In This Guide
Why August is the list, not October
Velvet is off or coming off. Patterns are still daylight enough to learn. And you have weeks to move a stand before the woods get crunchy. If you build the list in October you are hanging steel on last night's photo.
A hit list is not a wish list. It is three to six deer you can identify, with a score, an age, and a reason he is on it.
Pull the card the right way
Dump every camera. Sort by site, then by night. Do not cherry pick the pretty color frames. The night IR stack is most of the visits. Name the bucks as you go so you do not score the same 8 point twelve times and think you have twelve shooters.
If two photos look like the same deer a week apart, they probably are. Score both and keep the cluster.
Score every unique buck
Drop each clear photo into rackline. You get a Boone and Crockett estimate in about 30 seconds. Do the 110s. Do the 130s. Do the giant. The list only works if the 2 year old 8 point is on paper at 118, not remembered as almost a shooter.
Three photos of the same buck beat one. Average the tight numbers. Throw out the blown IR outlier.
Age him before you rank him
A 140 class 2 year old is not a hit. He is next year's problem. A 128 class 5 year old on your farm might be the one you came for.
Look at the face, the belly, the rump, and the neck. rackline will give you an age estimate from the photo. Use it with your own eye.
Set a number you will actually keep
Write the number down in August, not in the stand. Use your county, not a magazine cover. The trophy map shows what hunters around you are actually tagging. If your woods run 120s, a 132 mature buck is a hit. If you only shoot 150, say that now so you do not talk yourself into a 138 in the last 20 minutes of light.
What the list is for in November
When he walks out you are not scoring him. You are matching him. Same G2 kick. Same split brow. Same 141 from the August mineral lick. If he is not on the list, he is a pass unless you already decided culls count. Do not invent a new rule in the moment.
Build your August hit list from trail cam photos
Score the card in rackline and write the list this week. Free on iOS and Android.
Frequently asked questions
How many bucks belong on an August hit list?
Three to six you can identify. More than that and it is an inventory, not a list.
Do I score velvet photos in August?
Yes, then know velvet reads heavy. Pair it with a hard horn photo if you have one.
What if I only have night IR of the big one?
Score it anyway. Use a cluster of frames. Wait for one daylight photo if the IR is blown. Do not leave him off the list because the photo is gray.
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