300 lb dressed muley??

sageadvice

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My Uncle was one Hell of a Buck hunter having taken many, many trophy muley bucks in and over the 180 class. He had a hard time though, when people claimed that their bucks dressed out over 300 pounds.

After him taking me hunting one year and myself killing my biggest buck to that date, i gave him as a present, a nice scale that would go that high. He said that he never killed one, i know that i never killed one, and i ain't seen one yet alive or dead that would.

How many of you guys have taken, or seen taken, a buck that they know went 300+ pounds field dressed out?? Thanks!

Joey
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-19-11 AT 07:12PM (MST)[p]I have also heard of deer that big. I shot a big buck on the Pavant one year. I know that field dressed, me and a buddy had a very hard time lifting the deer. I don't know what it weighed but I would guess that it was way over 200.
 
200+ on a lot of very mature whitetails and muleys is not unheard of by any means, but when you start talking 300 they are few and far between. The area that one might attain that weight would likely be where there is ag land they can take advantage of like alfalfa, corn, soybeans, etc. They can pack on some pounds with that type of feed, especially in an area that doesn't have harsh winter too often.
 
A good-sized cow elk dresses out at about 350 and I have never seen a deer that even approached that size.
 
It's a lot like most 400LB bears...

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I have seen one dressed that was easily 300lbs. I also weighed two deer a day or two apart from two brothers that weighed in dressed out at 173, and 176. They were weighed on a certified scale. There are a few out there. I have only seen the one that I know was over 300lbs. Did not weigh it but it was a considerable amount larger than the other two i mentioned.
 
300 pounds dressed out??? hahahah that would have to be one huge freakin deer. most muleys don't even way 300 lbs on the hoof with all their guts.




It was a big bodied 2 point.
 
Thanks guys for the posts!

Yeah, about the biggest i ever put on the hook was a donkey looking ol muley that was starting on his downhill side. I say donkey looking because of how big his head was and the overall length that buck was. We weighed him at 230 dressed. I think a good average for a 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 year old buck would go around 200 dressed??

I do know that the odd buck could hit that magic 300 dressed number but it would be one heck of a big bodied buck. They say the farther north you get the bigger the body mass. Maybe some of the more mature farm country bucks from Canada get that big...i don't know.

BTW, My Uncle said that the next time a guy told him that his buck weighed 320 and if they put him on the scale and he pegged it out at 300, he'd throw in with the guy, tip his hat, and give him the benefit of doubt! :)

Some pic's would be nice??

Joey
 
As stated before, I saw one hanging from a scale, field dressed, all four legs cut off at the joints - 311 pounds. 1967. The man who took me under his wing, took a buck back to CA, trimmed off a huge pile of fat that went on the floor of the locker plant and the cut and wrapped meat on a certified scale was 214 lbs. That was about 1956. Both of these bucks were taken near Blanding.
 
The old Utah's Biggest Bucks book said a place in Salt Lake had a weight contest for many years and the largest ever weighed was 294. They had a picture of the buck hanging next to the hunter and it was gigantic.
 
I killed one in the Madison Range, Montana in 1976. He weighed 306 lbs. without the lower legs. We cut him into 5 pieces and packed him out on two horses just like we would pack an elk out. He was a loner coming out of the back country. I spotted him the day before in a avalanche chute and found him lower on the same mountain just after sunrise the day I took him. It was 10 below that morning and he was pretty much frozen stiff by the time we got back to him with the horses. I could not get his tongue back in his mouth for the photos.

He has a 26 1/2 in. spread and scores right at 170. Still the heaviest buck I have taken. This was my first "big buck" and the first that I had mounted. The taxidermist was just blown away with the size of the cape. He mounted many bucks for me that were bigger horned but always brought up that first one when I came into his shop. Guess you just don't see many big bodied bucks.

Just for reference, I'm 6' 5" and weigh 250 lbs. in the photos.


