Blackbuck antelope

Anyone know how to tell if a blackbuck antelope is a gold medal or not, and what is a pretty nice one?

Throw a gold metal around its neck, take a pic.....boom, gold metal blackbuck.

There are details to teach you how to score one.

I think anything 18-20" is considered a good buck. 21-23 " would be considered a very fine trophy and anything longer than 23 you should just know you've killed an exceptional animal. I have no idea what makes one gold. Just my .02

Is there also a way you can tell based on their color.

Color has absolutely nothing to do with the trophy caliber of a blackbuck. It is the dominate bucks in a given location that usually turn black. That being said, I have to ask, which scoring system are you asking about when you want to know what makes a gold medal animal? Each scoring system has their own set of parameters as to what defines gold, silver and bronze.

Measuring and scoring blackbuck can be tricky. This is because there is always a debate over "straight line" measurement or "around the curl" - and how to properly measure "around the curl". I won't go into that debate, but suffice it to say you can download a scoring sheet for blackbuck and see for yourself.

Most of the "big" blackbuck taken in Texas are around 21-23" straight line measurement - which, depending on the number of depth of curl, could be 24-26" - which would be in the gold medal range if I remember correctly. But most of the "trophy" blackbuck I've seen taken are more like 18-20".

However, truly BIG blackbuck are out there - even in Texas - and if you search long enough and have a big enough checkbook, you can find one that is 27" or better - which would be an exceptional animal.

Even with 27" or better horn size, the animal may not be black. The black coloration comes from the amount of testosterone in their system, and has nothing to do with dominance - although the dominant buck is likely to have a lot of "T". I have seen herds on ranches where there were many black colored males, even within the same family group. And I have seen 26-28" males that were totally light brown.

Even the dominant, high "T" males that are black seem to vary color during the year. Ranging from a solid black, to a mottled black. It appears they are in their darkest, most uniform black in the winter months in Texas. I don't have as much experience with BB as I do axis, but this has been my observations.

The prettiest, IMHO, are those bucks that are solid black everywhere except for a brown patch as the base of the neck on the black.

Generally, folks usually want a black-black male, and will often settle for less desirable horns over color - but I think this is a mistake. The best representation of the species - IMPO - are those that have tight curls, with at least 4 full turns. I would rather shoot a semi-black BB with good tight 4-5 curls, than a loose 3 wave black coat. But that's just me. Remember, unless you are getting a full mount - even a shoulder wall pedestal won't show much of the cape past the shoulder. But to each his own.

Thanks y'all, just wondering what would be a reasonable time to take one, ever since the flood about 6-7 weeks ago there were about 20-30 black buck that showed up on the property out of no where.

Why not now?

John that was a very thorough explanation.

Not now because I want them to settle into the property for a little while.

a gold medal is made by getting 63 7/8 inches total or more in measurements. it is a combo of mass at the base and length as follows the horn. As a general rule a good curl with a 20-21 in strait tape will make gold medal. Having killed several good ones I would be looking for the one that excites you. I would find one I liked and shoot regardless of size. they are great to eat and hunt.

Gold Medal

This one is 21" x 20 6/8"
first mounted then the field shot.

This one looks to be pushing 24

Good lookin blackbucks

Yes sir Bobby he was 24" and came from your ranch