Mule Deer lessons

[Jason Fry]

I just spent a scouting day and three hunting days in New Mexico unit 30, the Guadalupe Mts west of Carlsbad. First couple of days were spent in the foothills area around Texas Hill and Seco Canyons. We saw 25 does or so, and five bucks. Three were spikes, one was a forky, and one was maybe a 6 pt. I haven't killed a muley before, but I've killed lots of deer, so the smalls didn't really appeal to me, even though I wasn't holding out for a giant.

After that I spent two days up and down Little Box Canyon. There were deer in almost every side draw. Saw another 50 does over those two days, and no bucks.

This was my first mule deer hunt. I feel like I was able to put together a good pattern and see deer consistently, but bucks were MIA.

So here's where I need lessons for next time. One possibility is that the bucks were there too, but my technique was somehow wrong and I wasn't seeing them. I tended to approach the draws from downwind and be fairly sneaky. The does would bust out of the draws, but not fast, and I had plenty of shot opportunities had that been what I was doing.

The other possibility is that the does were down in the draws consistently, but the bucks were somewhere else.

I ultimately came home with a big rattlesnake rattle and a good arrowhead and sore feet. What can the green screen offer me for next time, should I be so lucky as to draw a tag again in their ridiculous lottery system?

[muddydog]

I hunted that area for many years. My experience was the big bucks are not with does until the January rut. They may be 1 canyon over. I would scout from my vehicle until I started seeing bucks. Then camp and hunt that area. I hunted the archery and muzzle loader seasons. Saw some real Bruisers around White City and Queen. I quit when they implemented the draw system.

[basschump]

The mule deer population in much of New Mexico is a trainwreck, including the south central desert region. Unit 30 has deer, that why they issue so many tags- but they manage more for opportunity. Rifle hunts are months earlier than the rut. Better bucks will be secluded and it takes experience in the unit, time on the glass, luck or miles and miles of driving to stumble into one. Point is, you didn't do anything wrong- you had a typical experience for that unit.

Was it a second rifle tag? Its strange that you saw that many does and not a bunch of forks and spikes. Forks usually stay with the doe groups. While there are some nice bucks killed in this area its not going to be prolific 'trophy' unit. There are some members on here that know alot about unit 30. Do your research and contact them.

I hunted a northern NM unit several times with some locals form that area . They prefer to hunt from the truck, alot. The strategy is covering miles of terrain. They would have shot the forky opening morning without a second thought. But its weird- one year they'll kill a fork followed by a 160 class the buck the next year.

[flywise]

My friends were just in 30 as well and had the same experience. I got done today in 21 and pretty.much the same experience as well. I have hunted 30 in the past and never saw a good buck. 21 produced a couple really good bucks last year but this year nothing. Sounds like you did a good job there just wasn't anything good in the area.

[J Wales]

Hey Jason,

I haven't hunted that unit, but have spent many years chasing mulies in southern NM. After many years of striking out, I found the best success by locating the areas that are the most remote parts of the unit. My theory is that any bucks that hang out in easy to access spots get whacked...there are just too many hunters in these high opportunity units, so not many bucks live to older age. If you can find the areas that are more remote or more difficult to access, you should find a higher number of older bucks.

[Jason Fry]

We spent the first two days hiking around more than a mile off of four-wheel-drive roads. After I lost access to the Polaris, I was limited to 2 Wheel Dr. roads and didn’t quite range as far, but I did try to put in good effort to walk places you couldn’t see from the road. Maybe next time.

[Jason Fry]

Are they like white tails where the full moon makes them less active during the daytime? It’s probably a giant conspiracy by New Mexico game and fish lol. “let’s give them a hunting season where they’re less likely to be successful!”

[J Wales]

I haven't found the moon phase to affect their movement levels in southern NM. They seem to only move right at first and last light. If we don't see one on its feet at those times, we usually spot them bedded. We spend a ton of time glassing.