Every hunting season you miss is one you can not make up
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-20-11 AT 08:57AM (MST)[p]http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos/6818big_mo.jpg

20841976_montana.jpg

These are the four quarters and the neck that I'm standing near.
974on_the_meat_pole.jpg





Every hunting season you miss is one you can not make up
 
me and a hunting partner hunted dixie national forest in 1978 and he killed a 7x6 buck that we couldn,t lift into my lifted 4x4 truck bed. we waited for some hunters to come by. finnaly a jeep can and helped use lift it in the bed. back at the ranch on a certifed cattle scale,without guts,weighed 321 lbs. my friend got 31 pints of pressured cooked meat from the neck alone.
 
Yes, they are out there but you would probably have a better chance at shooting a 200" net typical. In Minnesota they have big buck contests for weight at nearly every gas station and sporting goods store. The biggest I ever heard of winning was 275lbs. This was in Exteme northern MN, so if you went into southern or western MN where there are more crops there might have been some that reached 300lbs.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
My dad killed a buck in Colo. 1964 that was huge had 5 inches of fat over the back right in front of the hams. WE took the buck to a locker In Grand Juction, when we went to pick it up the butcher told us we were taking out a elk we told him look at the fat on it elk at that time of the year have very little fat. This deer was almost as big as several of the smaller elk in there.I killed a hude buck in New Mexico, This deer was placed over the hood of a old military jeep and his legs almost touched the ground on each side. This deer was 37 1/2 wide and was mounted on a small elk frame. Kilowatt has posted him on here several times. a good friend of mine, his uncle killed a buck on the Uncompadre about 1960 that the F@G in Colo weighed in G.J. He got a brass plaque from them weight field dressed was 408lbs. I'm sure this can be verified. If someone is interested in trying to verify this, P.M. and I will give you his name.Had a second uncle who killed two very large deer up in Sage's country back in the 30's that suppousedly weighed 385 and 405. I know this sounds like bs but I know there are some huge deer up there in Northern Cal. There used to be a blacktail deer in a pen on the south end of Alturus that weighed over 300lbs. live weight. Talked to the bio. there he said it was because of the feed, he said that feed that has a short growing season has a lot more nutrients than a area with a longer growing season,I know that they took some mule deer from up there and brought them to the Hopland field station near Ukiah and these deer weren't much larger then the native blacktail.
 
My old man killed one in 92' that is the biggest bodied deer i've ever seen it was the size of a good cow elk with the head and hide still on I'm sure it went well over 300, It was pushing it dressed out I'll have to ask him if he weighed it.
 
WoW Bigmoosie!! I've seen those pic's that Kilo posted for you and was very impressed to say the least so i figure that you have no need to exaggerate. I would though like to see that 400 lb dressed buck! :) Thanks for posting the other instances and the above pic's too, very humongo!

My buck from Wy in 2009 wasn't all that rack wise but he was fully mature and my studly partner and i had a heck of a time getting him up on the quad rack once we got him down off the mountain. I dropped off the front portion at Idaho Grocery in Susanville to have it processed into burger. Skinned, head off, and trimmed out clean, that front half, ribcage forward, weighed 90 pounds on the hook. Don't know what he would have field dressed, but he was a good sized critter.

Joey
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-20-11 AT 03:52PM (MST)[p]264 mag (Walt) sent this to me in an email and asked that I post this picture for him! This is the messaage he sent along with the photo:
How is everything going? The weather has been horrible out here.I thought you could post this picture of my muley,it is the biggest body deer I have ever gotten.I wish I would have weighed it.2006 I shot a nice buck on the kaibab that was weighed at jacob lake 220lbs.I know this deer was a lot bigger.I have never seen a 300lb field dressed deer.
Walt 264 mag.

4477dscn0462.jpg
 
I helped drag a buck that scored 216 a few years back. Myself and 2 other guys fought to get him to the truck. At the processor, his carcass weight was 292. I have seen a couple as big as him in that area of the state, but nowhere outside of it. Most of the deer I touch are 225 or so live weight. I do want to start putting scales to everything just so I can back up my own observations, and not be a blow hard.
 
