How many of you have seen......

zeddro

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How many of you have seen a 200 inch buck?

I was thinking that I may never see a 200 inch deer my whole life, let alone get a shot at one. I'm not willing to wait to draw those premium tags, and so I was thinking how many 200 inch deer are roaming around on public over the counter tag areas?

So, be honest How many have truly seen a 200 incher?

and

Where did you see it? (not specifics, unless you want, just STATE)
 
I've seen a few!

Never where or when I can Hunt them though!

They are so damn Rare that it's beyond belief!

Hunted my whole Life for that Special one for the wall,I haven't got him yet & it ain't lookin good!


I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
 
For sure a true 200 incher is one rare animal on most hunts and in most areas though thru the years I have missed two of them with my muzzleloader and shot a couple with my rifle and even passed a couple with rifle and tag in hand --- but that is certainly one rare animal during the open season!!!
 
Two for sure. One in Wyoming and one in Colorado (which I shot). Now, neither of these were in "over the counter" areas but the Colorado only took one point and the Wyoming was an easy draw tag (before they implemented points). I think 200 inchers are around if the area you are hunting has the genetics. This buck was 201" (green, gross). Don't believe in nets so I hope this qualifies.
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-05-11 AT 04:21PM (MST)[p]During the hunts with a tag in hand I have seen 2 for sure because we scored them. One in 2008 that a buddy killed and one this year that now has a new home on my wall! :)
 
I've seen two running together in a place that isn't supposed to have 'em, missed a shot at one about six years ago.
But then the tape weren't on the horns either.
I'm hurting every time this subject rears it's ugly head.

:)
 
Are you talking about a true 200 inch typical? Net or gross?

There are some guys on here that take some smoker bucks. But the "average guy"... I bet never sees a 200 inch typical. Not sure I ever have. Most people would have absolutely nothing to reference as to what a 200 incher is. So unless it's on the ground, officially measured, I bet very few.

(Bess, for the record, I'm not questioning you :) don't want everyone getting their diapers in a wad)
 
I think I have seen two but not positive, if not 200 they were close, 190" or higher. They were both typicals with just a couple inches of stickers. (gross scores) no way were they 200" net.

The closest I ever shot was 197" gross. When I originally seen him before season it was a poor look quartering away in a little brush. Couldn't really tell how big for sure that day and I guessed him at 185" gross from 100 yards away with binocs. Great surprise to find him 12" bigger :) when I finally got to measure him.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-05-11 AT 06:13PM (MST)[p]ive seen a few, I was even lucky enough to kill a 207" buck in 2008. i agree with velvetmonster nets are for fishes not muleys.
 
I have seen a handful, but the ones I am sure of were on the Henry's... Can't honestly say that I have seen one anywhere else that I would be sure of.
I have seen some great bucks around, but nothing like those down on the Henry Unit.
 
I have seen at least 7 of them. Three were on a fairly-easy limited-entry tag (NEVER thought of as premium). The other 4 were OTC tags; all on public land. I killed three of them.


Within the shadows, go quietly.
 
I've been on two hunts where another in the party got a +200" buck, i've watched my hunting partner come home with 200" bucks, and i've put my time in where 200" bucks live. I've just never even seen one, for sure, while i was hunting with tag in pocket.

My nitch unfortunately or fortunately, depends how you look at it, has been to end up coming home thru the years with a bunch of 160-180" class bucks, mostly taken the last day or two of the hunt.

I ain't done yet though! :)

Joey
 
Just so you know NVB!

I have seen a few,never said I ever got any of them because I haven't!

It ain't lookin good!

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
 
I have seen a couple that would break the mark, just never during the season. One of the days maybe.


I'll tell you who it was . . . it was that D@MN Sasquatch!
 
I've been hunting for 25 years and I have seen 1. Shot 5 times and nicked him. Followed specks of blood for 3 days over about a mile and never found him. Wide, heavy, tall and a clean 4x4. The memory of him haunts me every day.
 
Ive seen my fair share here in wyoming but most of them were on the winter range i have only seen one while hunting but never got a shot off.
 
This is crazy, I must suck cause a lot of peeps have seen them.

Curious of the people that have gotten one, was it with a bow?

