Counting Points on Mule deer

[SkookumHntr]

-I wont shoot a Two point on the last day! Hell no! I will save those for my daughter!

[windygorge]

i guess i better stop here before i make enemies on a forum i have just joined.  sorry if i stepped over the boundry fellas.  i enjoy all the topics.  just get a little wound up on this one. 

[Maverick]

thank you polarbear. Great way of putting it. If he feels that he wants to let a lil buck grow bigger then what's wrong with that? It's his tag. My dad passed up 11 legal bucks during modern firearm season and didn't get a buck. He wanted a big boy. He didn't get one this year but trust me the method works. Think of it this way. You can't kill a monster buck  if you shoot the first little legal buck that comes by you.When I'm out in the field and come across a guy that just shot a forked horn I don't bash on him or anything. I'll congradulate him for filling his tag. He paid for it and he absolutely earned that forked horn. I'm out to have a great time, enjoy the hunt, and look for something bigger. I'm not saying it's not legal to count eyeguards. I'm saying I count them by calling them what they are. Eyeguards. How is that taking anything away from what the buck has? If I say I shot a 4x4 with eyeguards then I'm still giving that buck all the credit it deserves for every point it has. It's more descriptive then me going around saying I shot a 5x5. And all that does is try to make your buck sound bigger.

[7mag.]

i guess i better stop here before i make enemies on a forum i have just joined.  sorry if i stepped over the boundry fellas.  i enjoy all the topics.  just get a little wound up on this one.

Everyone has the right to their own opinion, even if it's wrong.   

Seriously, though, I think it has to do with the western states and the mule deer and blacktail genetics. They are normaly a 4x4 main frame, and often don't have eye guards. Some states don't recognize eye gaurds as points (as of several years ago), so as a standard, most people seperate eye guards from main frame points. Boone and Crocket doesn't count eye gaurds as a point either, on deer. Neither does the Washington record book, except for scoring, as the eye gaurd is the G1. On a whitetail, I always count the eyegaurds, because they almost always have them, and they are usually the same length or longer than the other points.

[throttlejocky20]

No, a 3 point with eyeguards is not the same as a 4 point. The typical mule deer or blacktail deer will have 4 main points per side. So when someone says they got a 4 point, most of us assume they are talking about a true 4 points on each side, it may or may not have eyeguards. We don't know that unless they specifically say it was a 4 point with eyeguards. And again, a 4 point with eyeguards is NOT a five point. I don't care if an eyeguard counts as a point in meeting the legal definition of a 3 point in this state. It's still just a 2 point with eyeguards.

By the way, I sure wish they would change the law so that eyeguards don't count in meeting the 3 point minimum for mule deer in this state. It defeats the purpose of the restriction. They're just allowing certain 2 point bucks that have the misfortune of growing eyeguards to be taken when they shouldn't be. If they're wanting to protect that age class of buck, then the minimum should be a true 3 point.

[DBZona]

THis thread is actually kinda funny to me... want my opinion...

WHO CARES!   

This thread reminds me of the one of the guy who got worked up over something so stupid, and that honestly didn't matter.  Remember?  the one about guys calling antlers horns?  and how it pissed them off?  Who cares!  If someone wanted to call an antler a horn, how should that piss me off?  It does not affect me.  So if someone wants to call it a 3x3 or a 2 point with eyeguards, who cares. 

Point being, if you are going to be offended by petty things as this, then maybe its time to reevaluate what is truly important in our lives.  We have bigger fish to fry.  There are wolves in our state that are not being accounted for by WDFW.  The management of Elk in this state sucks.  Get pissed over things like that, not some stupid opinion of what you count as points on a mule deer or if someone calls antlers horns.   

Just my  , but this thread is pointless and stupid.   

But I will continue to read because it is funny to see people get pissed off over little things.

[PolarBear]

I won't shoot a spike or a forkie either.  I will leave them for the folks who will, I see no reason to take an animal that I don't want just because I can.  The same goes on the last day of season.  I'll eat a tag over shooting what I feel is a substandard buck or bull, to me it is a waste and I would rather let him grow.

sorry to hear your just a trophy hunter.  last day of the hunt and you wont take an animal.....whatever dude

What the hell is that supposed to mean?  I raise my own beef so I don't need the meat.  I think that it is selfish/stupid to shoot an animal just to shoot it.  I've shot my share of spikes and forkies when I was a kid, I have zero desire to do it again even if it means not hunting or eating a tag.  I passed up on a half dozen legal bucks last archery season (as well as a couple of small bulls), wound up eating both deer and elk tags and you know what, they tasted pretty damn good!  There is nothing wrong with having standards and wanting an actual challenge.  I can also guarantee that my daughter's first deer won't be a doe, spike or tiny forkie.

[Huntnphish]

 As so many others have mentioned WindyGorge, its just about description. When you tell someone from the NW that you got a buck and they ask you what you got it gives them a mental image of your buck is all. True WDFW count each point/brow tine toward the total but just adding up all the points doesn't tell us much. 4X4 without brows is a eastern count 8 and so is a 3X3 with brows, yet just saying 8 pointer when describing mule and blacktail deer leaves no real description.

 Here is what Bobcat and others are talking about. First buck is a 3X3 with brows and the second image is a 4 point when described over here, the third is a 4 point with brows. This enables most to get a better understanding on the antler configuration, it is not meant as demeaning.

[windygorge]

polar bear.....sorry to offend you.  im over this thread.  i guess it is what it is, and your right, its only an opinion.  i do get worked up at times and i just need to take a deep breath.  i respect what all you guys have to say, as i am new to this forum which i do enjoy thoroughly.  thanks guys

[Maverick]

polar bear, I love the way you think and hunt! If you ever on the eastside I'd be honored to take you out huntin or fishin.

[jstone]

Yep nice 3x3..and 2 4x4s

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

bobcat nailed it

[PolarBear]

Thanks Maverick, I appreciate it! 

[JLS]

Kind of like debating whether you wipe your hiney from front to back or back to front.  As long as your "three point" is legal I don't care what you call it.

[Kowsrule30]

I shot a nice and heavy Blacktail that is a solid 2x3..... Around the bases it has 8 1-1 1/2" stickes on one side... Five or six on the other.... so it's legally a 10x9 or something like that..... I call it a 2x3 with a bunch of junk....