How to judge rack size

[Blackstorm]

I got real lucky this year and secured a landowners tag for 4th season rifle, it looks like the people who drew this tag had a lot of points one had 20. My problem is I saw a lot of quality deer last year hunting elk, our guide claims they were 200" class animals. They could have been but I am a skeptic by nature, I think i have the width calculation with the ears around 22" figured out, but the height of the rack has me stumped. I know no two racks are the same but I'm looking for something quick that says if its x wide and y high it should be a z class animal. And what is used to guess at height. I will be using a spotter along with my binos to figure this out. Also this hunt is on a private ranch with me and one other will be hunting Mule deer and I have a bull elk tag as well. I think I know how we will hunt them this year I just need a gauge to size as its doubtful that I will get a tag like this again as outfitter has been trying for years to get as well.

 

[huntnful]

Width X Height really doesn't give you much info. They need some BONE. DEEP forks, mass and probably some extras to get that 200" mark.

I killed a 30" buck that scored 155"
A 27" buck that scored 158"
and a 21" buck that scored 150"

See what I'm saying.

Google big mule deer that have a score attached to them. And even try to see some field photos of them as well.

 

[CaliWoodsman]

No substitute for just looking at pictures and scores like @huntnful said. Too many variables - width, height, mass, forks. If you're just looking for a quick rule of thumb, if you're looking at a buck that's wider than his ears, as tall as he is wide, with big front forks, it's probably going to be a good scoring buck. (Although not necessarily 200")

 

[Nickofthewoods]

See if you can find some taxidermy heads to look at. Seeing mule deer mounts in person and in 3d will help a lot. You might have to ask around for the score, but bring a cloth tape and the owner of the mount may even let you take some quick measurements.

 

[hobbes]

200" typical is going to require just about everything, width, height, deep forks front and back, and mass. If you are used to whitetails, muleys will throw you off some. I don't really consider myself proficient but I think I've came a long way on muleys in the last five years. I think I've seen one typical that had all of that but it was in CO high country and I didn't have a tag. I still wouldn't confidently say it was 200"

Back when I was in whitetail country, I started out thinking I knew what a whitetail scored on the hoof only to realize that I didn't know $#!+. After some years of actually putting tape on a lot of bucks, especially when I had the taxidermy shop, I got a much better feel for it. I also realized that the majority of folks had no idea but would throw out numbers they had no basis for. I don't know how many 180" bucks showed up that were more along the lines of 125" bucks. Maybe that's improved through the years, but I doubt it.

 

[Blackstorm]

200" typical is going to require just about everything, width, height, deep forks front and back, and mass. If you are used to whitetails, muleys will throw you off some. I don't really consider myself proficient but I think I've came a long way on muleys in the last five years. I think I've seen one typical that had all of that but it was in CO high country and I didn't have a tag. I still wouldn't confidently say it was 200"

Back when I was in whitetail country, I started out thinking I knew what a whitetail scored on the hoof only to realize that I didn't know $#!+. After some years of actually putting tape on a lot of bucks, especially when I had the taxidermy shop, I got a much better feel for it. I also realized that the majority of folks had no idea but would throw out numbers they had no basis for. I don't know how many 180" bucks showed up that were more along the lines of 125" bucks. Maybe that's improved through the years, but I doubt it.

My thoughts exactly, the deer i saw last year were huge, and they get almost no hunting pressure. Three tags for all 4 rifle seasons as the camp is primarily an elk camp. My neighbor shot a true 10 pt 172" whitetail buck on my back land several years ago. its in the B&C books. The rack itself is massive and drawfs the head it is on, no problem to see it is special. The Mule deer racks that I have seen at Cabela's and such are hard to gauge as most of the racks are so high above the head that I cant get a good feel for mass and size when viewing it

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

It takes a lot of bone to break 180", let alone 200". I fall for it every time I make it up to CO. The first symmetrical, decently heavy 4x4 I see makes me think it's 180". I recently sent a video of one such buck to some big buck killers just to try and recalibrate. As of now, the consensus is that buck wasn't even 170".

That's not to say he wasn't an absolute beauty of a buck, he was! It just takes a ton of tine length to get a 180"+ deer. Like all four forks need to be made up of 9-10"+ tines, and it's gotta have width and mass, and probably browtines... If I want to hunt numbers that's going to be my number one rule of thumb going forward. Tines need to be 9-10"+ long, and the deer needs to be either absurdly tall, or well outside the ears (or both, that will get you on your way to 200).

Practically speaking though, I'd just shoot a buck that looks big, and has a potbelly with a sway back.

