Post by: WapitiTalk1 on February 28, 2023, 08:30:20 PM
Post by: elkboy on February 28, 2023, 08:47:43 PM
And a sobering story title that is all too true in many parts of the West.
Post by: tankcdr66 on March 01, 2023, 03:15:19 PM
Post by: huntnphool on March 02, 2023, 12:54:16 AM
An animal you will never see in WA! The article was very thoughtworthy as to the future of mule deer hunting and the impacts hunters, loss of habitat, predators and other causes are having on the species in the western states. I am afraid the good old days of big mules taken in the 70s through early 90s are long gone.
There are still quality bucks out there.
Post by: bigmacc on March 03, 2023, 03:33:21 PM
phool is right, there are still some nice bucks left running the hills around this state. Are there as many? Heck no. I’ve told stories of family members that later went on to work for Game departments in 3 different states, Alaska, Idaho and Montana. All 3 would come to hunt this state as nonresidents back in the 1930,s through the 70,s. At one time Washington State was a wild card/sleeper as far as big bucks go. We all know some old timers that killed bucks in this state that were never scored or never “looked over”. My dad was one of those. He hunted mule deer in the valley from the 1930,s until the year he died at the age of 85. He killed a more than a few bucks that were close to the picture on this magazine. He killed three 13 point bucks, a 13 by 7, a 13 by 9 and a 13 by 11, all huge non typicals with mass that some dream of I guess. Not one of those bucks were ever scored or measured, in fact he would give away his antlers as did my great grandparents. We have one set of my dads big fellas that hangs at my sons. We have a couple of my great grandparents, the rest were all given away or donated. At one time as a young man I seen over 400 sets of antlers hanging in my great grandpas shop, no family wanted them when they were selling their house so they were all given away. As some on here know, many were 30 inch plus bucks along with all of the big non typicals of my dads, the one that hangs at my sons is a thick 9 by 7 that I actually posted on here years ago. We still have some pictures but nothing close to capturing the huge bucks that number in the 800,s that our family killed in the hay days of Little Bellingham. My dad never liked the limelight or any kind of recognition over killing a buck. He always felt he owed the animal respect and when he killed a monster it wasn’t because he was a great hunter, it was because the “big boy messed up, he let his guard down”. Just for SH!$S and giggles, my dad killed those three 13 points, a 9 by 7, a 8 by 8 and a 7 by 6 all out of one draw over about a 12 year span. Genetics? I think so, til this day some one in our group will kill a throwback in this corridor, when all the stars align. Yep, there are still a few nice bucks roaming this state but I’ll tell ya this, it’s nothing like it used to be. This state would rival Idaho, Montana and any other “mule deer state” you wanted to stack against it. When at one time you had Game Department employees from those states that would come here to hunt mule deer, that says something. Not so much anymore, really is a shame.An animal you will never see in WA! The article was very thoughtworthy as to the future of mule deer hunting and the impacts hunters, loss of habitat, predators and other causes are having on the species in the western states. I am afraid the good old days of big mules taken in the 70s through early 90s are long gone.
There are still quality bucks out there.
Post by: Pathfinder101 on March 03, 2023, 04:24:42 PM
An animal you will never see in WA! The article was very thoughtworthy as to the future of mule deer hunting and the impacts hunters, loss of habitat, predators and other causes are having on the species in the western states. I am afraid the good old days of big mules taken in the 70s through early 90s are long gone.
I think there is at least one photographer on this site that would beg to differ. :twocents:
Post by: bigmacc on March 03, 2023, 06:08:17 PM
:yeah: There was a conversation I had with that “photographer “ a few years ago, it had something to do with “bucks that still haunt us”, we swapped a few stories and I told him of a buck that to this day I will still see in my sleep from time to time, I know it will be hard to believe but the buck on this cover would have came in a distant second. There are a few folks who know of this story, a few family members and close friends and I shared it with “the photographer “. A buck I will never see again, even on a magazine cover.👍 And yes, it was in this state, 50 years ago yes, but like I said, I would have put this state up against all comers at one time. Piss poor management has screwed that up. Sorry😢An animal you will never see in WA! The article was very thoughtworthy as to the future of mule deer hunting and the impacts hunters, loss of habitat, predators and other causes are having on the species in the western states. I am afraid the good old days of big mules taken in the 70s through early 90s are long gone.
I think there is at least one photographer on this site that would beg to differ. :twocents:
Post by: BKMFR on March 03, 2023, 07:13:00 PM
Post by: highcountry_hunter on March 03, 2023, 08:48:35 PM
Shhhhhhhhh….An animal you will never see in WA! The article was very thoughtworthy as to the future of mule deer hunting and the impacts hunters, loss of habitat, predators and other causes are having on the species in the western states. I am afraid the good old days of big mules taken in the 70s through early 90s are long gone.
There are still quality bucks out there.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: huntnphool on March 03, 2023, 11:26:46 PM
Shhhhhhhhh….An animal you will never see in WA! The article was very thoughtworthy as to the future of mule deer hunting and the impacts hunters, loss of habitat, predators and other causes are having on the species in the western states. I am afraid the good old days of big mules taken in the 70s through early 90s are long gone.
There are still quality bucks out there.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
;)
Post by: hal on March 06, 2023, 09:35:52 AM
Post by: pianoman9701 on March 06, 2023, 10:37:05 AM