LOOKING FOR ADVICE ON DIY MULE DEER HUNT!!

[Nat.Guard.Man]

So as you can see I'm Looking for advice on a mule deer hunt. I am from Minnesota and my wife's cousin is from Arkansas, he's trying to get into hunting but has no luck and I'm looking for a mule deer. I've never done a this type of hunting before and from what I'm seeing is that Colorado and Idaho are big contenders when it comes to OTC Tags. I have been looking for their sites and its been difficult for me to understand, I have been looking into Nebraska because it seems relatively easy to get tags. I'm looking at a deployment January of 2021 and really am trying to figure this out for myself and cousin before I head out. We are looking to do a back pack in and out kind of deal (Camping ETC...) but I just do not know where to start with this kind of thing. If someone could please shed some light on this subject it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[beagle001]

Rifle or bow? Dig in. There is tons of info on here

 

[Mudranger1]

Do you always yell when you are looking for advice Colorado has no OTC mule deer tags fyi

 

[JLS]

I always struggle to understand why people feel the need to complicate their first hunt out west with backpacking.

Use the search function and you’ll find enough reading to keep you busy until applications are due.

My advice is apply in Wyoming for a unit where you can simply car camp and hunt different parts of your unit.

 

[shb]

NE is the last place a beginner wants to start at.

With unlimited Otc tags, and little public land its actually the last place any mule deer hunter should go.

 

[Schism]

I heard Montana is on the upswing.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I always struggle to understand why people feel the need to complicate their first hunt out west with backpacking.

Use the search function and you’ll find enough reading to keep you busy until applications are due.

My advice is apply in Wyoming for a unit where you can simply car camp and hunt different parts of your unit.

I struggle to understand why their first western backpacking trip needs to be a hunt.

I agree with JLS pick a state and unit where you can car camp and move easily, it might take you a few spots to find deer and you don't want to be trapped in one location.

Pack for a back pack hunt and then camping next to the car is a great idea because it will keep you mobile. Camping with giant wall tents in ridiculously elaborate camps can be just as bad as hiking in 7 miles backpacking only to find nothing.

 

[JLS]

It’s a whole lot easier to drive an extra hour in the morning from a big wall tent camp than it is to put a backpack camp in a different drainage.

 

[BrentD]

The best advice I can offer is to ask where I have been and where I am going and then go anywhere else. So far as I can tell, mule deer went extinct the day before I started hunting them. I mean like none, nada, zip. I must be the worst mulie hunter of all time.

 

[nrpate05]

Like others have said, don't over complicate it. Idaho and Colorado have plenty of deer and both states produce mature deer. Backpacking is great but can complicate things quickly especially if you get cold and nasty weather. A good strategy is to plan to car camp but bring your backpacking equipment. If you find something you're after and feel sleeping closer to it is the best option then you'll be ready to go. Pick a state and then start researching draw odds (most of Idaho is OTC I think), success rates, the country you want to be in, etc.

 

[Ben Sellers]

You should spend a good bit of time searching YouTube and threads here for day by day videos of mule deer hunts, spot and stalk hunting, and backpack hunting. I personally would not choose a backpack hunt until I knew the area. Much time and energy will be put into getting you back into a place and if you don’t like what you find there you’ve wasted a lot of time.

That said, make your hunt what your dreaming of. It is your hunt and it is an achievable goal. You’re not talking about trying to diy Marco Polo sheep here. Your hunt should be about the experience. Learn as much as you can and prepare and plan constantly, but be prepared to call a hunt without a kill success.

Get goHunt or something similar and research Colorado, Idaho,and Wyoming. You can get tags for next year that aren’t otc. GoHunt will allow you to filter units by how many points it takes to draw (many take 0), success rates, and amount of public land.
You’re probably going to be spot and stalk hunting, not stalking deer in the dark timber. That seems to be one of the most effective ways to hunt. If you don’t have a good spotting scope, you can rent them (google it).

Prepare yourself for winter in the mountains. Have the right gear, more food and water than you need, clothing that won’t be useless when wet(no cotton), and backups for critical items or ones that are bombproof.

Enjoy the preparation, it’s 90% of the trip.

 

[thusby]

What these guys said. I laid on a hill with sideways sand blowing in my ear hole on my first mulie hunt. There was a motel 10 miles away.
unless you got an idea where a 200” mulie is hiding, take it easy on yourself.

 

[boone52]

My son and I did a DIY mule deer/doe antelope hunt in Wyoming this year and had a super great father and son hunt---which was our first western hunt. We cashed in 4 deer points each and stayed in Thermopolis in a small rented house. Ben's comment above about needing a good spotting scope--yes is important but we found you have to spot the mule deer first and that's where a decent set of binoculars is very important. I can see why lots of guys say they would chose 12x or 15x binoculars over a spotting scope if they couldn't buy or chose not to carry both. We spent many hours looking thru our 10x Mojave Leupolds. We seldom used our spotting scope.
My best advice for first time hunters hunting "the west" for the first time is buy the best 12x binoculars you can afford and put them on a decent tripod--even a cheap tripod is better than trying to use that much power free hand. And buy the OnX chip for a GPS. It was invaluable to use for finding BLM land and staying out of trouble on private land. Get in the best shape you can because western hunting is different than walking out your back door in the east and hunting the "back 40 acres". By the way, we each got decent mule deer bucks but we had to work hard for them.

