in this video we'll give you some information
on how to field judge mule deer so come along with us
as we go into this video looking at winter range mule deer
and learn about field judging mule deer
you know over the last 40 years i developed a system to field judge trophy
mule deer today we're going to talk about how to
use a system to look at a buck and rack bracketing in other words is
the buck a 150 class mule deer 160 170
or maybe a 180. now we're not going to be worried about a 200 main frame or a
190 mainframe boone and crockett mule deer
because quite frankly most of us if we see a buck like that
we don't care about how he really rack brackets other than he's
a huge mule deer but most of our reality is bucks in the
180s down to the 150s so we're going to concentrate on how to
rack bracket those type of mule deer i want you to remember that there's
basically three structures of typical mule deer racks
and we'll be talking about them in this segment
okay like i've said there's three types of typical mule deer racks and when you
field judge the first thing you do is look at that
mule deer and determine which one of the three now there's
variations to these three types of racks but there's only basically three racks
they are number one is a buck that has good fronts bad backs and what that
means is you notice this buck here when you
measure a mule deer you measure this is called the the g2
and it comes from here and you measure right up to here
then the second point is a g3 and you measure from here right to where it
branches you notice this buck here he branches
quite high right here if he had branched right down here you
would cut that much more of a measurement on this
particular point so this buck also has pretty decent
fronts you notice here his g4 right here is almost as high as these
back tangs and then of course right here is called
the main beam that comes right around like this
that makes up the typical rack of a mule deer
this buck has good fronts bad backs that's the that's the first type of
trophy mule deer rack good fronts bad backs the second type
is one that has good backs but short fronts
the third type of rack is a buck that has good fronts
and also good backs he has no outstanding
feature to his rack now this is the toughest one to judge
because of that reason now you notice this buck he branches pretty good in the
back and he's got a real good main beams and
his g4 is almost as long as these back tanks
that's the third type of typical rack that our mule deer will have
now they will vary a little between these three types
but that's the three types of mule deer racks
now i want to tell you 65% of the total score of a mule deer
comes from these fronts and what i mean by his fronts
is his main beam his g4 right here and the inside spread
that's where 65 of a mule deer score will come from if you
can find a buck that's got good fronts even though he's got bad backs he will
score better than a buck that has good backs and
short fronts because of that reason so remember that
when you're looking at a trophy mule deer
you look at his rack if he's got good fronts and bad backs
he'll score better than a buck that's got real long back tangs
and has a short main beam and has usually
a short inside spread because the inside spread is the only spread that you can
use now i've had a lot of guys their
benchmark for a heavy meal deer is 22 inches a total mass on a side
now how they score that is they measure between here and the burr
that's the first circumference the second one is between the bur
and right here the third one is right between
here and here and the fourth one is between
between here and here and that's the four circumferences
of a mule deer and if that totals up to over 20 inches of mass
you've got a real heavy trophy mule deer
when you're looking at mule deer and different areas where you're hunting
mule deer that's the first consideration i give
as to what type of mule deer are they big headed
or medium sized headed mule deer because that will help you determine
inside spread and also outside rack to rack
spread i use the ears to determine how long the main beam is
and what you do that takes a little bit of practice i figure if a buck has got
two and a half ears of main beam here his main beam is over 24 inches
now that doesn't really calculate right because their ears are longer than that
but when you're sitting there with a spotting scope and looking at a buck
maybe that's four or five hundred yards away it really kind of comes out to that
that gives you that extra inch or two to play with
so just remember that if he's only two ears long his main beams
they're under 23 inches if they're two and a half
inches long by just going boom boom boom he's over 24 inches on these main beams
and then again like i said the first thing
you look at in a trophy mule deer is these fronts because 65 of his total
score comes from his main beam his inside spread and his g4
and the second thing i look at is how well he branches in the back
the third thing i see if he's got eye guards
the fourth thing is what kind of mass he has
you know over the past 35 years i developed this system to field judge and
rack bracket mule deer this isn't a system to give you the the
total snatch score or to give you exactly what this buck scores
what it's meant to do is give you an idea the rack size of that buck whether
he's a 150 class mule deer a 170 or like this buck here a 180.
that's all i want to know right then out in the field
is what kind of buck i'm looking at gross score
and i hope this will help you it's helped me over the years by using this
system and i'm sure if you get proficient with
it it'll help you be a better trophy hunter
one thing to realize when you're judging trophy mule deer it's impossible to
judge a mule deer from the side look at this buck with his head laying
there sleeping now i went around and videoed the buck
from the front he's the top one right there look at
that that is the same buck as the one you
looked at from the side so you can't look at a buck from the
side and get a good view of a trophy mule deer like
this buck here this buck looks like just a deer but
wait until he turns and looks straight on to you
look at that he has a 27 inch inside spread
and 26 inch main beams you've got to look at a trophy mule deer
from the front to be able to tell how good a rack he has
when you're judging mule deer in the
field
this buck here is a 160 type mule there you notice here
his rack is on the inside of his ears he's a good little four
point but what you're looking for if you're looking for a good trophy mule
deer is a 170 or above now this next buck
right here is 170. notice his inside spread is 24 inches
his ears are inside his rack he's got good back tangs
now the next buck that's next to him is a 160
and you can tell the difference right here this is the 160 buck
and the 170 is is in front one thing to remember
is when they run away they pinch their ears back and their spread
looks twice as big and makes the buck look
three times as big as he is never i repeat
never feel judge a mule deer from behind because he's always got his ears
cocked back to listen to you as he's running away
now this is a good example of a 160 and a 170 mule deer the 170 right here
as he pops his head up look at the 160 to the left here
he has a good rack he has the same size back tangs
but his ears are outside of his main beam
now here's a good example of a 170 on the left and a 180 on the right
the only difference between these two bucks is the 170 buck has
short main beams and short g4s look at the g4s and main beam on the
180. they're a lot longer and that's why he's
a 180 and the buck to the left is a 170. they
both got the same length back tanks it's the fronts that makes a difference
on these two mule deer now this is a 180 mule deer now notice
on this meal there he has 24 inch main beams now look at the 190
on the right you notice that his inside spread is probably 26 inches
he's got a 26 inch main beam that's the difference between a 180 and a 190 mule
deer it's almost like night and day to get a
190 you're jumping up to a buck that just
looks huge they both have the same back tangs
it's just the main beams and the fronts that are different
now this buck here is a low 190 gross now let's look at a 160 buck and tell
the difference between the two of them the one on the right here is going to be
a 160 class mule deer can you see the difference the 160
his rack is inside his ears and the 190 is so much bigger he has bigger back
tangs his main beams are bigger his rack is on the outside of his ears
by two and a half inches on both sides that's the difference between a 160 and
a 190 mule deer using the ears to indicate the rack size
is the way to really tell a buck when you're rack bracketing a mule deer in
the field
now here's the 190 again and here's what a 170 looks like proportionally the 170
has a good rack but notice again that his ears are on
the outside of his rack where the 190 is on the inside and look
at the 170 the 170 has as good of back tangs
as a 190 but then again look at his front
his main beams are really short and he's g4 is short