Biggest mule deer you have seen!

[desertbucks]

Curious what unit you guys have seen your biggest mule deer and how big did you think it was?

 

[Ed]

37A, maybe 180

 

[desertbucks]

I would have to say unit 42 non typical that was around 190"

 

[BOHNTR]

Biggest buck I've ever seen (and missed) in AZ was in 1993 on the Kaibab (12A). A giant non-typical. His sheds were located by a friend later on the winter range........with an estimated inside spread of 23" it would have netted over 250" non-typical. That buck still haunts me to this day.

BOHNTR )))---------->

 

[creed]

44A, 205-210 at 15 feet from me.
There were others that big but that is the one that sticks in my mind the most. I had been patterning him all year and when the opportunity came he was too close.

 

[ruthunter]

200" plus in 42!

 

[mesquitehunter]

North of the ditch is the only area that has big deer. The only other place south of the ditch that has big deer is Mexico. I think you guys are "BIG EYE'N" the bucks you've seen in 42 and 44a becuase the Az desert only has dinky deer. It's not even worth hunting south of the ditch.

 

[maddglasser]

LAST EDITED ON May-09-09 AT 12:32PM (MST)[p]44A and 42 for the desert bucks. The 44A buck was a non-typ with 10-12 on one side and at least 9 on the other. His frame was a solid 190+ typ and had about a 30" typ spread. With all of his trash I think buck would have gone around 220-230. 42 was the largest typ buck I have ever seen. We nicknamed this buck "Hoodini". I was guiding Will Primos when we started on this buck and continued to try for him for the next 3 years. The last time we saw the buck was muzzy season 05'. He had a 34-36" spread and an easy 210 score. The muzzy misfired at 125 yrds and the buck was gone! I don't if anyone ever got this buck but I sure wish things would have worked out differently.

The biggest mountain buck I have ever seen was in 2B AZ. The buck was a double drop and pushing 36" wide. He had many points on each side and the most incredible mass I have ever seen. 1 year later a friend found a shed near the same area that both sides equal and inside spread of 26 the buck would have gone over 250". I don't know if it was the same buck or not, but they were very similar.

 

[creed]

Travis
I think I hunted your buck. I had heard you guys were after a monster about 5-6 years ago. I picked him up south of where you hunt in the greasewood flats 3 different times. I got close but no go. It had to be the same deer. There aren't that many typicals that big.

 

[maddglasser]

That is about the same time we met I believe. If it was we both did a good job of not giving to much away!

 

[HullinPhx]

Unit 9 kinda... huge typical 5x5 right inside the canyon gates, would let people feed him apples. I would say right at 200'

John

 

[mesquitehunter]

I was just joking about my last comment.

In 07' I had a client on 12ae early hunt and I found a buck bedded down behind a cedar tree about 100 yards away and my client wouldn't shoot him because he thought it was a big doe and couldn't see his horns. After two minutes the buck got up and ran off with half the cedar tree attached to his head. He was the biggest non typical I've ever seen.

In 06' I had a muzzy tag in 39 thru 42 I saw a 3x4 that had to be 40" wide because I wound up killing a 3x3 that was 33" wide and the 3x4 was considerably wider. All the while I was on that hunt I was hunting a non typical that would go at least 220" or better. The 33" 3x3 I shot was a last day buck.

I also saw "HOODINI" the year before my muzzy tag. He still sends chills up my spine thinking about him.

 

[spcheuvront]

Lucky Boogers;
You guys make me wish I could follow you around.
It seems you all have a simular story, lots of time in the field and good glassing skills.
Yes, I also believe there are monster bucks all over the state.
Those Scott brothers know how to pick the desert apart, and it seems that they also know their way around the whole state.
I wish I could stick out my chest and join in the wonder bucks, but I'll just have to read with envy like the rest of the wana be 's.
Love the stories.
Steve Cheuvront

 

[TAGATTRACTER]

Steve, Your being way too modest. You spend a ton of time on the strip and you showed me pictures this past year of a certain Buck that went over 300 .