 

[wytex]

A spotter will save you miles of walking when binos locate an animal.

 

[efw]

I’d add to the number who’d suggest a good tack on a first Western hunt is the car camp with backpacking great to keep options open.

Idaho has great options for general OTC areas; Colorado has good zero point areas but no OTC. I wouldn’t overlook New Mexico as they’re on a completely random draw so you can get a great hunt even having never entered the draw.

Best of luck and thank you for your service!

 

[OleRedbeard]

The best advice I can offer is to ask where I have been and where I am going and then go anywhere else. So far as I can tell, mule deer went extinct the day before I started hunting them. I mean like none, nada, zip. I must be the worst mulie hunter of all time.

I'm coughing up coffee because of your comment.

 

[Nick28]

Like others, I would suggest Wyoming. Can get a tag someplace with some research. My first of out of state mule deer hunt was to Region Y of Wyoming couple of years ago. There were a lot of hunters but still had a lot of fun, ended up getting a small 4x4. Was a great experience and learned a lot, drew that tag with 0 preference points too btw.

 

[Guy]

Good advice here, even though BrentD is right - there aren't actually any deer out west anymore.

If you really want to backpack, go right ahead, but... either camping near your car/truck or just basing your hunt out of a motel or rented cabin/house is pretty sweet. Something about a hot shower at the end of the day, a good breakfast before heading afield....

Wyoming - I believe this is still true - if you want to hunt the wilderness areas, you've got to hire a Wyoming guide.

But there is a huge amount of public land, Forest Service, BLM, etc... That can be hunted without a guide.

I live in Washington and do most of my hunting here, but I "go east" to Wyoming about every other year. Wyoming has been real good to me over the years with elk, pronghorn and mule deer.

Here's an example of how a buddy and I did a hunt, several years ago in Wyoming. We got our nonresident mule deer tags, made reservations at a motel. Check availability, a lot of them close when the tourist season ends in September. Stayed at the motel. We'd obtained permission to hunt a large ranch, and also planned to hunt public land. Turned out that we just weren't seeing many mule deer. Scratched our heads and decided that maybe the deer hadn't migrated down to the lower sagebrush areas we were hunting.

Drove farther up into the mountains and hiked up a canyon - sure enough - mule deer! My buddy took a big fat 3x3 buck. We were running out of time and I could take a doe, so I did so. Being able to shift our hunting area by 15 miles and go thousands of feet higher paid off. We didn't get the big bucks we sought on that trip, but have done well on other trips since then. We did have to pack our boned out deer about three miles back to the trailhead. No problem, just be prepared for that.

Also - up in that canyon in the high country, we came upon grizzly sow and cub tracks. Never saw the bear, but we were certainly on alert while boning out the deer and packing them out on our backs!

Regards, Guy

 

[Guy]

Oh - be in decent condition even if backpacking isn't contemplated. I live at about 800' above sea level, and in Wyoming I've hunted up as high as nearly 11,000' - I was in real good shape for that hunt, and dang, I sure was glad! Steep, and high elevation. Pretty tough.

Also, that hunt was in September, and we got snowed-in at camp for a few days... We were fine, plenty of food, fuel for the stove, even had lots of wood for the wood-burning stove in our tent. Got a nice 6x6 bull elk on that trip too, before the snow hit!

Guy

 

[Koot1971]

My son and I did a DIY mule deer/doe antelope hunt in Wyoming this year and had a super great father and son hunt---which was our first western hunt. We cashed in 4 deer points each and stayed in Thermopolis in a small rented house. Ben's comment above about needing a good spotting scope--yes is important but we found you have to spot the mule deer first and that's where a decent set of binoculars is very important. I can see why lots of guys say they would chose 12x or 15x binoculars over a spotting scope if they couldn't buy or chose not to carry both. We spent many hours looking thru our 10x Mojave Leupolds. We seldom used our spotting scope.
My best advice for first time hunters hunting "the west" for the first time is buy the best 12x binoculars you can afford and put them on a decent tripod--even a cheap tripod is better than trying to use that much power free hand. And buy the OnX chip for a GPS. It was invaluable to use for finding BLM land and staying out of trouble on private land. Get in the best shape you can because western hunting is different than walking out your back door in the east and hunting the "back 40 acres". By the way, we each got decent mule deer bucks but we had to work hard for them.

I applaud you sir as you gave this guy some of the best advice I’ve read so far and NO LIP or sarcasm to boot. Like the poster of this thread I’m trying to get my feet wet in the Out West Hunting and I’m not rightly sure how or where to start. I’m from The South and have killed lots of WT on mostly Public Land and some private land. But most Public land in the South is 20000 - 60000 acres, not HUGE expanses of land. And congrats on you and your sons Bucks.