I'm getting ready to hunt these bad boys for the first time during a week long rifle season and was wondering if any of you guys or gals could give me some tips...I'll be up around 10,000 feet in some steep country.
I scouted for a day and saw some sign last weekend, mostly around water but I'll be competing with the gun guys so I was kinda thinking maybe sit tight near trails to water? I'm sure they'll be scattered with hunters around, but maybe I'll get lucky and see some.
What do you all think I should do?
Terrain. Wind map out the trails others will use-use their movements to push to you. Mulies are where they are and we can use some of the above to get close.
I am bowhunting cow elk in gun season. Make yourself seen
Spend one day just watching what they do.
They're tough enough to hunt without a gun season in progress, so you have quite a challenge.
They are almost impossible to predict or pattern, but my best advice is to get far from access roads and other hunters.
Do a lot of glassing, climb high for daytime still hunting, watch the wind, and be prepared for those longer-than-normal 17 yard shots. Good luck...and take lots of pics.
A big 4X4 mule deer has to be one of the top trophies ever for a trad bowhunter.
Blackhawk is right.You have your work cut out for you.Probably the last thing I would want to do in that situation is sit on water or anywhere else.Not that mule deer or elk can't be taken at water sources but animals who know they are being hunted get very sharp and most animals are very nervous around water,in the best of times.Water is where animals converge so water is a prime place for predators to lay in wait.Prey animals get it.That's how they stay alive,day to day.
In a high pressure situation,water or food isn't enough of a draw to make mule deer commit suicide.They can wait till dark to get a drink.
I was born,raised and lived the first 2/3'rds of my live in the East,so I can say this.Easterners like to sit and it comes natural.Most Western animals when unpressured,don't have real,defined travel patterns.They may travel a trail 2 or 3 days in a row or never.They may come to the same,mile long,irrigated field every night to eat but I've glassed individual bucks,day after day and one day they enter at one end of the field and the next day,they enter at the other end,3/4 mi. away.They leave the field in the morning,traveling up a very steep draw,but in the evening,come out to the field using a completely different draw,1/4 to 1/2 mile away.
That's unpressured.Add pressure to that and they may move 2 or 3 miles each day.
Scouting before season won't tell you what deer will do if they are pressured.The only thing you can do is keep moving and glass,glass,glass.Move till you are into deer then observe with your glasses and try to come up with a plan.Don't be afraid to think outside the box or try to make something happen.
Keep in mind,in the mountains,thermals move down the mountain in the morning until the temperatures start to rise.Most animals move up long before the thermals shift.Sitting,waiting for them is impossible,especially with short ranged weapons.You are sitting right in their windstream.
Your best option in this situation is to stay back,glass and put one to bed.After he is settled in,make a stalk,sidehill or whatever works according to the wind.When you start your stalk,which often takes you in a wide arc to get out of line of sight,mule deer will often get up,move a few yards and bed again.They may do this several times before they get up in the evening.If the mulie is bedded below a rock,don't get tunnel vision.When you get there,he may be 20 yds away.
Anyway,good luck.Take lots of pictures and enjoy your time in the mountains.At daylight,get to a place where you can glass and pick apart the landscape till you have seen every deer.No deer? Move.An hour or two after daylight you are no longer looking for deer.You need to look for antler tips,ears,bedded deer etc.
Move and glass till you are into deer,then move till you are within bow range.Most times,if you are sitting waiting,for a deer you can't see,you will be waiting a long time.I'm not saying that they won't come into a water hole,just don't stake your whole hunt on it.You can figure that out when you get there.A small trail camera could let you know if your waterhole is being hit during daylight.
Thanks guys! JimB, very insightful. This unit is a big one so moving on to find deer is no problem. I'll also have a full day before the season starts to glass as much country as time allows and also to check where other hunters may be in the area.
So I should hunt up in the mornings and down in the evenings to take advantage of the thermals? Again, thank you guys for the tips!
the one single big piece of advice id give you is dont force a stalk when there isnt on there. if it cant be done it cant be done, find another buck or wait for a better opportunity at this one.
It's hard to say if you should hunt up or down.I guess that would just depend on where the deer are.Just remember what the thermals do and when.You will often have the prevailing wind along with the thermals.
Try to use vantage points for glassing and basically stay back from the deer till you find one in a stalkable place and you have a plan to get to him.
Be very careful to never skyline yourself.Don't sit on the top of a ridge to glass but ease down just below the top.Western,open country animals,even whitetails are very keyed in to movement at a distance and anything popping up on the ridgeline will be picked off real fast.
Also, a rifle elk season opens tomorrow and runs through next wed. That could have some effect on how they are behaving in your chosen area. Weather changes too.
Don't give up. Last time I went I blew at least 20 stalks before I finally got a shot. Don't get discouraged, make it happen.
I don't have much experience but the times I've seen mulies they have been across the other side of the canyon. It takes a long time to find them but when you do there will probably be more than one buck. Then all yo do is hike a few miles around to the other side and try a stalk!
Sounds like I'll be a hiking fool! No problem, though, I have my "mountain legs" from Elk and small game hunting! I'll be staying out all day and hiking/glassing until I see something to stalk. I might even try some ambush tactics if I can figure out any movement patterns depending on pressure in the area...
I'll be sure to post pics when I get back. Thanks, fellas!
Great tips above.
Be sure to take hours to glass a ridge, and glass it from several locations to get different views.
Good luck! Mule deer rule!! :D
QuoteOriginally posted by Shedrock:
Great tips above.
Be sure to take hours to glass a ridge, and glass it from several locations to get different views.
Good luck! Mule deer rule!! :D
That's some excellent advice. The buck below appeared before my eyes on a slope I'd been watching for over an hour. Just came out of nowhere. Twenty minutes later he disappeared into the brush and did not show for the rest of the day.
(http://i896.photobucket.com/albums/ac170/longcruise/Hunting%20Pics/2011%20bear%20hunt/nicebuck.jpg)
Holy moly! That's a monster! I hope I get to at least see one like that in my lifetime...
You got the blood pumpin' with that picture, monterey!
Each time you see a deer, you have a choice: go after it, or invest your time in looking for a better opportunity.
You don't need to shoot very far. Mule deer are relatively easy to approach.
If most stalks don't end within shooting range (for me, about 20 yards), you probably are not investing your time wisely.
Don't try to shoot them in their beds. My preference is for stalking feeding or traveling deer. When I must stalk bedded deer, I get close and sit and wait for them to move. They usually stay down for about 2 hours at a stretch during the middle of the day.
(http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/Cootling/Muledeer97small.jpg)
Wow nice buck! Thanks for the pics and advice guys... :campfire:
If you are in a teaching frame of mind, you could teach me. I'll even drag your deer out for you. ;)
Nice buck