Mule Deer Buck of a Lifetime

[Nick87]

How about a 180"+ 3x3 with a whitetail looking frame, no g2 forks? Preferably 30"+ wide. Id shoot that buck over a larger 4x4 any day.

Different strokes i guess. Deep forks over score or width for me.

 

[El Jason]

How about a 180"+ 3x3 with a whitetail looking frame, no g2 forks? Preferably 30"+ wide. Id shoot that buck over a larger 4x4 any day.

I had a buck almost identical to this description at 75 yards on a bow hunt in the Rubies one year. He was a horse.

 

[Nick87]

Ive never killed what I'd consider a big muley. Was with my brother when he killed this one though. I Thought it was pretty good for a zero point unit (7 or so years ago anyway). Never did put a tape on it.

 

[smw110136]

How about a 180"+ 3x3 with a whitetail looking frame, no g2 forks? Preferably 30"+ wide. Id shoot that buck over a larger 4x4 any day.

If his right antler G2 matched the left side, this one might have got there.

 

[Letthemgrow]

Not my buck but I spent the week prior to the youth opener watching him. Took a coworkers kid out he had just turned 10 hell of a first deer. I doubt he ever beats itView attachment 382204

To the folks who know a lot about scoring mule deer, is that a 210" type of frame?
I can't make out the main beams and I'm not sure if the size of the kid is throwing off the frame of scale but that thing looks incredible.

 

[smw110136]

My dad's best. Probably doesn't score worth a sh!t, but a real heavy buck and wide. 150-160 maybe. Was glad I was able to be there for that one. Opening morning about 5 years ago. When we caped the head out at the house, there was the tip of a coyote canine tooth between his hide and skull right in his forehead. It had scarred over a while ago. We wondered if it was an antler tip or a tooth, but settled on a tooth tip.

 

[Lota lota]

No shit huh? Yeah, not too uncommon for a mid 180's buck to not look as big as something 222, I mean it's only 40 inches more antler.

Nothing gets past your pointed head.

P.S. I bet your neighbor is contemplating moving.

I don't have any neighbors thankfully. Take your blood pressure medication and move on.

 

[psinclair]

2009, Montana, 198 gross

 

[cgasner1]

To the folks who know a lot about scoring mule deer, is that a 210" type of frame?
I can't make out the main beams and I'm not sure if the size of the kid is throwing off the frame of scale but that thing looks incredible.

He was around 185” if I remember right

 

[Gulf of America]

How about a 180"+ 3x3 with a whitetail looking frame, no g2 forks? Preferably 30"+ wide. Id shoot that buck over a larger 4x4 any day.

My best is a mini version of that. He drunk-taped right around 135, I think the inside main beam spread was 22”. To get to 180, it would have to be absolutely massive.

I passed a bigger one this last fall bedded at 150 (although I think his front forks were weaker) and I’m still kicking myself for it.

 

[Moserkr]

My best is a mini version of that. He drunk-taped right around 135, I think the inside main beam spread was 22”. To get to 180, it would have to be absolutely massive.

I passed a bigger one this last fall bedded at 150 (although I think his front forks were weaker) and I’m still kicking myself for it.

Haha I don't know numbers, I threw out 180" like a kid at the candy store. I would have a smile as big as your if I shot that buck too!! Ive seen one that would compete and he still haunts my dreams. Even a 160" then would be a massive 3x.

 

[BuzzH]

I don't have any neighbors thankfully. Take your blood pressure medication and move on.

Right, so the imaginary 222 buck you supposedly held was one your imaginary neighbor shot...

Copy that.

Were you lying then or now?

 

[huntandfly]

182” gross Wyoming 0 point tag


186” with a 31” outside spread

 

[beagle001]

Great thread, except it makes me sad that the closest mule deer from here is 600 miles away…

I don’t have high scorers, but I got old bucks

 

[Bryerific]

As far as guessing scores from pictures, they did a contest on Monster Muleys for a while where people guessed the score of deer that had been officially scored. Generally there were several pictures of each deer so people would have the ability to really make a good guess. I actually was the one that did the math on the guesses in an excel spreadsheet for them to keep track of who won each contest. We did 13 different contests and out of the 193 people that entered 10 or more of the contests the average guess was off by 10.74". The winner of the contest was off by 7.29" on average but the way we did the contest we threw out the worst 3 guesses. The winner had one deer that they misjudged by 26.125". Out of the 193 people in the contest the average of their worst guess was 24.599" off.

I would say that guessing the score of a deer from a picture isn't an exact science but it works well for some deer. The guy that won the contest had 4 deer that he guessed to within an inch or less. Some can be deceiving though.

To this point, I’ve always said a good (or bad) photographer can easily help (or hurt) a score by 10% through distortion, compression, and positioning. To illustrate how easily a buck can grow or shrink in a photo, here are three bucks where I have rotated their positions between the wall and floor. I think in all three photos, the buck on the wall appears much more favorably compared to the ones on the floor.

And this is just a normal phone photo, I could make it look more extreme with the wide angle mode. That’s part of why I tend not to dismiss someone’s score based on just a photo (within reason at least).

For those curious, the buck with extras is a 166 frame but has 25 inches of extras. The other two are much smaller

 

[Doublecluck]

Best to date, got his brother on the hit list this year. This one is wide but not a lot else going on. Didn’t think of score when I shot him just a great deer.

 

[jrabq]

Having to go back in the archives for this picture, 1993, but I think I've posted it before. (How about the tree bark camo!) It was mostly just dumb luck getting a shot at this buck, which was no slam dunk for me, 110-120 yards offhand, iron sights. The drama was I hit him in the liver and he ran several hundred yards with no trail beyond the first 50 yards. I found him doing a grid search, it was a religious experience after thinking I'd lost him.. Grossed something over 190 with the sticker on his right side.

 

[roravetz]

Man thats cool. With the smoke pole to!

 

[Lota lota]

Right, so the imaginary 222 buck you supposedly held was one your imaginary neighbor shot...

Copy that.

Were you lying then or now?

You were destined to be a detective Buzz!

Neighbors are a loosely used term. Even if you live a mile away from them they're considered neighbors. I've held the deer, I don't need to talk to you anymore. Go shoot some more 160" bucks.

 

[BuzzH]

You were destined to be a detective Buzz!

Neighbors are a loosely used term. Even if you live a mile away from them they're considered neighbors. I've held the deer, I don't need to talk to you anymore. Go shoot some more 160" bucks.