Got a nice BookCliffs Utah mule deer buck - gross B&C score of 181.5". He has mass and deep forks front and back and he is very symmetrical with very few deductions. A mule deer like this is rare in the States these days. I feel very fortunate.
Got him with a 30-06 Ackley Improved, 165 gr.Accubond at ~150 yds.
That is a great buck for the Book Cliffs and any other unit. I hunted there as well this year and was luck enough to shoot a 32" buck on the Muzz hunt.
Posts: 2641 | Location: Utah | Registered: 23 February 2011
On the plains of hesitation lie the bleached bones of ten thousand, who on the dawn of victory lay down their weary heads resting, and there resting, died.
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch... Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! - Rudyard Kipling
That is a Kicker of a buck! Congrats! How'd the bullet fare? Please give us some details about the shot and the angle. Don't see any blood, entrance/exit holes other than what looks like the beginnings of nad removal. Oh wait! Is the bullet exit area? Bet that left a mark!
Alan
Posts: 1719 | Location: Utah | Registered: 01 June 2004
GSSP, this buck is a trophy - symmetry, mass (4.5" circumference throughout), color, deep forks, pretty, etc. I'm very lucky on this one, and I wish all get one like this. What fun sharing that would be!
The trusty "old" 'O6 AI did the job. He dropped in his tracks, dead before he hit the ground. "Spinned" 'im. I shot him at ~150 yds through the base of the neck - complete pass through. The 165 gr. Accubond bullet had to be traveling near ~3000 fps at impact, since it started at ~3250 fps at the muzzle. I like 69 grs. of Norma MRP - my best load for this cartridge - IMO better than the 180 gr. load using Re25, although I admit - if I were hunting elk - I'd use the 180 gr. bullet.
GSSP, I hope you and all the AR loyalists get one like this someday, but many have probably done better already.
Warm regards, Noel
PS. In the "BOOKs" the elk hunting is better than the deer hunting.
?? Why are deer of that caliber "rare in the states these days"? Were they once not rare? I have never hunted mule deer but would like to some time. Perry
Perry, mule deer populations have been on the decline for decades in the West, and the decline is the almost exact inverse of the ever increasing elk populations in the West. IMO the elk are, in some manner, usurping habitat from the mule deer. Moreover, mule deer hunting pressure continues unabated, especially for big bucks, which must be one of the worst "animals" to be these days. If you're a big buck, you get spotted and killed in hurry. Trophy quality has dropped dramatically in the "Books." Regards, AIU
Would there be any chance of "managing" these herds with selective culling? Targeting inferior antlered bucks? Who regulates these herds and why have they not addressed the problem of the elk?
Perry
Posts: 2247 | Location: South Texas | Registered: 01 November 2005
Utah Game and Fish regulates the herds and sets the seasons in Utah. Wyoming does the same for Wyoming, etc. Their respective game biologists make the decisions.
A couple of friends and I hunted the book cliffs years ago after we read a story in bowhunter magazine about the mule deer there. We packed up, bought the $150 archery tag (maybe is was only $120 then) and headed out west. I shot my very first mule deer with a recurve and my buddy shot a big doe. We just didn't make it happen on anything big, but man we saw a couple bucks that were in that class...at least 180-190. I think that was in '89 or so. It was a great hunt and at the time there were a lot of deer, but the locals we ran into even then said "You should have seen it 10 years ago". Wonderful area, and I even saw a California Condor on the drive out to the south as we were headed home.
Shoot straight, shoot often. Matt
Posts: 1171 | Location: Wisconsin | Registered: 19 July 2001
The Utah winter of 1991/2 was horrible for the Utah deer herds. It was so bad, the following year the Utah DWR changed forever how deer tags would be obtained in Utah. Their used to be unlimited tags available resulting in around 250,000 tags sold annually. Now, IIRC, it's around 90,000 tags obtained through a lottery. The state is now divided into 5 zones. A hunter has to not only pick a zone but a weapon; bow, muzzle loader or rifle/handgun. I believe that since the 1991/2 winter, Utah has put more emphasis into it's elk herd and developing it as a premium elk hunting destination. So far, the results are evident.
Alan
Alan
Posts: 1719 | Location: Utah | Registered: 01 June 2004
Would there be any chance of "managing" these herds with selective culling? Targeting inferior antlered bucks? Who regulates these herds and why have they not addressed the problem of the elk?
