Recommendations to learn Mulie hunting

[Epfd217]

I'm looking for good recommendations on trying to learn to hunt Mulies. Yes, I'm more of a book nerd and find reading something helps me learn a topic.

I've hunted elk for the last 4 years and I have yet to really locate mule deer during any of those hunts. I've hunted September high country as well as November and December hunts for elk. The only time I've ever seen mule deer is the late season hunts and the deer were down low in the brushy draws after winter had set in. We were hunting cow elk in the same areas.

I've done quite well with whitetails in the midwest and would really like to learn more about Mule Deer. I've been told elk and deer feed differently so its not likely to find them in the same places unless the country supports both. I guess I want to learn more so I can have an opportunity at a mule deer hunt in the future and to learn about another new species.

Yes I've done several internet searches and youtube as well. I find there is little educations content out there. I feel like it was much easier to learn about elk, despite knowing nothing about them.

ANy tips for books, articles, videos etc. Thanks!

 

[PNWGator]

Hunting Big Mule Deer: How to take the biggest buck of your life by Robby Denning
Public Land Mulies by David Long
The Edge by David Long
High country Mule deer by Mike Eastman

Those should get you started

 

[Rancho Loco]

Learn to sit on a mountain top and glass for days. It's a lot harder than it sounds..

 

[belshawelk]

I personally think Mulies are the hardest to hunt out west. The are sneaky and just show up out of know where when you least expect it. If you can get lucky enough to get a tag during the rut your chances are very good as they get stupid. To me it seems they change color like a chameleon. They can be brown in the rocks or grey in the sage. Look for horns and ears or any kind of movement. Sometimes if you look for a mulie, you ll never seem them right in from of you. Look for what doesn't belong.

Like the above mentioned, you have to be wiling to put in miles on foot, and sit and be patient. They are there. They are just like ghosts. One word of advice is be patient, unlike Whitetails, when you spook them they are in the next county, Mulies tend to be curious and will often stop and look back, that will be your chance.

 

[MTGomer]

If you just want to get a mule deer, look into where mule deer tags are easy to get, and then pick a unit that has a high population and a lot of public land. If getting a mule deer is your goal, you will easily find success. Much easier than getting an elk. If getting a large mule deer is your goal, and you plan to do so on and easy to get tag, you have your work cut out for you

 

[EYJONAS!]

Second gomer

 

[8andcounting]

Get on alternative list for montana get a tag and hunt SE MT I heard it's gonna be good hunting this year ! :hump:

 

[dhoshour]

You need to learn tactics and you need to learn a good unit or two, not a dream unit - a good unit.

For the first, the books that were mentioned are great. It also helps to hunt with an experienced hunter and pick their brain.

Then find a statistically good unit that you can draw every 1-3 years and get to know. If every 2 or 3 years, do the same in another state or two if you want to hunt mulies every year. Scout and hunt that unit as often as you can and get to know it inside and out.

Start out by studying it on Google Earth, then scout it and then hunt it. After you've been in the unit scouting some and have drawn a tag, make an appointment to go down and visit with the local fish and game biologist or area manager. You'd be surprised how much time they'll take with you if it is apparent you've done some homework and actually have a tag to hunt it.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Hunting Big Mule Deer: How to take the biggest buck of your life by Robby Denning
Public Land Mulies by David Long
The Edge by David Long
High country Mule deer by Mike Eastman

Those should get you started

Yeah a little reading about hunting mulies can't hurt. Then just go hunting.

 

[NYSKIER]

Yeah a little reading about hunting mulies can't hurt. Then just go hunting.

Those are definitely all good books to read. I'd say be ready to glass, glass, and glass some more. Also like everyone else has suggested pick a place that you will be able to go to year after year or every other year. The more you learn a unit the easier it will be. The best thing I would say to do it just pick and tag and go! The first time I went I had no idea what I was doing and every year since then I have grown and learned a ton. Experience is the best teaching tool

 

[CampRipleyLF]

Hunting Big Mule Deer: How to take the biggest buck of your life by Robby Denning
Public Land Mulies by David Long
The Edge by David Long
High country Mule deer by Mike Eastman

Those should get you started

This! When I started hunting mule deer in the high country of western Colorado these are the first books I picked up and read. My favorite book was the “High country Mule Deer” by Mike Eastman. Had some good examples of terrain your lol see.

 

[Rancho Loco]

Being able to glass, and knowing how to glass are very different things. I'm no trophy mule deer hunter, far from it, but I've hunted with some guys who are and their common trait is having the patience and ability to sit on a spot for extended times and pick apart square miles of landscape down to the smallest detail. It's a learnable skill..

 

[Epfd217]

Thanks for all the awesome tips.

Living in MN and literally not knowing anyone outside my state has made hunting anywhere else much more difficult. In the last 4 years I've hunted 3 different elk tags and done one twice. On top of that i hunted 3 different spots on the WY general tag and i have still been unable to locate deer. Like I said, I've only found deer late season on winter range when deer is closed.

Clearly there is some habitat keys I need to learn among other things. Mostly I hunt for meat, but like was said above, it takes work to get a good buck and thats something I would like to do someday.

I'm certainly still a rookie with elk, but I would love to learn the mulie also

 

[1_pointer]

Mule Deer Quest by Walt Prothero is sort of a mix of Joe and Me stories coupled with some how to. It covers a lot of different types of country and is a fun read.

 

[Ryan2782]

The only book I've read is Hunting Big Mule Deer: How to take the biggest buck of your life by Robby Denning, and it was pretty good, easy read. All I can say is after reading it, it was somewhat mixed feelings on what I had read (nothing bad). After harvesting a buck when season came around, I never would have found him if I never read the book. It put a lot more in perspective reading that book and followed by being in the field, and I am glad that I read it. If you can read any of the books listed above, it should help you out especially once in the field. Also mentioned above several times is patience.

 

[midwesthunter]

Been mulie hunting once and was successful, I read mike eastmans book. You need to get good at glassing, they are a grey ghost. I was amazed at how some isolated thickets could hold multiple deer you would never see until they walked out of them. IMO the early Sept high country hunts should be the easiest to find them, next to late season migration. Find the highest point and start glassing. But regardless you need to start hunting them, pay attention to the details, you'll find them.

 

[Mallardsx2]

Public Land Mulies by David Long

Great book. I have it on my night stand.

 

[Hunt West]

Plenty of good advice on this thread. Just to add to the glassing is purchase the best optics you can afford. Carry a set of shooting sticks that swivel on top to lay your glasses in or buy a tripod and adapter kit. This will take a lot of the fatigue from glassing long hours and make the picture much steadier allowing you to glass more effectively.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Best way to learn is to buy an OTC tag and go hunt! Nothing beats experiential knowledge. Good luck.

 

[Arch Stanton]

Another good book: Hunting Open Country Mule Deer by Dwight Shuh.

Find a great mentor, this can be hard. You have to put in tins of time and really work at it, hopefully someone with good experience will appreciate your effort and take you under their wing. Until that day, get in the field, make mistakes, learn from them