For years, it’s been customary for whitetail hunters to refer to both gross and net scores when discussing antler sizes. For this reason, the Boone and Crockett Club recently decided to add a gross-score listing next to all future deer and elk entries.
By Les Davenport
Because of its incredible symmetry, it’s little wonder that the former world-record typical, taken by James Jordan in 1914, held the No. 1 spot for so long. The gross score is 209 3/8 with only 3 2/8 inches in side-to-side deductions, bringing the net score to 206 1/8. Pictured with the former world record is Dr. Charles T. Arnold, former owner of the trophy.
Most deer hunters will never see a true B&C-qualifying whitetail in the woods during their lifetime, let alone tag one. But yes, there’s always that enthusiastic hunting buddy who sees one or two each season and tells the whole town. You love this guy, and since you know he’s prone to exaggerate, his sightings are taken with a grain of salt. Then again, regardless of any embellishment, it’s pretty darn exciting to know that a high-scoring buck is running loose in your neighborhood!
The fact of the matter is that many hunters who consider themselves trophy whitetail hunters have little knowledge about antler measuring and even less about field judging a live buck. For these guys, trophy deer come in four sizes: small, medium, big and monster. It’s just this manner of trophy categorization by hunters that prompted the Boone and Crockett Club to create a universal scoring system.
A LONG TRADITION
Formed in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt and others, the club’s main goal was to establish and maintain unified wildlife and natural resource conservation programs for this nation. Its initial scoring system, used by the inaugural 1932 record book publication, caused much controversy among hunters. It wasn’t until the early 1950s that the original scoring system was enhanced, approved by the B&C board, printed, and generally accepted by the hunting public.
So why and how were antler measuring principles determined? The “why” is simple. We, as humans, possess an inborn trait to create standards to live by. Most are set for us, but some come from within. And like it or not, B&C’s standards were benchmarked in 1950 at 140 inches net for typicals and 160 inches net for non-typicals (all-time entry). We are probably fortunate that those minimums were raised to 170 and 195 back in 1968 instead of today. With recent whitetail population booms, expanding ranges, and implementation of quality deer management in many areas, we might well have seen those minimums moved up to 175 and 200 inches or more in more recent times.
The “how” of antler measuring is more in-depth and still causes controversy among today’s hunters. Taxidermist James L. Clark developed the first scoring system for the 1892 Records of Big Game structure for Rowland Ward Limited’s taxidermy clients. It was Clark’s system that B&C later modified, copyrighted and published in 1952.
This unique scoring system ranks antlers in two categories. “Typical” racks are credited for inside spread, symmetry of side-to-side beam mass and length, and symmetry of side-to-side tine count and length. “Non-typicals” are measured the same, but given additional credit for any abnormal point growth. The Pope & Young Club’s first publication in 1975 adopted this scoring system, but with minimums established for archers of 125 and 155, respectively.
Most hunter disagreement is over “gross” inches vs. “net” inches. You need only mention a buck’s score in a group of trophy hunters and someone will ask, “Is that net?” Another in the crowd will spout, “Who cares about net! What’s the gross?” And that’s when the argument starts. Though it’s usually a good-natured squabble, the dispute over scores is the very reason that the Buckmasters scoring system was created back in the 1980s. Is there truly a flaw in B&C’s scoring system or do bigger numbers simply sound better to the majority of hunters?
ASK THE AUDIENCE
While doing seminars at Glenn Helgeland’s Target Communications’ 2007 Illinois and Wisconsin Deer Classics last winter, I polled 10 of my seminar audiences about antlers and scoring. The following are some of the questions and responses.
Man has always upheld symmetry as a thing of beauty and balance. This undoubtedly was part of B&C’s original motivation for rankings in the typical category. I asked audiences: Which buck would you shoot -- a 5x5 with 80 inches on one side and 60 on the other or one with 70 inches on each side?
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