POPEYE.

fatrooster

Long Time Member
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I've got several videos with Popeye the mule deer in them. It was great to see how he evaded hunters for years. Whatever became of him? Did some lucky hunter finally harvest the monster? Or did he die of old age? Or maybe he's still out there passing along his genes. fatrooster.
 
I believe he died of old age. If I remember right, he as last seen at winter range in about 95 or so and hasn't been seen since.
 
I have heard several people say he died of old age.It's amazine that as many yahoo's were looking for him and his sheds that knowone ever found him dead.
 
The picture of Popeye on the cover of "Wyoming's Finest Mule Deer" was taken by a Albert Ellis of Jackson Hole on the winter range in 1996.

Brian
 
If my memory serves me right, I remember reading or hearing of a hunter who thought he knew which high basin Popeye was living in back there.
The hunter went in there an spent the whole Archery season glassing and hunting for Popeye, never seen him. Then turns around and came back in there again for the whole rifle season, same tactic and still no sight of him.
That winter Popeye came out of there headed to his normal wintering ground.
Popeye, the Gray Ghost.

Brian
 
A very good friend of mine ( also a guide) saw popeye 2 times during the summer in a high alpine basin, 1 time was around Sept. 1, only 2 weeks from the opener, We hunted for him an entire season and never saw him. Mike Brownlee also was after him the same year and I believe they did see him and a hunter got 3 shots off at him, missing all 3 times.
I also heard rumour of popeye being hit by a trucker in Nugget canyon, could explain why no one found him or his last years sheds.
M/C
 
Ed Boe picked up both sides of his sheds in 1997 and stated that Popeye looked thin and frail. After a hard late spring snow storm he was believed to have died.
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-08-04 AT 03:33PM (MST)[p]I just received this statement from David Long of Magnum Mulies who states:
Brian,

Popeye's remains were not found. Ed boe picked up his last
set in early January of 1997. At that time, he did not look
to healthy. He did not show the following year, so it is
assumed that he died shortly after shedding. He was indeed
sighted in the high country by one person that I know of.
That person was Mark McCord. Mark took photos of him in
velvet. After those photos came out, several people claimed
that they had seen Popeye, some even claimed to have shot
at him. Most of them, if not all of them, are full of crap.
Mark was the only one with proof.

Dave
 
Thanks for the clarification Kilowatt.

Michael~All Gods creatures welcome... right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I wonder if that buck Mike Brownlee has in last months Hunting Illustrated is related to Popeye.
Nevertheless, Popeye was a goodun'. fatrooster.
 
Popeye was a heck of a buck, one dreams are made of and rumors fly about. Hopefully his gene's will show up again soon.
 
How can a buck like this go unharvested his whole life when so many people were looking for him? Makes me wonder if he was wintering in someones back yard. The fact that he evaded all of those people until his death just makes him that much more of a great buck. fatrooster.
 

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