Ive scored every deer ive killed or a customer has killed cull, trophy or managment deer in the last 10 years for sure if not more. More for my books and personal info I keep on ranches than anything. Some people want to know and some dont but way more people want to know than not. If its a harder deer to score say more non typical or it dosent seem right I score them 2xs and have some one else do it also. To me its not about score, ive killed quiet afew great older bucks and at my age what Ive killed LF and HF is rather impressive IMO. My top 2 deer memorie wise are no bigger than average stx deer in the 130-140" range but they were a hard hunt fun and family was invloved. Those are the reasons im still hunting and not for a score but the memories and bringing my kids up in the outdoors make me feel like im doing it right like my father did.

I like score, I like hunting, I like shooting deer. If I didn't care about how the deer scored, looked, age, or whatever else then I would be tagged out opening day every year.

I like deer that are bigger, older and make memories. Score is an important part of the process but not the only deciding factor. I use score for personal satisfaction and knowing what area the deer came from and how it compares.

I think score creates a great way for people to talk hunting but unfortunately it isn't always positive. I try to use it positively and never use score to judge someone elses trophy.

Haven't read all this. But unless it's potential B&C, I will never score a deer. And I haven't gotten one of those yet.

I have a family member who hunts with me and every deer he sees or takes is score, score, score. 130 this, 145 that, and on and on and on. Wears me out.

He killed a great buck once he was extremely happy with once. Then he scored it-it was 5 inches less than he thought. Instant disappointment. I thought this was sad.

I don't let his tape get near any buck I shoot.

I don't care what someone paid for a deer and it means nothing to me HF/LF/ NO Fence it.
doesn't matter. You find me a deer for sale that cost more then 50acres or 100 acres in central TX you can't. So should we degrade a person that Can afford or bought more then 50acres? Obviously he paid well in six figures for his deer.

Never shot what most people would call a big buck but every deer i have taken holds a memory of a good time and a good hunt and good meals.

I score them by how they taste.

[

I don't care what someone paid for a deer and it means nothing to me HF/LF/ NO Fence it.
doesn't matter. You find me a deer for sale that cost more then 50acres or 100 acres in central TX you can't. So should we degrade a person that Can afford or bought more then 50acres? Obviously he paid well in six figures for his deer. [/quote]


With buying a place of your own there is a lot more to do with it than hunting and getting good deer , yes that what we bought out place for but it's also for fishing ,dove,turkey and to pass down to the kids .If you take a good deer just be proud of it and who cares about the score or if you should take this deer you have on game cam pics , i wish that a lot of people could really get back to the better things in the hunting world and it was not so commercialized !!!!

With buying a place of your own there is a lot more to do with it than hunting and getting good deer , yes that what we bought out place for but it's also for fishing ,dove,turkey and to pass down to the kids .If you take a good deer just be proud of it and who cares about the score or if you should take this deer you have on game cam pics , i wish that a lot of people could really get back to the better things in the hunting world and it was not so commercialized !!!! [/quote]


I get what your saying, but why bash a guy for a 10k hunt when there are people that pay 100's of thousands of dollars for hunting land. Very few places in TX land wise that are cheap enough for the land to pay for its self out side mineral rights. So in a nut shell its a very expensive hunting lease that might have enough appriecation to out run realtor fees and interest payments if you sale it. Bigger antlers are a product of mature healthy deer, so regardless if there is a scoring system there will always be a urge to take mature to post mature deer do to the antler size that comes with it.

I've had the opportunity to hunt, grow and watch some big deer I consider myself very lucky for that ability, but its also not my place to tell someone how, where or why to hunt.

The biggest problem today is not size of deer or the quest for bigger deer, it those that want to push their iinfluence of what they think hunting is or should be.

Score doesn't matter to me 99% of the time, its configuration and maturity that gets me. But I damn sure aren't going to lie and say my dream deer isnt a 170-180 straight up 8pt. I really don't care how I take him either, spot and stalk, driving around ranch, alafafa feild or ranchhand bumper.

I've never understood being disappointed with the score. It's the same deer you saw in your scope.

