Black Bare Report post Posted October 6, 2009 I will soon be hunting coues for the first time. I am still not accustom to seeing/judging bucks in the wild. The pictures below are of a couple of bucks I've glassed up while scouting. Just looking for some opinions on the maturity of these bucks. Is there any "sure-fire" ways to judge coues on the hoof. I tend to error on the side of not shooting, but am afraid I may let a good buck walk because of my inexperience. Any thoughts? Multiple pictures of two (2) seperate bucks: (picture quality isn't great) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JACK Report post Posted October 6, 2009 I would say both those bucks are in the mid to upper 80" range...The ears are a good tool to use...The average bucks ears have a about a 6" opening...or 7 1/2" from tip to base...and around a 16" spread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted October 7, 2009 I would shoot both! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
luvdemcoues Report post Posted October 7, 2009 Those are neat pics. Pretty good bucks. Are you going for a 100" buck or just a good trophy for your first coues? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SunDevil Report post Posted October 7, 2009 well part of the question is how big of a buck are you looking for? something over 90, 100, 110? I think there is a paragraph or two in Duane's book about field judging and what the measurements need to be to add up to 110" it is kind of tough to say how big those two bucks roughly are because the picture quality is kind of poor. personally I think estimating score based on pictures is pretty tough even if you have good pics. usually I will need to watch a buck for awhile before I am able to come up with a rough estimate of what I think they may be. even then, sometimes I can be way off. another good thing to do is to look at all the pics of harvested bucks on this site and try to figure out what you think they score and why and then see what their score is. usually people will include the score of bucks they have taken and shared pics of. good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bobbyo Report post Posted October 9, 2009 Congratulations, on finding those bucks. That is a great job. I think your expectations of what buck to shoot should be determined by what tag you have and the size of the animals you are seeing while scouting. Both of those animals( I love this guide speak) are great represenation of the species. If you scouted and have not seen any bigger bucks it might be unrealistic to think you can come up with a bigger one (100") during the hunt, especially with a early hunt considering the legion of hunters you will be competing against. Different story if you found an isolated hunting area. For me (not a trophy hunter) I would proudly put my tag around either of those bucks. Good luck, Bob Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakehaffey Report post Posted October 9, 2009 Congratulations, on finding those bucks. That is a great job. I think your expectations of what buck to shoot should be determined by what tag you have and the size of the animals you are seeing while scouting. Both of those animals( I love this guide speak) are great represenation of the species. If you scouted and have not seen any bigger bucks it might be unrealistic to think you can come up with a bigger one (100") during the hunt, especially with a early hunt considering the legion of hunters you will be competing against. Different story if you found an isolated hunting area. For me (not a trophy hunter) I would proudly put my tag around either of those bucks. Good luck, Bob You seem to be doing a great job, for a first hunt those are both shooters in my book! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joeybari Report post Posted October 9, 2009 +1 on the last post I look at it this way there are hunters out there that have been hunting for years and still cant come up with a 100+ buck so be conservative but don’t over do it bcs with Coues deer its hard to tie them down to a pattern and one day you think you got it in a bag the next you end up 360 % turn around saying Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