I saw ONE LIVING buck that I believe would have been that big.

I killed one that weighed 242 without his head, neck or forelegs (estimated at 750 while dragging him) and the biggest-bodied deer I ever killed was 202 at the butcher...no hide, nohead, no neck, no forelegs, bullet holes "trimmed" and pounds of fat cut off. It was a LONG walk to the truck and my brother and I didn't want to carry anything we didn't have to (yes, I've since learned about boning but that was when I was young and dumb).


Within the shadows, go quietly.
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-20-11 AT 09:53PM (MST)[p]It would be interesting to have a butcher or two from Northern Alberta or Sask. share some of the weights that have shown up in their shops over the years. They say the further north you go the large the body size. Seems to hold true for moose.

In 1965 I killed a whitetail out on the Red Deer River in Alberta that field dressed 213 lb.at the F&G scales. I saw a mule deer that same weekend that made this whitetail look like a yearling. Over the years I've seen some right good deer dead and alive on the Pauns, the Henrys, the Pahvant, etc, nothing I've seen has ever come close to that freak on the Red Deer. If there are 400lb (dressed) muley deer, I believe he may have been one.

DC
 
By the way, the outstanding wildlife artist Brent Todd has painted a bunch of them. Every critter Brent lays on canvas is pack'en the protein.

I love his art but just say'en, healthiest examples of the species.

DC
 
I know there are some huge deer but in general the guys that talk all the talk about 300 lb deer are the same ones that talk the 200" bucks all the time.
 
I believe Leonard Lerue (sp) in his deer book mentions about the 400# Modoc mule deer. If memory serves me correct, he also blabs about an unheard of 500# whitetail???
 
@gb22- "(estimated at 750 while dragging him)" LOL- made me spit out some Mountain Dew...!!! I think we could all say the same after a long day of hunting then dragging out a deer...
:D :D :D



"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
MY BIGGEST MULEY WAS IN 2003 I SHOT A HEAVY HORNED 5X5 IN NORTHERN UTAH THAT WITH THE HIDE AND HEAD OFF WEIGHED 209 BUT IN 2005 I SHOT A 15PT WHITETAIL IN NORTHERN ALBERTA LESSER SLAVE LAKE TO BE EXACT THAT WAS OVER 400LBS LIVE WIEGHT AND JUST OVER 300LBS FULLY DRESSED IT TOOK 4 OF US TO LOAD HIM AND WE HAD AN 8FT BED IN THE TRUCK AND WITH HIS BUT TOUCHING THE FRONT OF THE BED I HAD TO BEND HIS NECK TO SHUT THE TAILGATE
 
3859170.jpg


I shot this butterball a few years ago in Colorado. I am 6'4" and go about 250 in this picture. I didn't have him weighed as I had to bone him out to bring him home. He was just plain a big fat buck.

Rich
 
The biggest one I seen field dressed weighed 264 and was from Modoc county in 1965...he looked like your buck rich....the biggest one I've weighed whole was 237....I've killed a couple here in Wyoming that I have quartered and packed out a horseback that were bigger...
 
Pictures don't prove anything... Scales at a processor don't prove anything... Word of mouth doesn't prove anything... Someone I know shot a 210 Typical, until it came time to have it officially scored... Oh, I don't need to score it he said, I already know what it scores... It didn't even score 180" B&C... I know when I shoot something in the back country, by the time I get it out it weighed 1000 pounds!!! I'm not saying it's impossible, but it is funny how the bullshit flies... Remember fat doesn't weigh as much as muscle... So he may appear to be huge because of that extra layer of fat and heavy coat...
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-22-11 AT 07:21AM (MST)[p]Chadderbox....."Scales at a processor don't prove anything." So the only thing you would accept is what? A certified postal scale? Or maybe two independent certified postal scales?

