Anywhere MT. Drive up to the BMA box and there is a 160" (MD) standing around 8 does 200 yards away and oblivious to anything on Thanksgiving Day. Do I kill it and then open the gate to drag it back to the pickup? If it was the same buck a couple miles from motorized access and I have a pack on my back and likely the headlamp still on my forehead, do I make the same decision? I have thoughts and they may have changed as I have aged. I just want to stir the pot. Maybe NR vs R can be thrown in as well.
Does it matter? Does the number change my mind? Question to myself.
- Thread starter mtmiller
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T
timmy
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With this crowd the answer is going to be yes and where can I find that. I wouldn’t but I might try to chase it to safety, they really are dumb that time of year.
squirrel
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160" really?? You need a much meatier pot to stir, this one is all taters.
T
timmy
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Come to Montana. I thought the number should be 130-140
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
Is the tag either sex? Some delicious Muley doe meat might be more tempting.
Nameless Range
Well-known member
Honest answer. Not trying to make a logical case. Feel free to rake me over the coals. I'm on my fourth or fifth moscow mule and the wife has beat me 4 games in a row at scrabble and I can take it.
I am a resident, and quite literally 95%+ of my hunts take place in the general districts of western Montana and have for 25 years, so a 160 inch deer is a big one.
On Thanksgiving day you would probably see me shoot that deer within sight of the BMA box if I could do it legally. I'd chalk it up as a stroke of good luck and a gift from the Hunting Gods with only a couple days left to hunt, and yes, the fact that in hundreds of miles of hunting over the last 4 or 5 years I haven't seen a 160" mule deer buck figures into that. In my head when I hear this scenario, I am in eastern MT, because eastern MT is a damn smorgasboard compared to so much of western MT. If I were miles from motorized access I would shoot it too, and would prefer that and would feel more satisfied and pleased, because I would have experienced the type of hunt that I like best and the kind I likely would have been shooting for when signing into that BMA. But I can't deny that I also still feel a blood lust come hunting season when I see a deer that I would be willing to shoot, as amateur as that may sound.
Though I hate talking about the value of a deer in inches, my answer does change the smaller that deer gets, and so in overgeneralized terms there is probably a gray area 20-ish inches in size roughly between 130-150" where I may not be so sure anymore.
And just to be inconsistent between logic and theoretical deed, if a statewide proposal came along to end hunting season for mule deer 4 weeks before Thanksgiving, I would support it wholeheartedly.
I am a resident, and quite literally 95%+ of my hunts take place in the general districts of western Montana and have for 25 years, so a 160 inch deer is a big one.
On Thanksgiving day you would probably see me shoot that deer within sight of the BMA box if I could do it legally. I'd chalk it up as a stroke of good luck and a gift from the Hunting Gods with only a couple days left to hunt, and yes, the fact that in hundreds of miles of hunting over the last 4 or 5 years I haven't seen a 160" mule deer buck figures into that. In my head when I hear this scenario, I am in eastern MT, because eastern MT is a damn smorgasboard compared to so much of western MT. If I were miles from motorized access I would shoot it too, and would prefer that and would feel more satisfied and pleased, because I would have experienced the type of hunt that I like best and the kind I likely would have been shooting for when signing into that BMA. But I can't deny that I also still feel a blood lust come hunting season when I see a deer that I would be willing to shoot, as amateur as that may sound.
Though I hate talking about the value of a deer in inches, my answer does change the smaller that deer gets, and so in overgeneralized terms there is probably a gray area 20-ish inches in size roughly between 130-150" where I may not be so sure anymore.
And just to be inconsistent between logic and theoretical deed, if a statewide proposal came along to end hunting season for mule deer 4 weeks before Thanksgiving, I would support it wholeheartedly.
MTLabrador
Well-known member
I’d happily take that buck and drag it to the pickup. I’d also close the season during November if I had the power to do so. Anyone who wants to burn me at the stake for hypocrisy can feel free to do so.
Doublecluck
Well-known member
If I’m a NR from Minnesota and I’m in the right region I pull out the AR and grease the whole herd..
Ok but seriously, If it was a whitetail, in a heartbeat... but not a mule, just wouldn’t feel right about it..