The largest I have ever seen was in the early 80's on the east side of Kaibab late hunt after an awesome snow storm dumped 2 feet up top. My Dad killed that Buck and he net scored 255 4/8. Yikes !!

I was around 20 at the time and that big Buck ruined me. I have been searching ever since for anything that would come close

 

[mesquitehunter]

Maybe you are being a little modest Steve.... A 300 buck is a damm big buck.

I know how you feel TAG after seeing that hoodini buck it ruined me too as far as typical bucks go. I'm just now coming back around to when I see a 180"-190" buck they start to look big again.

 

[spcheuvront]

O.K. you guys,
The buck that made me loose my breath was, yes, on the strip
during the hunt, and I was ,as usual, all alone.
I was walking to a remote catchment that lies on top of a gental rise, with a couple of stair steps in it that you can't glass. As I approached the last step I spotted the micky mouse look of a deer. I put the glasses up and saw it was a doe. I continued looking until I spotted what I thought was a fresh shed. I put the big glasses on it and it MOVED! WOW, I nearly soiled myself. As I studied the buck , his head and chin were flat on the ground. Once he figured we made eye contact, the game was on. In one graceful move he exploded out of his bed and turned 180' away from me and with about 10 good strides he was gone. I had the video camera running. After the explosion, I sat down to calm down and check the tape, well you guessed it, I was on stand by and I watched him thru the view finder but nothing was recorded. I followed the buck after about 15 minutes and saw nothing for miles. I began tracking, only to find out he had circled around behind me and was watching me not 100 yards be hind me. That was the most impressive buck I have ever seen on the strip. He had it all big boxy frame great mass and tall points. I know ,all to well, it's a lie if you don't have proof. Well me and BIG BUBBY know it was real.
I hope you all have many close encounters with a truly magnifiscent animal. I have had a few, and thats what keeps me coming back.
Long story, sorry for being too lippy
Steve Cheuvront

 

[huntandfish]

I saw a typical buck in the early 80's in the superstition mountains off of the peralta road.We got to know a rancher and he would let us hunt archery pigs behind his locked gate.My cousin from Wells,Nevada would come down every year and pig hunt.He has shot and seen some huge bucks in Nevada.His biggest was a 235 non typical.We saw a buck that we think would net in the 205 to 210.My cousin said he had never seen a typical buck in Nevada that was even close to this buck's size. We watched him with about twenty does at 200 yards for about 10 minutes.What I can not believe is the rancher said come back during the rifle deer hunt and I will let you hunt him.I was so much in to coues hunting that I never even thought about it.I have seen a lot of desert bucks in the last 35 years that probally would (net) 175 to 185 typical and maybe two that were close to 190,but this buck was so much bigger.

 

[azcouesandelk]

36A and it was big 7x9 nontypical that I figured would go 205 to 210.

 

[cpugsie]

LAST EDITED ON May-12-09 AT 10:45PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON May-12-09 AT 10:42?PM (MST)

My biggest buck in AZ would have to be 12A West with a very close second in, believe it or not, 4A back when you could shoot an elk, deer, bear, lion, turkey, whatever during the archery elk hunt.

12A West, 1990 late rifle, I shot a typical 164" buck opening morning and saw a 32"+/- 200 incher on the way out when carring my buck. The next day spoting for my friends I spot a clean 190" 4x4. No one got him. The next weekend we go back up and I spot a 35"+/- 230-240" non-typ that my friend can't find on the hill. He ended up taking a clean 179".

4A 1980 something maybe even early 1990's, while archery elk hunting, I see a deer with his/her head behind a bush. I range it with my piece of crap Ranging range finder at 40 yds. When the deer pulls his head up he's the biggest buck I've even seen at that time. Non-typ. 220-230 30+ inch monster. I actually took a shot and missed that buck by an inch or two when he pivoted around on his front feet to face me. My biggest miss by far.

Cave Creek Rec Area. back when you could hunt it. I saw a legitimate 40" 3x3 while archery hunting. No shot oppourtunity. Spindly and shallow forks but easily the widest buck I've ever seen in the field.

