huntin24/7
Well-known member
That’s a mature buck. “He’s just going downhill”.
Montana mule deer Expectations.
- Thread starter mtmuley
- Start date
Good meat buckThat’s a mature buck. “He’s just going downhill”.
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2000
- Messages
- 11,620
Big ones always shed early
brocksw
Well-known member
Dr. Monteith got back to me today. His response to my question (above) is below.
"Hi Brock,
All solid questions, and to be honest, most comes down to societal desires perhaps.
Female harvest, as controversial as it may be in some places, can do good things for populations by reducing density and reducing competition for forage. Sure, as you note, having females be present to teach their offspring potentially how and where to migrate etc., can be important. So, how harvest occurs or is executed probably should play into that biology.
As to adult males, it really all depends. Reality is, it takes few males to maintain pregnancy rates in populations. So, from that biological aspect, it doesn’t matter too much. Having adult males present may reduce some of the rut-related costs in young males and females because adult males may harass less (note, jury still out on how much that matters), and adult males may serve some role in priming estrus of females. Often, desires to maintain mature age structure of males is driven by stakeholder desires, and yes, there can be some benefits to populations perhaps but generally at the same time, even few and mostly young males can serve their primary biological role. Point is, there really isn’t a magical number, if that makes sense?
Hope that helps just a little?
Best,
Kevin"
We shot these in eastern Montana in 2019 . Obviously one shouldn’t of been shot , but are these considered disappointing for the non res guys ? Not bragging , talking trash or ect - I’m just curious . For a couple non resident guys we were pumped . But later we thought maybe these were like 120 inch whitetail equivalent to them . Maybe we got lucky too ??
Attachments
MTLabrador
Well-known member
I like that buck on the left a lot, but I always like mass.
Thank you. I shot him at 280 yards when it was -14 . I was pretty happy with him for a diy hunt but I’m curious if that’s just a 3 year old in Montana . Whitetail are from family farm in Iowa .
Attachments
MTLabrador
Well-known member
I’d guess 4.5, but it’s really just a wild guess looking at the antlers and not actually aging him. He’s a nice buck regardless.
antlerradar
Well-known member
Hard to say, could be three and he would have gotten a lot bigger or he could be eight and that is the best set of antlers he ever grew.
Very nice buck. Rut hunts are hard to come by in most states and there is a reason for that. In Montana we do it every year statewide. I suspect that your experience would have been just as fun in October.
MTLabrador
Well-known member
Bruh… What? Some of the best mule deer hunting in Wyoming is in areas that are over the counter for residents. They’re just not over the counter during the rut.
brocksw
Well-known member
Varies by unit. There's a breakdown on the WY game and fish website. Most of the "good units" for Mule deer close beginning of October. Many of the units that are open until the end of November are whitetail units.
Nick87
Well-known member
I don't think that means what you think it means.
brocksw
Well-known member
Wyoming gives out like 40k resident buck tags, including whitetails. MT is waaaaaaay higher.
rogerthat
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2015
- Messages
- 2,601
The key point is timing. Wyoming general season hunts happen in late september and october. Way different than a november general season hunt. I can not stress this point enough.
