No deer this year

[Greybeard]

My son saw a huge 2-point buck running with 3 4-points. His body was half again bigger than the 4-points. He tried all bow season to harvest him but did not, passing up several other bucks in the process.

I spent the rifle season in his area. To make a long story short, I didn't see any antlers this year. Greybeard/

[GF.]

Where was he hunting??

I'll tell ya... I haven't been out to the old stompin' grounds in CO in 10 years, and boy has the local mulie herd been busy! I've never seen so many does & fawns, and I saw the nicest buck I've ever come across up there. He had to be 2.5 years already and headed for Seriously Big status given another year or two to work on it.

I picked him out at about 85-90 yards because of an almost blue-white face that stuck out like a beacon, and leopard-crawled to within 65 yards or so. Not that it mattered to a bowhunter with a cow-only Elk tag in his pocket, but that was by far the most fun I've had with a mule deer since I walked up within 30 yards of where a little bunch of them had bedded down and managed to plunk an arrow into a little forkhorn.

I hope for his sake that there's more snow on the ground during the rifle seasons, or with that face he's a goner for sure

[Greybeard]

GF, on the east slope of Mt. Hood. Cannot get more specific than that as we hope he will make it through the winter for next year. I didn't see this buck but I did see a similar buck some 20 years ago on Steen's Mountain (southern Oregon). It was 4-point or better unit and that 2-point absolutely had me drooling. High and wide (at least 36") with great mass and enormous body. But could not shoot him. It was enough to make me cry. Greybeard/

[GF.]

No worries- 'Oregon' would have been good enough for me

It's just interesting to see how the deer herds are doing, state-to-state, especially since CO went to a lottery on them so many years back now. Nice to see them coming back in my little patch, though....