Muley Newbie

[Yooper]

Howdy.
I've got the opportunity to hunt mule deer for the first time this year. Does anyone have some advice for me? I've used to hunting whitetails in Michigan and have no idea what to even expect. Do they respond to scents or calls? Will it be a lot of walking qand glassing?

Should I be ready/expect 200-300yrd shots?

Thanks for the help.

[Buckbuster]

Yooper,

Wear some comfortable boots and be prepared to spend a lot of time laying on your belly, glassing the hills. Mulies like to lay in the shade during the day. The technique I've always used is to find a high piece of ground and glass for an hour or so, until I'm sure that I've covered every area thoroughly. If none are spotted, you move on the the next piece of high ground until you find the buck you're looking for. Once you've found a good buck, you stalk to a good shooting position and and make it happen.

I've never used any lure scents, only cover scents, but as far as calls, they are a curious lot. I've even had mule deer come to a squealing rabbit call during coyote hunts many times.

The curious thing about mule deer is they do one thing that gets them shot almost every time. When spooked, they will do that springing run about a 100 yards, then stop and turn around to see what's up. Usually they will do a full broadside turn and look back for a few seconds before moving on. If you spook a mule deer and it starts to run off, hold off until it stops. It's almost a guaranteed bet that it will happen. The only problem is sometimes they'll stop behind a bush or some other obstruction that can cost you a shot.

Mule deer are a hoot. You should have a great time on your first hunt. Don't forget to pay attention to where you lay down for glassing. There's cactus in them thar hills!

Oh, yes, 200 to 300 is reasonable. If you aren't confident at that distance, hit the range until you are.

Buck

[Brent]

Buckbuster was right on the dot. You will spend a lot of time gazing into your binoculars or spotting spot trying to pick out the Mulies in the hills. I have the priviledge to hunt where the Mulies and Whitetail mix in together. The Mulies stay in the hills and the White tails stay along the river bed and corn fields.

Good luck!

[Rallen]

Buy or take some good field glasses and "USE" them. Look under every rock, tree, cliff, and sagebrush. Glass until your eyes are ready to pop! Be selective, there should be enough deer for you to pass on some. Look for a buck with antlers wider than his ears folded flat. Don't judge antlers from behind as the always appear bigger. Look for a 4x4 that has deep forks. And 99% of the time a big muley, a trophy sized one, will not hop a 100 yds and turn around and look at you. A dink will but a true trophy will hit the ground running if you surprise them or get to close.

[Rallen]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid146/p3ab59b711eee5e4da4dae23ccfb00460/f65328be.jpg

[protector]

I started hunting as an adult and my first big game animal was a mule deer. I started out stand hunting, but quickly figured out that the most important gear for mule deer hunting was good shoes. You need to walk, walk, walk. It's not hiking though, because you are going to stop just before the top of every ravine and coulee and use your binoculars. I prefer the big ones to the compact models. Look for little pieces of deer and movement. They tend to lie just under the tip of remote hillsides, but that said a lot depends on weather, the rut, hunting pressure etc. They could be anywhere. Mule deer tend to be far from food sources at middeay, then in the afternoon begin working their way toward whatever they tend to be eating. I hunt eastern Montana, and the deer are always way back from any road or human habitation during the day, then head into alfalfa and corn fields at night. We walk along ridges and creep over the top of every ravine, then use the binoculars. We also scan the sage brush flats from high ground. Everyone always talks about long shots for mule deer, but I've only seen a couple of situations where some stalking couldn't be used to cut down the distance. My longest shots are never over 200 yards and usually much shorter. Typically I shoot from the prone position with a bipod or from a sitting position using my knees. I use a .243 with 100 grain Winchester ammunition, and that combination literally flattens deer. (Most of Montana has whitetail as well). Good luck hunting.
Also, the advice about mule deer turning to look often is true,. However, if you spook up a bunch of does and fawns, watch for the buck slinking away in another direction or waiting even 15 or 20 minutes for you to turn your back. I must have stepped almost over the biggest one I've ever seen, stalked and missed a doe with a long shot, looked for blood, glassed for signs of where she and her 20 or 30 friends went, then scared up the big guy from a 20-foot wide swath of grass between the field and my car.

