King’s Outdoor World Blog

40-inch Mule Deer Sighting

November 19th, 2005 David King - King's Outdoor World

Every year we hear it. “There was a 40-inch mule deer taken.” How rare that is. Last year there were at least two mule deer that stretched the tape to 40-inches wide. What an accomplishment. However, like most things, the rumors of a legit 40 inch mule deer usually go away in the wind or turn out to be much less.

I remember a couple of years ago I traveled to an older man’s home to take pictures of his 40-inch mule deer. As soon as I saw it I knew it wasn’t even close. It was a 30-inch buck. I took a couple of photos anyway just to not make him feel bad.

The last few weeks there has been rumors of a 40-inch mule deer being taken here in Utah. The crazy thing about it is that it was taken right in our back yard so to speak during the general season hunt. We first got word from our local Fish and Game Officer telling he saw a 40-inch mule deer come off the mountain. Then, things started getting crazy as we started talking with people who actually saw the buck and measured it themselves. Reports came in that it was a 36-inch mule deer. Another 35-inches. But then more verifying that it was in fact 40-inches wide.

Aparently an older man that was not a local went up the canyon in his car and then hunted along a dirt road. He came across this buck and shot it. He was driving down the canyon with this buck hanging in the back trunk of his car! When he stopped at a local gas station, someone stopped and measuring it at 40-inches. He then proceeded to a local auto shop to get some air in his tires. There the autoshop owner measured it at 40-inches wide. He said that the buck was a willow-horned 4×5 that had just one kicker on the one side. It was basically a very wide typical-framed mule deer, but carried very little mass.

The hunter then proceeded out of town and through the canyon. Another person spotted this great buck in the trunk and following him some ways down the canyon until he stopped again at a quick stop gas station. This person measured it at 36-inches wide. The funny thing is, even though all of these people saw the buck in the trunk of this car and measured it, they did not go to the trouble of getting a name or where this guy was from. We are guessing that he might be a resident hunter from Utah County or Salt Lake City.

Now the question arises…did anyone see this buck before it was shot? There are some hard core hunters around this area and many landowners who know the hills pretty good. Why haven’t we heard about this buck until now? So far we have heard of one sighting prior to the rifle season. Surprisingly, not many really knew this wide buck was around.

Anyone who knows any information about this buck, drop us a line….the mystery 40-inch buck continues.

Entry Filed under: Buck Alert!