200 Inch bucks, How many?

[YELUM]

A friend and I were discussing the luck we had had over the years seeing big deer, and the number of 200 incher we had filmed. That got me thinking, so I sat down(haha) and went through my memory bank and made a list. I came up with 24 bucks, that I know for sure break the 200 inch mark. I have film or Photographs of 23 of them. Only 2 of them exceeded 220. None of them were seen during hunting season.

Just wondering how that compares with you guys.

Yelum

 

[cjboz]

Thats 24 more than I have seen

 

[hornkiller]

hahahahahahaha

 

[YELUM]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-20-09 AT 10:27AM (MST)[p]I thought this post might be a little better with pic.

Yelum
These are the first two 200 inch bucks I had ever seen. My good friend picked up the sheds of the right buck, and the right shed off the left buck.

This is the largest framed deer I've ever seen.

This is the largest NT I've ever seen.

Friends picked up the sheds of the next two bucks, both scoring 204.

 

[rugarm77]

Nice pictures. I hear ya on the scouting part versus when the hunt opens. Prior to the opening of the archery hunt I scouted some nice bucks. They must know when the hunt starts cause they could not be found.

 

[losthuntr]

saw 2 pushing 200" this year, unfortunately they were both on unhuntable land, and the best one got poached during hunting season by a kid who didn't even have a tag

 

[sageadvice]

I don't believe that while hunting, i've ever seen a 200" buck that i could stalk or shoot at. I've been on a couple hunts with other guys that took that caliber of bucks on the same trip.

I seem to forever be the guy that sees lots of 160-180 class bucks and for the most part, i'll wait until later in the season, to end up taking one of those. Good on you guys that get into bucks like that! Seeing giants like that must be awesome, i just haven't and really can't complain much as i'd have to rate the hunting i've had all these years, as pretty darn good!

Joey

 

[bldrbuck]

Good stuff about hunt_chokehischicken....I've seen 3, one 243" monster killed by an aquaintance of mine unit 29 archery; and two this past season in a unnamed unit of Western Colorado...

 

[archeryguru]

Nice pictures those are awesome bucks. Ive seen lots of 200 inch deer in wintering grounds, but only had opportunity to harvest one.

[www.archeryguru.blogspot.com|archeryguru]

 

[oilcan]

YELUM great pictures.In 24 years hunting the Western states i would say i have only seen one that had a legitimate chance to break the 200" mark.Guess i"m not hunting the right areas.

 

[appleman]

Yellum-those are some great pics and great bucks-just curious which two are over 220-thru all the years I think I have only seen a few that would break 220 in or out of season. That is a great benchmark.

 

[mtngoat]

Yelum,

Fisrt off the "sat down" is classic!! Guess you have to know ya to really get that one! I would say I seen 5 or 6 that I was sure were over the magic number, and a handful of others that were close....
Better tag along with you to see a few more it sounds like!!

-Mtngoat

 

[hardhorn]

Lucky enough to have two of them on the wall, well one on the wall. I got one this year which will be on the wall. Both were public land, Utah and Colorado, no guides. Also been able to guide hunters to three others, on CWMUs. Nothing funner than big mule deer. I will say that it's easier to get a big mule deer on general units than to find a big bull on any open general areas. I mean a big bull that's at least 380 and up. That's why I have 13 points for elk here in Utah. I figure I can hunt hard and turn up a good buck with a little luck.

 

[ktg]

I've only ever seen 1. A non-typical monster on the Paus in 1997 standing in the middle of the highway about 10 miles east of Kanab at noon during the muzzleloader hunt. I'll never forget that.

 

[BCBOY]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-20-09 AT 10:19PM (MST)[p]I've been fortunate to kill 3 that gross right at or over 200. Only one of which nets over 200 though. I can think of 8 off the top of my head that I've encountered while hunting, 2 of which were over 220. While scouting in the off season, summer and winter, I've seen a good dozen or more that broke the 200 inch mark.
Here's some pics of a few BC 200 inchers.

 

[Adventurewriter]

Good Lord boys thaose are some great bucks...that palmated Bucks is waaaaaaaay cool....

 

[oz31p]

Yelum

i hate to be the one to say it but...the first few photos, im pretty sure those are elk, or at least some sort of hybrid.


my fav is not the biggest but the one laying down in the open in the snow.

 

[YELUM]

Appleman, the 6th picture in my origanal post is the largest of any buck I've seen, and I believe he's in the 225-230 range. The othe 220+ buck was a famous Salt Lake area buck that got smacked by a car. Not sure who took this picture of him in velvet, but I believe Founder has video of him on the monsterclips site. Many people put him in the 225 range.

Yelum

 

[shelbys]

This buck would have to go 200 Gross.

Didn't have my good camera the day I snapped these. I'm going back to find him this winter to get better quality pictures.

 

[bigmoose]

I've seen at least three. Two are on my wall and the other is on my godson's wall. His buck gross score is 232 with a 216 gross mainframe. Hope my luck continues..... moose

 

[Founder]

In my 23 years of hunting and scouting for big bucks, I think I have only seen 8 bucks over 200. I suck! I have killed 4 of them...a 228 10x11, 208 6x7, 207 7x7, and a 207 7x8.
Two of the others that I have seen don't really count, because one was the giant Beaver buck and the other was the one Yellum posted that lived at ATK. They don't count to me. Not the same as the others.
The other two that I have seen and did not get were in Wyoming. One I saw scouting and never found him hunting. He was about 210 with 9-10 points on each side. Someone else did kill him.
The other was also in Wyoming and I missed that buck on opening morning. He was a 6x7 I believe and about 205. Should have gotten that one!!

