Texas mule deer

First season on a lease in the panhandle that has bunch of mule deer, while it has an antler restriction, legal bucks are definitely on the property my question is what will a mature class buck score/be first time hunting muleys and don’t want to shoot just because he’s legal rather than nice mature Texas muley . We have seen several nice muleys but nothing like the giants wide bucks you think of when you think mule deer. Thanks in advance

different areas will have different quality of mature bucks. Just remember they aren't like a WT they don't reach their peak until about 6-8 yrs of age in my experience.

The best way to judge a mature trophy is brow tines and deep forks, along with tall FRONTS........meaning the front tine on the main beams.....usually if they are mature they will have a big body and tall noticeable fronts that you can see from 100 yards without binoculars.....8 years is usually the peak age for the mulie bucks so there aren't too many running around.....

Thanks good info to know based on that looks like I have bunch of nice up and comers then

Focus on their body structure, not what their racks look like IMO. After you've seen a few, it's easier and easier to tell how a mature buck looks (whether WT or MD) by the "fullness" of their neck, shoulders, swayed back, etc. A word of warning though......mule deer hunting is very addictive.

I've never hunted texas mule deer. Maybe when I retire I will give it a shot, Texas or Oklahoma panhandle would be fun.

Stick to Texas, Oklahoma mule deer aren’t all that for what ever reason.

What county/city are you hunting? I’m in Briscoe. Seeing tons of pigs and auodad but Mule deer activity seems down this year. I guess you never know with them since they are always moving.

We are north East motley county, loaded with pigs and good amount of mulies low number of whitetail and zero aoudad on our place

So would this guy age around 5-6? Just trying to get a idea on body to age class since I’m new to these guys

He's a brute

I would guess around 5 he has the belly for it lol.

Just my youneedtoshoothimandshowuspictures .02,
LeonCarr

He's mature IMO and could be post mature.......shoot him if you like him......they are just like whitetails in that they aren't all going to be great antlerwise when they mature.....if he is post mature he could of seen his better days.....

Mature is what I’m after, get the age antler size will come hopefully , being first time hunting them just I’m trying to learn to age them and what good representation Of mature buck for the area and whats not, they definitely are different than whitetail Least to me. Thanks for the help

I think poor body condition may have you guys fooled a bit here. I assume it's been a down year for rain in your area? I'd age him at 4.5. He'll be a bruiser if you let him get a couple more years on him. Just my .02 cents.

Nice Texas Mule deer.

If you ever wanna trade a Mulie Hunt for an Auodad Hunt let me know. I’m in Briscoe just north of you. Lots of Auodad.

mule deer in above pic don't look mature, if true mature later than wt, would give 2 more yrs at least

JG, is that a sandhill deer?

Agreed....hunted that area for 6yrs. Mules can fool you. They did me.

Yes sir. Those bucks have huge bodies, at least the old, mature one's do. Always acorns on the shinnery, "stout" browse, etc. They're just different. Biologist has told us more than once that a mule deer should be in the prime of his life at 7.5 yrs. We try not to shoot any much younger than that.

Those deer sure do hide well. I’ve spent a fair bit of time out there, and I’ve only seen a couple.

I grew up hunting sandhill deer on the other side of the state line (Unit 31 New Mexico) and that buck reminds me of what we would see. Generally shorter tines but wider antlers than their mountain brethren.

Mule Deer have a different body shape and size at younger ages than a whitetail has. They always look older than they are to someone used to looking at WT. You have to really study the whole body size/shape and the facial hair colorations to age the buck IME. This buck was very old and I had seen him for 3 yrs in a row. He was also an odd ball for body size in Trans Pecos area in that he only field dressed about 135 lbs. Most mature bucks on this lease will field dress out from 185 to 220.

Watched him for hour plus opening morning, decided he gonna get at least another year was tough to let him walk since I’ve never killed a Texas muley but I know there’s better bucks around just gonna have to be patient

If he's a small/young one, you must have some nice muleys on your place! Maybe a 200" will show. Patience...best of luck.

We have met with the area Biologist a couple of times and she has a Slide Show from the Studies that have been done in the area from 2 different universities. They tagged i believe 75 deer and have been watching/ Tracking them, for the last several years.

Based on what i have learned through her and the “class” we did....Mulies dont mature until they are 8 yrs. or older and the new antler restrictions in the 6 counties are put in place to start to grow the Mulie population to a better age class so all the young bucks dont get shot anymore. The problem with us Hunters in Texas is that once we see a 4 year old Mulie is that we think its a monster because of the size of the antlers and body as compared to a WT, but in fact he’s just getting started. Once they get to age 8 they can start to add Up to 25” a year in good conditions (Til they get to where their DNA says they will be stopping growth).
They can live to 12-14 years old, so they have a longer life span then WT’s.....the antler restrictions (in my opinion) will be a really good thing because i have seen first hand people on the lease i was on (Motley County) shoot young bucks with incredible potential in that 4-5 yr group that were going to be monsters.....
I’m still in Motley county now and seeing good young bucks (this will be 3rd season of Antler Restrictions) so I’m looking forward to the next couple of years seeing some bigger deer (i hope)

I think the above Mulie in question is probably 4-5 years old and will be a Massive deer if he makes it...... according to the Collar Trackers on the animals that are being studied that deer may choose to stay in a small area or go around a 5 mile Circumference depending on what the Water/ mating / food possibilities are. They have some young bucks traveling as far as 15 miles! But as soon as they get older those bucks have found a smaller area with everything they need and really close the range that actually move around. They more Wheat or cotton seed / Protein they have the Less likely they Roam. We hunt a very small place for this area and we feed protein just to keep them around....Its not about growing their horns its about giving them some good reasons to stay Local (plus when it gets dry out here food sources disappear quickly)

Get your check book out ( if you choose to run protein) because i have seen them Belly Up to my 1 ton Protein feeder and hit it for 15-20 mins at at time....

Just my 2 cents (based on Texas Parks and Wildlife Data) for what its worth...