Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Rutin Mulies

I posted in the Deer forum, but got a rifle response, so thought maybe I am in the wrong forum and posting here. Sorry for the repeat.

I have been archery hunting Mule Deer during the rut for 5 seasons now and have hit a wall that I'm hoping some with experience can help with.

The situation is that I have been seeing some great bucks every year, and have even closed to within 60 yards on some real wall-hangers, but the problem has been not being able to get close enough to seal the deal. What I have found is the bucks are always moving. When I have spotted and the stalked a deer, most times I am not getting close enough for a shot because the buck is chasing a doe, not because I have been seen or smelled, rather because the buck is chasing a doe and the doe is moving. Other times, I am spotting from a distance, but the deer don't stay in place long enough to stalk. I have actually watched buck fight, follow a doe's tail end for over a mile in less than 10 minutes (I am in generally good condition for this type hunting, but getting in front of a buck moving like this, in the very steep country I hunt, for an ambush is physically impractical for me unless it is just luck), and generally just had a great time watching/observing the deer, but not harvesting. Hunter competition has not been an issue for pushing the deer either as I have been bivy hunting about 4000 vertical feet up from any trail/road and have only seen one hunter - a friend I brought along. I have tried rattling with no luck, but have not tried blind hunting which would have to be a natural blind as it would not be practical to take a blind into the area I hunt.

Topography is mixed brush, pine, and steep open country. I have snow about half the time, and the weather is usually cool to cold (as low as 4 and up to 45 degrees F). The only item not tried that I can think of is the timing of when I go. Due to work schedule, I have been generally on the early side of the rut and maybe the does are more willing/stationary a week or two later? I am looking for any advice or repeatable success tactics for hunting our beloved muleys in the rut with a bow.

I've had the best luck mid-morning to mid-afternoon when the does are bedded. The bucks will be off feeding and bedding by themselves mostly, but will sometimes be making a fairly predictable circuit checking the doe bedding areas for hot does. I usually will just spot in the morning, watching for does with bucks to see where they bed, then stalk the bucks. If that isn't working I'll get in between doe bedding areas on their travel routes and try to intercept a buck on a circuit. In cool to cold weather, especially with snow, the does like bedding in the sun, but the bucks seem to still prefer shade near to the does. If there's a receptive doe the buck will be glued to her no matter what. In that case I hunt the doe to kill the buck - meaning figure out where the doe is going to go to get to the buck.

When I hear of hunting western mulies I always think of a 5 pin sight. Practice out to sixty yards till you can put 9 out of 10 arrows in a paper plate.

Practice regularly at a range way beyond where you'd ever consider taking a shot. Practice at 70 if you have a personal limit of 50. Then your limit seems like a piece of cake.

I knew I had something wrong, thank you Rock Chuck.

70 makes 50 seem short, just like if you shoot from 20 yards away that 35 yard shot will be long for you. I won't take a 50 yard shot but shooting from that far makes forty seem closer.

Winnie1300 and Rock Chuck are right about the practice and the range, I'll add with broadheads to their statements. Most of the critters I've taken have been right around 50 yards in open country. Not bragging, and don't suck at stalking, it's just the reality of "out West".

I'd opt for a 1 pin adjustable sight myself

Do not listen to DvdeGeorge, he has not even killed anything with his bow.

You wouldn't have time to adjust it - you're lucky if you can get a range finder reading before stuff starts to happen...

My terrain is just like yours, but I get other hunters pressuring the bucks a lot. Change your thinking completely and start hunting and patterning the does. Be where they bed, feed, rest. I often sit on trails between where the does feed and bed. This takes amazing patience, but works. These trails have been MAJOR buck highways before, during and after the rut. The bucks use the same trails (some are very faint, but there) over and over again. It won't be long until they come along checking does.

I have watched Several big bucks come from over a mile away and try to breed the same doe on these trails. On one perfect day, I watched a slutty doe get bred by 5 different wall hanger bucks over and over again. They were all big 4x4's and 5x5's. Three other smaller 4x4's stayed off in the fringes about 40 yards away, hoping to get a turn. It was one of the most amazing events I have ever seen. I had already killed my buck and watched the show go on for a couple of hours.

They may chase the does all over heck, but the does will come back to their patterned areas and herd of girlfriends. This works exceptionally well.

I practice to 70 yards, which is a must. I work hard on drawing and shooting quickly and accurately from all kinds of positions. It is rare that I get to stand and shoot, so kneeling and sitting are positions I shoot from a lot.