I can't think of any others that I have seen. I talk with people who see 200+ inchers all the time. Unfortunately, those guys usually never do get any of them though. ???? LOL

I will say though, I don't spend all that much time looking at deer in areas unless I can hunt there. Therefore areas I spend time in are less likely to hold extra big deer.
I would hope that if I spent more time in highly limited units, on high quality private ground and such that I would have a few more 200 inchers to mention, but I don't.

8, that's it, and only 6 really count!!! Those 6 are sure special memories though!!!!

Good thread Yellum. Brings back fun memories

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com

 

[eelgrass]

Yelum, you better sit down for this story. The only 200+ buck I've ever seen was in SE Idaho. I went up with a father/son friends of mine. It had just stopped snowing and my friends dad was parked in his truck in a saddle between two basins.(he was about 70 years old). Bob and I were hunting about 200 yards apart in one basin. We jumped a HUGE buck (at first I thought it was an elk!). It ran directly towards Bobs dad. Neither one of us had a shot.

As it got closer to his dad I watched through the binoculars. The buck ran to the saddle and turned to look back, not 50 yards from the truck. We kept waiting to hear a shot and watch it drop. Finally the buck turned and dropped over the other side. Gone.

On closer inspection we could see the windshield wipers flapping and exhaust comming out the back of the truck. Bobs dad had gone back to the truck to get warm and nodded off. He didn't believe our story until we showed him the deer tracks right in front of the truck.

We chased that buck the rest of the day, but never found him.

Eel

Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.

 

[YELUM]

Founder says he sucks, yet he is 50% on killing 200 inchers. lol
I don't think anyone sucks, that puts himself in an area that has 200 inchers, then finds them. And then shoots most of them. And none of them where guided.

Like I said, I've never seen one while hunting, so I'm gonna count them if I see em, as long as they aren't in a pen. One things for sure, I love looking at big muleys.

Yelum

 

[YELUM]

LMAO

Yelum

 

[HiMtnHntr]

Only one for me. Summer of 2005. This guy had a typical left side that was huge, probably approaching 90". The other side's typical frame was weaker, but he had few extras, including a 10" hook cheater off his back fork. Both sides had eyegaurds with extras, "chicken feet" style. If both sides were typical, his spread would have only been about 25", but his nontyp side flaired way out. I saw him at dusk in August, skylined. Never saw him again. There are a few places around here where you can go see a 200" buck, but they are non-hunting areas. I spend the majority of my time scouting areas I can hunt close to home where a 200" buck is a rare critter. The genetics are here to produce these kinds of deer, as is evidenced by the kind of deer that come off of private land, but buck tags are a dime a dozen, so few deer get to live to see that potential in public land areas.

 

[JakeH]

I have seen 2 3/4 200" bucks, I say 3/4's because the one was only 3/4 the way grew but I am sure he would go 200 when finished, Huge Frame with a bunch of extras just starting out.

The other two were some dandys, one was a 35" 4x7 with a 190+ frame and he had 3 points comeing up between the base of his G2 and the base of his G4, with webing in between all of them I figured him at about 215".

The other was a Monster 5x5 about 30-32 wide and is probly the tallest deer I have ever seen, I figured him into the 205-210 range.

I dont have proof on any of these, but I am fairly sure they would make it.
Never seen a 200"er during hunting season.

Have saw many that were close and may have broke the mark but am not sure of.

Jake H. MM Member since 1999.

 

[Coyote_chaser]

Back in the day when I was young in High School we used to drive up to the Heaton Ranch at night in the town of Alton and see some GIANT deer spotlighting. I had no idea about score back then, but they were big, great big. The only buck of that class I missed on the muzzleloader hunt back in the day when you hunted them the week of thanksgiving, I missed him at 15 yards broadside. My dad yelled at me and I walked back crying to the truck... Ah the memories...

 

[never_catch]

Best post I've seen in a while!! Great pics, especially the velvet ones!!

Over my life I'm not sure how many I've seen but I doubt I've seen more than 6 or 7 total...

I saw 2 for sure legit 200+"ers this year. 1 was a typical with no eye guards I was after the entire archery hunt (no luck), the other was nontypical that had more mass than anything I've ever seen in my life!! I was guiding a muzz hunter and I located a 2x4, 3x4, and 4x4 all feeding about, when they bedded down the hunter decided he wanted to kill the 2x4 because it was the coolest looking one in the group. We made our long stalk around, got in shooting position, and he was just about to sqeeze the trigger on the 2x4 when I whispered DON'T SHOOT!! I caught movement thru my binos above him to the left as this nontypical pushed thru the oak brush and all I can say is it took my breath away instantly!! I still have dreams about that buck...anyways he was an older hunter and couldn't really see the deer until they were moving and long story short he missed a hard shot with open sights on a giant on the move. I haven't seen that buck since and only got about 20 seconds to look at him but he was easily in the 215-220" neighborhood with 3 kickers on his right side and 2 on his left...I sure hope I can find him in the velvet next summer!! Crazy thing to me is I never saw him with 4 continuous months of scouting prior to that hunt. I have more days on the mountain this year than not and was only able to see him once...chances of seeing bucks like that are what get me out of bed at 4 in the morning and make a 2 to 3 hour hike in the dark worth it...

~Z~