That is the ultimate. 200 hundred incher, in velvet, with a bow.
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-05-11 AT 09:12PM (MST)[p]About 10 years ago I drew an average le tag in Idaho. We had hunted all morning and back tracked to where we had came from. We stopped and stood there talking and not paying attention too much.

All of a sudden several does got up from some really high sage brush. I put the scope up and found one of the "does" was a decent 4 point. However, it took our glass to see the rack.

Then, a giant buck stands up. All the deer split with this giant buck taking his own route. I did not need a scope to see it was a buck! I thought the shot was too far so I passed. We tried to track it in the cedars but never saw it again. After evaluating again, after the fact, we had got closer than we actually thought. I probably was 5-600 hundred yard yards away. I'm still sick over it. I should have shot.


I've seen some other really big bucks but usually it was in the off season!
 
Ive seen and hunted quite a few that will gross over 200" Not so sure Ive seen a buck that I could hunt that will net over 200 though.

A few of the big tropicals I have hunted that were killed did net in the low to mid 190's

Most of the bucks I do see that will go over the 200" mark are the trash factor bucks or bucks that wont make either category.

This is why I say nets are for fish.

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Can't say for sure but if not he was dang close. Had tag in pocket but it was the day before the hunt. Tallest, widest, and heaviest 4 point
I have ever seen dead or alive.
 
I have probably seen over 30.Sure I will be questioned about this but I started hunting mule deer in 1963 and was always pretty much a trophy hunter,was carrying a spotting scope back in the early 60's most people weren't even using glasses then. Missed several of these,wish I would have had a range finder. Hunted as many as 5 states in a year as I was in construction and didn't work much in the late fall and winter.Ate a lot of tags as I didn't really care if I killed one or not unless it was big as I always had plenty of blacktail to eat. For those of you who think I don't know what a 200 inch buck looks like I have been scoring bucks since the early 70's.I have only seen two deer that I have thought were over 40wide out of several thousand.
 
One for sure in Idaho a few years ago, 220+ nontypical, still kicking myself!
 
I've seen at least four. Two are on by wall, a 200 and a 213. One is on my partner's wall, a 232 and the other I missed.

Moose


Every hunting season you miss is one you can not make up
 
I have seen a couple maybe three but it is hard to tell without putting a tape to them and I am talking gross.

One in CO the day before season on a LE tag, we also saw 3 or 4 185 to 195 gross typicals on this hunt and couldn't seal the deal either because of light or private land issues.

One in NV a couple of years back when my dad drew the PIW tag while we were hunting 221 late we saw a MONSTER that had a main frame over the 200 mark and had trash to boot but we lost him in the carpet like junipers. Dad later missed an opportunity at a slick clean 190 + typical (long sad story).

One in ID on a general hunt at about 2 miles away through the spotter so obviously I can't be sure on this one but I would bet the house on a gross score over 200 but it was late in the evening and there was no time to go after him.

I killed my highest grossing buck in ID on a general tag a few years back he is a 7x7 with great tine length and decent mass but lacks width. He gross scores in the 197 range so I just missed with him, maybe I will measure him again LOL.

Bill
 
I've seen 3 that I would say are that big. One in the Sierras,biggest deer I ever saw there in years of hunting.Hunted him two years.First time I saw him was with tag in hand,100 yrds and never got a shot. Second was in UT day before season on private land. Third was in NM,two weeks before opener, never saw a track after. Seen a few on walls....
 
So mtmuley,

Are you saying your the one that killed this buck? while tresspassing and in the wrong unit?

If so, congrats on a very thrilling hunt of playing cat and mouse with both the deer and the law. :)
 
I've never seen one. I did see a 180" buck that a buddy of mine killed later in the season and it looked like a GIANT. fatrooster.
 
Never really ever counted how many I've seen. Did have a good streak going where I was seeing 3 or 4 a year for several years. That is including pre and post season scouting. I have personally killed 3. Helped a couple buddies kill a couple as well. These are trash factor bucks that gross 200 or more. Only one that officially net over 200. As for typicals that gross over 200, I can say I've only seen 2 that I've been confident were over that mark. In this country a good clean typical is pretty dang rare. Biggest typical I've ever seen die officially net 189 5/8.
 
