Mule Deer Fanatic

Terri Hunt, a Utah resident killed this buck on the Henry Mountians in 2010

Photo submitted by Paul Baxter

The last few years, Kansas has been making a showing. Here is one for your viewing pleasure:

Photo submitted by Paul Baxter

Deseret Land and Livestock and the surrounding area was once a premier locale for monster buck mule deer. This year, after many years of decline, a good one has surfaced:

Submitted by Paul Baxter

Mike Thompson of British Columbia killed these monster bucks. Note the size of the necks. Mike also does his part in saving mule deer by killing predators. Mike video records his hunts – to see these, visit 4everhunting.com

In an effort to avoid mountain lions, it seems that Mule Deer have been fleeing Eastward by the truckload, as evidenced by these photos:   

Born Again Buck

While bowhunting this year, I met this gentleman who told me that if I was born again, I could get a nice buck like the one he got – which incidentally, is a monster buck. He handed me this photo and I took a picture of it. He was delighted about the changes that had come into his life by being born again and attributed his hunting success to these changes. I had some shots at very nice muley bucks, but did not connect, leaving me in the unenviable position of not being a chosen one.

What do you think? Is this a new world record typical mule deer buck?

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Email submitted by Paul Baxter

This deer was shot 12 miles east of Monticello, Utah by Max Johnson in 
1968. He kept it at his home and didn’t think much about it until his 
son took it to the 2009 International Sportsman’s Expo in Utah. The 
Safari Club staff had a booth near by and asked if they could measure 
it. According to it’s method of scoring, it was 228. The Safari Club 
folks returned it and announced that it was now the Club’s new world 
record.
 
Max’s son is Keele Johnson, a good friend of mine and a former Utah 
legislator, is one of the guides on the moose hunt with me in Alaska.
 
RG

A 22 year-old hunter from Globe Arizona arrowed this nice buck mule deer on the second day of the Unit 12 bowhunt. He was standing near a meadow in a rain storm watching two bucks feed past him. He shot the smaller of the two – claiming that the larger buck was huge. The larger buck never presented an acceptable shot so he shot the smaller one instead. This is his first archery buck and he may have a hard time doing better.

Send in your stories and photos

I bowhunted the North Rim this year and attempted to talk to as many hunters as possible. Most hunters were seeing bucks and most were getting some shots, but only five, that I’m aware of, bagged bucks. There was rumor of a big buck being taken from the southwest quadrant on opening day, then there was this buck taken by a young man who said he missed shots at some big ones:

This young man was with an older person who had spent considerable time scouting and preparing for the upcoming rifle hunt. Here are a couple of his friend’s tree cam shots:

Getting an archery buck from the North Rim is difficult, but there are a few good ones available.