OT How big do Deer really get

[brno602]

Was talking to my butcher today he brought up a deer I had got a few years ago,it went 165lbs dressed skinned, head and legs cut off said it was the biggest he has seen in his shop.
Made me think a bit, a big four point Mule deer head ,guts, legs and skin, and hanging time I thought it went about 275lbs on the hoof?
It was a beast to move around by myself thats for sure.

[gundownunder]

I guess it depends on which deer you include in the question.

Moose, or European elk are members of the deer family and can get to 1500 pounds.

Sambar deer which is a premium hunting species on the east coast here in Australia can get up to 1200 pounds and are typically over 500 pounds (which probably explains why the American idea of carrying deer on the bonnet of the truck never caught on over here )

[Blaine]

carrying deer on the bonnet of the truck

Yer put a hat on the bloody lorry

[brno602]

I guess it depends on which deer you include in the question.

Moose, or European elk are members of the deer family and can get to 1500 pounds.

Sambar deer which is a premium hunting species on the east coast here in Australia can get up to 1200 pounds and are typically over 500 pounds (which probably explains why the American idea of carrying deer on the bonnet of the truck never caught on over here )

Sorry should have been more clear Mule Dear and WT. I have had Moose 1/4s go 160lb and I live in the land of small Moose.

[brno602]

carrying deer on the bonnet of the truck

Yer put a hat on the bloody lorry

We used to just throw them over the big winch bumper.

[gundownunder]

Blaine, a lorry is a small brightly colored parrot, if you want to add your 2c worth can you keep it on topic please

and yeh, if you put your hat on the truck it would stop the antlers from scratching the paint.

[TedH]

My heaviest whitetail went 183 lb. field dressed, and my area is not known for big whitetails. A bit north of where I hunt there is a lot more crop land and the deer get better food up there so they grow bigger bodies and antlers.

[brno602]

Blaine, a lorry is a small brightly colored parrot, if you want to add your 2c worth can you keep it on topic please

Not too worry mate I know he was just playing

[geobru]

The biggest blacktail I have seen was 265 pounds, field dressed. I've killed two that yielded 120 pounds of boned, cut and wrapped meat and were in excess of 200 pounds field dressed. (Field dressed = gutted, with head and hide attached)

I've heard of whitetails and big mulies that were 300 pounds field dressed, but don't know if that is real or not.

[brno602]

The biggest blacktail I have seen was 265 pounds, field dressed. I've killed two that yielded 120 pounds of boned, cut and wrapped meat and were in excess of 200 pounds field dressed. (Field dressed = gutted, with head and hide attached)

I've heard of whitetails and big mulies that were 300 pounds field dressed, but don't know if that is real or not.

ya that's more like it skin adds 15/20 lbs head can go another 15/20lbs not too mention legs and guts so I am thinking for a big Norhthern Deer 300 lbs is tops, but a on the hoof wieght.
I have seen some of the ''big'' Texas Wt before I did not want to make fun of my uncle as I thought the body was like a fawn ya kinda big horns but 60lb of meat on the critter

[gundownunder]

A whitetail field dressed at 300 pounds according to what I have read would be extremely rare.
I have read that it would be an extremely rare event for a big buck to go 375 live weight but a trophy mule buck could go up to 500.

and I think Blaine knows I'm joking.

[stretch]

I think the record whitetail in Maine was something like 450 lbs.

200+ is considered a big buck up this way.

-Stretch

[spaceman spiff]

The James Jordan buck was supposedly 400# A real monster......
Taken with a Levergun chambered in .25-20!

spaceman

[pshort]

Howdy,
I shot a field dressed whitetail at 258 lbs about 40 yrs ago in northern MN. I haven't seen one anywhere near that size since... (10 pt)
Fortunately, he dropped by the road!
Toughest meat ever! Now I just look for 100 pounders....

Paul

[Buffboy]

The Buffalo Rancher I used to work for arrowed a whitetail buck this year that scaled 200# field dressed. I'll bet the one I shot last year was heavier than that one. I've seen Mule deer bucks that were 350 on the hoof though only a couple. Deer around here can get pretty big if allowed to get old enough. I know most southern pheasant hunters are always stunned by the physical size of the deer around here. I know that they've gotten bigger in general since I started hunting but then the vittles they've been getting are better now too.

[2X22]

The biggest blacktail I have seen was 265 pounds, field dressed. I've killed two that yielded 120 pounds of boned, cut and wrapped meat and were in excess of 200 pounds field dressed. (Field dressed = gutted, with head and hide attached)

George, my Father in Law, who's house you lived in down in Bear Canyon, used to always tell me about the Randle Buck Pool. Back in the 50's and 60's you didn't even take your buck in and enter it at the Randle butcher shop unless it was in the upper 260's at LEAST! They had to be whole, no bucks cut in half and packed out. Just field dressed with the hide, heads and horns still on. One year he killed one that weighed 268lbs and didn't enter it because the year before the winning weight was over 280lbs. Turns out that particular year he would have won!

