Worst antler trophy mule buck I have ever taken

[Clark]

2008 [just does, no buck tag drawn]
2009 3x4
2010 [just 3 does, no buck tag drawn]
2011 [just 1 doe no buck tag drawn]
2012 3x3
2013 3x4
2014 3x3
2015 3x3
2016 2x2


Why did I shoot such a small buck? I was confused. There was a whole herd moving around and I looked through one antler, saw the other, and counted 4. After we drug him 1/2 mile, we wished he was even smaller.

 

[Clark]

I am 5'9", to show you how small that buck is.

 

[Scottytuned]

I am 5'9", to show you how small that buck is.

You are thinking of it wrong. You call it a small buck, I say that's a good quality, big bodied jackalope.

 

[Dosh]

Clark, bet it tastes good. I killed one that size a few years ago, it was very tasty. Going to the Az Strip next week for a friend's trophy muley hunt. They have huge racks there. Here's a pic of a friend's from 2014 from the Strip. 204 2/8 B&C typical and a couple from last year. Third pic is 248 4/8 B&C non-typical. The hunters are from Chandler,Az.

 

[shaughn]

Nice deer and like dad said...can't eat the horns!

 

[kraigwy]

Unless I see something that exceeds what's on my wall, I'd rather get the little spikes and forked horns.

After you take them out of the frying pan, you can cut them with a fork.

 

[wackinandstackin243]

Trophy value isn't always measured by antler size. Some great bucks get harvested by dumb luck. Others are bought and paid for by dumb guys with deep pockets when in reality the guide did all the work. The things important to me in a mule deer hunt are locating him in his territory, a good stalk or ambush, a good clean first round hit, and eating the meat.

 

[TBuckus]

I had an uncle that shot a lot of big bucks. In his later years, when I hunted with him, he would only shoot forkies. The meat always tasted better.

 

[PowellSixO]

Don't feel too bad. I took my smallest deer ever this last week. I went on a coues deer hunt in unit 35B down on the Mexico boarder. This was my first coues deer hunt ever. I passed a lot of smaller bucks holding out for a big one. Now I'm kicking my self for not taking 2 of the bucks I passed. I ended up taking this like spike on the second to last day, because I didn't want to go home skunked. Lol. I did take him at almost 600 yards though. The corrected yardage came out to 585 yards, and there was a 10 mph cross wind. I took the shot from my shooting sticks too. One shot, and I hit him perfectly. He was dead before he hit the ground. So while it was my smallest deer ever, it was one of my best shots ever, considering how small these little guys are. Hanging at the butcher (just meat and bone), he only weighed 42 lbs. Lol.

 

[wackinandstackin243]

Hitting a coues deer at 600 yds is a trophy in my book. Congrats. I've never hunted them,but they look challenging.

 

[Clark]

And great pics too.

 

[FEENIX]

I'm not a trophy hunter but all my hunts are trophies.

 

[Catahoula]

I would not complain about a 1/2 mile drag on a small buck. I caped, boned & packed my grandson's giant 5x6 mulie 2.55 miles in steep country here in Idaho.