I heard rumor that you were occupying all of your time by chasing a world record forky all over the hills.
We saw one last year, but he was on his decline and was old enough to have seen that 07-08 winter. That's the problem there right now, the age class of bucks you're really looking for aren't there because they either had to survive it or the does had to carry them to term. I'm still thinking 2016, maybe 2015, and it'll be a different story. The genetics are there, but boy howdy, if those pretty middle aged 4pts have the slightest bit of kickers or in-lines they're getting shot!
>I've spent quite a bit of
>time in the basin over
>the last several years.
>In my opinion, the basin
>is not on the upswing,
>it's on a decline.
>I have not seen more
>3 points in my 31
>years of mule deer hunting
>mostly in Colorado. I
>believe the preference point spike
>in the last few years
>resulted in many of those
>units "up & comers" being
>harvested as hunters who have
>waited 10+ years to hunt
>are killing those younger 160-170
>class bucks and leaving the
>bad genetics to breed.
>That being said, I do
>know of a couple of
>great bucks that were killed
>in the basin this year
>and believe there will always
>be a few great bucks
>taken there. I personally
>believe the basin needs a
>management hunt similar to what
>Utah does over on the
>Henry's. The management tags
>should come from the overall
>allotment - not a tag
>increase. On a final
>note, I saw the biggest
>2 point in the basin
>this year that I have
>personally ever seen. 27-29"
>wide with 16-17" G-2s.