointy, then he is likely mostly done growing and will be close to final size:


(These are not my photos, I pulled them from a quick internet image search)