--- title: "Hunter Tags Famous Nontypical Buck in Wyoming. Could It Be a New State Record?" description: "A hunter from Utah killed a world-class mule deer buck that was an open secret in the state and might be a contender for the state record." date: "2026-09-23" modified: "2026-09-23" authors: - name: "Natalie Krebs" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/authors/natalie-krebs.md" url: "https://www.outdoorlife.com/hunting/potential-wyoming-nontypical-record-mule-deer/" categories: - "Big Game Hunting" - "Deer Hunting" - "Hunting" - "Mule Deer Hunting" - "Trophy Deer" tags: - "News" --- # Hunter Tags Famous Nontypical Buck in Wyoming. Could It Be a New State Record? ![A potential new state record Wyoming mule deer.]() It seems that a hunter has tagged the famous, nontypical buck that some experts had predicted would break the Wyoming state record. Photos and video of the live, giant mule deer with a defining drop-tine were published earlier this month by the *[Cowboy State Daily]()* newspaper under the headline “Monster Mule Deer Could Obliterate Record For Wyoming’s Biggest Buck Ever." Then on Sept. 18, Dawson Hallows from Heber City, Utah, posted a photo to Facebook and Instagram indicating he'd shot a massive nontypical, which he'd been scouting all summer. The buck appears to be the same one from the newspaper story. “A buck like no other and a story like no other to go with it," he wrote. "Super grateful it all worked out!! I found this deer in July and spent every free second I had trying to put eyes on him. I have a lot of people to thank for helping me. They know who they are and I can’t thank each of them enough!! Truly a special buck! It’s not immediately clear when Hallows shot the buck or where in Wyoming he’d been hunting. Hallows’ brother, Brennan Hallows, confirmed in a congratulatory [Instagram post]() that the deer had been killed in Wyoming. “I'm so proud of all the hard work he put in to make it happen. I've never seen anyone work so hard for one deer, what a grind! Proud is an understatement,” wrote Brennan on Tuesday, who seemed to be waiting for his brother to share the good news first. “This deer will forever be a legend in Wyoming. I'm grateful I got to watch him during scouting season and be a small part of the story. \[Dawson\] earned every inch of this deer.” Neither Hallows nor his brother Brennan immediately responded to calls and messages seeking comment. The Jackson region of Wyoming Game and Fish did not immediately return a call for comment on Wednesday. https://www.instagram.com/p/DdkdRNAxdsP/ The buck, an incredible nontypical photographed in velvet, was an open secret among locals and public-land hunters in western Wyoming and northeast Utah. The deer’s existence went viral within the hunting community when the *Cowboy State Daily* published a piece on Sept. 4 that gave away the deer’s general location, its size, and showed detailed photos and videos of its rack. The outlet reported the deer was rumored to range in the Bondurant area, which lies near the Bridger-Teton National Forest on the west side of the state. Some social media commenters cast doubt on this report and suggested (either truthfully or in an effort at misdirection) that they believed the deer was closer to Jackson, to the northwest. Others condemned the outlet for calling attention to a deer that wasn’t confirmed dead, and putting additional pressure on both the deer and any tag-holders who were working hard to hunt it. Hunting personality Guy Eastman told the paper the deer was a “million-dollar deer” and that it was “knocking on the door of 300 inches.” He also told the paper that “at least 10 or 12 guys are hunting this buck.” The current Wyoming state-record nontypical mule deer taken by any means is a 293 ⅞ inch buck, according to the Boone and Crockett Club. It was killed in 1924. Hallows appears to be wearing ear plugs in the photo, which suggests he may have been hunting with a firearm. **Read Next:** [My Stepson and I Tagged Out at the Same Time. My Buck Was One of the Biggest Ever Taken in Colorado]() The biggest archery-killed mule deer in the state (excluding velvet deer) is a 231 ⅝-inch buck, according to the Pope and Young Club. That buck, killed by Zachary Key, was taken in Lincoln County in 2015. ## Author Natalie Krebs is the Executive Editor of *Outdoor Life*, where she tackles everything from reporting digital features to producing podcast episodes. Originally from Missouri, she currently lives in northwest Arkansas with her bird dog, Hatchet. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [LinkedIn]()