Mule Deer Tips???

[Bilbo]

I'm less than 3 weeks away from heading to far West Texas for my archery muley hunt. I have never hunted them and wanting to know some tips that may help increase my odds. When do they rut? Does rattling work? Do they stey up high in morning? There will be water holes in an area that only gets 8" of rain/year. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!!!

[txmuleyman]

Where abouts are you headed out there? Your best bet is glassing and spot and stalk. You won't be there for the rut.

[Bilbo]

I'll be at Black Gap. Next to Big Bend. Yeah, I'm planning on spot and stalk, but didn't know if there was any tips to go along with it. Thanks.

[txmuleyman]

Those are about the best I have. Never had any other luck but stalking. I will be in alpine for Mulies first 2 weeks of December.

[Mayhem]

they dont rut till mid december sometimes later. water holes are good for early season when it is warm. spot and stalk will be your best bet.

[Scout]

I have hunted Mule Deer in Washington State my entire life and the rut there starts around Thanksgiving.

The sunny side of the hill if it is really cold or the wind protected side are usually the most productive.

Mule Deer have a tendency to not run away if they feel they are hidden. So if you are walking and get spotted by them just keep walking without looking at them and they typically will stay still thinking you don't see them. You can even draw your bow in a different direction, stop and turn on them, I have killed many mulies this way.

They always bed down so they can see anything coming up the mountain.

Good luck.

[Mudslinger]

Better make sure you are sighted in out to at least 50 yards and carry a compact rangefinder. you might just need both.

[Doe Nob]

Some good tips so far, I hunt them yearly in central south dakota.

Take your best glass. You will want to be set up on a high point overlooking some good territory an hour before sun up. Glass and glass. Ideally you will see a deer you want to shoot moving around and go into an area and not come out. That typically means they are bedded down. At this point you need to plan your stalk. Scent control can help with swirling winds, but you need to hunt the wind and the terrain as best you can. Take your time, when you are getting close, still hunt the area, look for antler tips sticking up. When you find your deer its just a matter of getting close enough and getting draw. If you are on a deer inside your comfortable shooting range, patience will kill that deer easier than anything else. You can try and get close and get a shot on a bedded deer but by far the most effective way is to wait them out. Most deer get up and stretch every couple hours, so get a good spot, get comfortable, and wait em out. Pay attention and as soon as the deer starts to move, draw. When the deer is on its feet, 10 ring em.

That's how its done, remember spot and stalk is about putting numbers of stalks together to make it happen, the more stalks you can put together, the better the chance of connecting. The flip side of this is that if you see a trophy deer and want just that buck, then you need to watch and wait until that deer gets in a good spot for a stalk, that can take days of watching the same deer with no stalks, but they will mess up eventually.

Have fun, spot and stalk mule deer hunting is to me some of the most exciting bow hunting out there, it will make you never want to sit in a tree stand again!

[Shane]

Kelsey, you're getting great info here. I'll add some ideas on spotting and stalking. If you can get up high to glass (and you need good binocs and/or spotting scope), make sure you don't sit on the very top of a hill or a rock or something. You don't want to be silhouetted against the sky. That's a dead give-away. Sit just below the top of the hill, in front of a bush or a rock or something so you're outline disappears. Try to sit with the sun at your back if you can (watch the wind). Early and late in the day, if a deer has to look toward the sun to look in your direction then it will be even harder for them to see you. Pay attention to the sun AND the wind once you spot a buck and plan a stalk. Try to stay in the shadows as much as possible. Of course, use the terrain to your advantage to get close. It really helps if you have somebody with you that can stay put and keep glassing the deer while you stalk. They can let you know if the deer is moving or not while you drop down out of sight. If you're by yourself, pick out easily recognizable landmarks along the route of your stalk to guide you to the deer. Watch out for does and other deer in between you and your buck. Don't spook them and blow the buck out, if you can help it.

I'd still hunt close to the water, no matter what the temps are. They still need water every day. If you hunt an area that has no water, you aren't going to see many (if any) deer. You don't have to sit in a popup on the water hole all day, but hunt where there is water.

Oh, and don't look for a "deer" when you're glassing. Look for a piece of a deer. The white rump patch and the ears on a mule deer are very recognizable once you start looking for just those little pieces of a deer. You won't always see the entire body, but you can often see several ears and rump patches scattered around.

[Doe Nob]

Good point on your shadow, I was on top of a washout over a deer as the sun was setting and ran my shadow over his antler tips as i came to full draw and stepped close enough to the ledge to take a 28 yard shot, but as soon as that shadow popped up in front of his nose he bolted and no shot. I should have either let him feed out or waited for the sun to go down another 30 minutes before moving.

[Bilbo]

Great info guys! I'll print this out as it gets closer to go time. I have thought about not being on top of a hill and will do that, but sure didn't consider the shadow part. Good tip Shane! I've got some Redfield 10x50 binocs and will be borrowing my dads Leupold spotting scope. I've been told that each unit has at least one water guzzler or man made "stock tank". I plan on sitting there in the evenings and spot and stalk during the early morning into the afternoon. Again, thanks for the tips and keep em coming!

[Scout]

Shane made the best point so far, which I forgot about.

Have someone stay put while you put the move on them. Have the person use hand signals to direct you, tell you how many deer there are, IE 2 bucks, 3 doe this will help you not shoot the wrong buck (small versus big) when you thought there was only 1 buck. Also if the deer leave the area you don't waste 2 hours sneaking to an empty spot!

[Bilbo]

Can't do that Scout. This was a draw hunt and my name was the only one on the list. Good idea for sure though.

[Shane]

Can't do that Scout. This was a draw hunt and my name was the only one on the list. Good idea for sure though.

You could probably team up with another hunter and share pastures if you wanted to.

[Scout]

You could probably team up with another hunter and share pastures if you wanted to.

x2 then you both have a better chance!