Mule Deer size question

[wafisherman]

Being new to deer hunting, I don't have a long history to look back and compare my own notes.   Just a 4x4 idaho mule deer last year, and then my WA 4x4 mule deer from this year.  But in just looking at some of the posts on here, it seems to me that many guys are finding some BIG mule deer this year.  I'm not talking about antlers, but about sheer size and weight.

Does this seem to be a bigger year for deer than usual?  I know my cousin told me the area we hunted in Idaho was known for smaller mule deer.  So maybe that is all I'm noticing.

Do our WA mule deer usually have such thick layers of fat?  My 6 inch boning knife when slide down the back strap pretty much disappeared into several inches of fast and then some thick meat.  It was crazy.  Even the rib cage has fat over 2 inches thick in many spots.  After quartering it and putting the parts in my extra large ice chest, my buddy and I struggled to get it into the house and into the kitchen.  And we aren't 90lb weaklings...  Sounds like I'm not the only one noticing a thick layer of fat.  Could this just be normal?  My Idaho mule deer last year was also a 4x4, but not nearly the same fat and amount of meat.  Maybe as much as 100lbs smaller in size.  I compared pics, and my WA mule deer is just a thick wide dude.  We nick named him 'Tubby'.  You could see not see even a hint of hip, rib, or other bone when he was laying there.  And this is a mountain deer.  Not some corn field farm land freak... 

Could it also point to an extra cold winter coming??

Anyway, probably just some ramblings of a newbie talking out loud, but thought I throw it out there anyway...

[lewy]

Did you happen to kill your Idaho buck post rut, they run alot of fat off chasing the ladies

[boneaddict]

Good foliage and little pressure on the fuel load with the population down equals good fat going into winter.  No the deer aren't bigger this year than normal really.   

[wafisherman]

Did you happen to kill your Idaho buck post rut, they run alot of fat off chasing the ladies

Nope - was mid October and pretty sure there wasn't a lot of lady chasing yet.

[wafisherman]

Good foliage and little pressure on the fuel load with the population down equals good fat going into winter.  No the deer aren't bigger this year than normal really.

Makes sense.  I definitely was seeing lot of good foliage where I was hunting.  And his stomach was stuffed.

[Pathfinder101]

Probably just coincidence, but the muley I killed this year was a tank.  Biggest bodied deer I have ever tried to manhandle into the back of my truck.  Usually, I can grab them by the antlers from the deer cart and with a little grunting and groaning wrestle them up into the bed.  Nothin' doing this year.  Took me almost an hour, 3 ropes and some geometry. 
When I got him to my buddys' place to skin him we hung him in the cooler with 3 other bucks.  He dwarfs them.  He does have a decent amount of fat on him, but that's not where the weight came from.  He's just built like a holstein.  Cut off at the joints, his back knees touch the ceiling and his front knees drag the floor of the walk in cooler. 
The guy in the picture of the carcass helped me hang it up.  He's a pretty big dude, over 6 feet. 

[coachcw]

why would you mess around for an hour ? cut him in half and throw him in and be gone !

[huntnphool]

In general, I have found Washington mule deer larger than Idaho and Montana deer over the years.

[Pathfinder101]

why would you mess around for an hour ? cut him in half and throw him in and be gone !

Good question.  Stubborn, I guess....

[lokidog]

Wow, you guys shoot some small deer....  My black-tailed "mule" deer was a whopping 101 lb hanging wieght with 26 pounds of guts.       

Mine had no fat on it at all this year, doesn't look good for the winter on the island.

[WAcoueshunter]

I've found that the size of WA mule deer can vary greatly from one area to another.  The biggest deer I've found are the migrating mountain bucks (Okanogan, Chelan, etc.), and there are some real hogs.  But the palouse and other flatland bucks are, on average, a lot smaller.  The biggest mountain bucks we've taken approach 300 lbs. field dressed.  The biggest palouse bucks I can remember are a solid 100 lbs. lighter.  Wouldn't doubt that the same holds true in Idaho, MT and elsewhere - migrating deer just need to be bigger to survive. 

[boneaddict]

I agree

[Snakeriver10]

The size of the deer has allot to do with what they eat and how much pressure they are encountering.  An old saying is allot of fat means a rough winter but allot of fat also means allot of feed was available.  Could be you just shot a young buck vs an old buck where the old one was eating allot and just not moving.  A desert mule deer vs a mountain mule deer would showcase the desert one being smaller for mass but not actually bone structure size.    So many variables are available to determine the size of the actual body.....

[huntnphool]

I've found that the size of WA mule deer can vary greatly from one area to another.  The biggest deer I've found are the migrating mountain bucks (Okanogan, Chelan, etc.), and there are some real hogs.  But the palouse and other flatland bucks are, on average, a lot smaller.  The biggest mountain bucks we've taken approach 300 lbs. field dressed.  The biggest palouse bucks I can remember are a solid 100 lbs. lighter.  Wouldn't doubt that the same holds true in Idaho, MT and elsewhere - migrating deer just need to be bigger to survive.

My reply should have been a bit more in detail I guess, I agree. All my Washington muleys are N. Central bucks.

Interestingly enough, my Montana and Idaho deer have eaten better though.

[boneaddict]