I saw one in 1987, I was cow elk hunting when I stopped to rest on a trail. About 30 yards in front of me a whopper of a buck came out of a pine tree patch. He stopped and looked at me, turn and walked into a quakie patch. He had double drop tines and trash everywhere. I had no idea about deer scores back then, i do now and know that he was well over 200". In 2009 I saw a hunter shoot a 202" buck that I was spotting for a friend that had a tag. I helped quarter and pack that buck out just to be able to put my hands on an over 200" buck.

In 2008 i shot a 196 5/8" gross buck with my muzzy. It ended up netting 188 2/8" typical. In my mind it's my 200" buck because it took so long to get one that big that I may never make the 200" club.
 
I've seen two that maybe got close.

The first was decades ago, when Utah sold non resident tag OTC.
I had already filled my tag, and it was almost dark on our last day.
A buck stepped out way up a valley, at about 1,500 yards. The best optics anyone had was my rifle scope, a 3.5X10 Leupold, so I un cased the gun (unloaded) and checked him out. A real pig, at least 5X5 with trash, way wider than his ears. He would have gone 200, or close to it.

The second was Colorado, about 8 years ago. The forest service road we were driving up went right through a CWMU. We stopped and talked to the manager, and he confirmed we could drive through, but if we even got out to take a wizz before exiting the property he would call the warden. Of course there, standing 30 yards off the road was a real gagger. Narrow, about 26-27? but very tall with 12 to 14 inch tines on the main frame and so many extras I couldn't count them. My friend, an accomplished mule deer hunter almost drove off the road staring at this buck. With tags in our pockets we had to drive on past.
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-06-11 AT 04:39PM (MST)[p]Here the one that is near 200, 197 gross... CO 2010 in a easy draw unit (somewhere between WY and NM). This was my 4th year hunting muleys, I hope to get better and shoot a true 200" buck some day before I move on to the eternal hunting season ;-)
2328035.jpg




Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
I saw 2 last year. Seriously. Both barely over 200". I saw one in Spring Creek /Dodge Unit in Utah. It was 28 " wide and a 5 x6 . Didn't have a chance to shoot as it jumped a fence.
 
An explanation. I did not kill the buck I posted. It's a damn shame, but he was poached. I did however, see him alive. Numerous times. I do not want any misconceptions that I was, or will ever be, involved in activity such as the killing of this deer. mtmuley
 
Zeddro
If you're not willing to wait for a premium tag, you are hurting your chances of ever seeing a 200. Whether you get in different state's draws or not, you need to put yourself where big deer live. You may still never see a 200, but at least you have a better chance.
I've seen maybe a dozen or so 200+ nontyp's, but only one 200 typical. A 200 typical is in a class of their own. Colorado.
 
I have seen atleast 10 bucks that were definetley over 200 inches almost all of wich were while i was bowhunting. I have not shot any but i have missed 3 of them with my bow.
 
Ive seen 3 bucks that go over 200".
Video'd this buck last winter and then picked up his sheds. They gross 200 1/8.
IMG_0349.jpg

My biggest non-typical went 205" gross. We didnt net score it.
Matt08monster259.jpg

And i was with BCBOY when he shot MassNTrash.
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Although its not quite 200" id say its my best buck at 194 1/8 gross and 189 5/8 net.
2010buck.jpg
 
I have seen one that was knocking on the door of 200. Obviously its hard to say since I never put a tape on him. Back in 06, I had just finished hiking through the most remote place in where I was hunting. I put the rifle strap over my shoulder and wasnt really even paying attention anymore, just trying to get to my truck. Walked through a shallow draw that had been hammered by beef cows, and didnt expect anything from it. But from the corner of my eye, I see something get to its feet and freeze. I look and the heaviest, widest 4x4 I have ever seen is looking straight at me. I go to get my rifle off my shoulder, and he takes off. Miss once and he then disapears. Still get a sick feeling to this day. Learned real fast to never overlook a spot, and I NEVER walk with my rifle slung over my shoulder, never.
 
I believe I have seen 5 bucks in the 200"+ range. 4 of them were in az, and 1 was in Mesa Verde natl park in Colorado.

Here is a pic of the buck my mom got a few years back in Arizona! He grossed 199 5/8"! My mom showed me up with her 1st buck! Sure was a blast!
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When I drew an AZ Strip archery tag in 2008, I took this photo of a buck two days before the season. It's sheds were found the next Spring.....he was over 200".

