Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Y'all see the new Oklahoma "State Record" mule deer????

Apparently this deer was killed in Oklahoma within a few hundred yards of the NM/OK state line this past November and was scored yesterday and verified to be the new Oklahoma State Record non typical mule deer. 176" frame with an amazing 50" of trash

https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/outdoor-news/bring-your-antlers-march-rack-madness

What's interesting is that this deer lived on a ranch in New Mexico and was seen on the ranch a few days before it was allegedly killed 13 miles away as the crow flies in Oklahoma.


Here's Rick holding the sheds we picked up on the ranch where the deer lived compared to the new state record deer...

He knew you all were coming. Another leak.

No, hadn't seen it. Where was it killed?
I went down to the Rita Blanca National Grasslands this fall hoping to see one just like it though.
Mostly I just saw clouds of dust kicked up by antelope.

The other possibility is that the two bucks are related. Muleys travel long distances during the rut. That and I've seen a few old bucks that look very similar in antler development to some younger animals. Even pictures from say the 1940's that look very much like some of the really big bucks I've seen in the same area in the 90's. E

Deer that look similar? Deer that travel 13 miles? Say it isn't so!!!

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It's the same deer just a year older

I sure would not bet against it.

Truly amazing.

IMO there is room for doubt that those antlers came from the same buck a year apart.

I've got three mule deer racks that look more alike than the ones in the photos do to each other. Each of my racks has a cheater point in exactly the same place and each cheater point is shaped the same, plus the general frame, length of tines and mass is very similar. Two came from within a mile of each other on the same ridge and the other came from a ridge over 20 miles away. Related? Yes. Same buck? No. The claim that the buck was seen on a ranch just before being shot is heavier evidence to me than the photos, if it can be proved.

The antlers in the photos could have come from the same buck but without DNA or something more than similarities, it's not iron clad proof to me. There are considerable differences.

I am not an expert on mule deer however, and defer to my betters on this.

I couldn't find any score for the muledeer. There was a couple whitetails at 245. If that is the case then this one in my living room would go well over 200. It is 24" inside spread on the main beams. John Lachuk told me it had one tooth left.

Drum-
Is the ranch you're talking about the one that has the big horn herd on it?

One thing I have learned from photographing elk herds is that antler shape is distinctive from one herd to the next.
So much so that given a couple good looks at an elks rack, one may not be able to identify the exact herd but you can usually rule out quite a few herds.
Elk are not deer of course but I suspect that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in regards to antler shape.

Great deer! It's definitely the same buck!
Drum- How wide and what did he measure inside?

I have my doubts. The sheds you showed us are characteristic of a antler degrading buck, i.e. one that's losing antler development as he ages. That might be true if the sheds came from an aging buck. But, like OK has posted, the only way to be sure is to do DNA testing.
As far as a breeding buck, or his off spring, traveling/wandering 13 miles that's not unheard of either. Migratory herds are well known to travel further than that. Younger bucks have been known to disperse that much and more.
Heck, where I hunt, one of the radio collared does went over 30 miles in a matter of a month, or less, when her water supply dried up. She was in her third trimester of her pergnancy. No known water as she crossed a rugged, very hot desert mountain range. After she settled in her new home, she gave birth to two healthy fawns. E

Things that make you go Hmmmm.........

Same deer. Pretty easy to see.

Say what?

It's the same deer and I didn't really post this up for debate as there's no debating that the sheds are from the buck that was killed. It's not difficult to see that it's the same deer and the deer was not that old of a deer

My money is on Drum. Tough pill to swallow when its your profession.

Drum, this is valuable to those of us less familiar with assessing antlers and I am learning, so don't hesitate to make the case. These things get argumentative but there is no need to argue when we point out similarities and differences. I've been studying these racks trying to figure out why you are so sure and have come around some. The two sets of antlers are more alike than I first thought.

The right side (left in the photos) of both sets are very similar, could fairly easily be the same buck with a year difference. It is the left side antler (right in pics) that looked so different that it removed it from the realm of sure thing to my less experienced eyes. Bucks add points, length and mass from year to year but seldom change the basic frame shape and main forks. That was my concern at first. But I traced out the G2, G3 etc. from shed to buck and now see where this buck could grow from the shed into the tagged buck by adding points and length without changing the basic frame.

I'm not used to seeing that much change, but most of our mule deer don't grow antlers nearly as big as where these come from.

A part of my question, as said earlier, comes from having several 170 class look alike racks MUCH closer in frame and details than these two, and all from dead deer. If made to look like sheds, two of the racks look so much alike except for size and mass that they would make a much more persuasive case that they came from the same buck a year apart. That is, more persuasive than these two sets in this thread.

I'll sit on the fence, and think that you are probably right, not because I grasp the evidence but because I have confidence in your judgment.