How rare is a 200 inch mule deer

[LongWayAround]

Shooting one with a rifle doesn't count?

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Atlatl or bust.

 

[Beendare]

Funny aside;
I have a buddy (rifle) that decided he wasn’t going to shoot anything under 200”….and he was hunting expensive private and the Jicarrilla almost every year.

He went 6 years without pulling the trigger. He said he passed over a dozen 180” plus…then he finally got a quick shot at a nice buck being chased by a mountain lion in NM. It was 194”, beautiful buck…and he finally gave up passing those good bucks for that once in a lifetime.

Yeah, you might get lucky….but there are very few Randy or that (Jed?) Woods kid in MT that spend enough time and $$$ to do it consistently.


No way I could go that long without shooting something…or spend 40 days scouting.

 

[JGRaider]

How about this one? I had already filled my tag and just watched.......

 

[Ridge Reaper]

I’ve seen 8 or 9. 4 with a tag in my pocket. Two were legitimate “good old days” buck. Only have one hanging in the rafters; spent a lot of time looking for them.

I dislike the 170” bucks with a ton of trash. I let one of those walk and would probably do it again.

My general rule is that a 180” frame deer is big so I kill those when I come across em.

My 200” deer is only 19” outside with a 190” frame, which probably makes it extra rare.

 

[jdoyle243]

In a general unit across the western states, how rare is it to even see a 200 inch deer on the winter range?

Area dependent. States with higher populations and buck/doe ratios likely will be hiding some good bucks vs heavy pressured areas. Colorado will be a much better bet for finding a giant than E Oregon or E Washington.

 

[ColoradoV]

Atlatl or bust.

Haha man that sure would be cool! Don't know or hear of anyone who has done it on a 200" public land buck tho. Have to say it's hell growing up in an archery family lol. Heck at least I gave up on the longbow after the 2008 winter disaster and those damn things are almost a spear!!

Or maybe you missed my point - it is w these late season dates, in the right places, or with the right guide, add in the right private and a rifle = a golden buck is honestly not that big of a deal in my book. It can be done and is done year in/year out.. With that said a golden buck on public land in Co is getting to be a unicorn..........

Heck with the right stack you can juice the lemon, don't worry how high the fence is, eat a few enchiladas, and pop not a golden buck but a 40" wide 300'er as I believe they got 4 of em this year....... Or go to the east coast of Colo w a much smaller stack and it will get ya a "golden" ugly white antler buck out the widow of a tuck.. Moral is that it is or many ways to skin a cat some don't even require a sharp knife..

As far as a 400" bull it is way more rare to me as I am sure I have forgotten a few golden bucks I have seen over the years but I have never seen a 400" bull live on the hoof. Welcome to Colorado!

In the end they say opinions are like.. Well I guess we all have em...

 

[LongWayAround]

@ColoradoV I got your point, just trolling you a bit.

I gather that you have seen or killed more big bucks than I probably ever will. Unfortunately, I believe that I missed the "good old days." The area of our state that I frequent has definitely slid over the last ten years. There's some good bucks still around but it's not like it was. For my efforts, I've got one pretty good one at the house, the rest are just memories.

 

[bigmoose]

So what are the odds of getting two 200 inch bucks on the same trip ? These two bucks were taken on public land on our own during a big family type hunt. There were 17 of us at camp including the wives and my nephew. Probably the best hunt/hunting camp I've ever been in, in 60 odd years of deer hunting. There were 5 or 6 bucks taken and 2 bulls and a cow.

My buck just barely went 200



My godson's buck went 232



And this buck went 195, all on the same hunt.

 

[JGRaider]

Wow! Awesome bucks bigmoose.

 

[bigmoose]

This one is my biggest at 213. I always thought I'd get a bigger one but it hasn't happened yet. I doubt that it will too. He has a 192 frame with only a 17 6/8 inside spread.

 

[Lando]

Got any more pics of that first buck? I'm not seeing anywhere close to 2 hundo but it's a tough angle to judge from

This will give you a small glimpse of the deer's mass, but pics don't do the mass justice. Gross score was 211 or 213, as I recall. Brother never had it B&C scored, because he doesn't care. Don't have any other pics that don't give too much away.