 

[mcr-85]

It takes a lot of bone to break 180", let alone 200". I fall for it every time I make it up to CO. The first symmetrical, decently heavy 4x4 I see makes me think it's 180". I recently sent a video of one such buck to some big buck killers just to try and recalibrate. As of now, the consensus is that buck wasn't even 170".

That's not to say he wasn't an absolute beauty of a buck, he was! It just takes a ton of tine length to get a 180"+ deer. Like all four forks need to be made up of 9-10"+ tines, and it's gotta have width and mass, and probably browtines... If I want to hunt numbers that's going to be my number one rule of thumb going forward. Tines need to be 9-10"+ long, and the deer needs to be either absurdly tall, or well outside the ears (or both, that will get you on your way to 200).

Practically speaking though, I'd just shoot a buck that looks big, and has a potbelly with a sway back.

Any guesses on this guy?

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[sndmn11]

Mass and deep forks are the first two things you should look for, without those the sum doesn't have much of a chance. When you find those two, then work with the height and width. It's a lot more common to see wiry and spindly bucks that look or are tall and wide that score lower than expected, than it is to find mass and forks that score low.
Make sure it has eye guards.

 

[Dioni A]

I would say your pictured buck is approaching 190. Here's a few for reference and I agree that width means almost nothing for score.

From left to right.
32 wide 183, 24 wide 185, 24 wide 195, 30 wide 186.
A good rule of thumb is that if a buck has 10 inch deep forks all the way around Mass looks like any of the above deer and main beams look around 24 in it's probably 180. 190 is going to have around 12-in deep forks and Mass and main beams will be larger also.

 

[mcr-85]

I would say your pictured buck is approaching 190. Here's a few for reference and I agree that width means almost nothing for score. View attachment 327448View attachment 327449

From left to right.
32 wide 183, 24 wide 185, 24 wide 195, 30 wide 186.
A good rule of thumb is that if a buck has 10 inch deep forks all the way around Mass looks like any of the above deer and main beams look around 24 in it's probably 180. 190 is going to have around 12-in deep forks and Mass and main beams will be larger also.

The difference between you and I....I have a couple pics of a 190 buck and you have pics of them on your wall. I always look forward to seeing what you kill.

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[Dioni A]

The difference between you and I....I have a couple pics of a 190 buck and you have pics of them on your wall. I always look forward to seeing what you kill.

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Appreciate it. I looked again and I might be high on that guess. I'd for sure shoot that buck either way. If you get him I'd love to see what he taped out at.

 

[mcr-85]

Appreciate it. I looked again and I might be high on that guess. I'd for sure shoot that buck either way. If you get him I'd love to see what he taped out at.

The pics are a couple years old, about mid July. I watched him a couple days in a row and had some good pics and video of him. Unfortunately he lived where he wasn't too hard to turn up. The week before the archery hunt that year he had multiple people watching him and I went to less crowded country.

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[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Any guesses on this guy?

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That's a sweet buck! I'm not good at this. But I wouldn't be willing to bet on anything over 180. Just basing that off the aforementioned buck I was chasing in CO, and the opinion of more experienced guys than me. Like I said before though. I'm really not very good at this. I kinda ballpark score bucks as "meh, nice, oooh!, WOAH!, and Holy $*%*$#@* ))&%"

 

[Hunt30]

This buck scored 185. That said, I have no problem believing lightly hunted private ground in Colorado could have numerous big deer on it. Which general part of the state is the ranch located? How many acres? What size of bull did you kill last year?

 

[Blackstorm]

This buck scored 185. That said, I have no problem believing lightly hunted private ground in Colorado could have numerous big deer on it. Which general part of the state is the ranch located? How many acres? What size of bull did you kill last year?

Ranch is in nw corner of state with 2500 acres of their own and 13,500 acres of blm land behind them. They raise cattle as their main business, they accept no more than 6 hunters per season.

 

[RMM]

Judging rack size is easy, if they make my hands look small, they're worth mounting. If they make my hands look big, not worth mounting.

Oh.. we're talking about deer.. disregard

 

[Hunt30]

Ranch is in nw corner of state with 2500 acres of their own and 13,500 acres of blm land behind them. They raise cattle as their main business, they accept no more than 6 hunters per season.

Sounds like a great situation. As others have said, a 200” muley is really big. Heck, a 175” muley is a great buck! Just look at as many pictures as you can before you go, and don’t get too excited about shooting until you see what the ranch has to offer for a day or two.

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

Big deer look big
Really big deer(185+) look huge