I know it's easy to throw out numbers, but I've been hunting Az since 1981 and have spent a ton of time in the field prior to getting married and having kids. My scores may be off a little but those were the units I've seen my biggest bucks in. Back in the day was just awesome hunting in Arizona.

 

[scottyboy]

The biggest mulie I've ever seen was in 36A.. A huge non-typ that was the most massive buck Ive ever seen in person.. lot of trash too.. was really narrow for his size though. I guessed him at 215 220ish.. I watched him for at least 4 minutes chasing does at around 7 AM in late Jan.. I looked for those sheds for months!

 

[jasn]

I've seen a few big ones, but the one that I'll never forget was in 12A on the archery hunt, 190+ typical in velvet. He ran off with my arrow in his side, a little high and behind the shoulder. Found the arrow and it had about 10-12 inches of penetration. I never found him, despite 2 weekends of searching and it haunts me to this day!

 

[sawtooth]

I've seen some unbelievable bucks in Unit 47M. One of my hot spots is just off the loop 101 in Glendale. The other is just off the 202 in Mesa. Private land, but there are some bruisers there nonetheless....

 

[Idcurs]

Two big typ's first one 1998 12e on a buffalo gov tag hunt saw this huge 4x4 out at tank 4 in the sage g4 on the left was the shortest point and it was at least 14.He had everything mass hieght and 4to 5 inch eyeguards,this buck was in the 230 typ class.The other big typ 13b 2002 on the hunt got out of the truck to check tracks at a tank and spotted a buck in the scrub oak--34 wide every point the same and great mass.I am sure this is the buck I have drops from the year before227 gross 219 net.Biggest nontyp have a dude on the strip and he put him on the dirt I did not think he was over 250 went 269.Was lion hunting 12 in jan and had the biggest buck I have ever seen walk out in the sage chasing does trash everwhere was a lot bigger than any I have held or scored,I am sure he was well over 300.

 

[deerbedead]

Best buck I have ever seen in AZ was in unit 9. My dad, bro, and cousin drew tags. We were in the flats and the evening of the first day of the hunt we were driving down the road when I spotted two beef cows way out in the grass flat. I thought there was something else with them that seemed different so I stopped the truck and put up my glasses. Holy chit! I was looking at a buck that was in the 35-37" class. We quickly made a plan to stalk it as it was very close to dark.

We ended up taking just a little too long to get to the bluff where we planned to shoot from and when we arrived I was the only one that could still see the deer and only through my binos. I had a pair of 10x50 Swaro's and the boys couldn't see anything through their scopes.

I was sick while watching the buck bound off into the darkness.

We hunted this deer for many days, but never saw him again.

This buck was killed that year during the latter part of the hunt, and he went 225" gross, and was 36" wide and had double droptines. Was killed within a half a mile of where we first spotted him. The guys who killed him knew he was there and stuck with it longer than we did. We just got lucky to even see this deer, let alone almost get a whack at it.

 

[mesquitehunter]

So far from what I've read it seems to me that there have been big bucks found all over the state. From now on when somebody makes a post/thread asking "IS IT WORTH APPLYING FOR MULE DEER SOUTH OF THE DITCH" I'm gonna tell them to read this thread and decide for yourself. I think most people just put more emphasis and time up north and down south most folks just go hunting for what ever comes along and their happy to just be hunting. I could be wrong but that's how I feel. Sorry for hijacking this thread.

 

[desertbucks]

sawtooth sent you a pm!

 

[azbow]

HeHe, I agree with sawtooth!

 

[spcheuvront]

Boy;
You guys are supposed to help me with this kind of con.

I was wondering where in the city I could go and see a mule deer much less a big buck.

I very much agree, CABELAS, and BASS Pro SHOPS have the biggest deer in the valley.

Good one sawtooth, you little scamp!

Steve Cheuvront

 

[mesquitehunter]

You had me wondering on that one too. Good one Sawtooth.