Bucks over 30"

[bz_711]

Great thread! I'm still 100% archery elk...but I have been buying Mulie points in a couple states for years...when time comes to use I only want to chase 30" bucks now

Good luck to you all with tags this fall!

 

[Jaker_cc]

A “no points” mule deer draw unit, where the Sonoran mulies live in southern AZ. Everyone talks about the Kaibab up north, when these guys, on average, are bigger deer. Most of them die of old age because of how hard they are to find and kill.

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I like your style. I know where one lives down there also and I’ll be on his tail as soon as season opens.

 

[SureShot]

I *think* this one is right around 30"

 

[Mike Buell]

I *think* this one is right around 30"

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He’s a very good looking buck!!


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[SureShot]

I can confirm this one is over 30"

 

[Pwb199]

Wow! Almost appears that he has more mass further from his bases

 

[270quest]

My biggest to date, just a spidge under 30"....

 

[littlebigtine]

Hard saying not knowing…maybe 29?

 

[MNGrouser]

The few times that I've seen 30" in bucks in the field I wasn't paying attention to my camera. I never got close enough to put on on the ground where he could hold still for a picture. None of the bucks I have been blessed to shoot belong in a thread this awesome. Maybe this year.

 

[ColoradoV]

Over 30”….

Crazy to think in the late 80’s = I was young and we did not carry cameras. Or binoculars for that matter. Wonder what we would we would have done w spotters and range finders . Golden times it was..

 

[king402]

Here's another sweet buck pushing the 30" mark I videoed a few years ago. Scouting velvet bucks is what I look forward to each year!

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

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Over 30”….

Crazy to think in the late 80’s = I was young and we did not carry cameras. Or binoculars for that matter. Wonder what we would we would have done w spotters and range finders . Golden times it was..

Those times are still alive in many places.

 

[Reload]

Wyoming hunt last year with Extreme Outfitters. They asked me what caliber of deer I was looking for on this hunt that took me 17 years to draw. I'd didn't give them a score, but said that anything that has a wow factor is getting my attention. Couldn't be happier with the way these guys put me in front of so many deer.

 

[king402]

Wyoming hunt last year with Extreme Outfitters. They asked me what caliber of deer I was looking for on this hunt that took me 17 years to draw. I'd didn't give them a score, but said that anything that has a wow factor is getting my attention. Couldn't be happier with the way these guys put me in front of so many deer.
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Love it!! Great buck!

 

[ColoradoV]

Those times are still alive in many places.

Nothing stays the same or from where I sit things fair to say have changed quite a bit since the 80’s for deer here in Co anyway. Heck changed even more from the 50’s when my grandfather was chasing bucks around Eagle…

I frequent quite a few of the best units in Co every year. Look over 300-400 bucks just in the early season again every single year and have kept track of numbers since 2008.. Got a couple or well one friend who does the same and we honestly share info between well a few of us.

To a man all of us would say the upper age class of deer is disappearing in Co. My real numbers as late as 2016 were 1 great buck for about every 100 we looked over. In 2016 the group of 5 of us killed 5 bucks the smallest was a 193” 32” wide typical.. Last year it was 1 out of 400 to find bucks of a similar caliber out of the same 5 guys to a man we all ate our tags that were spread out over different units. Talking about folks here who know how to hunt not big but giant mulies.. Taking WOW bucks here but undeniably there are a lot less out on the landscape especially in the last 3-4 years.

Is it still a great time yea it is. Has the landscape changed = yep a bunch here in co anyway. Is there a wow buck out there somewhere = it is probable that I already have seen well a couple …. All this with no tag yet..

Just my 2cents and as I will say my opinion might be worth less than that.

Anyway here is another one right at 29 3/4 but I call it 30”.. No brows almost saved this guys life… Right after I snapped the pic my mom literally told me “you can’t eat horns and tracks don’t make soup” .. She is not wrong!!

 

[Hnthrdr]

Nothing stays the same or from where I sit things fair to say have changed quite a bit since the 80’s for deer here in Co anyway. Heck changed even more from the 50’s when my grandfather was chasing bucks around Eagle…

I frequent quite a few of the best units in Co every year. Look over 300-400 bucks just in the early season again every single year and have kept track of numbers since 2008.. Got a couple or well one friend who does the same and we honestly share info between well a few of us.

