Trophy Mule Deer

[BeeTee]

Thought I'd share a couple of photos I was shown yesterday. The photos were taken last summer near Hamilton Montana - in a back yard.


I've lived in this area since 1961. Mule deer were never seen in the valley floor till about 5 years ago. We have a herd of about 100 head of Mule Deer living in our neighborhood as well, and I've posted pics of some of them - including big bucks.

It's no wonder deer and elk are living in people's back yards...
This is from a 2011 Montana FWP annual report. It should have been titled, "The Future Of Hunting".

 

[JD338]

Very cool.

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

There outta be a law!

 

[DrMike]

Yeah, that'll get your blood pumping.

 

[Guy Miner]

Excellent buck.

Too bad about the wolves.

 

[35 Whelen]

Same thing here with the whitetails and these big coyotes we have . They stay right here in town all winter on folks lawns.......... but here is a muley from the early 90's from the Powder River over east of you . Hoped he was thirty but didnt quite make it ... 29 3/4"The rifle is my old Styer Manlicher in 30/06 shooting a 165gr Solid Base Nosler in front of the old Jack O' Conner load of 52grs of 4064 for about 2925fps the effect on a big Muley at about 250 yards properly hit was always priceless.....................

 

[FOTIS]

Still not a bad spread on him!

 

[sask boy]

Very nice Muley, I am afraid this winter has really taken a toll on both the Mulies and the Whitetail here in Saskatchewan . The west part of the province has not been quite as bad but around the farm you still can not see the tops of 4 strand barbwire fences.

Blessings,
Dan

 

[DrMike]

I was out yesterday and saw lots of large mule deer. It looks as if this past winter has been good to them. Whitetail and moose look to be plentiful, as well. Man, August can't get here fast enough.

 

[Elkman]

35

That is a dandy buck !!!! Quality is down in several of the Western states, because of low moisture and poor forage conditions. Here in SC Washington we are down 50% in precip from last year. Drought monitor shows problems from eastern Wa., all the way through the Midwest and south to Texas.

 

[35 Whelen]

Sorry to hear the deer have taken such a hit in Sask, this winter as it is just the reverse here in Maine the deer look just like it was November with no sign of weak or thin deer around at all. Here are some more Muleys, I shot back a few years ago, from 3 different states! One is from Utah, one from Colorado, and one from Wyoming. Never really ever got a MONSTER, one but some fair representations of the species.

Rifle was a Browning BAR in .270Win

 

[Guy Miner]

35 Whelen - those are three fine looking mule deer racks! Congrats.

 

[C.Smith]

Very nice looking animals.

Corey

 

[Oldtrader3]

35Whelen, Canada is the answer to your query. Alberta specifically, has some really large trophy mule deer. The winter in 2003 and a couple since, combined with heavy hunting pressure on public land has sorely reduced trophy hunting expectations of any bucks larger than what you have already by hunting on public land hunting. This, unless it is public land Sequestered (like that word) by private "closed to hunting" lands around it.

I hunted mule deer for forty years on public land, mostly in Utah, including two paid, guided hunts in which I was unlucky with snow or poachers in my hunting party (long story). Despite this, I have not killed any mule deer bigger than the ones that you have even hunting hard and high, away from the maddening crowd.

 

[Guy Miner]

It can be tough to tag a really good mulie buck anymore. They're still out there, but the herds have been in decline for decades. Most of us mule deer hunters won't ever tag a real 180 class buck, let alone a 200+ buck. Still, time to time I've seen one of the big boys, and it's always a possibility.

On public land, I'm tickled to just get a chance at a 4x4, or maybe even a big, mature 3x3.

Am getting close to having enough points to draw a coveted late/rut mulie tag here in Washington. Maybe this year or next? That would be GREAT. There are some good bucks here, but they're a lot easier to hunt once they come down out of the high country, and the rut kicks in, come November. Am hoping to draw the tag before our new wolves take a big toll on the mule deer herds.

I think the biggest buck I've ever seen during hunting season was a bruiser in high desert country here in Washington. Wow - quite a buck - but I couldn't quite set up the shot, so I didn't take it.

Saw another good one last season in Wyoming, but I don't think he was quite as big as that Washington high desert buck. Could be. Memory plays tricks sometimes.

Best of luck all you mule deer hunters!

Guy

 

[35 Whelen]

Hey thanks for the compliments on the deer...................... they were decent bucks but after I saw a 44"er on a gas station in Craig Co it sorta showed me how small my racks were in comparision to a real gagger..............
I hunted them for about 5 years in 8 different states and took some ok bucks but can honestly say that I NEVER saw a screamer that so many tell of seeing as he topped out over the ridge never to be seen again . All the good ones that were approaching 30" with heavy horns we got them and I really would say I have never shot a real trophy Muley........................ one old guy in Norwood Co told me that the last big one ever shot off his ranch was in 1969 at 38" and with heavy 6 1/2" circumferances. He says Earle your about 20 years too LATE!!!! I really think if they are not 36" and heavy beamed; they are NOT the real deal. But I see guys shooing them all the time 25" and medium in weight, and they consider them massive.

 

[SJB358]

Very nice bucks though. You guys have taken some beasts over the years!

 

[35 Whelen]

We have been very fortunate Scotty and we certainly appreaciate the path that was in front of us all the way. Its been a great life and so far we are still going strong................. knock on wood.
Here is a Maine Whitetail, 225lber, and some more hunters that were thrilled to get him.

 

[BeeTee]

Sorry for the photo (scanned Polaroid taken in the late 1960s), but this is the largest Mule Deer buck I've seen dead or alive here in Montana. Just wish all of the antlers were in the photo. The 5x8 antlers are heavy, high & wide and non-typical. My Dad got the buck from a rough canyon area on National Forest land bordering the Bitterroot/Selway wilderness southwest of Hamilton, Montana.

Bucks like this lead a solitary life, except during the rut, which was this buck's undoing. Some trophy Mule Deer experts believe MT's biggest Mule Deer bucks live in these canyons in some of the most inaccessible areas imaginable. There are so few deer there and the access so tough that a solitary buck can lead a long life. BT

 

[SJB358]

What a buck Bee Tee! That's a monster.