Biggest blacktail I've ever taken was 242lbs up on Langelle (with a pistol!) and my biggest mule deer was 236lbs. Both taken the same year

2x22

[AJMD429]

Blaine, a lorry is a small brightly colored parrot, if you want to add your 2c worth can you keep it on topic please

and yeh, if you put your hat on the truck it would stop the antlers from scratching the paint.

Ppthththtttttt...... < sound of splattering liquid >

If you didn't live in the land where keyboards are probably upside-down or backwards or all messed-up due to the reversal of the Coriolis effect, I'd make you send me a new one...

[piller]

Here in Texas, the deer are bred especially for large antlers. The body size is generally somewhat smaller than a typical full grown collie dog. They look sort of deformed to me.

[Huntermb]

WT bucks here commonly go over the 250 lb range. I have a couple of the years that have field dressed at around the 225 mark. I've seen does that field dressed at 180 here.

[M. M. Wright]

When I saw this thread I got out my copy of Leonard Lee Rue's The Deer of North America. Minnesota, claims the all time record weight of a deer killed by Carl J. Lenander Jr. near Tofte. Field dressed, it scaled 402 lb. The conservation department calculated its live weight to 511 lb. Minnesota officially recognizes the Lenander buck as the largest whitetail ever killed in the state. None larger has ever been officially recorded in North America. This was in November 1926.

I know there have been larger ones claimed but never officially weighed and recognized.

M. M.

[shooter]

The guy I hunt with in New Mexico shot a Mulie that tipped the scales at 320 on the hoof year before last. This year we saw a deer that was quite a bit bigger than that one, but due to my poor shooting skills we didn't get to take that one home. It was on a full sprint, and I'm not used to shooting at deer on the run. I'm spoiled to Texas stand hunting I guess. The Mulie I shot 2 years ago weighed about 220, and is average size for the area I hunt. The 300+ deer are more scarce, but there are several of them out there.

The biggest whitetail I have seen personally field dressed at 212 pounds and had 12 points. It was taken near Witchita Falls, TX.

[OJ]

Dunno how much our visitors weigh but, they are pretty big - they enjoy the relaxed freedom of our 1/2 acre yard - right here in the center of town (thanks to some 15 -20 acres of wooded "open space" behind us that can never be developed)







The "harem" is somewhat smaller -

[Mike D.]

The heaviest mule deer that I have killed in CA weighed 235 field dressed. Jess Valley, Modoc Co, 5X5.

[336A]

We have been having one heck of a season up here in Northern NY. If I had to guess I'd say that the avg weight for a mature WhiteTail buck is around 150 pounds. Look here there are some pretty big deer pictured here. There are I believe 4 pages so scroll down till you next page. There are a few that go over 200 pounds.
http://www.newzjunky.com/deer.htm

[Windjammer]

The record whitetail for Tennessee was and maybe still is, 323 lbs. The biggest I've killed was right at 180 lbs.

[86er]

I was waiting for confirmation on the #'s before posting. The two biggest I have personally encountered (both shot by clients with me) were: Nov. 2006 Chatauqua County, N.Y. 10 pt buck, 248 pounds live weight (cattle scale) and Nov. 2003 Millo Village Camps, Sasqatchewan 13 point buck, 327 pounds live weight (block and tackle spring scale).

I've personally shot a pile of NYS whitetail that were squarely 175 pounds. Here in texas I don't think I have shot anything that went over 160 pounds. We've never been able to weigh the mule deer on our hunts but the local guides have verbally stated they were as much as 300 pounds - but I can't verify the actual weight. A friend hunts Milk River, MT area for whitetail and routinely shoots deer in the mid - 200 pound range there.

[Pete44ru]

Many of the checking stations, where I've been hunting Maine whitetails since 1968, have certified scales, since they generally are running a "Biggest Buck" contest for the season.

In central Maine (Pisquatiquis County), I've taken bucks that weighed in ( field-dressed - no liver/heart/lungs/stomach or entrails) from 135 lbs to 247 lbs, and was present once when a 305 lb buck was checked in by a Maine (IIRC) resident.
IIRC, someone or other checks in a 300+ pounder each year or two in Maine - check The Maine Sportsman (newspaper), who runs a listing of each heavyweight, yearly.

The State of Maine maintains, with shoulder patches & membership, a "Big Bicks Club" that requires a buck be registered that weighs a minimum of 200 lbs, field dressed - there are legions of members.

The official Maine state record is the "Hinkley Deer", taken with a .348 Model 71 about 40 years ago near Winslow or Windsor ( I disremember which, at this late date) that weighed 455 lbs.
Mr. & Mrs Hinkley were hunting a swamp, a little apart, when Mr. shot at & missed the giant, which promptly ran around a low ridge to the Mrs, who put it down.
They obtained the services of a farm tractor to recover it.
The story, complete with pics, was in a period outdoor magazine of the day - like Outdooe Life or Field & Stream.

.