CO. muley

[Intruder]

Just returned from CO.  Didn't get quite the buck I was looking for but had a great time and a memorable hunt on this fella.  Guy I hunted w/ was a biologist and he estimated (looking at the teeth) this guy was a 4 maybe 5 year old deer.  Kinda a genetic freak since he didn't grow the additional forks.  Didn't get a chance to tape him but I'm guessing he's 24-26 wide.... and as you can see decent length too.  No clue what he weighed but his was considerably bigger than the an average sized 4x4 taken on the same trip... probably 20% larger body mass. 

Main reason I decide to take him was more the scenario than the actual deer.  My buddy and I each saw him on prior days but never did get a good look at him.  Just saw that he was pretty wide and tall.... but couldn't see the points.  I ended up spotting him at first light in his bed.  Got the spotting scope on him and was shocked to see he was just a 2 pt.  Watched him for 3 hours chase does around and run off other bucks... 1 was actually a real nice 4 pt about 20" wide.  Anyway, continued to watch him and he finally bedded on the hill across the canyon at 396 yards.  I shot him in his bed.  1 shot... never even got up.  Even at that range and after breaking 1 of the shoulders the bullet (Barnes TSX) still exited. 

[arrowflinger]

Great buck.............thanks for posting.

[huntingnut]

That's a nice buck. I have heard, don't know if it's true, that they will start to degress in points at a certain age. If anyone knows if this is true or not I would like to know. Could be why he is only a two point.

[Chesapeake]

I have heard of buck regressing and seen a few claimed examples, but never seen one go back to a clean fork. The claimed examples I have seen were all real heavy multi-point racks that looked stunted and had alot of trash points.

For blacktail on the coast we see quite a few bucks that never seem to grow any more than forks. They just get heavier and wider/taller each year. We call them Pacific forks.

Of course I have no scientific backing for any of this. It is all just seat-o-the pants armchair theory.

Here's an example of a blacktail:

[Intruder]

I don't think he was regressing.  My buddy (the biologist) said there are just a certain small % of mature animals that do this.  Just unlucky (or lucky, depending on how ya look at it) that he was the 1 I happened to run across.  We actually saw 3 deer while scouting that were 150-170+ class animals.  2 of em were just not in areas that we could hunt.  The other 1 we hunted 3 times and never found him. 

[Ridgerunner]

neat looking buck.  Thanks for posting up.

[Broken Arrow]

nice buck....congratulations!

[Muleyslyr]

Sweet.  I'm thinkin' it's just a genetic freak.  Just the way he was and probably always would've been.  Great deer though.  Congrats.

[Slider]

I would agree. Some Bucks just end up being a 2 Point. I chased one last year in the late Archery (28" Wide). Also had a Buddy that shot one in the Mission Unit 32" Wide!!!

[Michelle_Nelson]

Nice buck!

[hogsniper]

Awesome 2 point...i agree i dont think this is a regressing buck but have seen some that are which causes a very mature 2 point. Definantly an awesome deer and congrats on the trophy...Justin

[MichaelJ]

Yep, just a crappy genetic mature muley!  Way to get him out of the gene pool!

Michael

[Lowedog]

Great buck!  Who knows what that buck would have done in future years.  Could have been a big 3 or 4 last year and didn't have the nutrients this year.  Unlikely but could have been.  Might have turned into a 3 or 4 point eventually.

There was a buck that wintered locally for several years that was a big 3 the first 3 years I saw him and on the 4th and consecutive years became a 4 point.  He went from about a 26 inch 3 point that first year to well over 30 inches and still a 3 point.  In his prime he pushed 40 inches as a 4 point but always looked a little spindly and shallow forked.  Some of you might know the deer I'm talking about. 

[Intruder]

My buddy actully ended up pulling a tooth.  Called me last night and told me the buck was a 4 1/2 year old deer.