Weather was unseasonably hot during my unit 13A hunt. Deer were bedding by 8 and not getting up until the last 10-15 minutes of legal light. Still managed to find a fair number of bucks but nothing near the 200" mark I was hoping for. Rut activity started pretty good on the 6th day. Spent half an hour picking a buck apart in the spotting scope from a mile and a half away only to watch him drop to a shot. Passed on a few other bucks that were pushing does that morning before it got to warm. Afternoon plans went downhill fast. Got to the hill I wanted to glass from in a very remote area only to find 8 other hunters glassing from nearby hills. Guess I wasn't the only one that knew about the bucks in there. After deciding to change areas I knew time would be tight but with deer moving so late it wouldn't matter much. Ripping down a road through the thick pinyon and junipers and came around a corner just in time to see a buck and doe disappear into the thick stuff. He looked good but they all do going away. Parking the truck I hustled over the ridge to get down to a gasline cut ahead them. When he crossed I still couldn't make up my mind. Dropping into a cut ahead of them put them right in my lap a minute later. when he popped out at 20 yards I finally realized how old and massive he was. .300 RUM with 230 Bergers took out 1 rib on the way in,top off the heart,3 ribs on the off side,and destroyed the offside shoulder. He still managed close to 50 yards after the shot. When I walked up on him the size of his body finally sunk in. Lucky for me I was able to drive fairly close to him and with the help from a couple great guys in a camp down the road we drug him to the truck and got him loaded. I'm not sure how old he is but from the looks of his rack and teeth I'm guessing he was on the downhill even though his body was in good shape. Gave game and fish a front incisor for aging so hopefully sometime next year I'll know exactly how old he was. Any guesses from you guys based on jaw pics? Was a great hunt with my only regret being that I wasn't able to shoot a buck while my friends and son were in camp. Did walk away with a couple new friends though. The guys that helped me lose my buck invited back to camp for a celebratory drink and dinner. Helped them cape their bucks off the skull so they could ice them on the way home. Exchanged numbers and hope to share a campfire with them again sometime.




Not quite beer can bases.

Great buck. Looking at that fourth molar I would guess over 7 years easy.

Wow! Thanks for sharing.

Wow!...that is a very cool deer.

Thanks guys. I'm super happy with him. After I walked up to him I felt like an idiot for letting him walk off in the first place. I don't know much about aging a deer by teeth but from the charts I looked at I was thinking 7+ years myself. I think the size of his body amazes me as much as anything. Generally don't get deer that big in AZ. When I get a chance later I'll post a few other pics.

Congratulations Sir, great story, really great buck.

Comparing the pictures of the jaws with the jaws from the two cull muleys Lora and I took last year I am going to guess 7.5 to 8.5 years of age.

The biologists that were guiding us guessed my buck at 7.5 and Lora's at 8.5 or older. Could be wrong, but from my observations Mule Deer seem to stay in better body condition enen in their older years.

That is a really great looking buck. Once again, Congratulations.

Beautiful old buck! Well hunted.

Congratulations on a great buck.

very nice buck

nice buck and one of my favorite places to hunt.

What a beautiful buck. congrats! I don't put a lot of faith in aging by tooth wear but it definitely shows 7+.

Great mule deer and great write up. Looks like very worn tooth pattern. Congrats!

"Politicians, attorney's, and shooters of wildlife behind high fences. Take em all down to south Texas, put em inside a high fenced escape proof enclosure without their guns and let the rattlesnakes cull em out."

Holy Toledo,

A desert sheep, and now a great buck from the Strip in less than a year.

Man you must be doing something right!

Huge congratulations.

What do you have planned for an encore?

Great buck! Congrats!

Congratulations!

Well done. Congrats.

Love the mass and character of that old buck.
Congrats and thanks for sharing

Great write-up. BTW, just how wide is that bruiser?

He's a touch over 31" wide. It's been a great year so far and have a late rifle bull tag starting the day after Thanksgiving here in my back yard in AZ. Can't picture it getting much better than the last year has already been but I'll be out there trying.

Outstanding! Love the other 'strip'!

Congrats on a very nice, mature buck. Great mass too!

That's a stud buck!
Well done,
Zeke

Big mature mule deer.....it doesn't get any better in my book. Congrats on a real warrior. Love the pics and story.

Thanks everyone. I'm still in awe at the body size of this old buck. My daughter shot her first mule deer in unit 10 here in northern AZ this fall. This picture is a comparison of that bucks front hoof to my strip bucks front. Granted her buck was a 1 1/2 year old forky the difference is still amazing to me.
My 5 year old with "his" coyote. Couldn't resist doing a little coyote control when opportunities came up mid day.
One I took of the box of .300 RUM in comparison to his bases.

Have a bunch of friends coming for Thanksgiving and between myself and them we have 4 rifle bull tags here at the house. Should be a great weekend. Also drew my Goulds turkey finally after 17 bonus points. Hope to have a few more successes to share soon. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope you all get to spend it with quality folks and get outside and enjoy what we should all be truly thankful we have!

Congrats! Thanks for posting.

Just got an email from the biologist that sent a tooth from my buck in for aging. He was aged at 7 1/2 years. Thought it might be of interest to those who offered up ages based on my pictures. Some darn good estimates fellas!