cgasner1
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2016
- Messages
- 2,988
It’s not a white tail that’s how
Montana deer questions
- Thread starter mtmiller
- Start date
I'm really surprised how many people are saying "with eye guards" or "with brow tines". I know it's more common for a mule deer to be missing it's brow tines than it is for a whitetail, but at least in all the areas I've hunted, most mature mule deer bucks have their brow tines. When I'm describing a mature mule deer to someone, I don't mention the brow tines unless they are missing or out of the ordinary in some way.
Good talk.
BuzzH
Well-known member
The way I would describe it in Montana....Lucky to be alive.
- How do you describe this buck to your buddies on the internet with no picture?
- How do you describe how many points it has?
- Is it going home with you?
- Why/why not?
fishing4sanity
Well-known member
I go by main frame and throw in eye guards as a way of saying legally/technically he's a 5x5. Honestly, I want to make him sound a little bigger.
Because my friends know I won't shoot a buck without eyeguards.
Now queue all the pics I've been sent over the years of giant bucks with no eyeguards...
The big buck I had been trying to kill the last few years didn't have eyeguards. Most years he didn't anyways. I've definitely seen big bucks without eyeguards, I'm just saying that in Montana, at least, it's more common that they will have eyeguards.Because my friends know I won't shoot a buck without eyeguards.
Now queue all the pics I've been sent over the years of giant bucks with no eyeguards...
I was responding to this:
"How do you describe this buck to your buddies"
It's a standing joke with my buddies that I won't shoot a buck without eyeguards. So If I'm describing him to my buddies, I'm definitely giving them the most important detail of all.
easternmt
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2015
- Messages
- 119
Nice mature 4 point around 22 wide maybe mid 150’s. I’d let my kid shoot him but I’d let him walk.
Stone_Ice_1
Well-known member
No way this thing scores 160. I have a 165 buck on my wall, with eye guards and mine is taller, wider, with bigger forks. I would guess about 145, could be a little less than this.
Most people that guess a deer have never actually measured one themselves and don't know what a true 160, 170, or 180 buck even looks like. It doesn't help that it's very hard to find one of those running around in the woods in Montana anymore.
Most people that guess a deer have never actually measured one themselves and don't know what a true 160, 170, or 180 buck even looks like. It doesn't help that it's very hard to find one of those running around in the woods in Montana anymore.
WanderWoman
Well-known member
On a similar vein, how do you all quickly judge a deer? Not like adding inches and tines and counting how many ears long an antler is, but what do you look at on a glance that says a deer is 150, 160, 180, etc.?
Last edited:
Highly recommend Jay Scott's podcast and youtube channel for exactly this. IMO he is the best at field judging animals.
JEL
Well-known member
Width, mass and deep forks.
antlerradar
Well-known member
If there is a lot of dark above their head it is probably a good one.
I have seen a few real big deer, On a deer like this one you see the deer and look for antlers. On a big one the antlers are the first thing you notice.
Raisin Bran
Well-known member
Decent 4 point Mule Deer buck with average eye guards. So a 5 by. Pretty symmetrical. He was as tall as he is wide. About 22” wide to be exact.
- How do you describe this buck to your buddies on the internet with no picture?
- How do you describe how many points it has?
- Is it going home with you?
- Why/why not?
Not a shooter for me. If he survives the season I look forward to seeing him next season. I would consider him next season.
I went back the next season after a good growing season for antler growth and a mild winter.
This is what he turned into
! 