Eel
 
^ha!

nah Eel, them big porkers gotta be weighed on THREE certified scales, then take the average....ONLY way to know for sure :)
 
That's not what I'm saying... Yes scales at processors can be off... People exaggerating what a scale says, yes... Just like look at this picture, so what... All examples... That's why there are official scorer's... I work at a wild game plant, I know what goes on... It's easy to post any BS you want...
 
this one come in at 197lb at the locker not bad for a cali desert buck.He looked big hanging next to all the other cali muley/blacktail cross bucks.
55463275lorysbuck068.jpg
 
ya Chadder, i was just givin ya hell...i actually agree with you 100%

while i don't think there's necessarily any of that going on right now, there are quite a few goofy fools around here that will spray some outright BS, see how many fall for it, and if anyone busts em, say it was all just a cute little prank

i'm not sure what sort of bizarre satisfaction such characters gain from such a despicably childish pracice, but it definitely works to dilute and devalue the intercommunication of real information

Have i ever seen a confirmed dressed 300 pounder with my very own eyeballs? Nope

Do I have any doubts that such bucks exist? again, Nope, not at all
 
Some BS simply requires rubber boots to get thru....For this thread you need chest waders!

"whackin' a surly bartender ain't much of a crime"
 
The heaviest weight that a Dr Trusman of Adin CA could vouch for a rockey mt. buck from Modoc co. dressed 380 pounds live weight estimate was 456 pounds. Another hog dressed buck weighed 350 pounds for an estimated live weight of 320 pounds, another buck from Shasta co. CA was 308 pounds dressed, live weight of 400. Gilbert Hunter a State game manager of CO. has verified the weight of 2 mule deer a CA hunter O.I.Ranch shot a monster muley near Meeker dressed weight 360 pounds estimated live weight 359 pounds In 1938 Hunter weighed a buck taken by Lawrence Rowe near Ellens Peak, Co hog dressed weights of 410 pounds live weight 522 pounds.If some of you guys wouldn't shoot the first forked horn you see maybe you would find a big deer. I feel some of these smart remarks were aimed at me, so I'm giving you guys a little information to go on. If some of you guys werent so skepical all the time you might learn something. I have no reason to Bs dont care want most of you think. I have killed more than my share of big mule deer,more than most of you will ever see. I was lucky enough to live and hunt when a guy could just go and buy a tag over the counter and could hunt from Aug to late Dec. in a lot of these states. The facts above were from a book by Leonard LaRue if you doubters would like to learn something.
 
big moosie you are the only one I have ever hear of telling a story of a big buck that weighed more after taking his guts out than before! 350 to 320? must have been a type-O.




It was a big bodied 2 point.
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-22-11 AT 04:13PM (MST)[p]I saw a real monster bodied buck once, My wife and I looked over a rim rock and saw a tall thin horned three point with 6 fawns in a depression, I couldn't understand 6 fawns and no does, but thats what I saw, she decided to shoot at about 175 yds, with the shot they all dissapeared and eventually the fawns came out of the pinions, no buck, so went went over to where they were and sadly he jumped up in front of us and took off through the trees. Where he laid there were big chips of shoulder bone and blood, his tracks were bigger than a calf elk, by far the biggest I have ever seen, the fawns were apparently does, he was a giant. We tracked him, saw him a few more times in the trees and eventually lost him, sad deal, my wife didn't hunt anything for 7 years after that. In hindsight I realize we made some mistakes in the followup, she was shooting a 308 with 150 gr. partitions, and the shot must have hit the shoulder bone and didn't reach the vitals, sad deal, I still feel bad.
 
bigmoosie, I wasn't pointing at anyone... I was just saying it's not as common as everyone makes it sound... Is it possible, sure...
 
I have seen a 173 lb. dressed purebred blacktail from inside the B&C boundary, it was weighed on a certified scale at the local fishery so very accurate. He looked like a short muley.

So I don't doubt a 300 lb. muley is possible but I have never seen one . Biggest was probably 260 or so (guess) at a hanging station in Montpelier ID in 1989, that thing dwarfed everything else in there.

Bill

Look out Forkie, FTW is watching us!
 
