# Opening day of modern firearm Eastern Washington



## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Well I was actually kinda hoping to bring Legion on a hunt or two this week. No way I would bring him out opening day. 95% of the hunters here are retards and the likely hood of him getting shot is quite high. But unless I can talk another family member into getting a tag, my hunting season this year lasted all of 2 1/2 hours. Was going to hold off and try to find one of the monsters we saw during early muzzle load, but... when you gotta you just gotta 

3x3 muley buck. Taken with a 25-06 at 300 yards (range finder). One shot to the lungs.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Nice looking Buck!


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

He has big antlers to only be a 6 pt is that common with the mule deer? We only have whitetail here.
Oh Congrats!


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## BCG (Jun 30, 2012)

Congrats. Nice Buck.


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## OutdoorDreamer (Mar 29, 2012)

Very nice!
Congrats!


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

We have about the same number as white tail as we do mule deer in this area. White tails are low landers and muleys are high landers. But when the entire area is nothing but a million plus acres of dry land wheat, they pretty much just mix all together. In fact, we have a large amount of whitetail / muley cross breds like the one my brother got last week during muzzle loader.

But to answer the question, mule deer racks are much taller then a white tail. Granted, the height on this one is quite a bit higher then you would normally see on a 3x3. In 2 or 3 more years, if he woulda be able to dodge all the hunters, Id say he would of grew into an easy 220+ buck.

Pictured is the 4x4 whitetail I got last year and then the 5x5 white tail / muley cross my brother got this year.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Dad says they call a mule deer, white tail cross a blue deer. Do you call them that or is that a regional term? 
The mule deer are larger than white tail aren't they? We have some big does here, they are white tail but they are nearly as big as my 13.3 hand pony Clyde was. When I say here, I mean right here at our house, I see the group of them at least a couple times a week.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Nice


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Body wise white tail are larger. Because they normally range in a better habitat while the mule deer being up higher are more limited in food sources. And am not sure what they call the crosses here. This is the first year we took one. But I have heard that term used before 

Here is a quick video of the buck.


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## erica4481 (Mar 26, 2013)

Very nice deer


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## ciwheeles (Apr 5, 2013)

Nice looking buck, congrats!


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## Emzi00 (May 3, 2013)

Nice buck. Yum.. :yum:


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You are having a good year with deer. Congrats!


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Thanks everyone.  I did a little looking and another name for the crosses is Muletail deer. There is some DNA evidence that suggests Mule deer originated as the offspring from whitetail and black tail deer.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

That's interesting. I just know that when I was 7 I was hunting with dad (I had a beebe gun, he was humoring me) and a huge deer charged me, he had left me by a deer trail and was trying to see if he could walk into the woods and flush one out. (I still don't really understand this method because all I had was a beebe gun LOL) anyway it worked too well and this big buck charged at me. Dad was right there and shot it with a shotgun slug. It ran off into the woods dripping blood. Well I was 7 and short and dad was walking through honey suckle vines trying to find this deer. I was trying my best to keep up but couldn't. It felt to me like I was walking on a trampoline, those honey suckle vines were so thick and springy, sprongy. So he took me back to my grandma's house and called my mom to come help him look. We were hunting on grandma's land because it butts up against a creek and isn't far from the river. 
Well anyway they kept finding pools of blood where it had laid down but I think they pushed it too hard and it just kept getting up and moving. They never did find it. Not too long after that, a couple of days grandma's neighbor found it spoiled by that time, dead just across on his land, It was a 13 point. It was so grey it almost looked blue. I just remember this big grey deer coming at me. I probably wasn't ever in any danger really but at 7 it scared me. Dad was just inside the tree line and stepped out and shot it when it charged. Anyway I said all that to say, that is when dad first told me about blue deer. He said maybe it was blue deer and that was why it was so big. I asked him what a blue deer was and he said a mule deer/white tail cross. I said but we aren't supposed to have mule deer and he said I know but it is odd that one was so big and so grey.
I like to hunt but I never get anything, so I am glad you do. I bought a .243 last year and went a couple of times and never saw a thing then later when I am walking the farm with no rifle I see them.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Yep, thats deer for ya. Unless you sneak up on em around here, the big ones know exactly what lands are private and cant be hunted. 90% of the time when you are driving around, thats where you see em


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

I was hunting our own land. I took my daughter with me though and she is wiggly. She couldn't be still. About the time she finally got somewhat still, she announced, "I am freezing." and was ready to go to the house. So, I will readily admit I am not much of a hunter, but I think I might have had a chance if I hadn't brought wiggle britches. BUT, that was what it was all about was taking her hunting. 
Later that same day I walked down into the field sans rifle and there was one eating pears under a wild pear tree. Honestly If I had the rifle I probably couldn't have got him because my horses were between me and him, but I might have had a chance to slip past the horses closer to him, if I had the rifle. I walked up real close to him before he finally took off. I am a good shot, but it is hard to shoot something you never see or shoot something without a gun.