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BOHNTR )))---------->
 
I have seen one or more on the Pausaugunt, Panguitch Lake and Zion units in southern Utah. I may have seen around 10 in my whole life.
 
MattB, his brother Steve and I have had some incredible success hunting together the last few years. We actually killed 4 200 inch bucks in 4 years of hunting. The 5 dropper buck that Matt posted was in 2008.
In 2007 I killed this buck, a 199 6/8 gross 7x7. Close enough to 200 if ya ask me. :)
NOV17031a.jpg


Matt posted a picture of Steve dragging out MassNTrash, my 2006 buck. Here's another one of that buck. Scored 202 gross.
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And then in 2005, Steve killed this 9x9. It also scored 202 gross.
IMG_2903.jpg


All 3 of us are pictured in the pic that MattB posted of his 189 5/8 net monster typical. Seems when the 3 of us hunt together, big deer die.
 
I have seen 1 and one that was probably pretty close. The one I seen was in Wyoming in 2007 in unit 102 just about 15 miles out of rock springs. I had just got there that weekend to start a job. A friend that had lived there for 3 years and I went out for a ride on or 4 wheelers to check some areas to cat hunt when I spotted some deer of in a distance down in a basin full of sagebrush. We stopped at about a mile a away to see what they were. I looked through the spotting scope and told my buddy that that was a big deer. We decided to get a little closer just to check it out to see how big. The buck was with 2 other bucks just outside some thick brush, by the time we closed the distance he was in the brush laying down. As we got closer and came up to the last hill, we crawled for about 100 yards to the top. It took us about 5 minutes to find him as only the top 3 inches or so of his anlters were exposed. We watched for a few minutes and then he moved his head to the side. A smaller buck got up and walked past him in the brush crossed a small opening and layed down. After a few more minutes the buck got up and walked around a bit then layed back down facing a different direction. I about lost it! Biggest buck Id ever seen. He was well over 200 inchers, no doubt. My buddy said it was the best he had seen as well, and he had been cat hunting for years and has seen some bruisers.
Heres the kicker, I had no idea it was Rifle season in 102 until he told me after the deer layed down for the last time. We decide to sneak out of there so we would not disturb it. We told our boss and he actually knew someone that had the tag, but had killed his deer a few days earlier. It only scored in the 170's.
The other one was actually here in California believe it or not. It was in december and we were up driving around just below yosemite in the area know as G-37 (D-6), when the buck stepped out in the road and just stood there, like what are you guys doing here this time of year. We watched him for a few seconds and he walked off. Absolutely awesome creature.
 
Here's a 200 incher I was fortunate to watch for several years in the highcountry. Was never able to find him when the season was on but did manage to find one set of sheds off of him.

2004 200 gross typical.
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2003
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2002
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Here's a some pics of MassNTrash from the 04/05 winter. I picked up his sheds that year. He scored 225 gross.
MnT047.jpg


MnT0414.jpg


MnT041.jpg


MnT0412.jpg
 
Great looking bucks guys.Im fortunate enough to have taken 1 over @ 242 nt and a typ @ 196.
 
>Zeddro
>If you're not willing to wait
>for a premium tag, you
>are hurting your chances of
>ever seeing a 200.
>Whether you get in different
>state's draws or not, you
>need to put yourself where
>big deer live. You
>may still never see a
>200, but at least you
>have a better chance.
>I've seen maybe a dozen or
>so 200+ nontyp's, but only
>one 200 typical. A
>200 typical is in a
>class of their own.
>Colorado.


Totally agree and should have clarified. Being a resident of Utah, you can only put in for 1 limited entry big game animal.

My philosophy is that you can still have great chances at a good buck consistently with the general otc tags, (you could wait 10-20 years for say a henry's mtn tag, where if you put in for elk you could have anywhere from 2-3 tags instead) so I have been putting in for elk. Well, I am going to burn those points this year on the Manti archery elk, then start putting in for archery antelope. Drew that tag 2 years ago and I am addicted.
 
I'm just wondering what you mean by a 200" deer... If it's non-typical, then yes there are quite a few of those type of deer out there... Isn't the B&C record typical 226 4/8"... A 200" non-typical doesn't even come close to book...
 
I have seen a few that would break 200. Most of been trash factor bucks.

