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I heard today from a guy who guides in Gunnison area that someone shot a mulie with a 40"+ inside spread with the last few years. Can anyone shed any light on this? Did it really happen? What is the state record? Thanks
Here in the AZ lower deserts they're called airplane bucks. Burro bucks tend to have the wider, flatter antlers. A 40" buck here is not common but not exactly rare either.
They'll gross score a bunch but the net is pathetic.
Heres a 46" outside so you can see what it would take to get a 40" inside spread. Not impossible but highly unlikely. Would like to see it if it were true!
Her's abuck with a 36" inside. Grossed 203"/ Hard to believe.
Mulehorn,
Was that a bowkill?!!!
Here's the widest one I've personally ever seen. I've got about 20 minutes of video of this deer.
If you figure the ears are 22-24" wide, I'm thinking he's close to 38-40" outside.
He was never killed by a hunter that I'm aware of.
GG
GG- His body is HUGE compared to the other "nice" bucks.
Amazing for sure.
Using my mature mule deer's distance between the eye guards 7"- That 7" equates with about 1/4" on your photo. If that is the case and the total width on your photo is 1.25" or a total of five 1/4" measurements- your buck in the photo is close to 35" outside give or take.
Bill in MI
Bill,
That deer was a freak of nature body-wise. The first time I saw him I thought it was a bull elk running with a bunch of mulies. I nicknamed him "Shaq".
Not to start a debate, but I think you're a little shy on your width estimate. Like I said, I have 20 minutes of tape of him. Several times he looked at me in the full alert ear position. Every mulie I've shot has had 22-24" ears when in this position.
His antlers stuck out 8-9" past his ears in the alert position, putting him over 35". But it doesn't really matter.
I so wanted to hunt that deer, but I was guiding that year and had very little time to hunt personally. Oh well, it was a privilege just to see and film him.
GG
GG, that is an awesome buck. Hopefully some local outlaw didn't poach him. We had one similar around last year, not the same buck because he was a symmetrical 4x4 typical, and he ended up getting road-killed by a cement truck during the rut. Shame.
I agree that the one in your photo looks to be significantly wider than 35" I'm comparing it to the one on my wall that is 31", and one in your photo looks to be 9-10" wider than mine based on relative comparative factors.
I'm assuming you, like me, have not yet had an opportunity at one you want to shoot this year? I'm looking forward to December now!
Lou,
No I haven't killed the one I want, yet. Last week, I concentrated on guiding my neighbors son, Dustin, to his first bow-killed mulie buck. We had a great hunt culminating in Dustin executing a perfect stalk and killing a respectable buck at 5 yards. (See the "A Bowhunter is Born" thread in the Mule Deer section)
This morning I went on recon to see what kind of rifle pressure my deer were seeing. Fortunately, I didn't see any other hunters. I did spot, however, my big boy very near one of my stand locations. Figures.
Hopefully he'll keep a low profile for the next 2 weeks and I can get a crack at him in the last season segment.
GG
Here is a pic of a buck taken a few years ago in Colorado. Pretty wide.
GGs buck is right at 40 inches. Adell store in eastern Oregon has a whole wall of 40 in plus buck,. some very good ones that box up pretty well. I have seen several over the years in the Owahee and Trout Creeks. They sure are something to behold. I glassed a bunch of 13 bucks on a ridge that were bedded in a patch of sunlight that the smallest was a 25 in buck and the largest was a good 40 in plus buck that dwarfed the rest. I have never got that picture out of my mind , not that I try to hard. Seeing those kind of bucks is the experience of a lifetime and something few people will ever be privledged by God to experience.
Jake- That was a rifle kill in Idaho. Wish it was mine! :^)
Now don't go saying such a thing, there ain't no deer like that here in Idaho.
heres a 43 in from wyoming
While the cactus bucks, like the Wyoming monster above, are impressive, I think we're talking two different beasts here.
