South Dakota Mule Deer

AustonButt

New Member
Apr 21, 2011
11
0
Billings, MT
This was a DIY on private land. We were only hunting on a quarter section but it was a milo field and the deer loved to feed there in the morning. I shot him with my weatherby vanguard .243. Made the switch to a 30-06 Tikka T3 this year as I'm left handed and my .243 was right.

I've tried to put a picture up of this years deer but the size is too big and I'm not sure how to make it big instead of an attachment. The deer I got this year was just as unique
 

AustonButt

New Member
Apr 21, 2011
11
0
Billings, MT


Ok I figured it out. This guy is a 23 point non typical that goes 193 net. Both G3s are broke along with some extras which would have pushed him up around 200 with a clean rack. He's real narrow, 16 inch inside spread, but tall and heavy. G2s are 17 inches.
The whitetail is a buch my grandfather took the very next day about a mile from where I got my mulie. His buck has nearly 40 inches of mass measurements total and grosses 143 as a 5x4 (basically a 140 inch 4 point). We received freezing rain that night and the deer was covered with ice, even the horns. It was a great weekend to be out.
 
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Sharpstick

Member
Mar 1, 2011
121
0
Kamas, Utah
Those are some great bucks! I think my favorite is the 2009 buck with the drop tine and the two cheaters. Great body size on all three bucks. Do the white tail generally grow just as heavy (body wise) as the mulies? thanks for sharing the pictures.
 

AustonButt

New Member
Apr 21, 2011
11
0
Billings, MT
Actually yes, the whitetail do get as big (if not bigger) than the muleys. 3 years ago I shot a whitetail that was at least 8 years old. It was the biggest body deer I've ever taken. There have been multiple whitetail we've taken that are consistantly bigger body wise than the mule deer. Bigger bodies than both mule deer above. We have a lot harder time loading them into the pickup. I'm not sure what constitutes this. They're in the same area so they get the same nutrition every year.
 

wby4life

New Member
Apr 15, 2011
21
0
Brookings, SD
Awesome deer! I'm actually from SD and hunt north of Wall for the West River deer season. What approx. area do you hunt? Thanks for sharing!
 

SDbowhunter

Active Member
Feb 21, 2011
163
0
Winner, SD
I'm guessing around the draper murdo area but i'm not sure, I shot a 147" whitetail with a bow this year, it had good mass and was also a 5X4
 

SDbowhunter

Active Member
Feb 21, 2011
163
0
Winner, SD
gotcha........the mulies in my area don't get much mass, so width and tine length are all they have going for them, a 150 or 160 is pretty good here, they have great forage here too, but apparently not what is required to make good mass.
 

wby4life

New Member
Apr 15, 2011
21
0
Brookings, SD
No, way up Northwest of that
My Dad and I hunted up in Harding County, just SW of Buffalo, for two years. We saw the biggest mule deer we've ever seen, but we had whitetail tags! Actually, we saw a guy in our hunting party miss it at 150 yards too...ugh! We went back the following year with "Any Deer" tags, but settled for much less than that. Some interesting country up that way though. Since then, we have concentrated on hunting the Wall area.