Mule Deer Buck of a Lifetime

[Jnasa]

My best Muley. I thought he was wider when I pulled the trigger but still really happy. Great mass on him and a fun hunt. Grossed in the 170’s but finished around 166.

 

[cgasner1]

I suspect the numbers are 100% accurate for what it’s worth. I sat next to buzz one day in 2005 and we watched a group of bucks the day before opener - one was excellent and we figured 170+. We hunted higher the next day and mid day I told him I’d be happy with the one we’d seen the day before and asked if he minded if I went down lower to look for it - as he’s the one who spotted it originally. He said go for it as he wanted to keep looking. I killed it and it was over 190.

In the fall of 2005 I had just started my senior year of high school

 

[cgasner1]

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 it

 

[brockel]

In the fall of 2005 I had just started my senior year of high school

Sophomore for me

 

[Nick87]

In the fall of 2005 I had just started my senior year of high school

Same

 

[cgasner1]

Sophomore for me

Look kid the adults are talking

 

[cgasner1]

Same

Id love to have that fall back I missed an absolute giant bull and buck with my bow. Worst part was the bull I missed twice didn’t understand a limb would effect a range finder

 

[warmer]

In the fall of 2005 I had just started my senior year of high school

22nd Class reunion by then

 

[brockel]

Got to hold a 200” net typical at the taxidermist this last fall. South Dakota buck. Quite an impressive animal.

 

[Dave N]

22nd Class reunion by then

26

 

[npaden]

A friend scored this at 192 gross, but after looking at all these other nice bucks/scores, it makes me wonder if he was just being nice . Whatever he is, it is still my best all around Mule Deer buck.

View attachment 382193

3 extras on each side really help the score. Let's say that's a 170 frame and then add in about 4" average per extra (some are shorter, some are longer) X 6 = 24" = that would make him 194". Less missing the brow tine on the left and he's at 192". Seems plausible to me.

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.

 

[huntin24/7]

The euro mount is mine. I scored it at 181 gross, basically a 160 with 20ish inches of extras. The shoulder mount is my wife’s. Measured him at 198. I think it was pretty much 175 frame with 23” of extras.

 

[Hem]

Great pictures thus far.
My best MD. No idea on score.
Without shooting for the moon, pretty convinced a heavy 180" would check all my boxes.

 

[Greybeard]

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

That poor young man is now ruined! Congrats little dude!

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

186+ 3x4

Probably my favorite is this heavy horned buck. Never scored him

 

[TOGIE]

my best and my favorite, in that order.

i got it right around 150.

never taped the one antler on the broken one, i suspect he'd come out similar if he had two. maybe a touch bigger? i dunno. but i love looking at it and thinking about what events may have led to his broken antler. he was a stout bodied mule deer.

will be looking hard for a bigger one this fall.

 

[El Jason]

Got to hold a 200” net typical at the taxidermist this last fall. South Dakota buck. Quite an impressive animal.

Same. I held a 205” typical. Absolutely impressive.

 

[Moserkr]

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.

 

[sclancy27]

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.

A buck like that would be truly enormous. I've shot a smaller version than you describe, outside is right around 27"....

 

[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.