News that’s gonna rock the mule deer world!

[robby denning]

I think multiple people(myself included) are confused as to what you’re trying to find out/have a conversation about. I think Robby started this thread to show off a really cool buck and highlight the fact that Colorado has done an awesome job with their mule deer management. I think he and others have made the point that several of these bucks have come from areas that don’t take many points/years to draw and hunt which is even better.

nailed it. Only addition is that I don't mean every season/weapon will be drawn with low points, BUT that there is opportunity to hunt the bucks saved by the new management strategy (limited licenses)

 

[chindits]

Incredible buck and congratulations to the hunter.

I sincerely hope it was not harvested from a unit near me and it would be even better if it’s harvest location is never revealed. Too bad the state even came out.

 

[2five7]

I got to see and hold this Buck back in October, it's even more impressive in person. Can't wait to see it all mounted at the Expo!

 

[N2TRKYS]

I think multiple people(myself included) are confused as to what you’re trying to find out/have a conversation about. I think Robby started this thread to show off a really cool buck and highlight the fact that Colorado has done an awesome job with their mule deer management. I think he and others have made the point that several of these bucks have come from areas that don’t take many points/years to draw and hunt which is even better.

I'm talking about more than limited licensing. That's common sense and not revolutionary. I'm wondering what else could make these areas better than all the others. I was wondering if the limited rifle tag holders were killing a bunch of these good deer in the same area, if not, why? Did they move out of the area to private by the time rifle season comes around, etc? Do they move to a rougher terrain that hunters don't go into? How were the previous winters? Were there fires in the area or any forestry related activities?
Maybe there's not any correlation in these areas, maybe there are. Anyways, that's some of the stuff I was talking about.

 

[Blinginpse]

I think multiple people(myself included) are confused as to what you’re trying to find out/have a conversation about. I think Robby started this thread to show off a really cool buck and highlight the fact that Colorado has done an awesome job with their mule deer management. I think he and others have made the point that several of these bucks have come from areas that don’t take many points/years to draw and hunt which is even better.

Sounds to me He's trying to find out where he needs to hunt. Looking for a tip or someone to give him an exact area. I may be wrong though

 

[dieselchessy]

It would seem to me that bucks horn growth is a genetic anomaly and not a sign of good management. With lack of aging all the conversations of limited tags and buck survivability might not apply as well.
Now 3 big ones in a dozen years would seem to be a good start to a trend. Would be cool to be talking of 4 big ones at 15 years, and robust herd numbers.

But what I really want to know is how that guy caped and quartered a deer and then loaded his pack and kept everything spotless? Not even a hint of blood anywhere.
I could slaughter a deer in 2 feet of snow and not come out neer that clean.

 

[blb078]

It would seem to me that bucks horn growth is a genetic anomaly and not a sign of good management.

This exactly, horn growth is not an indicator of good management. I'm not saying CO has bad management, I think they've shown just the opposite even without any 300" deer harvested. The sign of good management is number of mature bucks harvested or opportunity at them. Not antler growth. The vast majority of mature deer, the one's that make it through hunting season, winter, predators, etc, and live to 6-7-8+ years old don't even have 200" worth of antlers let alone 300". From a trophy hunters point of view yes this is awesome but most people are looking for opportunity, and if they come across a giant great but even if they have chances at mature 150" deer they are happy too.

Not saying what this guy did isn't impressive either, a lot of people would of pissed themselves had they had an opportunity like this. But a better indicator of management would be how many mature deer are taken every year vs other states.

 

[hobbes]

Any buck that big IS a genetic anomaly, but they have to be given an opportunity to reach an age that yields that kind of antler growth. Limited licences and small windows to hunt gives a better chance for that age to be achieved. It really is that simple.

When I lived in IL we had a deer herd and age structure to be envied. There were a few major contrubutors..... great genetic potential, very short lottery controlled gun seasons, and no center-fire rifles. There was unlimited archery hunting at that time for 3 months. They killed the heck out of big bucks but the limits I mentioned placed enough control to allow big bucks to slip through the cracks often enough that they turned into world class deer. My understanding is that the IL herd isn't in quite the same condition today, but there are other factors involved.

There really isn't much more control available to the CPW. Besides maybe maintaining winter range, they can't do much to make changes to the mountain ranges these mule deer live in. There are no food plots that help antlers grow in these areas.

 

[HuntHarder]

Ficken Giant! Love how not all the comments in this thread are positive. Hater's gonna hate and try and distract from what the real story is. Stud buck shot in a not so stud buck area, by a guy who didn't have 10 guys on 10 ridges looking for said deer. Enough Jelly in this thread to make PB&J's for all.

 

[lif]

Good shit Robby. Great buck and I agree with the points your making. This isn’t the only factor to determine management or health of herds but it does matter. If Colorado tightened up just a little bit it would meet that impossible modern standard of quality meeting opportunity at the same time.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Sounds to me He's trying to find out where he needs to hunt. Looking for a tip or someone to give him an exact area. I may be wrong though

You are wrong. I don't care where it came from. I'm just talking about extracting what's different in these units than all the others. Is it better habitat or is the genetics strand just better historically in those areas? The whole point of this whole thread, supposedly, was about the great job CO was doing with their management. I was trying to delve off deeper into the subject, but that appears to be lost in this crowd. One or three dead deer over 11 years doesn't do anything. Figuring out what's different in those areas and manipulating the other areas, if possible, to resemble these results is a game changer.

 

[dirtytough]

You are wrong. I don't care where it came from. I'm just talking about extracting what's different in these units than all the others. Is it better habitat or is the genetics strand just better historically in those areas? The whole point of this whole thread, supposedly, was about the great job CO was doing with their management. I was trying to delve off deeper into the subject, but that appears to be lost in this crowd. One or three dead deer over 11 years doesn't do anything. Figuring out what's different in those areas and manipulating the other areas, if possible, to resemble these results is a game changer.

