Let's discuss why high prongs make bucks look bigger and why that might not always be the case. Also, we'll cover what to do about it when field judging.
For starters, according to our records, bucks with high prongs actually ARE bigger, but not by your usual methods of measuring. According to actual horn mass by means of weighing each horn using a scale, bucks with high prongs, relatively speaking, weigh more than bucks with lower prongs.
For instance, the bucks Big Wampum and Terminator are only within a few grams of each other and Big Wampum is actually the one that weighs a few extra grams MORE even though he scores far less according to B&C!
What you're seeing in the field is an actual horn mass difference, but instead of disregarding this for B&C and SCI scoring, your brain tells you that the high pronged buck is bigger (which it probably is) and now you're adding it into your judging assessment. Basically, in the field, you're seeing a 2 1/4 inch wide tube that is 10 inches long on Big Wampum and a 2 3/4 inch wide tube that is 7 inches long on Terminator. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which one will have more of that classic "black horn" look that we all long to see before we pull the trigger.
Because you only get two measurements (typically) below the prong for B&C you can quickly see that Terminator will have far more mass below the prong. Are you wrong to think that Big Wampum is heavier below the prong than Terminator? Nope. You'd just be incorrect if you added that "fake" size into your score.
Now you know why and how to modify your thinking while you're in the field.
Tally Ho.
For starters, according to our records, bucks with high prongs actually ARE bigger, but not by your usual methods of measuring. According to actual horn mass by means of weighing each horn using a scale, bucks with high prongs, relatively speaking, weigh more than bucks with lower prongs.
For instance, the bucks Big Wampum and Terminator are only within a few grams of each other and Big Wampum is actually the one that weighs a few extra grams MORE even though he scores far less according to B&C!
What you're seeing in the field is an actual horn mass difference, but instead of disregarding this for B&C and SCI scoring, your brain tells you that the high pronged buck is bigger (which it probably is) and now you're adding it into your judging assessment. Basically, in the field, you're seeing a 2 1/4 inch wide tube that is 10 inches long on Big Wampum and a 2 3/4 inch wide tube that is 7 inches long on Terminator. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which one will have more of that classic "black horn" look that we all long to see before we pull the trigger.
Because you only get two measurements (typically) below the prong for B&C you can quickly see that Terminator will have far more mass below the prong. Are you wrong to think that Big Wampum is heavier below the prong than Terminator? Nope. You'd just be incorrect if you added that "fake" size into your score.
Now you know why and how to modify your thinking while you're in the field.
Tally Ho.
No comments:
Post a Comment