Not much of a story on this one - was poking around this morning on our family's land and caught this guy chasing does along with a couple of smaller bucks. Rutting mule deer are a hoot - at the shot, this one dropped in his tracks but the does ran straight towards me with the other bucks in hot pursuit. Watched the bucks chase the does for a bit at 50+ yards while waiting to take care of this one. They all acted like they had no idea I was there...

All happened within 100 yards of the truck though it was all blow downs in between for the 'pack out'. Custom FN Mauser chambered in the rainbow cartridge - aka 270, with a Barnes 130 TTSX

It didn't bounce off!

Bingo. Nice work.

Sweet! Gotta love it when they expire close to the truck. Now if could get them to die in the bed of the truck even better.

Congratulations

Damn 270's....

Tenderloins didn't make it to the freezer - pulled from carcass in the field, seasoned and grilled one on hardwood charcoal tonight. I didn't share with anyone or have any side dishes - all protein dinner:



Not sure if I'll share the other tenderloin on Thursday either - I don't recall enjoying turkey as much...

Nice work pretty buck!

Now maybe you understand prison... gay can work if it's all ya got?

TTSX will man up a cartridge like that.

Nice buck!!!!

Just a quick question.. Most of my mule deer bucks are killed in very early Oct. I killed one on the 13th of Oct. and he was pretty rank compared to the others.. Since this old boy was after the gals, the meat was fine???? A bit to rare for me, but no musky taste???

He smelled bit a stronger than a pre-rut buck, but the flavor of the meat (tenderloin anyway) was fine - not gamey at all. It was pretty tough however - never had a chewy tenderloin before. The tenderloin really toughened up sitting in the fridge overnight - probably rigor mortis related. I guess I'll find out when I grill up the other one this weekend...

Thanks, let us know how it goes!!!

Complete "Overkill"...... Everyone knows that you don't use Barnes Bullets or any other premium bullet on any non dangerous game animal weighing less than 1000 lbs. I'm surprised that you were able to recover the deer! Congratulations, on the kill and choice table fare! memtb

I know, right? Not sure what I was thinking using an over-penetrator like that, but this old mouser shoots the darn things better than anything else I've tried in it. The rifle itself is kind of an abortion stock has too much drop for a scope unless you use a chin weld, plus it's too heavy. I seem to be warming up to it though (it now wears a Leupold 6X36).

I have thought this one might be a good donor for a 400 Whelen with a receiver sight...



Thanks all!

Sharp old rifle!!!!

Probably shot it a couple times with a magnum to get through the hide first.

Tom

I basically quit hunting mule deer, compared to our coues deer, you can't hardly stand to eat them. Impressive headgear, however.

We killed a bull elk Saturday with a 270 so I know it's possible!

Congrats on the elk! I've only had one mule deer that was basically inedible. It was a bit smaller than this one shot late season in full rut chasing does. Walking up to it, my buddy and I stopped at 50 yards literally gagging at the smell. It was nasty - the dogs ate most of it but I did make some sausage (and had to toss some ).

Lately, I've been hunting deer in lower country with muleys and white tails running together in the same habitat. I can't tell any difference in taste between the two. I shot a muley a little bigger than this one two years ago on October 31. He was running with does but not all rutted up - he was a little stronger tasting than a younger buck or doe, but very edible. My wife won't eat any venison except in stews, chili and burger (mixed with beef) so I guess it depends on the individual.

I've been experimenting with brining my venison before grilling and liking the results. I did that with the tenderloins off this one and the flavor was great - not strong or gamey at all. I'm optimistically thinking this one will be good on the table. I've always felt what they eat is a factor and muleys / white tails living and eating in the same locale should taste similar. I assume your desert muleys and coues are in the same habitat eating similar feed so your experiences apparently differ from mine.

I wish you guys would stop talking about how awful my .270 is. Up til now it has performed great but once it finds out how bad it is, I will have to buy another. I don't want to have to buy another one, I want to buy another one for absolutely no reason at all.

I bought the 270 above for absolutely no reason at all - already had a M70 FWT 270. Of course then I had to buy a 270 Wby, again for absolutely no reason at all. I hunt with rifles in other calibers, but it seems every time I take a 270, I punch tags and fill freezers

Some rifles are just lucky. I have a Sako in 270. I call it my "Lucky Rifle".

Looks like a meal "Fit for a King" and gluten free ta boot.

Remember, room temp before cooking. I'd as soon let mine age several days if not a week.

Yep - room temp rule was strictly adhered to. Second tenderloin aged in fridge for almost two weeks and was quite a bit more tender but still a bit chewyer than I typically see.

Talking to my barber the other day, his wife shot a smelly rutted up mule deer and he said theirs is quite chewy and they'll do lots of crock pot and sausage. I'm looking forward to trying some new methods from Eileen Clarke's "Tenderize the Wild"...