I agree sneaky, but its also almost a phase some hunters go through, a transition if you will. We go from killing any thing with horns, to being more selective, to score, to back to just being off the damn concrete and in the woods. I know guys that have killed hundreds of deer but in the last 10 years they haven't killed a deer yet hunt every chance they get. Their reasons are their own, I don't question them or ask what they are holding out for, because I've learned they aren't hunting for a deer, they are just hunting

Yeah its the same deer.

But then again, I have shot some deer that I thought looked like they had a lot longer tines or beams than what I recalled that I had seen in the scope. Scoring or not I have been dissapointed one time when I shot an axis with a bow that I thought was bigger than before I shot it. The adrenaline rush and all I guess. But I have that buck mounted and in my lodge not because of its size but because of the experience of that hunt. If I diddn't get it mounted I probably would not ever remember to tell anyone about it. It's a small conversation piece that I have and I can laugh at it now when I look back at it. I didn't measure its beams or anything even when I shot it. It didn't matter. I was so happy to take it on a stalk hunt with a bow that I wanted to remember that one for a long time.

I get what your saying, but why bash a guy for a 10k hunt when there are people that pay 100's of thousands of dollars for hunting land. Very few places in TX land wise that are cheap enough for the land to pay for its self out side mineral rights. So in a nut shell its a very expensive hunting lease that might have enough appriecation to out run realtor fees and interest payments if you sale it. Bigger antlers are a product of mature healthy deer, so regardless if there is a scoring system there will always be a urge to take mature to post mature deer do to the antler size that comes with it.

I've had the opportunity to hunt, grow and watch some big deer I consider myself very lucky for that ability, but its also not my place to tell someone how, where or why to hunt.

The biggest problem today is not size of deer or the quest for bigger deer, it those that want to push their iinfluence of what they think hunting is or should be.

Score doesn't matter to me 99% of the time, its configuration and maturity that gets me. But I damn sure aren't going to lie and say my dream deer isnt a 170-180 straight up 8pt. I really don't care how I take him either, spot and stalk, driving around ranch, alafafa feild or ranchhand bumper. [/quote]
I really wasnt bashing anyone at all i was saying that there are a lot of people that care as much about the score as about what big HF ranch they got it from and you know what i am talking about.
And yes i am in the same boat on killing the buck of a lifetime and about the score , if i make a commit about the deer not scoring as high as the person has stated more than likely it's just to a little wich i know is wrong and will not be doing that anymore i want to show the respect that i would like to have .
Sneaky have you been looking though my scope lol that happened to me last year and really made me mad but it was what i did and taged it and learned from it .

I'm at the stage where when I see something big I think...well...I could take that but, If I sell the hunt for it to someone else it would do me more good. And I enjoy seeing other people getting thrilled about what they take too. I haven't personally hunted for something that I wanted to take for myself other than a meat hunt in a few years now but I'm starting to get the itch to go again. Maybe next year.

Never, as of yet. I'd rather shoot a mature doe than a young buck that scores high. That said, if I shoot a mature 6+ year old deer with a huge rack....I just might.

I must have skipped over the disappointment stage. Not once have I ever regretted killing a deer.

I have one deer, but not because of his score because of his age, but I still smile when I see his rack, knowing those genetics came from some where.

It could happen to me, it just hasn't yet. Now that I have my own place to manage, I've instantly become more particular about the age of bucks being shot.

I really dont care what the score is. If I like it, then I pull the trigger etc.... I have never scored any of the bucks that I shot....now I will weight a bass...lol....and fry it up!

Same here. Killed a 2.5yo nine and it bothered me. It sure wasn't the score that disappointed me.

I killed a one and a half year old spike this afternoon and I will sleep good tonight.

I let a 1.5 yr old spike walk and I think I must be getting sick.

Tell me it isn't true!!!!!!

Hell just froze smooth over!

My influence

I don't lose sleep over what a buck I harvest will score. Mainly because where I hunt a 150 is going to be pretty rare.
If it's big enough to put a tape to, it's just so I can come on here and brag a little, and impress you guys.