well just reading everybody post they are all good answers but in utah i think a shooter is anything over a 3 point everybody says there are no good deer left in our heards but there is you just have to hunt for them i killed a 9x7 last year that grossed 202 on public land the year befor that i killed a 24 in 4 point im not going to say the rest of them but i am 21 years old and have had a tag each year and have only shot one 2 point and it was 22 wide and that is my smallest deer so no a 2 point isnt a shooter unless it is last 2 days your family needs the meat or you have your young kids under 12 with you to see you harvest it so they can get involved at a young age the buck in my photo gallery is a def shooter we guess him at 37 to 39 wide straight 4 and pic is through my scope at about 4 thousand yards so sorry for it be unclear

No question about that buck being a shooter. Sounds like you've had a lot of success over the years but you hit the nail on the head about having to hunt for the big ones. And as we know the search for the big boys takes a guy months not just the weeks leading up to the hunt. I'd like to see a picture of your 9x7 if you've got one handy. Just out of curiosity albrecht, what caliber have you used most as you've hunted???

ya i will get a pictrue up as soon as i can i will describe the buck real quick cause in the pic i have you cant see some of his points because they are on the _base_ he has a 4 by 3 main _frame_ on the 4 point side he has a 1 in kicker plus eye guard and 3 stickers on the _base_ on the 3 side he has a 11 in kicker in the back with a 3 in kicker off of that plus eye guard and a sticker on the _base_ and usually on deer i would use my 243 short but i forgot my bullets when i killed this buck but luckily i had grabbed my 300 mag as a back up so thats what i killed him with

ya i didnt know how to post the picture in here so i posted it on my photo galery and i forgot the buck was 26 wide and with his cheaters he was just 1/8 of an in under 30

These are all great answers. To me my biggest to deer to date is a 174" Utah four point. I have hunted in many places and have not cracked the 180" mark. Big mule deer are hard to come by. Every time I go mule deer hunting my goal is to beat my current personal best. Since my biggest deer is not that big that is a realistic goal for me. Now if I had killed a monster that is probably not realistic. I also like unique bucks, the non-typical stuff. They are hard to pass up. Since I have three young boys that I am trying to get into hunting I will consider shooting any buck with them for the experience and for the meat. We love deer jerkey.. I have one great mule deer hunt in Montana this year so hopefully I can crack the 180" mark.

A shooter is any animal that gives us buck fever and makes us proud.. It could be a spike for or fist deer or that great 200 incher. It is in the eye of the beholder..