What the name of this book, bigmoosie? I can't find anything about a Dr. Trusman or Leonard LaRue... Cause I would like to learn something... Just one other note, I hope your'e not a poacher because I see a lot of big mulies... jk
 
I have no personal knowlege of any 300 lb. mule deer, but if you guys ever get the chance to see a copy of "Colorado's Biggest Bucks and Bulls", in the back there is a photo of a buck hanging next to a bull elk and a smaller mule deer. If there was ever a 400lb mule deer, that's one of them. It's just a photo, no mention of the weight. I sold my copy or I would try to scan the photo.:)

My father-in-law killed a blacktail (right on the coast) back in the early 50's. At the time everyone thought it was the biggest buck they had ever seen. They took it to the meat locker. The guy who ran the meat locker thought it was big also. He started cutting it up and when he got done, the cut up packages weighed 162. He was so surprised he called the newspaper and the newspaper ran a short article telling of the weight. My father-in-law kept the article and I read it about 1970. After he died it disappeared, of course. I never saw it again.

Eel
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-23-11 AT 11:29AM (MST)[p]chadderbox---He is talking about Leonard Lee Rue III, who is probably one of the most well known wildlife photographers of our time!!! PS: That last sentence of your post was a real cheap shot IMHO and was uncalled for!!!
 
>LAST EDITED ON Mar-23-11
>AT 11:29?AM (MST)

>
>chadderbox---He is talking about Leonard Lee
>Rue III, who is probably
>one of the most well
>known wildlife photographers of our
>time!!! PS: That
>last sentence of your post
>was a real cheap shot
>IMHO and was uncalled for!!!
>

+1

horsepoop.gif


Disclaimer:
The poster does not take any responsibility for any hurt or bad feelings. Reading threads poses inherent risks. The poster would like to remind readers to make sure they have a functional sense of humor before they visit any discussion board.
 
I saw a buck in a MT meat store in '73 that was 295 on the scale,field dressed.Biggest muley I ever saw. I know a CA butcher that goes to OH to hunt whitetails on a family farm,and they are huge,around 300 lbs he says. I do know they taste good.
 
I said just kidding!!! He can throw out I've killed more big bucks than most of you have ever seen and that's cool... Any way I apologize...
 
Is that kind of like you're a rope sucker. LOL I'm only kidding deal. Sorry Chatter I was only kidding too.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
I can guarantee that comment would at least apply to me, LOL, but let's just stick to the subject!!!
 
Yeah guys. Mossie's accomplishments are well documented in these pages and his opinions and comments are highly regarded. As always though, thoughts and comments are subjective. Please take them for what you pay for them and move on.

Two pards and i made the late night haul up to a remote cinder pit basin a little north and east of Big Bend Ca late one season from the Bay area. We got there right before daylight and packing in, by 9 am the three of us had good bucks on the ground. One of them though had to be over 200 lbs dressed. We didn't have a way to scale him but he appeared to be as long and heavy as any Muley buck i've ever taken. They were all good mature bucks but the one was just freakishly big bodied, nice rack too, and simply stood way out over the other two nice bucks we took on that quick trip??

Joey
 
Heard they had one down by Flagstaff in the 70's, that had attacked and bred 2 dairy cows and gored to death a Holstein bull!

The farmers killed it and made 800 pounds of jerky. They said it weighed about 1000 lbs. standin'. Took 18 rounds of .338 to put it down.

They had no photos or anything, so I didn't buy the story, but it would not be polite to just call "BULLCHIT" on someone.

Did anybody else hear about this? Supposed to have killed several hunters during the full moon, before it was finally taken.

"whackin' a surly bartender ain't much of a crime"
 
IMHO !! I have been in the hunting business in Colorado for a long time. I have cleaned and packed more deer and elk than I care to remember . I have never seen a buck field dressed that would go over 200#s !
I think a 300 pound deer is like a 20 pound goose fun to talk about but as likely as Bigfoot!!!!
 
