Is he 50"???

[Jerod]

A week after the FMA season ended, this guy shows himself on Lathrop street near 30th. Not too typical to see a bull this big in and around Fairbanks. Figured he would be a good candidate for a 50" thread. I've got a couple more pictures of him that I'll share later, but I'll start with this one. What would your estimate be on this bull? If he was in a restricted area, would you pull the trigger? My final picture will be of one him looking straight away. None of my forward facing pictures came out clear enough.

[anchskier]

Bad angle for guessing size, but from what I see, I would not shoot. Guess would be in the mid 40 range.

[Jerod]

From most of the mid to upper 40" bulls we have taken, this guy appears to have thicker palms up top.

[anchskier]

That 2nd pictures does make him look a bit bigger. While the palms look decently thick, one thing I am looking at is the points which are pretty short so you don't gain much width from them.

[AK Bearcat]

Need better pictures to really tell. He 'might' be close though!

[Carlak2fl]

id have to count brow tines or let him walk. just too close to call

[4merguide]

That's a hard angle to judge by for sure, but on the first pic, I am liking the mass of that outside brow tine point on his right side. Also a lot of those older bulls start loosing top point length as well. I'm thinking he may be 50, but would not shoot if this was the only angle I had....

[Jerod]

Final picture. Real close to tell, but I put him at 52" and would shoot him in a second, anywhere in the state. Of course I got to see his front side and know that he has 2 brow tines on one side and 4 on the other. Is there a standard width of eartip to eartip if the ears are up like that? I was thinking if it was 24", that would put him right around what I had guessed when I saw him.

Keep in mind that in this picture, his head is turned slightly to the left, so the antlers look a little narrower than they actually are.

[0321Tony]

Bad angles but from those pics I'd let him walk. He's close but I'd want a facing to me pic to make a final judgement

[iofthetaiga]

His shadow is 50.

[homerdave]

and would shoot him in a second, anywhere in the state

I would suggest shooting him in the heart/lung area, though my personal preference is a neck shot.

[anchskier]

Final picture. Real close to tell, but I put him at 52" and would shoot him in a second, anywhere in the state. Of course I got to see his front side and know that he has 2 brow tines on one side and 4 on the other.

I'm assuming your decision to shoot "anywhere in the state" is from the knowledge of the 4 brow tines and not the estimation of 52"? Whenever I hear someone claim they are sure something is 52" or 53" and they would be confident to shoot, I think they should hold their fingers apart by 2 or 3 inches and then realize that is their margin for error at 100+ yards on an animal that can vary in body size significantly (making the reference for width fairly variable).

[Jerod]

Yes, my decision to shoot would have been based on the 4 brow tines. If I would have to think it over in my head, I would have talked myself out of it fairly quickly.

[iofthetaiga]

...and would shoot him in a second, anywhere in the state.

I'd recommend aiming more toward the Ruby area, right in the pocket just behind Galena. Try not to hit him in the Tok.

[stid2677]

That photo from behind shows his antlers in the shape of a bow, from my experience when they still up turn like that they are in the 40s. As they get over 50 they start to droop from the bases, I would guess him at 48 or 49.

He better be careful hanging out in that part of town, 50 or no.

Steve