Average??

Kind of depends on where you are hunting. What is average in one area may be a monster in another and on the small side in yet another area.

My rule of thumb is that if the antlers are as wide as the ears then that tends to be a shooter. Unless, of course, I know there's a big boy in the area.

Remember, though, that a trophy isn't necessarily made up of antlers only. The quality of the hunt has more to do with a trophy to me than just pure size.

PLP, can you give us the general location of where your going?
Is it a "on your own hunt" on public land?
Private land, or guided?
It makes a lot of difference, say your going to an easily accessible public area. Or getting into the back country and heading out on foot.

we need some info on the area you are going to be hunting. is it a trophy unit?

I tend to agree with ABert. I like to see a buck as wide as its ears, but make sure the ears are flat out. :) It's easy to talk yourself into an 18 inch buck with its ears at a 45* angel. I think anything over 24 inches is a decent average muley, but again, it depends on where you’re going.

Heavy antlers or non-typical antlers can change my mind in a big hurry though. I'm also a sucker for a super square tall four point.

if you have a LE tag you better know what you are looking at before you pull the trigger or you will have ground shrinkage. Arrive a few days before the hunt starts if you can scout ahead of time. You will know what a good deer looks like.

some areas have deer with typically smaller deer weight and ear width. tell us where you are headed.

some area will have so few mature deer you better shoot when the first branch antler shows itself or you will eat your tag.

I am looking at several places for a DIY hunt.It all depends where I get drawn.The main goal is to have fun,and enjoy the scenery as well(I have only been out there once,and can't get it off my mind),but I would like to have a chance with some hard work ya know?Like i said I am not wanting to make a magazine cover,just a decent buck for the area.I understand where y'all are coming from as far as region has alot to do with it.

It may be easier to say where I don't want to hunt.lol

Here are the places I have in mind so far...Maybe someone can post pics of average bucks taken near these areas?

#1-South Dakota-Either in the hills near the Wyoming line..or north of them in butte,or harding co....or either south of the hills in the oglala grasslands/or buffalo gap grassland.

#2-Wyoming-not sure just been looking at BLM land.I know lincoln,and carbon are real popular,I don't really want to be in a super popular area.

#3-Nebraska-NW around crawford (since NE is about the only OTC place for Mulies)

#4-Colorado-Around unit 70,or near steamboat springs.Colorado is so popular I am not getting my hopes up.

#5-Oregon-Somewhere around steens mt.

AZ,UT,NM,are other choices,but too popular to worry about the near future.

I'm not in wilderness shape,but I can get around.My ideal place would be somewhere with ridges or rolling hills where I can walk tops and glass..(everyone would like that huh?..lol).

Thanks guys!

Anybody? (???)

I have hunted the Steens unit in Oregon and all I can say is unless you know where a monster is I wouldn't let anything go that was a 22-24" 4x4. After saying that I have seen some bucks on the unit that would easily go over the 180-200" mark(its tough to judge non-typicals). So my best advice would be to scout your a** off and find out where a monster is and when opening morning comes around I would be the first one in there to harvest him. Like most units in the west the Steens isn't as good as it use to be. If you would like I have pictures of bucks I scouted in different units that I know the score of, I can post them up so you have an idea of what to look for. Most important is that you are happy with the buck you get. The score is nothing more than a number and I think way to many people have taken this scoring process so far out of hand that it's all that matters to some hunters. Like the name says I do it for the love of it.

Your questions is a bit of a tough one. 24" and above is consider a 'Trophy' in the state of Utah.

If you see this buck, take him IMO. He is a bit above average in my neck of the woods.

But a solid, pretty buck. Of course I'd like one bigger also, but on a general unit he'll be tough to beat.

Wow thanks guys!!MM That is bigger than I would have thought to be average so maybe I am going to be easy to please..lol..I have been looking at a bunch of pics,and I'm thinking I will probably go with the general rule of as wide as his ears,unless it is just crazy tall.

Thanks again,and for the love of it you can post or pm me those pics if you'd like.Thanks a ton guys!

Depending on how much time you have. Say you will have one week. I would set the bar quite high at first, 25" or, there's nothing wrong with a 20-22" high and heavy. I would pass on the light antlered bucks the first few days. I wouldn't want to cut my hunt short with a average buck. I don't like "tag soup" :-k but I take the chance.

Well here are a few pictures to get you started. I don't know where the rest of my pictures are but I will keep looking for them. If I had a Steens tag it would be hard to pass on any of these bucks unless you knew where a better one was. The first buck is around 23-25" wide and has really good forks so score wise I would guess him at the 160 mark. The second buck is actually only about 20" wide but he also has great forks. They actually curve in and it's tough to see the forks in the picture but he 150-160" mark. One thing to keep in mind if you are hunting for a buck that scores well is that you it doesn't matter how wide they are. Its all about the fork length and mass. Also do you have a face book account I have a lot of deer pictures on that that I cant get on this so i could ad you as a friend and you could look at those to. Hope this helped.

ANY of those would be plenty big enough for me to put on the wall!I guess I have low expectations huh?..lol

I don't have facebook.I may try to join.

Well said Muley, that's a pretty buck... :thumb

"PLP" wrote:ANY of those would be plenty big enough for me to put on the wall!I guess I have low expectations huh?..lol

I don't have facebook.I may try to join.

Keep in mind that 22"-24" is an average mature buck. It's not like your going to see a ton of 22-24" bucks running around for your to take your pick from. Odds are you'll pass on 20 or so smaller 2 points and three points each time you have the choice to decide on taking a 22 to 24" buck.

This may not be true of limited entry areas but it has been the case in most public land areas I've hunted. The average mature buck is going to be three to four years old. He'll know what hunting season means and will still give you plenty of challenge. Good luck on your hunt.

"NotEnufTags" wrote: Keep in mind that 22"-24" is an average mature buck. It's not like your going to see a ton of 22-24" bucks running around for your to take your pick from. Odds are you'll pass on 20 or so smaller 2 points and three points each time you have the choice to decide on taking a 22 to 24" buck.

This may not be true of limited entry areas but it has been the case in most public land areas I've hunted. The average mature buck is going to be three to four years old. He'll know what hunting season means and will still give you plenty of challenge. Good luck on your hunt.

Thanks!That's exactly th kind of info I need,along with pics like for the love of it,put up.I've also been pouring over pics to get an idea.My whitetails average 140-150#,and 85-95"...100"+ usually gets mounted.This is over here along the southeast coast where we have tiny deer.So going over there where a 250# 140-150" buck is average for a mature buck..well you could see how I would be foaming at the mouth for a 120..lol.That's why I am asking so I don't get tag regret(tastes worse than tag soup..).Once I decide where to go I will try to do 3 days of pre-scouting(low impact),to get an idea of the size of deer in the area,so when I see one that's good I will know without a doubt he's a shooter,Just going to walk around blindfolded after that so I don't see one bigger..lol..

You guys have been very helpful.Thanks guys..

Here are a few more picture I found. The two pictures of the deer in the residential area were taken last November at the Steens Resort near French Glen, Oregon. So yet again any of these bucks are shooters to 80% of the hunters around. The picture of the buck bedded down in the grass is a buck that we actually killed right after the picture was taken. That buck was 21" wide and scored 161". I hope you are starting to get sort of an idea what you are looking for. I don't know what unit you have or where you will be hunting so these could be monsters for your area or they could be little guys.

WOW!Those are beasts to me!!I may faint if I see a 180+..lol