Ok first you have to realize some mature deer won't make it beyond 200". So a 348" buck obviously had every single thing align perfectly for it to get there. Genetics, feed, age, etc.

Now look at Colorado as a whole. Not only has it kicked out 3 monster bucks in 11 years. It has also taken #1 in the record books for the amount of bucks entered in the last 10 years.

Why are these bucks coming from low point units? Well from what I heard all 3 were killed on public. All 3 were killed in low point units. Every year huge bucks are killed in a low point unit. Not 300" huge but 220"+ huge. My cousins and uncle killed 3 nice bucks in a low point unit this year. 2 of them over 180".

My theory is that if you wait 20 years to draw say 44 you are going to be in shape, have good optics, get as much intel as possible from previous hunters, which they will share since they won't ever have the tag again. Be able to shoot as far as necessary, etc. Basically be as ready for the hunt as possible. Maybe even hire a high dollar guide. You might show up 3 days early and hunt as hard as possible because its an OIL hunt. You are going to pass up 170"-180" deer hoping for that 190"-200"+ buck. Because most hunters are doing the same a lot of the top end bucks get killed every year.

Now lets say you draw a 0-1 point unit which there are a decent amount of. Most guys are not going to treat it the same. They aren't showing up 3 days ahead of time. They might skip a week here or there on a treadmill. And they aren't passing up 160" deer because that is a good looking deer. "Especially in a 0-1 point unit" which you hear a lot of. So after hunting for a couple days most hunters are done. They filled their tag, went back to work, etc. And are more than happy with their success they just had in a 0-1 point unit. The few truly big bucks slipped through again because the few hunters left hunting slept in, weren't in the right area, etc. Not a lot of hunters are going to give their 0-1 point hunt the same level of determination they are going to give their 20 point hunt. They know they will be able to hunt it next year or the year after so they leave a little on the table.

Even though there are 5X the tags in the 0-1 point unit as there is the 20 point unit the 0-1 point unit isn't getting hunted as hard. There are a few guys that hunt a low point or otc unit with the same determination as they do a high point unit. Look at Robby the thread starter. But most hunters do not.

That is my theory on why the absolute giants are coming from the lowest point units. As for what Colorado is doing better? They are letting bucks grow up. Its as easy as that.

 

[mtmuley]

Was that buck aged? mtmuley

 

[robby denning]

Was that buck aged? mtmuley

No, hunter didn’t bring an incisor out. He said he’s hoping to recover it next summer. Hope so.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hobbes]

You are wrong. I don't care where it came from. I'm just talking about extracting what's different in these units than all the others. Is it better habitat or is the genetics strand just better historically in those areas? The whole point of this whole thread, supposedly, was about the great job CO was doing with their management. I was trying to delve off deeper into the subject, but that appears to be lost in this crowd. One or three dead deer over 11 years doesn't do anything. Figuring out what's different in those areas and manipulating the other areas, if possible, to resemble these results is a game changer.

I get what you are asking N2, I just don't have any of those answers. In addition, and I may differ from the rest on this, giant nontypicals of this magnitude are an anomaly as far as I'm concerned. He clearly had what he needed nutrition wise, but from my limited experience all that requires is a good amount of rain in the high country for the forage to flourish (same as most of Colorado's high country). Colorado clearly has the genetics. I believe CO has more record book entries than the rest of the states combined (may be an exaggeration). I don't believe there is anything special about the regions they came from except something allowed their anomaly of a genetic makeup to live long enough to get there. The only thing CO has control over is limited opportunity and they've done a good job of that as compared to some other states.

I believe that's all that was being pointed out. CO had a drop off in record book entries the 20 or 30 years prior to the last 10 or so. That drop off was during a time that deer season was more or less a free for all. Some would argue that 3 mega bucks in the last 10 years is a spike in mega buck production and therefore an indication that CO is doing something right. The only thing they've changed is limited licenses that started 20 years ago. The only reason to point out that they came from nonpremier units is to suggest that it's possible to find big bucks somewhere other than high preference point units, meaning that those of us not in the points race still have a chance at big bucks. " So you're saying there's a chance."

Wish I had more to share, but I'm already out of my league in this discussion.

 

[elkyinzer]

1) Whoa that thing is #$%@%& huge. All my other thoughts aside, definitely has the wow factor in spades.

2) Color me impressed, but this is just me being a weird buzzkill I'm sure. To me, it's really not a "nice" buck. Hear me out here, "nice" being, like, nice to look at; easy on the eyes. I always find velvet bucks ugly, likewise with NT's, and this one no exception. It's more circus freak than supermodel. I guess I just have eyes for big typicals. Not taking away from it, just something I've always thought. And if that thing stepped out at 30 yards I'd be shaking in my boots trying to kill it.

3) Sounds like it happened to the kinda guy you would hope for such a thing to happen to. "...a virtually unknown hunter revealed to the world what he had known since early September, 2018". I got a chuckle out of the wording there at the opening. As if things like this are only supposed to happen to "known" celebrity hunters; is that a supposition that the shameless self-promoters are somehow better hunters than the rest of us? It cleared up later in the article but anyway.

 

[TheTone]

Unreal buck! I'd like to see a good side profile of the right side to see what they are calling the main beam and what seems to be a lack of front fork.

 

[FLAK]

Glad it came out of CO., I don't hunt there.
And the more I look at it, the more impressed I am.
Straight up stud of a buck!!!

 

[Jimmy]

That's an amazing buck, and congratulations to the hunter!

 

[CJF]

There was a mistake in the article. It was killed in Nebraska. Everyone should go to Nebraska to hunt. There are no big mule deer in Colorado.