How is shooting a deer off private land less honorable than shoting it off public land. The biggest deer I've ever taken was on taken public land in MT, but I don' hunt the area anymore. Instead, I like the relationships I've developed with the local landowners and the privelage of being trusted to hunt they're property. That in itself is more rewarding than even harvetsing a deer. With that being said though, I will never pay anyone to one private land. It seems to me most people who are against the private land hunters, have never put forth the effort to gain access.
Also, the comment about MT not having the genetics is absurd. The genetics are here, just not the age structure. Most 4 pt mule deer harvested are 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 year old deer, and do have pretty good sized horns for a deer that young, but that has nothin to do with genetics being the reason big deer aren't being shot. Just imagine what would happen if they could get 3 or 4 more years on them. Closing the season early would not help either, there are areas that this occurs in and the deer are no bigger than any other areas, and actually seem to be worse, in my opinion (mainly because of they pressure they receive). So saying all the big bucks are killed during the rut is ridiculous in itself. Something needs to be done though, maybe a draw system, for instance, like Canada has. It's amazing that wihin a matter of miles, along the border, our northern cousins grow huge bucks, and we can't. If I am correct they hunt during the rut in Canada, too. The genetics are here, we just shoot them as soon as they get 4 points.
I think the problem we have here is that our F&G manages for "opportunities" and not quality opportunities. More tags issued means more opportunities. Which, in itself is probably the worst thing at this moment that could be done, as it seems like in most areas the mule deer herd is suffering.
Anyway, I completely diverged from the original intention of this post but some of the comments have gottem me a little stirred up.
Congrats on the nice deer.