Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting School me on mule deer

My second year hunting mule deer in the mountains. What do they like for cover/food ect. Best time to hunt them? Ive seen does and fawns but never bucks with them. Do they have a home range like whitetails? Ive seen them mostly in sage or pine trees on edges. Any good books for mountain hunting them? Thanks

They hop.

Very bouncy.

I don’t know where you’re hunting them, but where I do in the mountains of CO, they migrate. Depending on the weather and your elevation, you may have a handful of resident deer or you may have hundreds or thousands moving through the area on the way to their winter range. The area I hunt is scattered sage, pinion pines, oak brush, and big bull pines.

Get a copy of Robby Denning book. Lots of good info.
https://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Big-Mule-Deer-Take/dp/069245795X

Also what state/area are you hunting?

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

David Long has written good articles and books about mule deer hunting. I think he's also made a few videos.

Glass, Glass, Glass - then set up to get a shot.

Last year's buck:


Sometimes I hunt them in the mountains too. Either way works.

Regards, Guy

The bigger bucks hang higher and sometimes get caught up high when big snows trap them up there. I've found most of the bigger bucks like to be on a high steep ridge, just below the lip at the bottom edge of good cover, like mahogany or spruce. Mahogany provides them good browse, and they can stay put for quite a while if water's nearby.

Get on a center ridge where you can glass several other nearby ridges, preferably within range of them. Glass, glass, glass...

Practice your shots, get good gear (ggg), try to have fun.

forkies can get purty big

where I live.........

they all live in town.........born/raised & die......



sumbitchin bucks

I believe that mule deer are much more adaptable than a lot of folks give them credit for. They'll often be everywhere in a block of suitable habitat, unlike elk.

They're individuals, like people and have individual preferences, but they'll also be patternable and somewhat predictable. If they've been hunted hard, don't bother looking for them in easy areas, even if food, water and cover are there.

The most predictable places I have found public land mule deer bucks to be is in 1-8 year old burns. Find secluded spots in burns and you'll find bucks. They're not quite as predictable as elk are though, as far as bedding and coming out to feed in the first and last hour or so of light. They seem to be more reliably out feeding in the middle of the day, IME. As far as a home range, I am sure some do and others will be found in the same drainage all summer and even subsequent years, if that area was what they need. Not sure if that is a "home range" or not.

If the rut is on, then just like whitetails, find the does.

I'd recommend reading Mule Deer Strategies by Walt Prothero. Has some good info on techniques to hunt mulies.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/mule-deer-hunting-strategies_walt-prothero/717005/#isbn=1585740985

As mentioned, lots of glassing and mulies go together. Also, they like "the edge", as you've noticed.

No where near the restrictive home range of white tails. If in big sky country then glass and glass some more. I do best in terrain that others don't tend to frequent. Places like Hells Canyon.



Then again, out by Cookie's bird feeder in the back yard is not a bad spot either.

They tend to be where you find them. Sometimes in town. Have a friend who lives in Bend,OR who has them in his backyard. They tear up his sprinklers. Here they cruise through our yard regularly. There was a forky in our driveway this morning.
This is from my buddy's backyard in Bend. This deer was killed a year or so after this pic was taken by a truck on the highway.

Thanks guys.

Yep. Put in a bird feeder. Wanted to feed the quail but instead got 300 dove and 7 bucks.
Last years pic but these two azzholes visit daily.

[/URL][/img]

Wow!!!

This looks like my first Muley I killed when I was 15. 27” 3x2 old old buck with a huge body