monarchtaxidermy & npaden

never_satisfied · Jul 17, 2011

Thanks monarchtaxidermy for putting this score contest on
And thanks to npaden for taking the time to score it
It has been challenging and fun and I have looked forward to each week.
It has also made most of us realize we simply suck at scoring so thanks for that too
These contests have given away hundreds of dollars of gifts and even more impressive was the amount of time you guys have put into it.
I think its safe to say we all here on MM appreciate it

P.S
I have also P.M you both my last score so if you two can work around it I would be even more grateful

Horniac · Jul 17, 2011

Ditto!

Very much appreciated Monarchtaxidermy and npaden!

Thanks,

Horniac

sageadvice · Jul 17, 2011

Yes Sir Guys!! I'm a very competitive guy by nature and have been unofficially scoring bucks since the mid 70's. I take pride in just how close that i can put a score on a blacktail or muley buck. Though this contest was, in some respects, not geared up just for me, i think that it was a great contest for all of us as a group and relly looked forward to it each week even though i wasn't doing so great.

Well done guys, for one of the neatest things that have been done in these pages and congrats to those that finished in the top ten or so, i tip my cap to you all!!

Joey

msy · Jul 17, 2011

I also wanted to say thanks to you guys. Its definately a fun contest and the amount of time you put in is incredible.

npaden · Jul 17, 2011

Thanks for the comments. I've enjoyed it as well.

Curtis has kept it very interesting with all the twists and turns here at the end that's for sure!

never_satisfied, I didn't get a PM with a score so not sure if you are waiting to send it or what. I would think it would be better to go ahead and post directly in the contests, but I'll score it however Curtis tells me.

I've done the math on the last few entries myself and am just waiting to post to the contest threads. Putting a pencil to those 2 ended up suprising me over just going with my gut on them.

npaden · Jul 17, 2011

P.S. - It wasn't until after I posted that I realized that your P.S. was a joke! ;-)

I must have the personality of an accountant!

BIGJOHNT · Jul 17, 2011

Yes it was fun.Just for the record...it is tough guess scores from a picture. haha I sucked so bad on a couple of them ,i didn't finish the last few

monarchtaxidermy · Jul 17, 2011

Thanks also, I must say it is very hard to guess from pictures also. If you guys were to come look at them personally in my shop you would go holy Crap not even what I thought from the picture. I think people really get used to looking at website and magazine pictures and try and relate them to what they are seeing in the field. Just my opinion but from what I have seen and observed I always subtract about 10 inches on a deer from what I guess in a picture and almost 15-20 on a 320 plus bull. On average I taxi about 60 plus muleys a year and you must realize very few of those make it over 180. I hope people realize that bucks over 180 and bulls over 340 especially here in Utah are big!!!!! not everyone gets to hunt animals like that so even though I love scoring animals I have come to understand if you can harvest an animal like this in today's world you have had a magnificent oppurtunity and these are really great trophys. So for all those with those special tags this year, enjoy what you have and hunt as hard as you can for a trophy but understand these animals are in the minority out there even if you have waited 15 years for a tag.

Anyway was wondering if MM members would want to do another contest after the seasons again? If so respond if you would. I think If we can get more than 100 I would consider doing it again starting next January. Another thing is that founder donated to me probably over $1000 in stuff to give away. There is no way I can afford to buy videos and hats and shirts for every week so if you know or could donate to the cause that would be great. A grand Prize is tough also. SO I guess if you want to keep this going please respond on this thread and then we can try and maybe find a sponsor for next year. I also had fun with the twists and turns, but to be honest for next year I would probably just do 15 contest with one animal and no penalties and let everyone just fight it out. I not a photographer and trying to post those pictures every week and getting our official scorer out every week so it would be fair was hard.

So, let me know and thanks again to NPADEN who gave a lot of time and effort for basically a little gift certificate I will send him. Good luck to our winner.
Curtis Wilson
Monarch Mountain Taxidermy

wamuledeer · Jul 17, 2011

I would love another contest. I think it has helped me out quite a bit on scoring an animal. You have done a great job on this and I am always checking back in just to see how the guesses are going. I was a lucky winner of a video and t shirt early on so thanks again.

swbuckmaster · Jul 17, 2011

+1 MT most people have no idea when it comes to score. It is sad here in Utah there are people that want to turn in a San Juan elk tag because they dont think they have a chance at a 380+ bull ect.

Id like to see the contest again thanks for your time.

arrowone4me · Jul 18, 2011

Your time is well appreciated. I hope I can look forward to embarassing myself as much in the future. Thank you.

Dr_Hunter · Jul 18, 2011

+1

Great offseason practice.

mlycrzy · Jul 18, 2011

Thanks for the contests and I would very much enjoy having another contest.

lostinOregon · Jul 18, 2011

Thanks guys, makes the off season fun. I like the challenge and hopefully if I didn't kill myself in the last two contests I will have made the top ten, thanks

Rich

npaden · Jul 19, 2011

Since most of the folks have already entered their scores I'll make some commentary.

This last contest is a perfect example of why these scoring contests are so beneficial.

At first glance the buck on the left from Contest #28 is a dink compared to the buck on the right from Contest #29. The buck on the right has got to be at least 10" bigger on first glance. It has longer tines, much taller rack and is just bigger. Those weak backs really catch your eye on the buck on the left as well.

Then you start really looking at things like mass, spread credit and the couple extra points and the buck on the left starts to grow. You look for the extras on the buck on the right and he just doesn't have any, if anything you realize that he has a smaller spread than you noticed at first glance.

At first glance I would have guessed 155" on the buck on the left and 165" on the buck on the right, but running the numbers those bucks are neck and neck on gross score to me. Looking at them in the field there is no doubt which one would get the bullet, the buck from contest #29 is much more visually appealing to me, even though when I ran my numbers he scored out a couple inches less than the buck on the left. This also emphasizes that the score really isn't that important when it is all said and done, it is whether you would be happy with the animal or not.

It will be very interesting to see what the final numbers are for those bucks.