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...