Often the bucks won't live with the does until the rut approaches. You may see a few young bucks still hanging around "mom and the girls" before then, but the mature bucks tend to live away from the gals until the rut approaches. That often happens late October - mid November.
Glass, glass, glass....
If there's a typical routine I've seen with mule deer bucks it's something like this:
Travel back up into the hills in the morning, after feeding much of the night.
Lay up all day, occasionally moving around a little.
Travel back down to feed in late afternoon.
So... I usually try to set up some sort of ambush for the early morning or late afternoon hours. Often they feed on bitterbrush, though if there's an alfalfa field anywhere nearby, they usually gravitate towards that.
Best of luck, Guy
