What is your definition of a Raghorn?

[WAPITIHUNTER]

Any bull that has run through some poor old ladies clothes line and gotten clothes all tangled in it's antlers. They eventually get all torn into rags.......hence the term "RAGHORN".

The term "RAGHORN" should actually be "RAGANTLER" as elk do not have horns but they do have antlers.

Any spindly antlered bull. IMO.

[Clipboard guy]

This has been really interesting reading everyones responses.  Websters dictionary doesn't have a definition, so I guess it is up to the individual using the term. I've always had the impression of a smaller sized bull but nothing specific. Having guys come into the studio and describe different bulls got me thinking, so I had to ask on Hunt-WA.
 
So is it a negative term?

If someone was calling their spouse a raghorn I wouldn't even ask but what about for an elk?

[Kowsrule30]

I wouldn't say it's negative.... Just what it is.... Any elk is a good elk... Just depending on the tag that you have and the area you are hunting on whether or not you let one fly.....

[Gobble]

Anything less than a 6pt

[PolarBear]

a rag horn to me is a small branch antler bull that is either imature or of poor genetics, makes no difference the point count

[Dipsnort]

Holy crap, and all this time I thought a raghorn was any bull from the Middle East.

[Pathfinder101]

Holy crap, and all this time I thought a raghorn was any bull from the Middle East.

 

[h2ofowlr]

The Mt. Saint Helens herd.  Usually a 2-6 point bull with the rack size of a BT deer.  My brother in law shot a 5x5 that was about 17" wide and 16" tall. = Rag Horn.

[Aneoakleaf]

my definition==  every bull I've ever shot 

[hoytem]

i voted 4 point because there are some massive 5's out there.

[Pathfinder101]

Wow.  This thread is enlightening.  I thought everyone considered a raghorn to be a 3 or 4 point.  Never realized there were so many varying definitions.

[SGM R]

That's the new kid in camp that does the dishes

[bonkellekter]

A 2 year old bull is a raghorn in my book.  Most typically a small 3,4, or 5 point, I've seen a few 5x6 and 6x6, and one 6x7 raghorn.  So I'll disagree with JDB to the extent I don't consider a mature bull with inferior antler development a raghorn.  It is about age, not points.  

I'm sure there are regional differences, based on typical antler growth for the area.  In herds where yearling bulls commonly grow branched antlers, I consider those 2-pt yearlings or 3-pt yearlings - not raghorns.  

DOUBLELUNG has got it right it has to age and social rank - 1 year old bulls are typically spikes or two points - 2-3 year old bulls are typically raghorns - 4-5 year old bulls are typically satelite bulls 6+ year old bulls are typically herd bulls and this can very greatly depending on herd size. I have seen bulls that I would consider raghorns and satelites playing the part of a herd bull.

[Pathfinder101]

I have seen bulls that I would consider raghorns and satelites playing the part of a herd bull.

We have seen a lot of that in the Blues too, but it is usually early in the rut.  You see a lot of raghorn, 5x5 and first-year-six "herd bulls" out there pushing good sized harems.  After a bit we figured it out.  None of the cows had come in to heat yet.  The "big, old guys" let the youngsters do all the work gathering up the herd, and they act like satalite bulls, stealing a cow if one does happen to come into heat early.  Then, as more and more cows start coming in season, one by one the young bulls start losing their harems to the "real" herd bulls.

...I think there's a lesson there about old bulls, and young bulls, and age and treachery....but I haven't figured it out yet...