[nash1519]

Hey Newbie,

I Think Alot Has To Do With Where Your Hunting Mule Deer. I Live In Western Montana And Hunt The Rockies. I Will Tell You Binocs And Spotting Scope Are A Must. Spot And Stock Is How It Is Done In The Rockies. Spend The Money And Get Some Good One's. Its Very Rough Terrain And You Will Spend Days Learning The Patterns Of Big Bucks In The Mountains. I Guess The Biggest Tip I Could Give Is Be In Shape. I Usally Hunt Around 7000-9000 Feet. And There Is Only Two Ways To Get There Horse And Foot. Buy Good Boots. Danners Work Great For Me. I Would Make Sure You Can Consistently Shoot At Ranges From 300-500 Yards.plan On Beaing There For Awhile If You Truley Want The Trophy. Remember A Trohpy Is Only A Trophy If You Think Its A Trophy. Hahaha

P.S BIG BUCKS DON'T STOP TO LOOK BACK THEY WILL HAVE THERE HEAD DOWN AND TRY TO SNEAK OUT WITHOUT YOU NOTICING THEM. IF NOT THEY WILL RUN TELL THEY CAN'T RUN NO MORE.

Good Luck And Hope You Get A Big One!

Nash1519

[grayling]

Yooper,

It really is not going to be that much different than hunting caribou in terms of technique. Find the high spots and glass. Pay attention when doing your spot and stalk with regard to thermal winds and direction.

Looks for choke points or gullies that causes critters to funel through them. Mule deer will bed down just like sheep in locations that provide them with cover and good sight views for their security.

Yes a 4x4 is what they call a true trophy but some of my best trophy animals are smaller than what most people think. They are trophies to me since I had great company, great scenery, no phones, tv, or computers calling my name, along with great memories (and great steaks over a campfire).

Nothing you shouldn't be able to handle!

Good Luck!

Grayling

[stalkingatrophybuck]

Yooper,

Protector's post has lots of good info. Definitely wear good boots, bring good binocs, and bring a backpack with survival gear, because you will need to cover a lot of ground when hunting mule deer. They stay away from populated areas, so you will have to go in deep to find them, unless hunting at first or last light, when they are on the move between food sources and their "safe territory." I find that looking for deer as a whole doesn't work well -- what you have to look for is the flash of white from their backsides, the dark patch on their face, their big honkin ears sticking up, things like that -- the deer as a whole blend into their surroundings fairly well. Also, the big bucks tend to bed down and the does are the ones on the lookout. I have had to sit perfectly still for 30 minutes or more while a mulie doe and I did a staredown. They spook much more easily than the bucks -- unless you happen to stumble over a buck by accident. Does tend to travel in large groups -- sometimes with a buck and sometimes without. A single doe often has a buck nearby however. Of course, this is all information for hunting mule deer in the midwest, so it may not pertain to your hunt. Good luck, and once you successfully hunt mule deer, you'll have the bug for life! They are a lot of fun to hunt.

[Russelldclaybaugh@hotmail]

Go Slow. When glassing take your time. Mule deer seem to appear out of nowhere,when glassing you look over an area and see nothing and 5 minutes later there they are.Do to the terrain they have alot of hideing spots.I also live in Michigan and hunting Muleys in open country is a great experince after years of hunting whitetail.Be ware once you have hunted the west you will be makeing it a yearly trip,my first trip I had a hard time to convince my wife in spending the money,I told her that this was a once in a lifetime chance to go ,she finally agreed I could go one time. Since then I have returned to the west 23 times for hunting and 4 times for fishing.It gets in your blood and you can't help yourself.You will come home from that once in a life time trip and start planning your next trip. Have a great hunt !!!

[Suka]

All the above advice is bang on, it's spot and stalk. Plan on crawling depending on cover to get nice and close. (carry tweezers) Couple other tips, when glassing a herd from distance, bucks tend (not always) to be a slightly more grey colour. It's also very common to see half a dozen does standing/laying. Good chance there's a buck laying within 50 yds of them, so glass carefully. If it's a cold morning, watch for their breath in a brush patch. They move mostly at night, so you can see lot's of movement at dawn. Early to mid afternoon is a good time to spot them laying in patches of rosehips, etc. If there's not tons of hunting pressure when they run they'll do about a 1/2 mile loop to get generally behind the direction you were coming from.
I've found a grunt will stop a doe dead in her tracks, but have had no luck using grunts on bucks. They have a musk gland on the inside of their knee, we always get rid of that prior to gutting.
You're gonna love it, spot and stalk is definitely the way to hunt. Unlike whitetail they tend not to change address', so if they run and you lose them, get out the glasses, good chance you'll find them again later, or tomorrow. I'd say 150-250 yds is our average shot.
Best of luck.

