News that’s gonna rock the mule deer world!

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robby denning

robby denning

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Hatfield worked for B&C, and now Western Hunter who will print the story. Here's what he’s saying about the cactus question:

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robby denning

robby denning

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Have they sent out the management side of it yet? All I've seen is commercial type stuff.
Hey N2, on the management comments in lead post, that was my opinion, not necessarily that of the hunter's or Black Ovis'. Here is what I wrote in an earlier post on the subject:

The reason I mentioned this buck as related to wildlife management is because this is the 3rd (and biggest) 300”+ buck (Lopez, Ross bucks) to come from Colorado in 11 years, and all of them from non-premier units.

Prior to Colorado’s change in mule deer management in 1999, nothing like this was happening. The 1990’s were horrible for mule deer in Colorado, and while I know some hunters will never be happy with their management, to grow bucks like this while still giving ample opportunity to hunt, is an accomplishment for Colorado wildlife managers, in my opinion.
 

isu22andy

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Cool buck , Im glad it was on public land . Big deer on private ground dont impress me much anymore. Too many deer farmers that name "their" deer and patrol their ground like their lives are on the line really takes out the glory of big dead deer for me . Maybe muleys are different but in Iowa it has sure bred alot of tool bags.
 

tdhanses

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Cool buck , Im glad it was on public land . Big deer on private ground dont impress me much anymore. Too many deer farmers that name "their" deer and patrol their ground like their lives are on the line really takes out the glory of big dead deer for me . Maybe muleys are different but in Iowa it has sure bred alot of tool bags.

Hard to do that in the mountains, maybe in the front range and prairie it happens some (doubt it) but not happening in the mountains. Also MD migrate/travel in much larger areas while WT stay in a limited area most of their life.
 

N2TRKYS

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Hey N2, on the management comments in lead post, that was my opinion, not necessarily that of the hunter's or Black Ovis'. Here is what I wrote in an earlier post on the subject:

The reason I mentioned this buck as related to wildlife management is because this is the 3rd (and biggest) 300”+ buck (Lopez, Ross bucks) to come from Colorado in 11 years, and all of them from non-premier units.

Prior to Colorado’s change in mule deer management in 1999, nothing like this was happening. The 1990’s were horrible for mule deer in Colorado, and while I know some hunters will never be happy with their management, to grow bucks like this while still giving ample opportunity to hunt, is an accomplishment for Colorado wildlife managers, in my opinion.

Ok. I'd be interested in the terrain, amount of tags, and other things that would pertain to what is causing this. Without such data, it's hard to not chalk it up to luck. Maybe they'll do that in another article. Maybe I was expecting too much. If so, I'll just let y'all discuss the big buck pics.

Thanks for the clarification, though.
 
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I think I'd like to know how he kept it a secret for this long Awesome deer regardless for public land

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So besides management strategy what is there for environmental factors that could be playing into Colorado’s success at producing that many large bucks in that time frame? Obviously the lack of large predators plays into it, but is there something(s) else?


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So besides management strategy what is there for environmental factors that could be playing into Colorado’s success at producing that many large bucks in that time frame? Obviously the lack of large predators plays into it, but is there something(s) else?


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Just having it in the genetics probably goes a long way
 
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robby denning

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Ok. I'd be interested in the terrain, amount of tags, and other things that would pertain to what is causing this. Without such data, it's hard to not chalk it up to luck. Maybe they'll do that in another article. Maybe I was expecting too much. If so, I'll just let y'all discuss the big buck pics.

Thanks for the clarification, though.
sure man, good discussion. The big picture is that Colorado managed deer virtually the same in the modern era up until 1999 when they went to statewide quota on deer tags. By 2004, they were cranking out big deer and most people (not all) agreed that the herds were in much better shape (better buck;doe ratios and all that goes along with that).

Yes there are troubled units/herds, but on a statewide level, they are doing a pretty good job when they can offer opportunity like they do (300" bucks are coming off the AZ strip, but try and get a tag!) and produce historical deer like this.

To my knowledge, not one of these three 300+-inch bucks came from units that were managed for trophies (I might be wrong because I don't pry!).

The "data" is in the record books, and the record book shows (2005 all time B&C, my most recent) that the last buck that netted over 290" (they don't list gross, so I'm allowing for an inflated gross score) was "PR 1981", then a second in 1972, and then 1962 (then going back the other way, nothing until the Lopez buck in 2007, unless I missed one!).

So that is 3 in 20 years from '62 to '82 and those years were a lot closer to the "hay-day" of mule deer than we are now, but we just did 3 in 11 years. Now I know that people were much less likely to enter them during those early years, so this isn't a completely fair comparision... I get that.

But when people say mule deer are on their heels, gene pools are gone, no big deer again, I say look at Colorado. Heck, look about anywhere they get some management, big bucks and healthier herds are often but not always the results (Utah comes to mind right now). And according to the good bios I've talked to, when there are older age class deer in a herd, other good things are happening to cause that age class like good fawn:doe ratios, buck survival, habitat in good shape.
 
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N2TRKYS

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How many points would it take a nonresident to draw these non premier units that the three bucks came from?
 
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How many points would it take a nonresident to draw these non premier units that the three bucks came from?

I believe one of the bucks came from a second choice unit, 1 from a 1 point unit, and since this one is an archery high country buck from the looks of it there aren't many high country units that take more then a few points. Most take 0-1 point.
 
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robby denning

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How many points would it take a nonresident to draw these non premier units that the three bucks came from?

I can only guess that at the time the bucks were killed, just a few points at most. would’ve done it


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