Scott Jurk from www.trophyscore.net asked us to look at the TrophyScore Software Program. The purpose of the program is to give you an accurate score of your bucks from your trail camera pictures. The goal is to aid you in the management of your bucks and help reduce the occurrence of “ground shrinkage” that many of us have experienced over the years. I will add that if you enjoy the cameras and scouting in general, TrophyScore should just add to that enjoyment.

TrophyScore is a simple, yet really neat program that I feel is a natural extension of your use of trail cameras. The program claims to typically be accurate to + 4”. With a little practice, my testing showed it to do just that.

The download/installation of the program is quick and simple. There is an Instructional Video, a Help File, and a FAQ (frequently asked questions) provided. I would recommend viewing all three. Don’t panic, the video is less than 4 minutes long and the help file and faq can be read in a couple of minutes tops. The program is simple to understand and using ALL of the help resources TrophyScore has provided only makes it easier. For instance, I did not read the Faq off the main webpage and was not aware that you cannot use this program to accurately score a deer you have had mounted from pictures of the actual mount. Watch the demo and read the FAQ and you will understand why. Not knowing this led to some initial frustration with the program. I would like to see this info in a place more visible than just the FAQ on the webpage, as I think most user’s tendency is going to be to want to test the accuracy of the program right off the bat with a known quantity. What better way than with a mount off your wall! Fortunately, if you have trail camera pictures or harvest pictures of the deer, you can do that.

Another “hint” that I would like to have seen was the need to downsize your pics to something like 640x480 for ease of use. I found cropping the pics down to headshots was also helpful in some instances.

 Now let’s get too it… 

You will need good pictures to use this software. TrophyScore recommends using at least 2mp camera pictures. I would agree with this and add that the higher the megapixel/the closer the deer in the picture, the more accurate your results will be. The program uses the nose and/or the eye of your deer in a calibration process. I found proper calibration with the eye to be more difficult than the nose. Getting the calibration part done properly is essential to obtaining accurate results. Good clear pictures of deer within reasonable range are necessary to achieve this. Picture quality and having the proper angle shots are the real limiting factors to the accuracy of the program. Like any computer program, the results it gives you will only be as good as the “information” you give it. A 1mp trail camera picture of a deer at 15-20 yards is not going to get it done.  

I used the program several times. You can complete a scoring session in less than 10 minutes. There is a slight learning curve and you will get better with practice. To start, I highly recommend using good trail camera pictures or harvest pictures of a deer that you know the actual measurements on. This will quickly let you know if you are on the right track. The program allows the scoring to be done with (1) picture: a straight on head shot, or with (2) pictures: a straight on head shot and a side view. While the (2) picture method is more accurate, I was pleasantly surprised at how close the scoring was just using the head on picture.  

To give an idea of the accuracy:
 

Note: These results were achieved after a couple of trial runs. As you can see, the numbers were easily within the claimed +4”.

 I also did some scoring of bucks from single trail camera pics alone and the results achieved were in line with what I felt like the bucks would score. 

I guess that leads to a question some will have: If the scores the program provides are pretty much what I thought they would be based on my trail camera pictures, why do I need the program? I’ll answer that question 2 ways. Obviously, if you feel like you need help with scoring deer “on the hoof,” this program can be an asset to you. But, even if you are a seasoned hunter when it comes to scoring live deer, this program still offers something of value to you. First off, it offers a “2^nd opinion” on the score of the deer. Secondly, with each scoring session a score sheet is automatically generated with a title/heading that you provide, each individual measurement & total in a nice format, and the 1 or 2 pics you used at the top of each sheet. This will allow you to easily & neatly catalog a deer from one year to the next or your herd in general. 

The price of the software is either $29.99 or $59.99 depending on whether you purchase 50 scores or unlimited scoring. I would like to see an upgrade option added for those who want to purchase the program but may be reluctant to initially spend $59.99 for unlimited use. If you have a healthy buck population where you hunt, I could see you going thru 50 scores fairly quickly. 

I’ll finish this review as I started it. This is a good product and a natural extension of the use of trail cameras.

Thank you,

Ross Baker (aka. Roscoe)
Chasingame.com

Below are some screen snapshots I took while using the software.  Each shot demonstrates a different facet of the program and scoring process that you go through.

Click on the thumbnails to get the larger versions: (note: I left the screen snapshots large and did not compress them. you may want to zoom in a bit to get some detail)