South Eastern Montana mule deer buck.

[6mm Remington]

I was fortunate hunting with a couple buddies here in Montana just a couple weeks ago and got a nice fat doe and a huge 2 point mule deer buck. He had a broad old face, huge body, and a neck like a 5 gallon bucket. The biologist aged him a 7 or 8 years of age. Pretty cool buck. The buck and doe were shot together with me taking the doe first. I put another round in quickly when my buddy hollered buck big buck and I got him as he was running (hauling ass) away angling slightly to the right. The bullet hit him the right shoulder and went up through his neck and exited below his left eye. He dropped on the spot and did not move. The doe did a short death run and when it was all over the doe was about 15 yards below the buck. I've already ate back-strap steaks (back-strap & tenderloins were made into steaks) off the buck and I made jerky and sausage with the rest. I made some Country Style and Italian sausage (bulk) that I ground up with pork butts as fat. All of the meat came out nicely and tasted amazing.

I used my Ruger 1B single-shot in 6mm Remington shooting 100 gr. Nosler Partitions.

 

[PsRpOiGrRiAtM]

Congrats on the bruiser, and the great shot(s)!--we've got our eye on a big ol' 2 point this year, too. Been around for 4 years now, and pretty beefy this year. Hope to connect with him tomorrow.

 

[LCH]

Awesome, many good meals ahead for you.

 

[sambo3006]

That buck looks like a tank!
As a side note, I killed my first deer with a Ruger #1V in 6mm Rem.

 

[Pahoundsman]

Awesome forky!

 

[mdeerjunkie]

Congratulations! Cool looking buck!

 

[1_pointer]

Congrats! I dig big old two points like that

 

[MarvB]

He is necked up isn't he! Grats on the pair 6!!

 

[fallfreak]

Looks like a big bodied deer. Congrats

 

[flinchy]

Neat pic.. snow and pines.. huge buck.. congrats.

 

[michsteelguy]

Congrats on those deer. Hope u have a big freezer!

 

[6mm Remington]

The doe went to a friend of my wife's who does not hunt but loves wild game. I dropped it at a processor for her and she tells them how she wants it cut and pays for it. The buck I processed myself. I made steaks from the back-straps and tenderloins which I tried the back-strap and it was delicious. He wasn't gamey tasting either like I thought he might be. The rest I made into jerky and I made 60 pounds of bulk sausage using pork butts as the mix. I made Italian and Country Blend and oh my are they good.

Thanks for the kind comments gentlemen. I'll see if I can post up a few more pictures. My buddy Jeff got a nice 4 point buck and he had a friend that came with us who also got his first mule deer at about the age of 35. He's gotten elk and whitetail, but never a mule deer. He shot a 3 point.

We had 3 mule deer bucks, 3 whitetail does, and 1 mule deer doe in the truck for the ride home. We sure had a lot of fun and got to hike and hunt in some neat country.

 

[6mm Remington]

Here is my grinding in progress. Ground the deer mixed with pork butts for fat through the coarse grinder plate and then through the finer grinder plate. I mixed in the seasonings by hand and made sure I did it slowly and mixed it very well as I went along so there would not be spicy sections and then medium sections. Once it was all mixed I kept it in the 4 gallon bucket shown (had 2 of these - 30#'s in each) covered and in the garage where it was about 35 degrees. I think letting it sit for 12-24 hours lets the seasoning absorb into the meat more completely. The the next day I packaged it in plastic freezer backs with open top and then wrapped with butcher paper. It makes for some wonderful eating!!

 

[6mm Remington]

After 5 days hanging my buck weighed 197 pounds on a digital game scale I purchased from Cabela's. He was hanging with legs cut off at the hock. Here is hanging at my buddies place before we loaded up for the ride home. Legs were cut off prior to us leaving to make more room so it would be easier to get them all in the truck.

 

[6mm Remington]

Here is a picture of a 3 x 4 that was essentially a really big 2 point just like the eastern Montana buck. This buck came from western Montana and the biologist said I can tell their age up to about 10 1/2 years, and he is that and some. Had no idea how old this buck was. He's got a really gray face and large nose. Neck was big also. Kind of neat to compare the two and I think they both are pretty cool.
This was taken quite a few years ago. The other gentlemen in the picture is my buddies step-father. His first mule deer he got the same morning.

 

[FlatlanderAZ]

Congrats! I must say, a double with a single shot . . . you da man!!!

 

[MN-mountainman]

Congrats! That ole buck looks like quite the bruiser.

 

[Dsliner]

Nice, good job!

 

[.270Rem]

Not much room for gear in that truck with all that venison. Good for you for filling someone else's freezer too. I have to shoot a few does for the same reason and need to make that happen soon.

 

[Jbotto]

@6mm Remington, neat buck and great double! I do have to ask, is that a Dandy Saw in the second picture of your first post? If so how do you like it? I have been looking at those and they sure make a lot of sense to me!