To a man all of us would say the upper age class of deer is disappearing in Co. My real numbers as late as 2016 were 1 great buck for about every 100 we looked over. In 2016 the group of 5 of us killed 5 bucks the smallest was a 193” 32” wide typical.. Last year it was 1 out of 400 to find bucks of a similar caliber out of the same 5 guys to a man we all ate our tags that were spread out over different units. Talking about folks here who know how to hunt not big but giant mulies.. Taking WOW bucks here but undeniably there are a lot less out on the landscape especially in the last 3-4 years.

Is it still a great time yea it is. Has the landscape changed = yep a bunch here in co anyway. Is there a wow buck out there somewhere = it is probable that I already have seen well a couple …. All this with no tag yet..

Just my 2cents and as I will say my opinion might be worth less than that.

Anyway here is another one right at 29 3/4 but I call it 30”.. No brows almost saved this guys life… Right after I snapped the pic my mom literally told me “you can’t eat horns and tracks don’t make soup” .. She is not wrong!!


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Completely agree with this ^ CPW’s management practices, modern technology have teamed up to smash the age class in Co. no other way to put it. Yes there are still some good bucks out there, but a fraction of what used to be.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Nothing stays the same or from where I sit things fair to say have changed quite a bit since the 80’s for deer here in Co anyway. Heck changed even more from the 50’s when my grandfather was chasing bucks around Eagle…

I frequent quite a few of the best units in Co every year. Look over 300-400 bucks just in the early season again every single year and have kept track of numbers since 2008.. Got a couple or well one friend who does the same and we honestly share info between well a few of us.

To a man all of us would say the upper age class of deer is disappearing in Co. My real numbers as late as 2016 were 1 great buck for about every 100 we looked over. In 2016 the group of 5 of us killed 5 bucks the smallest was a 193” 32” wide typical.. Last year it was 1 out of 400 to find bucks of a similar caliber out of the same 5 guys to a man we all ate our tags that were spread out over different units. Talking about folks here who know how to hunt not big but giant mulies.. Taking WOW bucks here but undeniably there are a lot less out on the landscape especially in the last 3-4 years.

Is it still a great time yea it is. Has the landscape changed = yep a bunch here in co anyway. Is there a wow buck out there somewhere = it is probable that I already have seen well a couple …. All this with no tag yet..

Just my 2cents and as I will say my opinion might be worth less than that.

Anyway here is another one right at 29 3/4 but I call it 30”.. No brows almost saved this guys life… Right after I snapped the pic my mom literally told me “you can’t eat horns and tracks don’t make soup” .. She is not wrong!!


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Well said. Perspective is important!

The bucks we see, even in our little niche areas or “honey holes” still only represent less then 1-2% of the deer that are out there state by state.

I’ve set myself up in life to be able to look at a LOT of animals like you every year. I scout weekly and hunt/guide from July to February. Even glassing up 100s and 100s of bucks each year, I’m just barely scratching the surface.

 

[chasewild]

Those times are still alive in many places.

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Tapatalk sucks. My post didn't post.

Anyway, what I was trying to say is that I think there may be "honey holes" left, but that's exactly and only what they are -- tiny spots that may hold a good deer at some point every year. That's very different than every gulch on a mountain holding a mature buck, and even more so than every mountain in a range holding several good bucks, and so on . . .

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

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Tapatalk sucks. My post didn't post.

Anyway, what I was trying to say is that I think there may be "honey holes" left, but that's exactly and only what they are -- tiny spots that may hold a good deer at some point every year. That's very different than every gulch on a mountain holding a mature buck, and even more so than every mountain in a range holding several good bucks, and so on . . .

There are areas that I scout and hunt every year that have excellent to amazing deer and elk that aren’t just in “small honey holes”.

California
Minnesota
Arizona
Wyoming
Mexico

These are the few states/areas that I spend significant time in each year scouting, helping on hunts, hunting myself, etc. I’m looking at less than 1% of available land and less than 1% of available bucks/bulls in those places.

Even teaming up and talking with other folks who have 150+ field days looking at animals like I do, we are barely scratching the surface.

 

[chasewild]

Man, that’s awesome. I think my perspective is probably biased from the Colorado point of view. And even then I’m not seeing the whole thing, but I would wager a guess that it’s not as good as it once as.


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