Eel I can't even fathom a coast buck that big! Even if you figure 50% yield which is a little high IME that bruiser was over 300 lbs.dressed!!!

I read a book once about the Tillamook burn in OR and after the burn started growing back they killed some HUGE bucks up there. I don't remember exact weights but it seems as though they spoke of over 400 lb, BLACKTAILS!!

Bill

Look out Forkie, FTW is watching us!
 
Bill, on a personal level I think there must have been some kind of mix up. My father in law got 162 lbs of meat and some other guy only got about 23 lbs.:) It is a true story though.

Eel
 
Cocatchaser, I'm surprised by your comment, "I have been in the hunting business in Colorado for a long time. I have cleaned and packed more deer and elk than I care to remember . I have never seen a buck field dressed that would go over 200#s"

Just double checking, did you mean to say 200#?.

Joey
 
I know what I have seen. I fyou have not seen a deer that big it does not mean they are not out there. I work part time in a butcher shop. The scales have to be certified. Oh, and cheddarbox, at this butcher shop you will only get meat back from your own animal! I will stand by that 100%
 
They must exist. I have not seen one but I spend most of my time in Maine with whitetails not muley. Over the years I have taken three whitetails that have field dressed over 200 lbs the biggest one at 250 on the dot. All of them were on certified scales. I have always thought muleys tend to be bigger? I assume it varies by area as Maine whitetails are way bigger than one from Mississippi.

Off the top of my head I believe the state record here is 355 lbs. In the northeast B&C or P&Y score is a "new" thing and for generations the only thing that mattered was field dressed weight so lots of records are kept.

400 or even 300 lbs mule deer are rare if I was to guess but there is no doubt they are there. 300 lbs whitetails here are rare but one to two are taken every year(out of 18000 deer) I also agree that most "200 lbs" deer that I have seen would go closer to 150-175 if ever put on a scale......
 
Sage why you surprised by my answer? I meant 200 pounds without guts! Sorry I talk to alot of goose hunters that shoot 20 pound geese until you pull out a scale and it ways 12 or 13 pounds!!!!
Most of the deer we shoot are out of alfalfa or other hay fields so they are well fed.
 
Every year we heard about one or two that top mark But these are Huge Whitetail bucks that are cornfed, Deeper the snow the bigger the deer get most 130 lb deer can't handle the deep snow in bad snow winters(like this year).Big WT's are like a cornfed cows they sometimes put on the mass. My family usually will get one or two that are close to 200 every year. I could see a few muley making it to that mark each year in some out of the way place i haven't seen any that made it pass that 260# mark.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
Cocatchaser replied, "Sage why you surprised by my answer? I meant 200 pounds without guts!"

OK, I'm surprised that with your experience, you haven't come across one yet that would go 210, 225, or maybe even 240. They definitely are out there and some do get taken every year in other areas. My thoughts are that the area, of most of your experience, just doesn't produce that heavy of bucks.

Joey
 
Sage you show me one on a scale and I will be a believer. I have not seen one in the 30 years I have work and guided for many outfitters. I have also never seen a 1000 pound elk or a 20 pound goose or Bigfoot!! So once again in my humble opinion I don't believe in 300 pound gutted mule deer
 
Sage
Take a midol and take it easy!!! Their is no such thing as a dressed out 300 pound mule deer period!!!!
I would bet we see a 300 pound Bigfoot before you see a 300 pound muley !!!
Good night off to dream about 20 pound geese
Sorry to everyone else about having to try to explain my position on this subject
 
I've seen a couple few bucks that I've called elk deer because of their disproportional size relative to their mature companions in summer groups who generally would have an estimated live weight of 250-300# based on boneless yields

I've never had the opportunity to weigh an entire dressed carcass...but I don't know if I could put them elk bucks at the 4+ in would take to dress out over 300

but like I said before, I do not doubt that such bucks exist....it seems I have heard of SK muley bucks well exceeding 400 on the hoof?

anyway, one of them dudes would certainly be one hell of a big deer
 
Cocatcather,if you havent seen a 200 lb. dressed mule deer you should tell where you hunt at so we won't waste our time hunting there.
 