[bowboy185]

I live in montana so ive have the privlage to hunt both whitetail and mulies and im more into mulies because you hike alot and do alot of spot and stocking One thing about mulies is theye are extremely smart and will sit on a hillside laying there and you cant see them but they are watching your everymove. 9 times out of 10 though you will have to take a longer shot around 350 to 400 yards. A good all around short/distance rifle is a .270 or a 7mm.

Good luck
Stetson

[EcoRover]

From all the replies, you can see how much everyone loves to hunt Mulies. I live in western Montana, and like hunting big stinky Mulie bucks almost as much as I like eating sweet Elk.

Smaller Mulies (4X4 on down) are easy to come by. Embarassed to say it, but few "hunters" around here ever get out of their truck to shoot one. Most just drive around BLM or ranch roads and pop 'em out the window. Often at ranges where they can't shoot well, which wounds lots of deer.

I do like hunting them on foot. As everyone has said:

Use an accurate 200-yard+ rifle with a 4X or up scope. More importantly, know how to shoot it well under field conditions.
Carry shooting sticks (I use two arrows lashed together) or buy a fancy bi-pod--lots of times there will be no rest and you need to be higher than the sagebrush.
Walk the tops of coulees or ridges and glass glass glass--you MUST have quality binoculars that don't strain your eyes when used for a long period.
Don't sit on the prickly pears.
It's much easier to find big Mulie bucks during the rut. Otherwise, our big bucks spend a lot of their time in Alpine areas ("the goat rocks").
One more thing: oftentimes, if you jump a Mulie buck at close range, he will stop & turn broadside to look back at you from 100 - 200 yards. Hold your fire while he's pogo-sticking ("stotting") away and be ready to squeeze one off when he stops. Sometimes you can make them stop quicker--I just yell "HEY!" real load.


Good luck and have fun hunting the big-eared deer!

[gimphunter]

Muley hunting is one of the most best landscape hunts you will do <most of the time>the scenery is usually <WOW> !! I can't speek for most but it is tough but rewarding if you hunt hard> Look for shady hillsides , out of the wind pockets etc usually up high. And like others here have said do<<< ALOT>>> of glassing , and have a good set of glasses , you will use them! Trying new hunts are always fun when you got good buddie and family.

[oddhntr]

It depends on where, when, and how?

You won't have to walk if you are hunting an area that allows driving around. Just stop on the highest hills and glass until you find mule deer. Early morning and late evening are, of course, when the deer will be easiest to spot. They are very difficult to spot when laying in thick sage or shady pine fingers.

If you are just looking for a doe, you can call one in anytime with a fawn in distress. They come running!

If you are hunting during the rut, use the same call to bring the does in. If there is a buck in the group, he will follow.

Good luck!

[Agunner]

All the above advice is bang on, it's spot and stalk. Plan on crawling depending on cover to get nice and close. (carry tweezers) Couple other tips, when glassing a herd from distance, bucks tend (not always) to be a slightly more grey colour. It's also very common to see half a dozen does standing/laying. Good chance there's a buck laying within 50 yds of them, so glass carefully. If it's a cold morning, watch for their breath in a brush patch. They move mostly at night, so you can see lot's of movement at dawn. Early to mid afternoon is a good time to spot them laying in patches of rosehips, etc. If there's not tons of hunting pressure when they run they'll do about a 1/2 mile loop to get generally behind the direction you were coming from.
I've found a grunt will stop a doe dead in her tracks, but have had no luck using grunts on bucks. They have a musk gland on the inside of their knee, we always get rid of that prior to gutting.
You're gonna love it, spot and stalk is definitely the way to hunt. Unlike whitetail they tend not to change address', so if they run and you lose them, get out the glasses, good chance you'll find them again later, or tomorrow. I'd say 150-250 yds is our average shot.
Best of luck.


Pretty much figure these guys told it all. A few tricks that may help are
A) count on them seeing you first. use this to your advantage, move away (espescialy your truck) till out of sight, then start the stalk.
B) count on them to see you first, send someone walking away, if they were moving towards you and you you are hoping they move to you position (they can't count) they often WANT to keep going wherever they were going when you saw them. Use this.
C) just count on them to see very well. Because they do. Use this.

And like these boys said Great glass is almost enough to even things out ... almost.