What’s the score?

Greg Hicks at work scoring UP deer at Taterbugs this week

Fishermen find it pretty easy to weigh a fish. Duck hunters don’t care about the size of the duck, but more about the species. But deer hunters? “It’s a big one” can mean almost anything. And points don’t tell the whole story.

That’s why “scoring” antlers is the mans of determining the size of the trophy in deer hunting. Farmerville’s Greg Hicks is one of the best at it, and he stays pretty busy this time of year, especially with the mules that folks have been bringing in from Union Parish lately!

Want a Scoring 101 primer? Here’s a quick explanation of the tedious process from Greg:

The first thing tallied on the score of a bucks rack is the inside spread. Don’t angle the tape, just go straight across from beam to beam at the widest point. The second things are the main beams. Start at the lowest point on the burr of the antler base and follow it to the tip of each beam.

Next, you tally the length of each tine. Start at the tip of the tine and measure to where it connects to the main beam. A tine has to be at least 1” to be considered a scorable point. Lastly, you take circumference measurements in 4 spots along the main beam. Use the smallest measurement in each spot, not the largest. When you finish you just tally the numbers and you’ll have a gross score.

The main beam measurement

Where to take the circumference measurements

How to take a tine length measurement

Thanks for the info, Greg.

And, for your service to the deer hunters of this region!