I can "usually" get the does to stop with a kissing sound or a high pitched bark. The buck won't stop, but the doe will and that will give you a couple of seconds to shoot when the buck slows down to sniff the doe. This has paid off in spades for me. Flinch

I've tried stalking, rattling, scents, blinds - you name it - most successful way I've used is to set along a well used trail. Sometimes it works, other times not - but when it does you get a good shot from a pre-determined distance. Lobbing arrows at 60 and 70 yards is a very poor plan. Does not matter if you can shoot a 4" group at 70 yards - if the deer moves(and they will)your great shot becomes a nightmare. Even the fastest bow will take the arrow close to a full second if not more to travel 70 yards. Factor in wind, cold, heavy clothes, skittish deer an it is not worth chancing. Find a funnel or heavily used trail, set up at 20-30 yards away with the wind and sun right and wait them out. Worked on this guy.

Flinch and Centershot,

Thanks for the input. Just the type information I was hoping for. I will have to give your tactics a try next fall.

Just as much can go wrong at 15 yards as it can at 70. I have had FAR more deer jump the string or move at close range than I have at longer ranges. Deer are twitchy critters at best, but if you can easily shoot at 60-70 yards, then do it. If you can't then don't. It is a personal thing. If the wind is howling and all the other issues you mentioned come into play, then it is a "no shoot" situation, simple as that. Common sense is always your best tool. During the rut, the bucks aren't nearly as alert, so longer shots aren't tough, due to them having "other" things on their mind. Flinch

Sorry to hear that Flinch. Part of what makes bowhunting exciting is getting close. Flinging arrows at long range is fun, but not at live critters - they deserve more respect than that. I like to think of bowhunting as if I had only one arrow to shoot that year - would I take the shot?

Everyone shoots and hunts the way they are comfortable. If you can't accurately shoot 70 yards, or you don't want to that is your choice. Maybe to you it is "flinging arrows", because you can't accurately hit your target at those ranges, or maybe you simply choose not to. It is your choice and that is okay with me. Everyone needs to have their own limitations and stick to them.

I practice year round for long range shooting, because that is what the terrain allows where I hunt (very open country). It's a good feeling knowing that if a longer shot presents itself, it's still a punched tag Flinch

It's not about shooting accurately at 70 yards - it's about the target being 'there' when the arrow gets 'there'. Lessons learned the hard way. I hunt open country also, makes you work at it a little harder and smarter, but you can still get close.

I have shot at Elk, white tail and mule deer at under 20 yards and missed them completely, due to them ducking the shot or bolting at the "twang" of the string. Range has little to do with the animal staying put after the arrow is released. If anything can go wrong during a bow hunt, it will

I am NOT advocating long shots. I'm simply stating that if you are prepared and the conditions allow, they are no more difficult than a close shot, within reason. Flinch

I hear this all the time, "I am not out there to kill something. I am out hunting to enjoy nature, see how close I can get to animals...bla bla bla." This is the most moronic statement. If that is the case, then don't buy a tag and leave your weapon home. Flinch

To the OP, sorry this post has turned into a bowhunting ethics discussion.

Flinch, My freezer if full, thanks. Just when I shoot, I want to make it as sure a thing as possible. Wounding sucks - I have done it and will do everything possible to not do it again. If that means passing on a longish or marginal shot angle then I do. I'm not saying 20 yards or under - but most times if I can get to 60 undetected then I can get closer.

The bla bla bla that is getting to me, are the stories of wounded and lost animals that are becoming way to common at the local archery shops. Guys shooting at game at long range that can not shoot an indoor 300 at 20 yards makes me crazy. Lazer rangefinders and fast bows have become an excuse for poor hunting skills for some. I'm still more impressed by the guy that kills his deer at 20 yards than 60, alway will be.

Along the same lines there's a picture of a guy in the latest Sportsman's Warehouse newspaper with an antelope he shot at 119 yards - spot and stalk. Impressed?

There is no definitive line on ethics - each person has to find the threshold for himself. Once that arrow is launched, there's no getting it back.

Yes, that's always the case - technological advancement decreases previous capability. In other words, technology makes society lazy and impatient.

Flinch, you're a moron! To a lot of hunters, myself included, the kill is anti-climatic compared to the actual hunt. You're a typical Utard

Go sell your line of BS that more can go wrong at 20 yards than at 70 yards to somebody else.

Your old man should have pulled out

The story started Tuesday morning I was up early and had movement all morning. Around 8 I had a good buck hit the field with a doe, they caught my scent and they turned and headed back where they came from.

Mexico?