Tips & Tactics

Lightning Score on the Hoof

Lightning Score on the Hoof

By Ken Piper

Score isn’t everything when it comes to whitetails, but there are times (like when hunting with an outfitter who has minimum scores for bucks) that knowing a buck’s score comes in handy.

If you need to quickly guess a buck’s score, consider that an average 8-pointer that is just outside its ears and isn’t deficient in any way (tine length, mass and spread) is going to score around 125 inches. An average 10-pointer that is likewise configured will score about 135.

While this is not a foolproof method, it provides a fast estimate when you don’t have a lot of time to study a buck. You can take off or add inches for exceptional or deficient qualities as time allows. A missing brow tine or two shorter brow tines, for example, would cost a buck about 5 inches. Likewise, you could add about 5 inches to a buck’s score if he has really strong brow tines, etc.

Keep the average score of those two main frames in your head so you can add or subtract inches quickly based on extra or missing tines. While far from exact, this quick estimate can ease your anxiety about pulling - or not pulling - the trigger.

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Copyright 2020 by Buckmasters, Ltd