Bowsite.com

We weren't specifically targeting this buck for her but we were fortunate to call him into 25 yards after seeing several other deer on the farm that failed to present a shot opportunity. I knew he was an older buck and i guessed him to be 6.5 years old.

As of today i have the cementum aging results and the Pope and young results and if you're interested, have a guess at the age and score. I will post the results in a couple days!

My wife gave birth to our first child last august so she took the fall of 2016 off from hunting (i'm very gracious for her allowing me to hunt as much as i did).

On November 4th we hit the woods for her third hunt of the year; not far from where those trailcam photos were taken. The stand is on the downwind side of a bedding area and we were in the tree around noon right after the hard rains had stopped. Shortly after getting situated (her in the ladder stand, me in my muddy hang on just above her) a nice 2 year old crusied by just out of range. Her goal has always been to hold off for a decent 2 year old or older buck. In the next hour we had two yearling bucks cruise by that she elected to pass on.

At about 2pm a nice (younger) buck appeared; i told her to get ready and she stood and drew; he passed by at about 35 yards and she decided to pass. She is comfortable shooting out to 40 yards but our goal was to keep all shots within 25 yards due to her arrow speed. As he passed i saw another buck coming down the same trail, this was the "big 9" and i knew him to be the oldest buck on the farm. He came by on the same trail without presenting a shot within range. I let him get 50-60 yards before doing a short, quiet grunt. He turned and headed back our way but only came to the top of the ridge (40 yards) to see where the other buck was. When he realized there wasn't another buck, he turned back and headed in the direction he was originally heading. Once he hit about 60 yards i did a snort wheeze hoping that his age may play into more of a dominant role. he did the same thing as before and stopped at 40 yards when he didn't see another buck. Megan had drawn that time (for the second time) but had to let down. I gave it one more shot when he was about 75 yards away; a short tickle of the rattling antlers from my side of the tree. This time he committed, he came in down a trail at 25 yards. Megan drew and i stopped him at 25 yards; she let a perfect arrow fly and we watched him disappear out of sight.

We have been through a lot of ups and down in the tree but i had never seen her so excited; she had the shakes and couldn't believe what happened. We gave it 40 minutes before getting down and finding the arrow which confirmed a good lung shot. We took up the trail heading down the steep hill towards the creek; the trail was easy at first but once we hit the creek we started losing blood. He had crossed the creek twice before we lost his trail. This was about an hour and a half into the blood trail and we marked the last blood. I told megan to start grid searching the narrow stretch of timber between the creek and the cornfield while i would walk the creek checking all crossings for blood. Just a few minutes later i came around the corner to the view above; it was incredible!

I couldn't be more happy for my beautiful wife and sharing this experience was amazing. I dont think we would have successfully harvested this buck had either of us hunted alone; it was a true team effort!

Yes, for Net the partially broken G4 helped!

Congrats to her.

Why did the broken G4 help the score?

So it's added in for the gross and subtracted out for the net. It seems to me that it wouldn't matter if it's 2 inches or 12 it's a net gain of zero.

Great buck and hunt for you and your wife! 5.5, 128"

You're right, it doesn't. My bad.

"..."gross score to equal the Net score ...."

You won't find anywhere on a score sheet something called a "gross score" or "net score". You will find a "sub total" and "Final score". So the terms you're using pervert the intent of the system. For those who want to use "gross" score to represent "everything the animal grew", don't forget to subtract back out the 20 or so inches of air measurement. Now your "140 gross" is only 120. You won't find a "gross" score in earlier record books either. Not until P&Y caved into this ridiculous idea by relatively few hunters, (many that weren't even members, in an attempt to attract them) and added that column into the latest book.

When you kill a great buck, like hers, you don't need to try to inflate the score by quoting a number that is just part of the score calculation.

I understand that. But since P&Y/B&C is the gold standard in scoring North American big game animals, AND they are basically using a bastardized version of that system, they should be careful to preface it with something like "by my own scoring system..." Of course, then, no one would know what they were talking about. And your reasoning doesn't take into account that a wide rack isn't any more impressive than a taller, narrower one. But yet they still want to include the air measurement. And "gross" score alone doesn't clarify anything.

Example (same deer): I killed a whitetail that grossed 140. I killed a 4X5 whitetail that scored 125. Almost the same length sentence. Which gives a better picture? Adding "gross" to the second description wouldn't add a thing, and adding 4X5 to the first gives you the same picture as the second sentence. So why complicate it after years of clarity? Anything else odd or important about the rack needs to be added in either case. Besides, you're probably just going to take out your iPhone and show him a poorly composed photo anyway. ;-)

Why don't hunters just accept the system that has been in place since records were recorded. That's the ONLY way to gain perspective over time.

I think P&Y should simplify the scoring process. Take measurements of corresponding locations on each side. Double the smaller figure and record it. Add it all up. No deductions, less math, same final score.

Concur.

In the beginning, too late to start now, It think it would have been better to consider symmetry, as the current system does, but not to the extent to which it is presently emphasized.

Because the typical buck will grow a relatively similar amount of antler on each side, I would have preferred to measure each side and double the smaller side. Not each, main beam, point and circumference. That allows for difference in each item, side to side, but accounts for total growth of each antler.

Like I said, too late to start it that way now, so we should live with the system we have. That’s how I would have done it if I was in charge in the beginning.

I happen to like symmetry and, both being mature and standing next to each other, would shoot a symmetrical buck over a non-typical buck.

My guess is 6.5yo and 134" net P&Y score.

This past year an acquaintance killed one with 158" of antler, but after deductions it ended up netting 128". In held the rack in my hands and I can tell you it is a hell of a lot bigger than a 128" net deer I have.

Personally I like weird racks with character, no matter what the final "score" turns out.

P&Y coopted B&C's scoring system, and B&C publishes gross scores. Seems like some of the P&Y guys need to buy their undies a size or two larger.

The buck is a great deer and one to be proud of. The picture of her holding the rack in the water reveals tine length the best.

I understand completely from your first description the comparison between the two, without any mention of "gross". They're both great deer - one with extra non-typical points, the other more symmetrical.

My point is not that guys use "gross" score. It's when that is the only number they use. It doesn't tell the whole story any more than just stating final score. At least when I hear a final score, I have an idea of it's ranking. I always wonder why someone gives a number that stops short of the final score. Maybe it's a statement about not agreeing with the P&Y system, which does give merit to symmetry.

Congrats on a beautiful buck, thats a dandy anywhere regardless of score or age.

The broken tine DOES help the net score...if it was NOT BROKE the full tine length would be a deduct as there is no matching tine on the other side. So instead of deducting say 7" you are only deducting about 2-3".

There are people that have taken rocks and broke off abnormal points in the field to improve their score.

At least that's how its always worked on all the animals I've had officially scored.

139” sub-total

133” net

5.5yr old

What kinda sick puppy does it take to do that? I personally don’t know anyone that disturbed. Have you heard the saying, if you see something say something? Wow

Where I come from we use nets for fishing... just saying. If symmetry is what I was after I’d shoot a 3 year old 8 pt.

My guess 5.5 and 132 7/8

I'm just bumpin' your thread count, Chris.

This buck was aged at 7.5 years olds by cementum aging. The gross score is 137 and change and the net is 131 and change.

This primer in thread hijacking brought to you by the legends of Bowsite ! :-)

Congrats to you both on a beautiful buck.

Thanks for sharing Bumpin&Blazin.

Congrats to your wife on a heck of a trophy!