# How do you all Field judge speed goats?



## jwdinius1

Preparing to take off for good ole' wyo on oct 1st for my annual goat hunt, just wondering how you old pros field judge antelope to make a good estmate at there score? Any tips appreciated :beer:


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## R y a n

jwdinius1 said:


> Preparing to take off for good ole' wyo on oct 1st for my annual goat hunt, just wondering how you old pros field judge antelope to make a good estmate at there score? Any tips appreciated :beer:


Judging Antelope horns has to be the hardest thing in trophy hunting to judge in the field. So many bucks look good at first glance. It takes a heckuva time to decipher what is a record buck.

We use the "twice the length of the ear method"...

Meaning that if the horn is twice the length of the ear, it is a trophy. Then you simply need to evaluate the length and amount of curve, and combine that with how big and pronounced the forks are shoveled. Be careful though, as the "ears" method can fool a guy, as different 'lopes in different places have different ear lengths.

Once you've seen one that makes that criteria, there is essentially two things that makes a record book trophy... that is mass and more mass

First look at the *4* circumferences, e.g, there are two below the prong and two above. (A hint, if a buck has great mass his horn lengths will "appear" shorter even if he is 16 inches tall!) I went to Cabela's last weekend out here in Washington, and they have a replica mounts of the Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming record bucks, and WOW that mass above the prong on those record book bucks was incredible!

Next step, and this splits the men from the boys, is having heavy circumferences _above the prongs_. Bucks *must not appear spindly or thin horned above the prong*. Unfortunately the majority of antelope bucks will never attain this exceptional mass growth.

The last criteria for a good buck are prong lengths. The prong measurement starts from the back of the horn at the center and wraps forward around to the tip of the prong. Now take a moment to visualize his prong scoops. They need to be as long as your're horizontally stretched hand (~ 6 inches). *That* is *the* benchmark for propelling a bucks prong into the threshold of a big time trophy. Just remember, any important detail is that without long prong scoops bucks can fall short of making B&C book.

Good luck! We drove thru Wyoming on the way back from North Dakota, and the goats were EVERYWHERE! It was cool to see a huge set of horns in between every little "lee" of a valley between hills. Some of them were huge! I can see why Wyoming is the goat capital of the US...


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## barebackjack

Mass mass mass mass!!!

Length is like width on a whitetail, it contributes least to overall score. You only get TWO length measurements, but you get EIGHT circumference scores. Length looks nice on the wall (much like a wide deer looks nice) but it doesnt add much to the score. You want good, heavy bottoms and tops. Alot of ND bucks kind of peter out above the prong when it comes to mass.

I look for

1. mass both above and below the prongs
2. good prongs (4 inch minimum)
3. length last.

To judge mass use the eye. If the base of the horn when viewed from the side is wider than the eye, your looking at a good buck. Now compare the tops to the bottoms, are they significantly narrower? If not, your definatly looking at a good buck.
Now look at the prongs, draw an imaginary line down the horn which would "cut" the prong off. If the remainder is equal to or greater than two "eye" widths, than your looking at good prongs.
Finally height. The least important, but usually the most noticed factor. Like Ryan said, twice the ears your looking at a great goat. I figure the ears at 6.5-7 inches (most say six but this gives me some lee way so I dont get "ground shrink"). If hes "2 ears" before he starts to curl at the top, hes a definite shooter. If hes "1.5 ears" and has good deep curls, hes a shooter. Bucks with deep curls can be deceiving and hard to judge, especially if their real wide. Wide bucks often look shorter than they really are, and narrow bucks often look taller.

Just dont get to hung up on height, mass is where its at.


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## Classof81

Here are some pictures of some great bucks for you to reference. http://www.pronghornguideservice.com/photo2007.html Note mass. I have two and my wife has one book antelope. All are mid 15's or less and have great mass. However, shoot the one you like. Wyoming tags are usually easy to get so you can go back.


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## R y a n

Classof81 said:


> Here are some pictures of some great bucks for you to reference. http://www.pronghornguideservice.com/photo2007.html Note mass. I have two and my wife has one book antelope. All are mid 15's or less and have great mass. However, shoot the one you like. Wyoming tags are usually easy to get so you can go back.


That is an AWESOME website for photos!

thanks for sharing it!


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## huntinND

Are there any deductions when scoring pronghorn?


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## mikeo2

What would you all consider a good speed goat, 75 inches B&C and up?


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## goatboy

Yes 75+ is a nice goat!


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## jwdinius1

Just got back and shot a dandy, passed up over 25 bucks until i found this guy. 14 1/2 length 6 3/4 mass at base, 5.5 inch prongs grossed out at 
77 3/8 will try to get a pic up soon. I shot him at about 225 yards, i coulnd't tell his prong length at the time, but i could tell he was real massive so i let him have it


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## R y a n

jwdinius1 said:


> Just got back and shot a dandy, passed up over 25 bucks until i found this guy. 14 1/2 length 6 3/4 mass at base, 5.5 inch prongs grossed out at
> 77 3/8 will try to get a pic up soon. I shot him at about 225 yards, i coulnd't tell his prong length at the time, but i could tell he was real massive so i let him have it


Awesome news!

Congrats! That musta been some serious discipline to bypass 20+ other bucks before knocking that one down.

Can't wait to see some pics!


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## varmit b gone

Where in Wy. you hunt? Most goat hunters are still runnin round out here.


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## jwdinius1

> Congrats! That musta been some serious discipline to bypass 20+ other bucks before knocking that one down.


you have no idea, or maybe you do, but it's real hard to watch two or three other 14 inch goats walk at 100, 150 yards cuz their prongs suck, but i stuck to my guns and was rewarded.

near osage, upton area, buddies dad is forman of rockwell oil so that helps. but actually shot him on BLM land!! lotaa work and put several miles of stalking and passing on bucks before got to this one


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## R y a n

Yep I do...

Hopefully our advice was put to good use! Sounds like it...

eagerly anticipating some sweet pics..


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## jwdinius1

> eagerly anticipating some sweet pics..


There coming i promise, i havent had time to wipe my a$$ since i got back, trying to catch up with school work and all, hopefully this weekend ill get around to it :beer:


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## jwdinius1

Got the pics n my computer, i tried to put them on here, but there to big and i dont know how to resize them any suggestions? :beer:


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## goatboy

Put them in a place like photo bucket, then paste the url here. Congrats on the goat! :beer:


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## Wyomingpredator

If I remember corerectly your buddis with Jesse if so tell him hi for me glad you could get one of our famed speedgoats and its nice to get a good scorin one at that.


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## jwdinius1

Yep you remembered correctly 
:beer: [/quote]


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