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.

 

[PRO MO]

2021. before that, 2012. not letting that many years pass by again, i hope.

 

[BackofBeyond]

I shot one in 1998 while I was going to school at Western.

Good times.

 

[SwaggyD]

2019

 

[terrytheluddite]

What the hell is going on up there? Is mainly a winter kill problem?

 

[1100RemingtonMan]

Go to Colorado as I just finished up a Elk hunt there and saw 5 Mule Deer bigger than Big Sky Guy posted.

 

[terrytheluddite]

Go to Colorado as I just finished up a Elk hunt there and saw 5 Mule Deer bigger than Big Sky Guy posted.

Our aberts squirrels are much, much nicer than our mule deer

 

[MLaird]

2019 for me. I've stopped shooting mulies because I discovered that whitetails taste so much better.

 

[MTTW]

2018 for me and I killed a whitetail his morning, so it won't happen this year. First Whitetail I have killed in 40 years.

 

[406dn]

I do not have a firm year, but it's been 20 years give or take. I buy a tag every year, just in case I see one bigger than any I have previously killed. Maybe five years ago, I saw a buck that had me pondering about taking him. He was with maybe 15 does, and I left him to his business. When I got down off the mountain, I was second guessing myself, as I had not seen as nice a buck in a good while. So, I tried to find him again, to no avail.

If I do ever kill a buck again, it will be a real bruiser. There is a good chance it won't happen.

 

[DFS]

2015 for me. I would rather shoot a whitetail which I haven’t since 2019. Maybe this is my year.

Edit: I have passed up many bucks, just a reminder to the OTC’s that roll out here and act like they accomplished something by filling a tag for some neck roasts.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

2019.....the last tag that I filled.

 

[BuckRut]

2019

 

[JEL]

2016. I’m 62 and have shot lots of deer over the course of time. Nothing has tripped my trigger since then and my son started raising beef and pork so I don’t really need meat. Kids all still hunt and do well so I get my venison fix from them.