 

[wapitiwilly]

Depends on the area's genetics and hunting pressure. Big mule deer like the security of cover and rarely make mistakes so there are probably more out there than you would think.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I am around a bunch of the “best” units in Colo and have 18-20 years of notes = where and when I see big bucks or bucks w potential and general numbers. Potential bucks I just don’t hunt and are 180”+ types shooters w wow factor are usually 200”+.

Looking back I average seeing between 300-400+ bucks a year w a couple years over that. This year I looked over 363 bucks.. Until 4-5 years ago I would see one 200” type buck for every 100-110 bucks looked over or a true 1%er. This year I only saw 1 buck summer scouting that was a wow buck.

Or it’s getting to be less and less every year in Colo at least. Again used to be I would see 1 200” type buck every 100 I looked at and now it is getting close to 400-1….

The one out of 400..

View attachment 673376



View attachment 673388

View attachment 673389

Beautiful buck! Thanks for the observation I think you are right, we lost a lot of structure to the age class, ever turn up that buck again?

 

[Hnthrdr]

Haha man that sure would be cool! Don't know or hear of anyone who has done it on a 200" public land buck tho. Have to say it's hell growing up in an archery family lol. Heck at least I gave up on the longbow after the 2008 winter disaster and those damn things are almost a spear!!

Or maybe you missed my point - it is w these late season dates, in the right places, or with the right guide, add in the right private and a rifle = a golden buck is honestly not that big of a deal in my book. It can be done and is done year in/year out.. With that said a golden buck on public land in Co is getting to be a unicorn..........

Heck with the right stack you can juice the lemon, don't worry how high the fence is, eat a few enchiladas, and pop not a golden buck but a 40" wide 300'er as I believe they got 4 of em this year....... Or go to the east coast of Colo w a much smaller stack and it will get ya a "golden" ugly white antler buck out the widow of a tuck.. Moral is that it is or many ways to skin a cat some don't even require a sharp knife..

As far as a 400" bull it is way more rare to me as I am sure I have forgotten a few golden bucks I have seen over the years but I have never seen a 400" bull live on the hoof. Welcome to Colorado!

In the end they say opinions are like.. Well I guess we all have em...

I am with you, I have only seen townie: private land golden bucks. Thought I saw one that would be close on public once, but was just a spotter that year. I try to get a tag every year, which usually means I’m hunting less desirable tags, with the hope that I can turn up a special buck… but it’s getting bleak in Co these days… maybe with the season dates going back it will keep some age class since we won’t have two rut rifle seasons?

 

[HvyBeams]

This one is my biggest at 213. I always thought I'd get a bigger one but it hasn't happened yet. I doubt that it will too. He has a 192 frame with only a 17 6/8 inside spread.

View attachment 674900

Sweet buck...can you give us the numbers on the frame? I passed this buck in Colorado due to inside spread. Maybe that was a mistake...lol. I probably made someone happy on down the line by passing it. I don't think it is close to your buck frame wise. No regrets, I had a chance at a bigger one the next day.

 

[bigmoose]

Sweet buck...can you give us the numbers on the frame? I passed this buck in Colorado due to inside spread. Maybe that was a mistake...lol. I probably made someone happy on down the line by passing it. I don't think it is close to your buck frame wise. No regrets, I had a chance at a bigger one the next day.



TView attachment 680619

That's a pretty good looking buck. He might be close to 190. Sometimes their bodies are so big they make the antlers look smaller. On my buck the outside spread on the main frame is 22 1/2 inches. Here is the score chart for him.

 

[willfrye027]

Sweet buck...can you give us the numbers on the frame? I passed this buck in Colorado due to inside spread. Maybe that was a mistake...lol. I probably made someone happy on down the line by passing it. I don't think it is close to your buck frame wise. No regrets, I had a chance at a bigger one the next day. View attachment 680619

You made a huge mistake

I guess depending on the unit you are in but tine length alone that is a good looking/scoring deer

 

[Mojave]

They are as rare as 32DD women are.

 

[Duh]

They are as rare as 32DD women are.

Well consider me a lucky man because I got both of those at home. Well three if you want to count the gazunkas separately. Can’t include pics of the other trophies or I’ll get murdered and tossed in a ditch.

Sorry for the stickers and extras guys but this was 100% public land and a OTC tag. Just so happens to be my first animal with a bow too. Hunted him for 19 days total. 203 gross and I’ve never seen any other buck close to 200 after this one.

 

[HvyBeams]

You made a huge mistake

I like the ones you don't have to add before shooting.