Ok but seriously, If it was a whitetail, in a heartbeat... but not a mule, just wouldn’t feel right about it..
Sytes
Well-known member
BMA, single day hunt. I'm pretty sure I would.
Parking for my multi day back country adventure... maybe? Heh, odd as it sounds, I dig the adventure more so than the hunt itself and that would be my internal contention.
As mentioned - all based on legal setting and if it was to punch the ticket via archery or rifle and cut the season in half, I'd be all for that as well. I might be a tad more inclined to thwack that 160 though
Parking for my multi day back country adventure... maybe? Heh, odd as it sounds, I dig the adventure more so than the hunt itself and that would be my internal contention.
As mentioned - all based on legal setting and if it was to punch the ticket via archery or rifle and cut the season in half, I'd be all for that as well. I might be a tad more inclined to thwack that 160 though
Gerald Martin
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Two hundred yards from the truck? No way. I would chase him a couple miles over two ridges and then shoot him so I could butcher with the gutless method and pack him on my back.
Get serious. The real question no one wants to ask is, "Mirror rest or across a fence post?"
Totally depends on how I feel the day I see it. If I liked the look of the buck then, yep. I've walked enough miles without finding a deer to pass up a buck I would shoot just because he was too close to the parking area.
Get serious. The real question no one wants to ask is, "Mirror rest or across a fence post?"
Totally depends on how I feel the day I see it. If I liked the look of the buck then, yep. I've walked enough miles without finding a deer to pass up a buck I would shoot just because he was too close to the parking area.
LuketheDog
Well-known member
Shoot whatever floats your boat man, it's your deer, nobody else's...
Schaaf
Well-known member
Thought on this a little. The number of the score doesn’t matter to me as much as the location on the map does. 200 yards from the sign in box and I’m passing.
I wouldn't shoot the 160 anywhere, any time. If he was 180, I would like to say no, but I might be lying to you and me. A 160 buck on a bma in the south west would be a unicorn and when I let him go I would expect him to die that same day.
Edit..If he was 180 I would shoot. Gift horse and all that.
Edit..If he was 180 I would shoot. Gift horse and all that.
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Hunting Wife
Well-known member
I’ve killed more old bucks than big bucks, and a 160” buck would be a personal best. I have also walked enough deer-less miles in my life to not look a gift buck in the mouth. We do live on that meat every year after all. If I’m satisfied with my season at that point, I probably would. If I wasn’t ready to be done yet, I would not. Every season is unique in its opportunities and challenges, so who is to say?
It would be exceedingly rare that I still had a tag that late though. I like to be done before the November crowds if possible. Shooting one from the truck is not high on my list of satisfying hunts either.
It would be exceedingly rare that I still had a tag that late though. I like to be done before the November crowds if possible. Shooting one from the truck is not high on my list of satisfying hunts either.
antlerradar
Well-known member
I think I was fourteen the last time I pulled the trigger on a 160, so the simple answer is I am not pulling the trigger.
If it was a buck I wanted I am shooting if I can do so in a safely. I have shot some much better bucks in similar situations. Not as rewarding as hiking back in and packing them out though. For me I like to have a history with the deer. Most of the better bucks I have taken I have seen many times, picked up their sheds etc.
If it was a buck I wanted I am shooting if I can do so in a safely. I have shot some much better bucks in similar situations. Not as rewarding as hiking back in and packing them out though. For me I like to have a history with the deer. Most of the better bucks I have taken I have seen many times, picked up their sheds etc.
Chad Gus
Well-known member
Half the people that rolled up on that situation couldn't get there window down or truck door open fast enough to shoot that buck.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
I like to put hunting hours and boot miles in. Not the most efficient way to hunt - I just enjoy the experience. I’m more inclined to take a gimme shot later in the season after I’m tired and I’ve had other sightings and encounters leading up to it.
520 Road Sow
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I think a lot of people would say they wouldn't, in the moment though in the 9th inning that buck is getting dumped 99.8 percent of the time. The old saying goes, if you don't the next pickup will.
How many times has one seen that happen?
How many times has one seen that happen?
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