Judging Elk

[Gus]

Wasting time on the internet, I came across a statement claiming that when field judging elk, a rule of thumb is with an average 6 point, if all tines are about 12" long, your looking at around a 300" bull. Ive done a bit of math but there would be a lot of variables. Obviously main beam and mass are playing a part, but does anybody have any experience or means to know how close to the truth this might be? I dont have access to any racks at the moment otherwise I would try to test it out myself.


While we're on the topic, anybody have any other tips to field judging an elk?

[Jelvis]

On the biggest elk bulls the back fork should be scratching it's back quarters, when he puts his mammoth head back and bugles the tine hits his hind quarter BOOM!
Jel .. Rack goes way back .. to the back end Wapiti .. White ass .. bull

[Fisher-Dude]

Wasting time on the internet, I came across a statement claiming that when field judging elk, a rule of thumb is with an average 6 point, if all tines are about 12" long, your looking at around a 300" bull. Ive done a bit of math but there would be a lot of variables. Obviously main beam and mass are playing a part, but does anybody have any experience or means to know how close to the truth this might be? I dont have access to any racks at the moment otherwise I would try to test it out myself.


While we're on the topic, anybody have any other tips to field judging an elk?

If the back forks are 12", it's likely the bull is well over 300!

Look for:

eye guards that sweep well up
G3s with good length - typically, these points are weak and can make or break the 300 mark
G4s that are at least 2x the length of the G3s
deep rear forks
width
main beams that curve in at the back typically have more scoreable inches than those that go straight back (sorry Jel)
mass, which is always hard to judge on bulls at a distance

This bull that I got a few years back scores 323. His rears are a bit weak, but his G4s make up for it at 17+", and his G3s are longer than average. Spread is really good. Also, his mass held very strongly all the way up. His mains come nowhere near his ass.



http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e70/Fisher-Dude/CoreLokt.jpg

[Gus]

some good stuff there FD, thanks. How long are the G3's on your bull?

[Moose Guide]

On the biggest elk bulls the back fork should be scratching it's back quarters, when he puts his mammoth head back and bugles the tine hits his hind quarter BOOM!
Jel .. Rack goes way back .. to the back end Wapiti .. White ass .. bull

my family has shot many elk in the 300 range and 4 or five over 320, our largest is a 365 7x7 and none had antlers reaching back to its butt. The Arrow head bull didn't even have antlers that long and scores over 456 nt.
My Brothers 365 bull's antlers measured
main beam-54"
brow-23"
bez-24"
trez-12"
sword-14"
sur royal-8"
sur royal-6"
for an average of 14.5" so maybe the 12 inch thing ain't bad

[Fisher-Dude]

some good stuff there FD, thanks. How long are the G3's on your bull?

I think they were 11 and 11.5 if I remember correctly. Often on a bull this size they are closer to 8 or less. Many great 300 class bulls have small coathanger G3s of 5 or less inches.

[buckwild76]

if it has six points his pecker is hittin' the dirt end of story.

[hunter1947]

Gus they are correct I have a few 6x6 bull antlers that score 280 and 50 % of the points on the antlers are 4 inches shy of the 12 inch length..

[todbartell]

if it has six points his pecker is hittin' the dirt end of story.

Amen to that