241 mule deer

[tstowater]

I'm so stoked. Just found out that I drew a 241 mule deer tag for Nevada. As scouting in that unit is a practical impossibility for me and I'm not going to waste this tag; this will be a guided hunt. I've hunted with the outfitter before on a 231 elk so I am as excited as I can get. Anything else will be purely icing on the cake for this year.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Goodluck man!

 

[Rick Leathley]

That's awesome man. Just kinda curious How you already drew a tag in Nevada when the draw hasn't happened yet?

 

[Jason Snyder]

I was just wondering the same think as Rick?

Good luck, hope it's a great hunt!

 

[robby denning]

Outfitter draw

 

[tstowater]

Nevada has a special draw for a limited number of the nonresident designated tags that is done earlier than the regular draw. The deadline was March 14th and the results came out this afternoon. My outfitter had heard rumors that one of his hunters had drawn a 24 tag. He was practically speechless. They shot some awesome deer on the unit last year. The odds on the guide draw have a chance of being better.

 

[Rick Leathley]

What weapon are you going use? Good luck on the hunt bro!

 

[Slim Jim]

I put in for that unit every year first or second choice and never get lucky enough to draw it. Not willing to hold out and build points but would love to hunt it someday. I have some friends that scout that unit and there are some beasts in there. Not a lot of deer but when you find them they are pretty big. Good luck and post some pics

 

[2rocky]

Oh shucks,

I thought this was going to be a plea for us all to converge on your deer unit to scout it...

 

[tstowater]

Planning on using the 25-06 that I picked up recently if I can get it to shoot the way I want. Wish I had the chance to take the time to scout the unit to see the deer this summer. Any of you live in the area? I am probably be out there the last 10 days of the season, but the last few should be the best. I understand that there aren't a lot of deer,but some really nice ones.

 

[HighHunter1232]

Dang, by the title of the thread I was thinking I would get to see a 241 inch buck!

Good luck on your hunt.

 

[Jodi]

Can you say which outfitter you going with?
Trousdale always seems to have some pigs.

 

[tstowater]

I'm going with Brad Lloyd of 7L Outfitters. He is based in Panaca. His outfit has had a lot of success in 241 also. I met Phil when I was elk hunting with Brad.

 

[robby denning]

Great. Have a super hunt.

 

[MuleyFever]

Hope you have a great hunt. I hope to draw this hunt or 231 while I still live just over the border in Utah and could scout it every weekend.

 

[Bigolmuley]

Congrats on a great tag! I drew 241 last year in the regular draw with 12 points as a non res. Got lucky. I hired Phil Trousdale. I knew I would have zero time to scout. And you need to! There are Hardly any deer. Mentally was the toughest hunt I have ever been on. I chose to go the first week of the hunt. Deer might still be in the areas scouted and it ended on the 30th last year so probably no rut action.
Scouted bucks disappeared a week before I got there due to a huge rain. Scatters the deer. First few day saw 3 does and 2 small bucks. We hunted all day long. It's like hunting on the moon. There are no trees. Well there are a few trees, but not many. I went in with a goal of 190+ by day 3 I almost shot a spindles wide 3-point. But held out. Phil had found a big rub out in the desert so we hunted around there. It was desolate. On day 5. Phil spotted my buck. We killed him and I didn't think he was as big as he was. He really grew. He had 27" ears. Which really threw off how wide we though he was. Had a sweet hook cheater and a couple acorns. 30" to cheater 28" main frame. 193.
Very tough hunt. Have a blast and hunt early if you can and go back if you need to.

 

[tstowater]

Bigolmuley: nice buck. I am aware that this is a tough unit to hunt. Don't know if it is a mistake, but I am going out at the end of the season and might sneak out a few days early to look around. My goal is the 190+ also as I believe that is realistic for the unit if it gets some moisture for antler growth. If no moisture, this could be a tough hunt. I put in for 22 late then 241-245 and 231 third. Sort of the "go big or go home". I want one really nice mule deer and hope this is the one. Too far down the line for one in AZ and would be pure luck to draw in Utah. I should have paid more attention to Colorado years ago. One thing about this unit, not a lot of tags.

 

[Hardstalk]

Not alotta tags and not alotta bucks. But its a great unit. I think the later season choice was a good one. I hunted across the highway from there last year for the mid season and movement really picked up the last couple days of that season. I have a feeling you'll be happy with your goal you've set! Good luck!

 

[tstowater]

Unit 24 hunt update

I'm going to bring this thread back up as I just got back from Nevada. As I stated earlier, I drew a "24 tag" in Nevada mule deer hunter lingo. For those of you who are not familiar with this tag, there is a very limited number of deer in a big unit. The possibility of a real trophy is there. In fact, I saw a photo of a deer taken last week that is flat out world class and would probably go 210+ as a typically 4x4 with a very small split on one of the front tines. You won't see very many deer and mostly does. The weather was not very cooperative as it was mostly in the 70's during the days. We found this buck on the 4th day of the hunt and only had a few seconds to evaluate him before it would be too late. The guide is real familiar with the area and the bucks it contains and their antler characteristics. His outfit had shot a 206 mule deer less than a mile from where I shot this deer in 2013. The unit has an extremely diverse deer habitat from desert to high plains to timber to fairly high mountains.

The shot was less than 80 yards so I really didn't have a chance to utiliize the potential from the rifle setup that I had taken. I do know that the 115 grain Bergers did a great job and I was extremely glad that I had turned the scope power down to 5X earlier in the hunt. This guy didn't quite make 30 inches, but he is quite old and extremely heavy. They were speculating that the buck was actually losing size due to age. Cool buck to shoot and we were pleasantly surprised when we put a tape on the width. No other measurements. Hopefully, Nevada continues to be nice to me and grants me a desert sheep tag soon.

No, this buck doesn't come close to making 241" so no one gets confused. The title is about Unit 241, not the size of the deer. I do know that there have been to 240" or close bucks taken in the unit.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Nice buck and he looks like he's got a huge body. Congrats.

Randy