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Measurers see antlers by the inch

By Sam Cook, Duluth News Tribune, Source: MCT News Service

DULUTH, Minn. _ Doug Ohman placed a small piece of masking tape on the antlers and marked it precisely with a pen.

A certified measurer of trophy deer, Ohman, of Foreston, Minn., was deep in the process of scoring an impressive set of deer antlers. He and fellow members of the Minnesota Official Measurers had gathered at a recent outdoors show just for that purpose.

Throughout the show, hunters brought the certified measurers deer and moose antlers and a couple of bear skulls to have them officially scored.

The antlers that Ohman was working on would eventually score 201 5/8, a highly respectable score for a beautiful set of non-typical antlers. "Typical" antlers possess conventional points growing in customary fashion. "Non-typical" antlers contain normal points plus many other tines that grow in unusual places or odd ways.

Seeing antlers like those is one reason that measurers do what they do.

"I do it to see the big, huge heads," said fellow measurer Rod Dehart of Bemidji, Minn. "They bring 'em to me."

Some hunters bring shed antlers to be measured.

"It's always interesting when somebody has antlers from one year to the next, so you can compare that growth from year to year," said Walt Augustyn of Hermantown, Minn., who has been an official measurer since 2004.

All of the measurers do it without charge, purely as volunteers.

GETTING CERTIFIED

To become am official measurer, one must attend a day-long class. But to become sanctioned by the venerable Boone & Crockett Club, which has been recognizing trophy game animals since the 1920s, prospective candidates must attend a week-long measuring school and pass a test. Many must wait several years to become certified, until an opening for an official measurer comes about in their geographic area.

Augustyn was also measuring at the boat show. He and measurer Tom Kalsbeck of Miltona, Minn., teamed up to measure a set of deer antlers. An extra set of hands is often helpful in the meticulous process.

On the big non-typical head that Ohman measured, he called in three more measurers to get their opinions on just how certain points should be scored.

"It's called 'panel measuring'," Dehart said.

Different measurers might come up with slightly different interpretations on how to measure a set of antlers.

"But the differences are pretty minor," Augustyn said.

Measurers are usually within a half-inch of each other on a rack's final score, said measurer Bob Rocheleau of South Haven, Minn. Rocheleau measured the current Minnesota archery record non-typical buck taken last fall by Scott O'Konek of South Haven. That buck scored 228 3/8.

SOME SURPRISES

Most hunters simply want to have their trophy antlers scored as a matter of curiosity. But some have had amateur measurers lead them to false expectations about whether a set of antlers is large enough to make the Boone and Crockett or the Minnesota record book.

"If they've had several people measure it and think it's record-book, they're sometimes disappointed," Ohman said. "Sometimes they get downright angry about it."

Rocheleau measured one set of antlers at the show that looked good. Any hunter would have been proud of them. They scored 137 gross; that is, before any deductions for non-typical points or lack of symmetry. The final score was just over 112 points.

"Symmetry is important," Rocheleau said.

Every set of antlers is unique, Augustyn said.

"They're all nice," he said. "But some are even nicer."

And most of them come with a good hunting tale.

"You meet the neatest people and hear the greatest stories," Ohman said. "We get to play the final part of the hunt."

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(c) 2010, Duluth News Tribune (Duluth, Minn.).

Visit the Web site of the News Tribune at http://www.duluthsuperior.com

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): Ohman