Montanans how long since your last mule deer

[cgasner1]

I killed a buck last year due to hunting with a rifle. It checked all the boxes for what I wanted for the time I had to hunt so I punched the tag. Prior to that I had quit rifle hunting and only reason I did last year was being out of state during the heritage season on a audad hunt.

 

[psinclair]

Ten days ago.

 

[daltrix99]

Shot a 160" in 2022. Haven't seen one bigger since then on public land during hunting season, would take at least that size for me to send another round.

 

[HerkHunter]

Shot a mule deer the last two years in a row. Sucks the way deer are going, but I love mule deer hunting more than anything. I wasn’t alive for the “golden era”, so this is all I know, and I still truly love it. Sure, I know Montana doesn’t have some of the record deer Colorado might hold, but I just want my daughter to be able to hunt them someday at this point.

 

[Big Sky Guy]

Been 2 years. 2022. I’ve hunted Montana since 2015 and this is the largest, or close to largest, mule deer I’ve seen on public land. 5 years old. Region 3.

Side note, this was on forest service that was accessed by BMA. That landowner pulled out of Block Management last year and this year I called to see if I could hunt or at least cross land. He told me the reason he pulled out and why he isn’t allowing any hunting was because of the mule deer situation and that no one at FWP would listen to him. We chatted a bit and I concurred that the drastic drop after 2017 was something I never heard an explanation for. 2017 there were 50-100 mile deer in every field. Now it’s 10-20 in every 3 or 4 fields.