elkrchr
Well-known member
That’s a beautiful buck Nathan! Safe travels home.
Judging pronghorn is hard!
- Thread starter npaden
- Start date
antelopedundee
Well-known member
Their ears are about 5 inches or a tad longer so when they are standing with their ears up you can get an idea of horn length. As mentioned earlier the big ones look BIG.
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
I have to disagree.
My advice is to look at as many as you can, get as close as you can, never rush into shooting one. Look carefully at the bucks that have the XL head and body as often times their horns don't look real special and they will surprise you. Absolutely look real hard at the ones that look to have heavy mass all the way up. The ones that do not have heavy looking horns are NEVER as big as they look on the hoof. And usually the real heavy ones are WAY BIGGER than they look. They are not easy to judge, in my opinion and often times the real big ones don't look that great, and some pretty average ones look real impressive.
npaden
Well-known member
Thanks for the advise. I think I passed on a really good buck thinking everything through retrospectively. Maybe a couple of good ones.
I don't know why I talked myself into shooting the one I did. I had seen a pretty good buck that I headed after and was trying to track down on foot. He was chasing a doe and had 6 other bucks trailing behind him and he was clearly the dominant buck. I didn't take a shot when I should have and then they all took off. I found the one I ended up shooting and actually passed on him when he was by himself twice thinking he was one of the other bucks that was trailing behind because he was by himself. Then I saw him with some does and thought he was the dominant buck and shot him.
He looked decent when I shot him and looked good when I walked up to him but not near as good when I put a tape on him. 14" length, 6" bases, 4 1/2" prongs = 73" buck. Oh well. I guess I will keep applying for tags, maybe eventually I will trip over a big one like I did with my elk! LOL.
Thanks, Nathan
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
That's a nice buck and those are pretty good measurements. All really depends on where you're at and how many you have a chance to look at. In WY, the problem is there is no shortage of just hundred and hundreds of tiny ones. After a few days of looking, they all start to look the same.
KayakMacGyver
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2018
- Messages
- 353
Solid buck! Nice job!
antelopedundee
Well-known member
That's just one criterion. Wasn't intended to be the only one, but it's something to judge length by. If the horns are tall, but spindly then he's a pass. Obviously there's more than length and you'll probably get to see some other angles as well.
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jnagel32
Active member
Nice buck! I would be happy with him!
ashersdad
Well-known member
Looks good enough to me. Congratulations!
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
Judge this one. Easy.
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
Here's a 2nd one. A real mindbender? Bigger or smaller than the first?
pretty new to this game, but I will guess that the first one is not all that big. He has great mass low, but is thin up top. Not that long. The second one is smaller than the first.
Now I will sit back and be corrected I am sure!
Now I will sit back and be corrected I am sure!
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
cahunter805
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 27, 2014
- Messages
- 2,527
Congrats Nathan. Good buck! Did you have to dial for the shot?
npaden
Well-known member
Nope. 254 yards and I just held a little bit high. Easier than turning a dial!
npaden
Well-known member
Greenhorn,
I'm going to guess that both of those are bigger than they look. That first one is built like a tank, a lot like the buck I shot last year except his upper mass looks really good. Really good prongs too. On the bottom buck, at some angles he doesn't look like much, but his upper mass looks really good to me anyway.
I've thought about trying to see if a guide service would just let me ride around with them during the summer sometime when they are out scouting. I think it would be a VERY useful experience. Maybe offer to pay for their gas and food to let me hang out with them. LOL.
I'm going to guess that both of those are bigger than they look. That first one is built like a tank, a lot like the buck I shot last year except his upper mass looks really good. Really good prongs too. On the bottom buck, at some angles he doesn't look like much, but his upper mass looks really good to me anyway.
I've thought about trying to see if a guide service would just let me ride around with them during the summer sometime when they are out scouting. I think it would be a VERY useful experience. Maybe offer to pay for their gas and food to let me hang out with them. LOL.
Scarey
Well-known member
Well done! sorry you didn't get a shot at #1 or #3 but you still got one to be proud of.
