Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    Here in Colorado, it's the law that when hunting antelope, the horn
    must be at least six inches long for the animal to "legal". Trust
    me, they don't stand still long enough to run up and measure the
    horn. The rule of thumb I was taught was that if the horn extended
    past the tip of the ear before it began to curve, the animal met
    the length requirement.  I used this rule and it worked out very
    close on three animals that were taken by my party.
    Now that I know how to gauge it, there's talk that the minimum
    length may be extended. :^)
    
    'gards,
    Bill

    
    	I have heard that when one is hunting bear that you should 
    look to see if the head appears "small" in proportion to the rest
    of the body.  Apparantly it is quite difficult to judge the size of
    a bear, and shooting a bear with a proportionately big head might
    end you up with a cub or rather small yearling.  I have never shot
    a bear but I have seen them in the wild;  Any comments from you bear 
    hunters on this one??
    
    - Rob
    

    -1 what I've seen/heard
    
    With bears it's really the size of the ear in proportion to the head.
    A bear with large looking ears would be a younger one.

I recently rediscovered a book which I had forget that I had.  It is
"The Complete Book of Hunting" by Clyde Ormond.  It was first published
in 1962.  All in all, it's pretty interesting reading.

As this is not the literary review topic, I guess that I had better
explain myself.  Clyde dedicates a chapter (or portion of a chapter,
I can't remember) to field measurements of trophies.  That is, how to
tell if your looking at a trophy animal by comparing its horns, or
whatever, to its body.  Since that is primarily what this topic is all
about, I thought that I would share some of his observations.  I'll
put in what I remember now, and look up the rest later.  Also, I'll
post a separate reply for each species.

Jerry

From the "Complete Book of Hunting".

A mature bull elk measures approximately 50 inches from his shoulder
to his rump.  Thus, if a bull's horns are approximately as long as
his body (from shoulder to rum), it's trophy size.

Jerry

    more on racks...
    
    Spot beams that sweep forward past a vertical line draw from the tip of
    the nose and your looking at 20" long or greater main beams.
    
    A typical ear length for a whitetail is 6", use this as a rough guage
    for telling tine length.
    
    The average distance between the tips of a whitetails ears when on
    alert (angled out in the normal alert position)is approx 15" to 17"
    offering a quick way to estimate an animals spread.
    
    fra
    
    

From the "Complete Book of Hunting".

A full grown pronghorn is trophy size if the horns are at least one-third
of its body length (length from front of shoulder to rump - approximately
34 inches), or it it's horn spread exceeds half its body width.

Jerry

From the "Complete Book of Hunting".

A mule deer is trophy size if the antlers are at least one-half the
animal's height from withers or ground, of if either antler overhangs
the body by at least half the body width.

Jerry

From the "Complete Book of Hunting".

A Whitetail deer is trophy size if the antlers approach the height
of the body from withers to brisket, or if the antler spread exceeds
the body width.

Jerry

From the "Complete Book of Hunting".

A caribou is trophy size if the antlers approach the animal's
height (body only).

Jerry

From the "Complete Book of Hunting".

A mountain sheep is trophy size if the diameter of its horn curl is
about one-third the animal's height.

Jerry

From the "Complete Book of Hunting".

A mountain goat is trophy size if its horns are about one-fourth the
animal's height.  Note:  Measurement does not include shoulder hump
which is mostly fleece.

Jerry

From the "Complete Book of Hunting".

The best way to estimate any bear's size is from a clearly defined
track.  The rule-of-thumb is:  Add one to the greatest width of its
front pad in inches; convert the resulting figure to feetand the
result wilbe the size of its squared hide.

For example, a black bear whose front paw measures 5 inches across will
"square out" as a 6-foot hide.  This means that if the hide were laid
flat, and the total of its width and length were divided by two, the
result would be 6 feet.

Jerry

    
    	Geez, what doesn't that book have??  You got a listing for
    Trophy Grey Squirrels or better yet a jackalope ??  :')
    

>>                      <<< Note 682.15 by BTOVT::WENER_R >>>
                               -< re: J_Henson >-

    
>>    	Geez, what doesn't that book have??  You got a listing for
>>    Trophy Grey Squirrels or better yet a jackalope ??  :')

You asking about about the white-tail jackalope or the black-tail
jackalope?
    
Jerry