Measuring Michigan Game Trophies is an Exact Science
By Glen Wunderlich
When I began deer hunting, I had never heard of any type of record books for hunters. And, when I took a big buck in 1986 in Michigan’s Iron County in the Upper Peninsula, I performed the field dressing duties, as I had in the past. To get the meat cooled quickly, I had learned that it was good to open the animal well into the neck. It had always been about the meat. I never learned about any techniques to preserve a trophy until I had spoiled the cape of what was to be my first mount.
I was able to trade the entire hide of the 190-pound field dressed buck for a cape from another deer. (The hide from my deer was used on a full-body mount of an 18-point buck displayed in a sporting goods store in St. Claire Shores, where my unwitting incision was cleverly hid from view.) Since then, the substitute cape and rack have hung on a wall.
I was on television with Fred Trost of the old Michigan Outdoors show and by his scoring method, the antlers scored a 33 – outside spread plus the number of points, which were 10. That’s the way it has been for almost 25 years until Mel Drummond paid me a visit the other day. You see, Mel (phone 517 625-7146) is an official scorer for Commemorative Bucks of Michigan (CBM) and I learned that properly measuring a set of antlers is quite a bit more complicated than Fred’s method.
Mel began by placing small pieces of masking tape along the main beams under each tine. He then marked intersecting center lines on each piece of tape as reference points. This is when I was informed that after all these years that two of the points didn’t qualify as points at all. The Iron County bruiser was no more than an 8-pointer, but with an inside spread of over 20 inches and good mass, this measuring thing began to get interesting. When it was completed the score was a bit over 135 inches – enough to qualify for the record book.
Also, as part of the visit, Mel scored a wild turkey taken last year in Shiawassee County and it, too made the book. Even though Mel explained there was no fee to score game, he stated that to be entered into the CBM record book, one must be a member. It seemed a natural thing to do, so I joined on the spot and the rest will have become history – officially.
One aspect of how hunters (and, anglers for that matter) quantify their game always raises a question as to the accuracy of their description: rounding off. And, it is not weighing and/or measuring and then rounding off, but estimating in round numbers. When a qualified measurer states sizes, he does so in mathematical terms to eights of an inch for deer and sixteenths of an inch for turkeys. No guessing is involved. It’s good to know when you’re talking turkey (or deer, bear or elk) with just about anyone.
In addition to deer and turkey, CBM has trophy standards for elk and bear. At www.buckfax.com, the various categories and relevant details can be found. There is also a list of qualified measurers, such as Mel Drummond, who are more than willing to score your game animal at no charge.
Some of them also measure for Pope and Young and also for Boone and Crockett – each having particular standards – in case you are interested. Here’s hoping you can join me in the 9th edition of CBM’s “Michigan Big Game Records” when it’s ready for print.