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## Gunsmith48 (Jan 27, 2013)

The whitetails are more aggressive than mulleys. Most of the time whitetails have twins on average. You will hardly see Mulley doe with twins. If mix these deer together. The whitetail bucks with run the Mulleys off & breed their does. The hybrid they produce are sterile. It's likebreeding an donkey to a horse as the mule offspring are generally sterile. In northern Colorado around the north Plate River area you will seen a lot of whitetails & hybrid cross. Each year there are fewer Mule deer and more whitetails. But the closer you get to mountains you start see more Mulleys. I kind of disagree that whitetail have bigger body's. A huge whitetail buck back east field dresses under 175 lbs. that is considered smallish mule deer buck. There are exceptions such as the whitetails in Canada or the Midwest.

Sent from my iPhone using GoatSpot


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

nice one! congrats!


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Sizes must change with the regions. The whitetail I got last year field dressed at 225 lbs and he wasnt that huge. The muley cross this year was maybe 150. My muley was 185 lbs. Granted, the hybrid didnt have a stitch of fat on him which we were surprised to see coming into winter. Typical amount of fat on the Muley. Id say 2/3 of the hunters around here try for the whitetail cause they "taste better". Which in normal areas would be correct. Whites having more access to farm lands and crops vs. mules staying up higher. But here, like I said, its all the same. We cooked up a couple of hamburgers from my brothers buck the night before. It wasnt just that the meat was 5 days fresh, it tasted just like beef because of the large amount of wheat all the deer around that area eat. Which is another reason why we go so many hunters in that area. All the meat tastes just like finished beef.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Congratulations! Our bow season is in now until Feb. This weekend was the 2 whole days they give muzzleloaders. (We shoot traditional flintlocks), but it is way too warm 
and the brush is still green! Hard to see a deer until you step on it! When it is cold I go out! Hopefully we get some venison for the freezer this year!


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Well I think my dad may have gotten the fever  He is old and was sure he didnt wanna spend the money on a tag but after seeing the luck his sons have had, he is thinking of getting a late season muzzle loader tag. The only bad thing is, we will be confined to the truck instead of out walking cause he is disabled, cant stalk and is allowed to hunt from the truck.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

TDG-Farms said:


> Well I think my dad may have gotten the fever  He is old and was sure he didnt wanna spend the money on a tag but after seeing the luck his sons have had, he is thinking of getting a late season muzzle loader tag. The only bad thing is, we will be confined to the truck instead of out walking cause he is disabled, cant stalk and is allowed to hunt from the truck.


 Well I sure hope he gets one!!! Wouldn't that just make his day!


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Deer head stew anyone? lol No, not really, just the first stages of a European mount.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

I was gonna ask you if you were going to mount that one because I really like the shape and height of his antlers. I didn't know that was called a European mount. I see people do that here all the time, I thought it was a ******* mount. LOL European sounds more sophisticated.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

hehe I actually like your name for it better


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Great job Dave!  A couple of my dads buddies from work just came down to our house (they are all fire fighters in Bothel, yes, my dad commutes to and from!) and one of them got a nice little 3 point I believe. Not sure if it was a white tail or a mule, by the time I saw it, it was hanging in the barn all bagged up!


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## AmyBoogie (May 20, 2013)

ok. so you're boiling the goo off the skull in order to get this mount? I know nothing about taxidermy...I love skulls and bones and inner workings but am clueless about this stuff.


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## OutdoorDreamer (Mar 29, 2012)

AmyBoogie said:


> ok. so you're boiling the goo off the skull in order to get this mount? I know nothing about taxidermy...I love skulls and bones and inner workings but am clueless about this stuff.


Yep, the head is skinned first, then as much meat removed by hand as possible (lower jaw, eyes etc) then simmering is all that's needed to "cook" the meat off the skull. Anything left on it after simmering is scraped off. Then I degrease/whiten the skull in peroxide from a beauty/hair supply store.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

^^^ Yep, thats pretty much it. It may take another light cooking if you find it difficult to get all the soft tissues out including the brain. The peroxide paste whites and also helps to dissolve any tissue you cant get to. Some people clear coat the horns. In time the skull may yellow, just redo the peroxide paste step to whiten.


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## AmyBoogie (May 20, 2013)

Thanks. We found a discarded deer carcass last year (person down the street that shot a deer, cleaned it and discarded the leftovers near a public boat launch that we walk near) and I almost brought pieces home but wasn't sure what to do with them. If this, uh, gentleman, does this again, I'll bring pieces home.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

If that person does it again, Id called the game wardens. No tolerance for anyone who hunts but doesnt respect it enough dispose of their remains in a proper manner. You never leave remains where non hunters can find or see it. Just like you dont show off your kill by transporting it in view. Dumping the remains near people is a good way to pull predators into residential neighborhoods.


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## AmyBoogie (May 20, 2013)

We have a heavy predator population here anyway. At first we thought it was that since in winter its not heavily traveled by people but is by animals heading to the water. It wasn't until we found the skull and examined it that we realized what it was (axe marks). We aren't even 100% sure who did it but assumed it was the guy that had the animal displayed hanging from a tree in his front yard for a couple of days. We didn't even think of calling the game warden. By the time spring hit and the snow pack was gone, only hair was left or we would have cleaned it up ourselves. If he does it again we will call.


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## Gunsmith48 (Jan 27, 2013)

Anyone have pictures of their last hunt. I have just gotten home from my last hunt of the this year!

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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Nice! Congrats!


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Very nice GS. hehe funny that you have the front split and I had the back split  Gotta love a nice rack!

Think ill start a thread just for hunting pictures.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Congrats Gunsmith, Nice deer!


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