Just got back from Gunnison, Colorado. Had a 4th season rifle mulie tag. Took this 173" buck on the 4th day.

Anyone else hunt a 4th season? I don't mule deer hunt much and was curious what you think of this buck. The locals said he was small for that area. I was having a rough time, totalling my jeep on an icey hairpin turn. I hunted hard and did not see many bigger bucks, so I was happy with this one. I think the 4th season is over-rated. From now on I'll be hunting the longer 2nd or 3rd seasons.

One nice thing is I spotted this buck from 2 1/2 miles away and watched him for an hour. There were 5 other smaller bucks and 5 does. I drove to within 200 yards of them! Stopped my truck behind them in a power line clearing and stalked over the edge of the dropoff. Shot him from 100 yards and had a cream puff time packing him out. The day before I hiked in 3 miles through the snow to see 80 deer/14 bucks, but I passed on all of them. Crab claws and big 3x3's. Bad genetics?

Anyway my buck is only 22" wide but had nicer forks than anything else I saw, plus 2 cheaters.