My buddy and I are signed up for a South Texas Axis buck hunt this spring. As far as I know from reading and watching videos most folks say a 30" or better main beam is great buck. However, I never read or see folks give the actual official score of the Axis buck they've harvested, just the main beam measurement. I'm assuming the overall measurement is more of a mute point, it's all about main beam length. Is this fairly accurate?

On the flip side anyone know what a good to great overall score would be?

Thanks

Jeff

SCI Gold with a rifle is 159 5/8" , Silver is 148 3/8" and Bronze is 127".
Most 30" axis will be at least Bronze if not Silver. For a 30" buck to go SCI Gold it needs to be heavy and wide and have good brows and caudals. A short and wide buck with good 2nds and 3rds can easily outscore a 30" buck that is weak everywhere else.
I suggest looking at a LOT of pictures of bucks of known length and having them saved on your phone for easy reference while hunting. To a first time hunter, a 25" axis can look HUGE.

This is a 36" buck. Notice how far swept back his main beams go.
The red dot is my preferred point of aim on axis.



This is a 31" buck.

This one was 30".

That is the truth! I've had my eyes on a lot of axis bucks, and I still do not feel comfortable sizing one in the field. They are just so freaking huge compared to the whitetails that my bird brain cannot compute...

And when they turn and run, they all look huge from the back; 'guess it's that elk effect. Judge from the front on only.

Thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for. We're doing our homework looking at pics and videos. Gonna tell the guide what we're looking for and put our interests in his hands.

Should be a fun time.

Go with the guide’s recommendation. You get three in a bunch that are decent and they all look huge on the hoof. Hard to judge the best of the best if you don’t see them all the time.

How many actually have them measured and submitted for the record book?

So what would this axis score?

My guess is 33 or 34”

35”

He has great length on his main beam but he is lacking on brow and caudel tines which will not help his score.

As an official scorer for SCI, I've measured 3 axis this year that went gold. They were 37.5" beams that scored mid 160's, 36" beams that scored low 170's and 34" beams that scored mid 160's. the 34" beamed buck had great mass and very long caudals. The 36" buck had great brows and long caudals as well.