Why do you have to let a skull dry out?

Euan

Well-Known Member
Hi,

Could someone explain why you have to let a roe skull dry out before measuring? If you get it measured while it is still wet what effect does that cause and what is the difference in dry weight & wet weight when getting measured?

Cheers.
 
So that its a level playing field for all, some heads will lose more weight than others when drying also head shot early season tends to lose more than one shot later a 10% weight loss before stabilising is not uncommon.
 
At least it isn’t such a long wait at 30 days for the CIC to measure it now. Waiting 3 months was a pain. Still hate watching the weight drop off every few days until it stabilises. The ones up here for me before July usually drop 13% between wet and dry.
 
Hi,

Could someone explain why you have to let a roe skull dry out before measuring? If you get it measured while it is still wet what effect does that cause and what is the difference in dry weight & wet weight when getting measured?

Cheers.

Euan,

It's not just Roe, but all species that are subject to a 30 day drying out period and it is simply to ensure that all heads are measured from the same baseline (SCI and B&C have drying out periods too). Heads measured before 30 days of drying can be heavier/wider/longer by a factor of around 5% to 7%, which for a big head can mean 3 or 4 points difference in a Roe score. After 30 days the head stabilises to an acceptable level. The CIC have carried out extensive research into this subject prior to making the change from 90 days, a limit that was arrived at before the age of hygrometers and the like. So, this is the best way of ensuring that all heads are measured from a common starting point. The research also makes it clear that the % change before the 30 days are up is so variable as to make an accurate measurement impossible. So its no good measuring earlier than 30 days and just lopping 10% or so off the weight!
 
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