Unexpected Roebuck

I'd heard Muntjac barking in some woods that I shoot whilst walking the dogs last Friday evening and had seen fresh slots after the recent rain so decided to take out the rifle and see what was about - kitted out very lightly. I set up overlooking a depression at the edge of the wood where I'd seen the slots. Within 20 mins this buck appeared through the trees and stayed there for a while checking out the area. He then slowly walked out onto the field with a couple of does and started grazing. Most unexpected as the local Roe do not usually inhabit this area, although there are plenty of Muntjac.
Buck.jpg
He was in good condition and had quite a good head.
Head Side.jpg Head Front.jpg
Unfortunately, I was only kitted out to deal with Muntjac - the 3/4 mile uphill walk back home was a bit of an epic and I'm aching a bit today. Moral of the story - expect the unexpected!
 
Cheers all for the comments on the head; I've had a few which say that it might make a medal. I thought the individual antlers might lack the symmetry for that. Any advice would be welcome as I've never submitted one for measuring before.
 
Cheers all for the comments on the head; I've had a few which say that it might make a medal. I thought the individual antlers might lack the symmetry for that. Any advice would be welcome as I've never submitted one for measuring before.
Nice buck!
My first thoughts were that it's possibly a bronze
Symmetry is not that important when measuring Roe antlers, (only up to 3 CIC points reserved for regularity I think).....it's all about weight and volume to be honest. Don't cut the skull at all, just boil it out whole (minus lower jaw) and then weigh it. It will lose weight until it's dried properly and after 90 days you can submit it to CIC for a proper measure. No charge unless it makes a medal.
If you weigh it the day after you boil it you should have a good idea if it'll make a medal or not. If it weighs at least 500+ grammes wet it has a good chance as it should lose about 10% I think.
What do each of the antlers measure in length?
 
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The antlers measure 26.5 cm left and 25.5 cm right with a span of 15.5 cm from the tip of the shortest. Looking at the measuring formula this looks quite good.
 
Beautiful head. Its looks almost identical to a buck I shot last year, but mine has slightly less length and the coronets are better on your. Mine is a silver medal so I'm gonna say yours is too. Well done.
 
Thanks again for the comments and input. I've skinned the head and had it soaking for the past couple of days, and will boil it out tomorrow. As Bukeroo8 has said, the wet weight should give some indication of whether it has medal potential. I'll do the antler volume as well, but the rest of the scoring is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. Has anyone used the Roephy mobile app and compared it to CIC scoring results?
 
After cleaning the head and letting it dry in a warm place for a couple of days it weighs 632 grammes. I weighed it with the antlers submerged after cleaning and it showed 440 grammes. By my layman's calculations it could possibly make Silver if it does not lose too much weight over the next 90 days. It should make Bronze in any event, so I'm very pleased with that!
head.jpg
 
That's great, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Let us know when you have had it measured. My one won't make Silver but it is still weighing 506g after being boiled out about two weeks ago, it may just scrape a Bronze if I'm lucky.

Paul
 
Just to finish this thread off, after letting it dry for over 3 months, I sent the head off for measuring to the CIC UK. I'm pleased to say it came out as a Gold Medal, with 135.05 points. I am really chuffed with this as the buck was literally on my doorstep and I happened upon it quite by accident.
 
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