I drank the mule deer Kool-Aid

[WYelker]

I am sure I am beating the drum here, but the state will sell the licenses regardless of the tag is in your hand or not. If you hold the tag you can chose what animal will be harvested. As a result you can hunt hard and chase only the largest bucks and impact the numbers the way another person might.

Also there is no place at all where mule deer are thriving. As a result the same dilemma will be hitting you as well.

Our family has discussed this and even through we can take 4 mule deer every year. We only take 2 and they must be mature bucks. Once we take 2 the 2 other hunters eat their tag unless we something north of 200”….

 

[nhenry]

I am sure I am beating the drum here, but the state will sell the licenses regardless of the tag is in your hand or not. If you hold the tag you can chose what animal will be harvested. As a result you can hunt hard and chase only the largest bucks and impact the numbers the way another person might.

Also there is no place at all where mule deer are thriving. As a result the same dilemma will be hitting you as well.

Our family has discussed this and even through we can take 4 mule deer every year. We only take 2 and they must be mature bucks. Once we take 2 the 2 other hunters eat their tag unless we something north of 200”….

That is a good point. It's nice to just be out in the hills looking at animals, even if I don't shoot anything.

 

[3855WIN]

Why not hunt Kansas whitetails the same way you hunt Kansas mule deer?

 

[nhenry]

Why not hunt Kansas whitetails the same way you hunt Kansas mule deer?

They stick around different habitat. Most of it is developed farmland and the method I used for mule deer is virtually impossible

 

[WildWill]

Also there is no place at all where mule deer are thriving. As a result the same dilemma will be hitting you as well.

I get your point that mule deer aren't doing great in almost their entire range. But thriving is a pretty good description when comparing herds I've seen in south central Colorado and SW Wyoming to mule deer in western Kansas or the Oklahoma panhandle.

 

[jlmatthew]

I thoroughly enjoyed hunting mule deer this past season. It was my favorite season I've ever hunted, bar none. With that, I realize how much I want to continue doing it.

I also realize how much more I like doing it than hunting whitetails. Hiking, glassing, and stalking is my type of hunting. Long miles through hilly country, dust storms blowing over me, and the suspense of what I might find have me hooked.

Here in my home state of Kansas, I know how blessed I am with big ol bucks of both species (plus elk, pronghorn, upland birds, etc.), but I also know that the mule deer herd isn't doing too hot right now, from conversations I've had in the field and with my family who watches them year in and year out, and my own experience this year. I've seen the herd when it's thriving, and this most definitely wasn't it.

I almost ate my tag this year because of it, both from almost not going to only finding a buck on the last day of rifle season. I don't know how sustainable hunting muleys is here and I'm going through a mental dilemma deciding if it would be okay to even apply again come the application period. Everyone I talk to and everywhere I see online says that KDWP releases too many tags for them, even though they only released 1257 of my tag this year (resident only), and I agree with that.

I'm not opposed to hunting other states, but I don't like stepping on other peoples' toes and honeyholes, especially residents'.

What would y'all do?

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As a complete aside, my wife will not touch whitetail but she adores the muley I brought home this year.

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ETA: I care more about the deer than hunting them, so either way I'll send money to help support KDWP's conservation efforts.anA

I thoroughly enjoyed hunting mule deer this past season. It was my favorite season I've ever hunted, bar none. With that, I realize how much I want to continue doing it.

I also realize how much more I like doing it than hunting whitetails. Hiking, glassing, and stalking is my type of hunting. Long miles through hilly country, dust storms blowing over me, and the suspense of what I might find have me hooked.

Here in my home state of Kansas, I know how blessed I am with big ol bucks of both species (plus elk, pronghorn, upland birds, etc.), but I also know that the mule deer herd isn't doing too hot right now, from conversations I've had in the field and with my family who watches them year in and year out, and my own experience this year. I've seen the herd when it's thriving, and this most definitely wasn't it.

I almost ate my tag this year because of it, both from almost not going to only finding a buck on the last day of rifle season. I don't know how sustainable hunting muleys is here and I'm going through a mental dilemma deciding if it would be okay to even apply again come the application period. Everyone I talk to and everywhere I see online says that KDWP releases too many tags for them, even though they only released 1257 of my tag this year (resident only), and I agree with that.

I'm not opposed to hunting other states, but I don't like stepping on other peoples' toes and honeyholes, especially residents'.

What would y'all do?

---

As a complete aside, my wife will not touch whitetail but she adores the muley I brought home this year.

---

ETA: I care more about the deer than hunting them, so either way I'll send money to help support KDWP's conservation efforts.

Interesting, I'm just the opposite. I discovered Whitetail hunting in 2017 and enjoy hunting them so much more than mule deer. Even ventured to your fine state and hunted in area 10 around Atchison last December and cant wait to go back!