Seems like the original question has to do with what is the "standard" for this day and age.
In the old days it was weight. How heavy was your buck? Seems like anything over 200lbs field dressed was good, and 230+lbs was huge.
That sort of changed to 30 inches sometime around the 80's when I was getting started. If it was 30" or close to it it was good enough. I remember passing some tall narrow bucks with an inline or two so I could shoot a 30" 3x4.
Then the score craze took over sometime between now and then. at first it was 190". Now it seems to me that everyone is talking 200" this and 200" that.
I think it's a fad, or a passing trend that will change with the quality of bucks that are available around the mule deer world. If the management gets worse, and the deer get fewer and smaller, then I think you'll see the "standard" go back down a notch. If things get better, you may see it go up a notch.
The bottom line is that everyone hunts for different reasons. Some hunt purely for their own satisfaction, others hunt to impress their peers, and others hunt to stroke their own egos.
All I can say is decide why you hunt, and then pick your "standard" and have fun! I personally don't enjoy killing small animals. They don't do anything for me. Therefore, I try to hunt for the best bucks in the areas I hunt. If 180" is the best the unit has to offer, then that's good enough. If 200" bucks are possible, I try to get one of them. Most hunts I do are areas where a 190" gross buck is possible, and a 190" buck is still a buck of my dreams. The only two areas I wouldn't shoot a 190" gross buck would be 13b, and the Henries. I would hold for something over 200" on both those. Everywhere else, 190" bites the dust!