Size of a mule deer?
 

Specifically the distant from back-line to brisket, your best guess is fine.

I'm trying this ranging method out at the weekend.
http://www.deerhuntersclub.com/tips/...g-range-shots/

Geeze... I really don't know... Most mulies that I have seen were about the size of the whitetails I have seen here in NY.. A big buck might dress out 200 lb or so... The EARS are a lot wider, as are the the racks, but the size of the deer's body isn't a whole lot different..

What would you estimate that to be in inches? This is the measurement I'm after.

Ok... I just measured the shoulder mount of a 5x5 28" wide mulie that I killed in Colorado in 2000.... It is 17" from shoulder to brisket..
Hope this helps...

Nice one, thanks Pygmy. That'll get me started.

This mule deer buck, although not a great rack is massive in body size. He measured just over 18" brisket to hairline.

It will depend on the individual deer, but I agree that 18" is a good start.

I have always figured 18 for a mature deer, and 15 or so for a year and a half old deer.

Elk - I have never measured, but I think the standard is 24"

36" is just plain huge, lol.

Later,

Marcial

Wow. In Colorado they're about 1.5 to 2 times larger than whitetail. As to estimating in inches...dunno!

Geeze, Mac, you must have some pretty small whitetails there in Colorado..

So.... Where I come from, whitetail bucks average 150 to 200 pounds live weight... So if Colorado whitetails are appx the same size as NY whitetails, according to your estimate, ( mule deer are 1.5 to 2 times bigger) Colorado mule deer bucks would average from 225 to 400 pounds....

Are you sure you're not talking about cow elk..??...

I've only hunted out west 7 or 8 times, but the mule deer I have seen in New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado have been nowhere near that big.. Maybe I've only seen small ones...

Around here, Mulies are alot bigger bodied than whitetail. I have never seen a mulie and a whitetail up close next to eachother but in the field it is very easy to see the difference.

Dude...I can tell the difference between deer and elk.

I grew up in the midwest where there were no mule deer, only white tails. Those were much bigger than the white tails in Colorado.

I've seen Colorado mule deer get up to 275 pounds, though. I've heard claims of 350 but never seen it for myself.

Sorry, Mac... I really did mean literally that you didn't know a deer from an elk.... I was being a little facetious... Hope you're not offended... My apologies...