I've always hunted for meat...cow tags for elk, or spikes, bagged whatever mule deer I saw, no regard for antler size. Frankly, I never really paid any attention to a "nice rack" (in the ungulate realm) while hunting.
So this year I'm hunting an area on public land in Idaho where our group (also a bunch of meat hunters) knows elk and deer roam, and I see this guy, a 5x5, climbing the rocks. I'm looking through the scope and the rack seems pretty good. 180gr .308 Fail Safe breaks his spine behind the head and it's over.
I've only been hunting 9 years now, but the guys in camp say he's pretty nice. I take the rack to a guy I know who scores these and he says, after a bit of measuring and what not, 152 7/8. He also said something about 180 and above being valuable. I'm just wondering, and be honest, is this a "nice" typical, "average", ho-hum? Seems like 152 7/8 is a long way from 180.
Either way, I'm keeping it.
tx.
tom