Cocatcharer, me take a midol? Oh boy, you're funny!

Look, you had your say here and i'm trying to be nice. Move on to where someone might believe you but don't try to put many here, me included, down as liars. Maybe YOU need to take the midol.

I know not what a big goose weighs
I don't care what a bull elk weighs
i don't really believe in bigfoots
But 200 lb dressed bucks are really no big deal!

Joey
 
We leased a ranch near Meeker Colo. for 15 years or so had as many as 14 hunters there some years. We always weighed our bucks fully dressed meaning everything out including the windpipe. everyone would put a dollar in the pot and guess. Winning bucks were always over 200lbs. from 205-247 as I remember. It takes a nice buck to weigh 200 dressed, but by no means is this a monster. Like the buck that someone mentioned in Utah's biggest bucks, If you don't think that deer is over 200, can't help you.We killed several bucks in Alberta that the guides said were 300, I dont think so but I would give odds of about a 100-1 that they were over 200. Years ago a couple of my hunting partners used Redfied scopes with the stadia hair reticles in them these were based on a 18inch chest so every deer we killed the first thing we done was to measure the chest. A nice 41/2 year old mule deer will have a chest measurement of appox. 19 inches. These deer if in good shape will weigh very close to 200 dressed,We have killed bucks with up to 26 inch chests. THey are freaks of nature all the time. Like my fried a old B.C scoreralways says a B.C. deer is like a 7 ft. man not a lot of them but they are out there.
 
Sage you my friend have said plenty ! You started in on me I voiced my opinion on a post I have a great deal of knowledge . I am sorry if I rubbed you the wrong way. You sure have strong feelings about the subject.
You believe what you want and good luck killing a 300 pound deer.
We kill deer from north of meeker ( wilson creek) to the Wyoming line
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-24-11 AT 09:16PM (MST)[p]Cocatchaser, Do you call, "Just double checking, did you mean to say 200#?." starting in on you? Your statement sounded odd from a guy who has the experience that you claim to have. That's why i asked.

Yes, i have very strong feelings that big Muley bucks can and do go over 200 pounds dressed. That is a fact, you liking it or not.

I never, not once said i killed, my uncle or family killed, or anyone else killed a scaled 300 pound deer. In fact, please read again my original post #1. i bought the scale to my Uncles belief, to prove that 300 pound bucks don't grow on trees, if at all. Your statement was about 200 pound bucks though, that's why i asked and double checked, "started in on you" as you say.

Write this down; i was curious if 300 pound dressed muley bucks exist. That's why this thread. You say no, fine, move on!

Joey
 
Sage thanks for the fun little debate. I oneday hope to way a hanging buck over 200 then I will consider myself a made man. If this happens it will be one in about 2000 I have helped in hanging.
I might not know everything about mule deer but I damn sure know enough
 
For the record I think most of us think of a field dressed buck as one that has been gutted, including lungs and windpipe, and the legs cut off at the knees. Some leave the legs on which might add another 6-10 lbs.?

CoCatchaser, does that help? A 200lb. field dressed muley is a good buck but not exceptional.

Eel
 
Sage you are a piece of work my opinions are mine and yours are yours. You must be a great hunter or atleast with 5000 + post a great typer!
Good luck with all the snow remember when shoveling lift with your knees not your back!!!
 
I was thinking along the same line Eel, some terms are regional and maybe Cocat is talking skinned and head off??

I killed a 3 point when I was about 14 in CA x-zones and we entered him in the big buck contest in Lookout CA and he didn't place but with forelegs off was 196 lbs. I do forget what the scale was but I think it was a shipping scale, point is he didn't place so I am pretty sure the ones that did broke 200. I have since killed 3 deer that I KNOW were bigger than that buck but only weighed one at 225lbs. in ID. Have killed about 3 or 4 more that I THINK might be bigger.

200 lb. mulies are pretty common IMO (using Eel's guideline above) but I have not seen one that would break 300 which in no way means they don't exist.


