By Dave Hurteau

Wow. Very impressive people. Out of roughly 200 guesses, almost 40 of you—a whopping 20 percent—came within 5 inches of the actual total gross B&C scores of our four bucks. And two of you—the closest guessers—were each just 3/8 of an inch off. So let’s break down the bucks:

My buck (buck 1) grosses 136 1/8. When I arrowed this deer, everybody who saw it guessed it at around 140. And why not, its spread is over 19 inches and the longest tine is a little more than 11. But ain’t quite as big as it looks, which goes to show how tough it is to top 140 with an 8 pointer. (Not that I’m complaining. He’s just fine the way he is.)

Speaking of a great frame, Scott’s buck (buck 2) is about as pretty a deer as you could hope to shoot, so even and tall. But because it doesn’t have a ton of mass, folks have a tendency to underestimate it a little, including Scott, he says, until he scored it: It grosses 157 2/8.

If you remember, when I posted buck 3, I quoted Lawrence as saying that the rack is “deceptive.” What did he mean by that? “The tines are relatively short,” he says. “In fact, when I first walked up on this buck I thought he’d score much less than he did. But with it’s great mass, width, and long main beams (29" and 28"), the rack wound up in the 160s.” To be exact, 165 7/8 gross.

Jay’s buck (buck 4) is another one that can fool you. At first glance, you might have no trouble putting this deer well into the 140s. But when you look closer, you realize he’s not super-wide (a little over 16 inches) or tall (with only one tine over 8 inches). A fabulous buck to be sure, at 138 7/8 gross, but not necessarily as big as he looks at first. (I’m promise you, Jay is not complaining either). Put them all together and you get a total of 598 even.

That means our two finalists are MB915 (598 3/8) and jlove51wl (597 5/8). So congratulations. One of you is going to win a brand new Bear Attack bow (pictured below). But for now, hang back. Bask in your glory (or bite your fingernails) over the weekend, and I will put up a tie-breaker buck early next week.

Comments (20)

from KyleKortright wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Buck number 3 got me good!

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from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

If my math is correct I think the score is 598 1/8 You should not need a Tie Breaker. Can someone check my math. So I should get the bow since I found the scoring error

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from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

136 1/8
157 2/8
165 7/8
138 7/8
___ ___
596 2 1/8

598 1/8 Total

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from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

If I am right MB915 You owe me. If I am wrong then I apologize for my idiocy. I have checked 4 times to make sure I am not stupid.

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from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

If I am right MB915 You owe me. If I am wrong then I apologize for my idiocy. I have checked 4 times to make sure I am not stupid.

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from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

I could not wait for someone to check my math so I plugged the numbers into and Excel Spreadsheet and verified the total of 598 1/8. Hurteau, is it possible there was atypo in one of the scores. maybe the one that was 157 2/8 you meant to be 1/8 or you would have put 1/4? Just guessing but what a mess you're in.

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from Beekeeper wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Congrats to the winner!

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from seneca_slabs wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Congrats guys. I hope there is another shot coming up for me.

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from jakenbake wrote 2 years 4 days ago

That's incredible how many people got so close! Congrats to everyone, but especially the two finalists!

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from Del in KS wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Well done winners. I missed no 3 by 10 inches.

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from Dave Hurteau wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Ugh. Sorry Arlo. It is a typo. Jay's buck is 138 6/8. I'm looking at the score sheet that Jay sent me right now. My bad. But the actual total is indeed 598 even.

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from ADKHunter wrote 2 years 3 days ago

5/8 0f an inches off i could have been in the tie man

i guess you win some you lose some

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from rsoule wrote 2 years 3 days ago

this contest is some of the most offseason fun i get wish we had one every month.. congrats to the winner

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from Greenhead wrote 2 years 3 days ago

I don't even have enough faith in my scoring ability to enter, but I love reading these contests. Please keep it up.

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from woodsmanj35 wrote 2 years 3 days ago

Yes keep the contests coming these are fun, besides, the more contests there are the better chance I have of winning!

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from arky_hunter wrote 2 years 3 days ago

Boy i sure screwed the pooch on this i went over by 15+ inches i need more practice but i bet these guys would like me to score their deer for them LOL

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from arky_hunter wrote 2 years 3 days ago

BTW congrats to the two closest great job guys or girls which ever it may be

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from shooter223 wrote 2 years 3 days ago

just 3 inches off this time. thanks for the fun, congrats to the winners!

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from Don Mitchell wrote 2 years 3 days ago

I was off by 2 1/4 , not bad for a rookie ,if I do say so myself. congrats to the tie breakers.????????

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from MB915 wrote 2 years 7 hours ago

Well I am almost out of fingermails to chew on....

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from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

If my math is correct I think the score is 598 1/8 You should not need a Tie Breaker. Can someone check my math. So I should get the bow since I found the scoring error

+2 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

136 1/8
157 2/8
165 7/8
138 7/8
___ ___
596 2 1/8

598 1/8 Total

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from seneca_slabs wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Congrats guys. I hope there is another shot coming up for me.

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from KyleKortright wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Buck number 3 got me good!

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

If I am right MB915 You owe me. If I am wrong then I apologize for my idiocy. I have checked 4 times to make sure I am not stupid.

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from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

If I am right MB915 You owe me. If I am wrong then I apologize for my idiocy. I have checked 4 times to make sure I am not stupid.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Arlo269 wrote 2 years 4 days ago

I could not wait for someone to check my math so I plugged the numbers into and Excel Spreadsheet and verified the total of 598 1/8. Hurteau, is it possible there was atypo in one of the scores. maybe the one that was 157 2/8 you meant to be 1/8 or you would have put 1/4? Just guessing but what a mess you're in.

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from Beekeeper wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Congrats to the winner!

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from jakenbake wrote 2 years 4 days ago

That's incredible how many people got so close! Congrats to everyone, but especially the two finalists!

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from Del in KS wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Well done winners. I missed no 3 by 10 inches.

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from Dave Hurteau wrote 2 years 4 days ago

Ugh. Sorry Arlo. It is a typo. Jay's buck is 138 6/8. I'm looking at the score sheet that Jay sent me right now. My bad. But the actual total is indeed 598 even.

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from ADKHunter wrote 2 years 3 days ago

5/8 0f an inches off i could have been in the tie man

i guess you win some you lose some

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from rsoule wrote 2 years 3 days ago

this contest is some of the most offseason fun i get wish we had one every month.. congrats to the winner

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from Greenhead wrote 2 years 3 days ago

I don't even have enough faith in my scoring ability to enter, but I love reading these contests. Please keep it up.

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from woodsmanj35 wrote 2 years 3 days ago

Yes keep the contests coming these are fun, besides, the more contests there are the better chance I have of winning!

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from arky_hunter wrote 2 years 3 days ago

Boy i sure screwed the pooch on this i went over by 15+ inches i need more practice but i bet these guys would like me to score their deer for them LOL

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from arky_hunter wrote 2 years 3 days ago

BTW congrats to the two closest great job guys or girls which ever it may be

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from shooter223 wrote 2 years 3 days ago

just 3 inches off this time. thanks for the fun, congrats to the winners!

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from Don Mitchell wrote 2 years 3 days ago

I was off by 2 1/4 , not bad for a rookie ,if I do say so myself. congrats to the tie breakers.????????

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from MB915 wrote 2 years 7 hours ago

Well I am almost out of fingermails to chew on....

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All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.