Best typical I have ever seen was packing my arrow the last time that I saw him. Tracked him for two days, he pulled some unbelievable tricks to try and lose us. I am pretty sure he survived from the amount of blood he lost and how hard he was still going after two days. Several people had been videoing him before the hunt and felt he would score between 205 and 210 gross. I still think that about that shot and hunt almost everyday!!! 1992 Paunsy!
 
You are right chadderbox but how many people would truely pass on a 200" buck Typ or NT??? Especially in a easy draw unit like which was in the original post. Maybe .001% of the hunters??? and those are the ones who have multiple buck tags each year and have multiple 200" bucks on the wall already.
Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"
 
I totally agree, I wouldn't pass up a 200" buck typical or non-typical. It's just that I don't believe you see a lot of 200" typicals, if ever...
 
I have only ever seen one legit 200 inch buck on the hoof - will never forget that sight either. He was a massive, tall, deep forked, wide and extremely gorgeous 5X5 - with about 6 inch cheaters. His main frame was well over 200 and with the cheaters his gross was probably around 220. That is also one of the only true 30" bucks I have ever seen either.

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
A guy we hunt with shot a buck that went 211 and some change, but had ZERO width to speak of. Literally he went almost straight up from his bases. mas and great length did the trick. He was non typical as well. If i remember right he was only 15 wide
 
That pig-beast is awesome Harry - pretty much a 200 inch 6X6 NT mainframe with 100 inches of extras. Was it heavy?

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)
 
Maybe one...I was at full draw 15 yards when he turned and walked away! I still wonder what would have happened if I had taken the Texas heart shot. :-(
I still have nightmares about it.


Traditional >>>------->
 
In a general hunting unit Ive seen 6 that i can think of and killed one. Pauns around 10 and around 10 on the Henry's.
 
I did the math and I want to go to the back of the book and get the correct answer...

If you count gross over 200 seen under any circumstances I've seen 20+ but narrow that down by "in season" or "with a tag" or worse yet combine the two and it goes down to pretty much 0. For the much tougher 200 net typical I don't think so but maybe a couple. It's too tough to take the adrenaline rush out of judging them unless you can tape him later.

Now if you define it as "seen on winter range with a camera in hand with adequate light to take a picture" Here's a couple that make the grade and have been measured under the cold hard light of day.
This one (catch 22 is his name) went 225'ish the almost perfect typical in front was mid 190's (only found his left)
2hrzr4o.jpg


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Here is Catch 22 a couple months ago but we'll never know what he scored as the pricks at the dow chased him down in a helicopter and whacked his horns off.

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This one is "Harley" (cause he's got a kickstand) and he grossed 209.

DSC00522.jpg


Under the honorable mention but "unproven by tape" category is this guy from last year.

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Quite a few matched sets at the magical 200" mark (and even more singles which probably would make it) prove that even in the off season the big ones aren't stupid. Around here they generally top out at "only" 185-195 unless they are special.
 
I've seen dozens of them . All but 1 were either on the Kaibab or the Strip. I was fortunate enough to hunt the famed Kaibab thru the 70's and 80's. Our hunting party took a bunch over 200. A co worker took the largest as a 256 inch gross 9x13. I have also spent a bunch of time on the Strip where I have seen the tape go over 200 inches atleast a dozen times. Still after all that the one that stands out was a giant I missed with a bow in the desert just between Phoenix and Tucson.
 
MTMULEY.I should have worded that differently.I did not mean you poached it,for the fact I know some guys out of Washington did it.Sorry for the confusion.
 
Seen dozens of them, but 95% of them are them have been in Colorado. A few on le units in Utah down south, a few on the wasatch front, a few in northern Arizona, and a few in western Wyoming, and one unreal monster near Chama New Mexico. Biggest was pushing all of 260 plus! A handful of big Nevada bucks, but nothing super huge yet. I know they're there.

In a nut shell a blind man can turn up monster muleys in colorado without much work when compared to the surrounding states.
 
One on the strip that just happens to be at the taxidermist:), and one back in the 90's in South Dakota of all places, third day of the hunt, all four of us sitting there with tags filled out on bucks we said we would pass, and out steps a double drop tine, thick as a baseball bat main beam, well over 30 inch rack about 1/2 mile behind ranch house.
 

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