Bill

Look out Forkie, FTW is watching us!
 
Bill, funny you should mention Lookout, CA. Back in the late 60's or early 70's I used to scull Roberts Reservoir for geese. One day I was sculling on some Specs that were right next to shore. On the shore behind the geese was a big non-typical muley buck. My gosh he was huge. I ended up getting some geese, but all I could look at was that buck. It was mid November prime rut time. Funny the things that stick in your mind after all these years.

By the way, I didn't weigh it, but one of the geese I shot that day weighed 25 lbs. I bet!:)

Eel
 
I know that Reservoir! I snuck the edge for geese a couple of times. I have seen some big bucks over in Modoc county.Are you calling 25 lbs. with or without feathers?
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-25-11 AT 03:29PM (MST)[p]Here's one that dressed out at 438 pounds. Luckily we were able to drive right to him then take him to a certified scale. For perspective my friend is 6'-12" and weighs just over 340 pounds.

muledeer.jpg
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-25-11 AT 03:57PM (MST)[p]That's a DINK/PISSCUTTER F'er!

Many Moons ago I read in a Magazine(can't remember which one?)a Guy in Colorado near Ellens Park,in the 1930's took a Buck that weighed just over 400 lbs dressed and they figured it weighed near 525 on the Hoof!

Don't know if this was official?

I do know Bucks back in the 60's & 70's had bodies averaging 3 times the weight of these modern day TARDville Bucks/PISSCUTTERS of today!

I guess Cocatchaser ain't old enough to remember the 'good ole days'?:D








I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
:p
 
I would give anything to see a 500 pound muley !!! It would be as big as most 3 year old bull elk.
I'm not old enough to remember the old days but I think these days are good. Hopefully your Utah deer make a comeback so their will be good days for all of you. Then maybe all the hunters from California will stop in the beehive state !!! Lol
 
Them KALI boys don't let TARDville bend them over forever!

Our Deer will never come back to what they once were!

And Yes!

Once upon a time there were Bucks as Big as small Bull Elk stomping around in TARDville!

We'll never see that again!

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
:p
 
It is amazing how some guys will not admit that a mule deer could weigh 300 lbs. field dressed. It is more amazing that a guy could guide in Colorado for many years and not see a buck that field dressed over 200 lbs. That just reassures my thoughts on some outfitters. Bigmoosie is right, I would not want to hunt where he guides either. Some guys are so oppinionated that they don't want to be confused with facts.

I've also seen two other bucks that would make or be near the 300 lb. mark, both from Colorado. One in 1981 and the other in 2004. We weighed the 2004 buck on a Cabelas scale but did not have the scale tied high enough. The scale read 275 lbs. with the head still on the ground. 6X7 may know the taxidermist who mounted this buck. The cape was huge.

There are still a few of these giants around even in todays' times.

Moose


Every hunting season you miss is one you can not make up
 
Yeah, Bigmoose, i agree, some guys...

When i started this thread, i had no idea that it would approach 100 posts but it has. Really, was hoping that someone here would have been able to post up some documentation, maybe a couple pictures where big bucks were weighed as part of a contest or something similar. Still though, it's been interesting complete with a pissen match and all.

I come from an area that we had excellent Blacktail hunting while i was growing up. It was that way until i left there some 27 years ago. I generally took the bigger if not the biggest buck off our ranch each year and most of those would at least place in our local big buck contests.

Our average blacktail would field dress out near 80 pounds. Most of those that i took would go 90-100+, and a very few # would dress near the 120 pound mark. Imagine my surprise when i got a bit more knowledge and experience to find out that in other places, a big Blacktail might dress as much as 150 pounds, or more. That's how it goes sometimes! Thanks all!

Joey
 
Wow a 300 pound dressed muley. You would think someone would have proof!!!
We have killed bucks that push the 200 inch mark that weigh under 200 pounds on the rack! Like I said everyone has a opinion that is what hunting is all about.
 

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