When I speak of a 40" buck, I'm talking a true 40" main frame, not the outside distance of abnormal sticker points.
GG
I may be mistaken, he may have said outside spread. Were there any of those in the Gunnison area in the last few seasons?
Here is a buck a friend of a friend shot in CO this year they said it is 35" without kicker.
Ermine, that buck looks like a mule deer/whittail cross.
I saw a buck about six years ago that I will always remember. I was elk hunting, having just shot a doe a few days earlier. I spotted a buck feeding in some oak brush about 400 yards away, he was just gigantic! I watched this buck for about 2 hours before he bedded in the thick brush for the day. He fed around for a while and I was able to view him from all angles, he was a symetrical 4x4, with large eyeguards. It was then that I realized that I like elk, but LOVE mule deer.
By the way I estimated him at 39-40". I later spoke to a DOW office that worked the area and he had him estimated at 40 plus.
I shot a buck in the Gunnison area in 2006 that went over 39" inside spread, main frame - no kickers. He was featured in Eastman's Journal. This was a rifle kill. The deer actually didn't score real well, but is still impressive.
Bill
"A 40" buck here is not common but not exactly rare either" I would have to disagree. A true 40incher is about the rarest trait on a mule deer buck anywhere in the country.
llamapacker, would you mind posting a pic of your wide buck for us big muley junkies? I'd love to see it!
Look for the mulie magazine from a fews year back. There was a mule deer that was poached in texas that had an inside spread of 42". It was a big deal as the game warden had been viewing the deer for about 4 years straight and then one day it was gone! I used to have the mag but i do not know where it is now.
I'll try and post the picture of the 39+" buck.
Here goes.
Bill
Wow Bill, cool buck! Thanks for posting a photo
B&C lists 30 Mule Deer from CO with a 40" or greater outside spread. 46 3/8 as the widest.
The greatest inside spread in B&C is 36 5/8", for a 224" non-typical killed in 1935.
The greatest inside spread for a typical is 36 1/8", on a 215 3/8" buck killed in 1956.
Greatest outside spread?
Typical: 43 4/8", for a 201 1/8" buck killed in 1958. Non-typical: 49 2/8" for a 288 6/8" buck killed in 1962.
A bit off topic, but interesting.
heres a picture of the famous popeye who died of old age. his sheds were measured at 41 and 3/4 inches and scored 240 1/8 net. Some great bucks with him too.
Several years ago I stopped by a Flea Market near Kernville, Ca. This guy had a huge mule deer mount for sale. I bought it for $50. When I got it home I taped it at 39". It was a very old mount in bad shape. I ended up selling the antlers. Kind of wish I would have kept them now.
Bill that's a great buck. To heck with "official" scores. Personally, I think width should get handsomely rewarded. And deductions make no sense to me. Give the buck credit for what he had.
There was a car killed desert mulie from S. Arizona that scored 243 and only had about a 26" spread. Lots of points and mass.
wow i would want to see that buck
Just go to the conference room of the AZ G&F in Tucson! Actually, I took a pic of it, but where that pic is, I know not. I had heard of the buck and hunted the area while he was still around, but never saw him. The sad thing, after he was hit by the car, he managed to travel about 5 miles and apparently the coyotes got after him. He made his last stand in a water tank where he eventually died (not from the coyotes though). I believe he had 42 points, although most of 'em were small. Great mass and character, a beautiful rack although not wide.
Here is a 30" bow kill. And no, it is not a cross between a md and wt. You can't tell a hybrid by the antlers.
I shot this buck in 2004 he has 35 1/2 outside spread
"You can't tell a hybrid by the antlers."
In some cases, you can.
""You can't tell a hybrid by the antlers."
In some cases, you can."
Aside from DNA, have heard the beading at the bases is one of the best to identify a hybrid.
Also the way the antlers branch and how the tines/forks are formed. Not in every case for sure and not fool proof necessarily, but still a good indicator. There are cases where there can be little doubt.
