I live in Montana and i have spent many years hiking the miles hunting public and privet land looking for the once in a life time type buck most years i pass up 20 to 40 bucks looking for the heart stopper with sightings and chances at such bucks rare im looking to expand my search to other states so if any of you have ideas on where to apply for tags or good otc tags for some one whos willing to do the work so far i have really started to fall in love with the idea of chasing muleys in Utah every time i drive in that state i find my self daydreaming of getting to hunt it
Huge mule deer where to start
- Thread starter mtnman375
- Start date
LCH
Well-known member
I'd more than likely be tickled to kill one of the 20-40 bucks you pass every year. Where do you hunt now?
Little Big Man MT Chris
Well-known member
i will 2nd that comment
Little Big Man MT Chris
Well-known member
i like this question, i believe most everyone has a different idea on whats a huge deer to what they have harvested in the past , for me being older and realistic, i always hope to get a nice mature buck, but take what the mountain provides, at the end of the day i want meat. i think the size of antlers have different meanings for different people, and at the end of the day we aint taking our antlers with us when we leave, just stuff our kids have to figure out what to do with when we gone, i enjoy the hunt and wondering whats going to happen and what kind of animal im going to find, and just be thankful i got to fill a tag for another season. i just started hunting again in 2013, 2 mule hunts 2 blacktail hunts and fill blessed to have gone 4 for 4 on my deer tags, i have friends who have hunted longer and have more experience than me and who i consider better hunters than me , who i have leaned on for advice, that have tags gone unfilled in the same time
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Dinkshooter
Well-known member
For starters MT needs to not hunt muleys until December 1 ever year(or thereabouts)
Duh
Duh
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
Is there anything dumber than a rutting muley buck?
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
I'm changing the word dumb to vulnerable.
Why is it no state allows unlimited rifle elk rut hunts but rifle mule deer rut hunts are a dime a dozen?
Why is it no state allows unlimited rifle elk rut hunts but rifle mule deer rut hunts are a dime a dozen?
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mdunc8
Well-known member
Don't worry, Montana has you covered
Well i know its unrealistic but some day before i die i would love to fulfill my grandpas dream of 40 inch wide mule deer after 40 plus years of hunting/guiding from the selway bitterroot to Canada he never did kill a 40in deer i think the closest he got was 38 or 39 inches and he had more than just a few bucks that made the book since his passing the older i get the more i want to carry on his dream of chasing big deer while im still young and so far i have only seen 2 mule deer in Montana that i would say go north of 200 b&c and long story short i never got to hunt ether deer and now that i have spent a few years working on new spots and growing in my skill sets in the last few years i have got to see and or hunt 160 to 180ish deer also i know it maybe hard to find a deer of life times in a state that the biggest typical taken is 207 7/8 b&c when we are living in a age of deer growing 250 plus inches of bone and being killed almost every year in some states so in short i want to find a place where these deer rome free and maybe after years of trying to draw tags and hiking thousands of miles i will get my chance at a deer of a life time but most years i end up shooting the first deer i see on the last day of season because meat is meat
shootbrownelk
Well-known member
My opinion is that you're setting yourself up for a lifetime of disappointment as far as Mule deer hunting goes. Lower your sights a bit, and enjoy your hunts.
This. And who wants to kill dinky 207 inch typicals anyway? mtmuley
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Canada it is....
noharleyyet
Well-known member
A big me too!
AZBridger
Active member
start applying for the Arizona Strip. someone has got to draw the tags
Speeddmn
Active member
want to shoot a 40 inch buck, start applying to the Henrys here in Utah, the strip in AZ, putting in every year at the hunt expo, and save every penny you can, pay the "man" get the tag and shoot it.
Dinkshooter nailed it. The problem (in my opinion is a lack of management. MT does not manage for big bucks or big bulls for that matter.
KY Swamp Beagler
New member
I agree. I believe Randy once said on a podcast that he was more concerned with the journey rather than the destination. That holds true for me, too. It seems that while on this journey of being a hunter I've found a lot of "truths" and had a lot of personal awakenings. I'd hate for score to get in the way of such a magical journey.
However, I can see that sentimentality is playing into your wanting a giant muley. So with that said, I'd say the money spent will directly correlate into increasing your chances of obtaining that goal. Good luck on your quest.
