Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting What Is It About 300 Pound Deer?

I've been wanting to go North for a while now, and pics like that make the itch worse. Damn you ingwe, castnblast, SKane, BobinNH, tzone......

Welll, this one didn't weigh #300 either,but I thought I'd send off tonight with one more pic...just for you...my wife two seasons ago..

Ingwe

okanagan: A few years back in Alberta, I had several bucks in front of me,far end of a field,that came out of the bush during the rut.Bucks/does everywhere.....

There was one that bedded down that was big,but the rest were feeding out into the field and I'm figuring it was early enough,I'd wait him out,and if the big one got another 100 yards or so closer, I'd kill him.

About 10 minutes later,I'm watching and then this THING walked into the field,just strode out and my first reaction was...."What the hell is THAT!".....because he just dwarfed everything else in the field and made my "big" one look pretty average.......I'll spare you the rest of the story.....


I killed one a couple years later in the breaks of the Peace that went 230 or so "hog dressed",gutted,head and hide off,legs off at the knees.....he was an old buck,not much through the horns and on the "mend",but was so enormous I gawked for several minutes before killing him.

The truly big one's ARE different;highly nocturnal even in lightly hunted country, very deliberate, not prone to panic,unlikely or harder to get to break cover;adept at finding impossible bedding areas ,never far from cover,and their main focus is to avoid being SEEN.They seem to understand very well that they are most vulnerable when moving and visible.They make no rash decisions,and you HAVE to move VERY deliberatly and slowly through bedding areas(assuming you can get that close).

When still-hunting these areas,it's a bonny good idea to double back or fishhook in heavy cover,because you will likely go by them,assuming there was nothing there.The pressure may get to them the second time around.

Mule deer hunting CAN be a long-range affair,but I've killed my biggest ones in moderate to heavy cover where a lighter fast handling bolt gun with a modest scope is more suitable than a 26" barreled 300 magnum.

Unless they get very lucky the first time,many guys that go to Canada kill an average "big" one and are happy......until they see a REALLY big buck.Then they are screwed...like me....the reason I hunted 14 days and passed several 170's and a 180-ish buck.....I guessed right 3 hours into day #1,found the "true hog" at 20 yards and hesitated a bit too long.I hunted that buck for the next 13 days,and never saw him again......I know he was still there.


JG: If you value your sanity and the contents of your wallet...do NOT go to Canada for mule deer

Admit it. You just don't want the competition.

KW: There really is not very much of it up there....the tough part is getting a tag,and I never know year to year if I will have whitetail or mule deer...

Canada is the reason that I no longer chase tags in the lower 48,other than one region in Wyoming. I have hunted the "bush" units of Northern Alberta as well,for whitetails and mule deer......talk about "no pressure"! Alberta is a truly remarkable place for whitetails. It really is way beyond expectation,and by far the "best" in NA,IMHO.

I've posted this one before, he was wayyyy up there in the weight department too, falling shy of 3 bills because he was surprisingly short in length for a mature buck. Best guess on him was 7 years old, pretty hard to tell beyond that on the gum line but his best days were long past. Guess I just took pity on him.

Book the trip JG....<grins>

.....you can learn to hate people like this.......

Back to the drawing board for me! Now that I've seen a really big one....I've killed spike elk smaller than that whitetail!
That thing is almost scary!
Ingwe

Right place, right time is all. Patience and sticktoitiveness is all I've got because I'm grossly unable to rely on intellect.

JG-
This one was shot far closer to you than Canada - Kansas. He's the biggest bodied deer I've ever taken. Photo was taken when I got home - I left my camera on the BED OF MY TRUCK when I transported this guy.

WOW!...speechless...
Ingwe

Unreal......

You guys have gotten me flat pissed off now........Skane that last pig from Canada you showed is simply amazing.....I like being pissed......keep 'em coming boys!

Bobin - Have you chased those big Saskatchewan mulies? I am VERY interested in that...

Kentucky, I'm obviously not Bob, but it's residents only in Saskatchewan for mulies unless you're on Indian ground. If it were different I'd be there in a heartbeat.

Kentucky: JG is right(as usual);the Sask mule deer are a resident thing.But I understand a guy can hook up on Indian reservations,but I have not really ever looked into that.I'm certain it's pretty pricey.

But from what I hear, very big one's are there.But I also believe a guy should pick a camp with good potential,and give it 3-4 years. As you know, it takes time to kill a big deer of any species.And I think a true hog can come from many areas of Canada.

Scott: I'm gonna call you and we need to discuss JG. I am really concerned about him cause he is starting to think he's gonna get up to Canahdah and kill one as big as that Sonora buck in his avatar.

We need a strategy to get him calmed down.....

I have more chance of killing a 30-lb deer than a 300-lb deer around here. Our deer are tiny compared to those beasts! Those look as big as a spike elk.

I killed a young doe once that was the size of a long-legged dog. Not a large dog.

OK, Robert, thanks for the warning.....<grins>

I always thought JG's avatar was a reproduction - didn't think they got that big. Guys that shoot big mule deer with great frequency are no doubt jealous of that one.

I haven't a clue on mule deer and worry that if I ever got bitten by that bug I'd be poverty stricken in a hurry. I'd better stick with the "jumpers" for the time being.

Yes,you'd be screwed....mule deer are addictive. They LOOK like they're easy to hunt.Hah!

SKANE - nice friggin' deer!

Anybody ever hunt around Dryden, ON? I'm likely headed up there in November with my Dad - being I didn't get an elk tag

They've killed some nice bucks up (130-150's) but the thing that stands out is the body size. The one Dad killed last year only scores 138-139 but I'll bet it dressed at 250. The neck is as big around as my waist.

I better get the 375 tuned up <g>