I want to hear about muley hunting with a recurve!!!

PSUBowhunter · August 12, 2009, 10:15:00 PM

Guys, this will be my first year taking the recurve out west after mulies. I need proof that it can be done. Show me pictures, tell me about the shots and the hunt, etc. I am really pumped. I have been going out for a few years, but have always carried a compound. Thanks ahead of time.

Steve B. · August 13, 2009, 12:11:00 AM

Assuming you will be holding out for a large buck, and doing some kind of spot and stalk, I would say be prepared for the challenge of your life. You can hunt them in the forests as you do whitetails and do the treestand thing or even still hunt but typically I find bucks on slopes of broken terrain. So often the ground is rocky, steep, and not very moist. There are many nooks and crannys for the deer to hide in. They are on constant alert, and very difficult to get in on. If you do, getting a good shot will be equally difficult.

For this kind of hunting I'd rather have a light, handy trad bow over a compxxd. Practice your uphill, downhill, and everything else shots.
I'm not trying burst your bubble as I know you are excited. This is my favorite hunting but I prioritize elk because they are easier and more meat for the freezer. But I always hope to get some elk quickly so I can go after a buck. I love sliding along the boulders trying to get up on them.

No pics but I shot a doe and a buck with a recurve. The doe was 10 yds. or less straight below me, bedded. The buck I stumbled onto on the edge of a forest. It was the third and smaller buck that I shot at that converted me to longbows. I had an easy broadside shot at 25 yds. on flat ground and my arrow was headed to the vitals. That deer swapped ends and was completely clear of the arrow before it got there, having jumped the string.

Hopefully Bjorn doesn't read this. Last year I had a huge buck below me on a slope at 35 yds. He was feeding looking up the hill at me. When he put his head down I would move. But it was steep and dry. I managed to close to 25 yds but he was sensing me now and busted me when I fell for the bluff feeding posture. His head went down and immediately back up and I couldn't stop my momentum on the steep hill. To be fair, I would have gotten a shot with a compxxd in that situation.

Mike Mecredy · August 13, 2009, 12:37:00 AM

Hunting Muleys with a recurve; I've done it for 6 years now. I've never hunted whitetail so I can't compare it to that, but I can tell you I don't see many bowhunting shows in which they hunt mule deer.

Here it goes; the cover is limited, they aren't easy to pattern, they don't come into rattling, they don't make scrapes, they couldn't care less about doe in heat urine, their food is everywhere, they can go days without water, and if they are within bow range, of about 20 yrds, they can hear everything from a nock snapping onto the serving, your breathing, your heart beat, and it seems, even your thoughts. Their sense of smell is even more acute than those radar dishes they call ears. There habitat will vary from the flat grass land that pronghorn populate to the rocky ridges along side bighorn sheep.

But it's possible to arrow one, I haven't yet, but it can be done, just find a trail going through some areas with cover that'll conseal you a bit and wait.

Whitetail Chaser · August 13, 2009, 01:52:00 AM

Well, I am by no means an expert, but I have killed one muley with a recurve. It was a doe from last season, in a forested area. This year I am hunting a sagebrushy area with deep canyons.

My advice is to try and ambush hunt using a tree stand or a ground blind of some sort. Spot and stalk is great fun, but for a newcomer to mulies, it can be a frustrating endeavor. I'm not saying to avoid spot and stalk, but if you want to be successful with little experience, blinds or stands are the way to go IMO.

Still hunting can work if you play the wind and the cover, but most of the territory out west is dry crunchy brush that is not too conducive to moving quietly through the woods. Best wishes.

Brett

PAPA BEAR · August 13, 2009, 03:43:00 AM

muley bucks are a very tough hunt...i have put the sneak on several nice ones but one in general brings back some great memories...i was elk hunting in burns oregon area.every morning after elk hunting we would drive to this one huge open area with rimrock around half of it to spot bucks bedded in the rocks.i was glassing and spotted this huge buck bedded in what was basically a cave into the rock bluff,very cool to see that buck sitting in his doorway just relaxing and keepin cool.i hiked what seemed to be at least a mile,checked the wind sat down and put on my bears feet then started my stalk.as i approached the cave the wind was perfect.i could see his rack moving around above some sagebrush but nothing else.i was within twenty yds of him,all of a sudden i felt wind on my neck....busted....this crafty old buck jumped up and dashed into the cave...i had him locked down dead to rights.i ran up to the cave arrow nocked...what i saw blew my mind...there were at least 8 deer inside the cave,some bedded some jumping around realizing they were in a bad spot...no buck...nowhere in sight...he was hiding behind the does in the corner...then all hell broke loose,i had to step aside or get trampled..all of the deer made a mad dash for freedom at the same time including that great buck that i figure was in the 180's...coolest thing ever to happen to me in the woods..that cave was big enough inside to house twenty bedded deer...pretty cool..i named it buck hotel..sorry no pics

Biggie Hoffman · August 13, 2009, 06:14:00 AM

IMO Mulies are very doable spot and stalk with a recurve. They are not nearly as wary as a whitetail. Most places I've gone it's physically challenging and you'll likley blow several stalks for each shot but just keep trying!
Our last trip to Montana we went 4 for 4

Don Stokes · August 13, 2009, 08:21:00 AM

Now that's impressive! How come you don't have many arrows in the quiver??

Mike Gerardi · August 13, 2009, 08:50:00 AM

I think Muley deer hunting could be my next addiction!!!Nothin like spot and stalk..Great pics!

PSUBowhunter · August 13, 2009, 11:09:00 AM

Thanks for the responses guys. Keep them coming.

Biggie, your post is very impressive. Is that top deer bloated or was he just that big.

I have been fairly succesful on both of my previous mule deer hunting trips, but like I said before, that was with a compound, so this will be a whole new ball game.

Biggie Hoffman · August 13, 2009, 01:31:00 PM

Don, I only carry 3 arrows..........

PSU. The big buck may be a little bloated, it took us 2 hours to get to him but he was a big bodied deer no doubt!

It's a bunch of fun to spot and stalk these guys. Go for it!!

fireman_3311 · August 13, 2009, 01:35:00 PM

Good thread....I'll be trying for a muley doe on me upcoming antelope hunt!!!

PSUBowhunter · August 13, 2009, 02:17:00 PM

Biggie, do you remember off hand how far the shots were on your trip to Montana?

Biggie Hoffman · August 13, 2009, 03:53:00 PM

Top buck, Keith Bruners was 7 yards, mine was 15 on the 1st shot. Dudley Mcgarity's was straight down.

Steve Leffler · August 13, 2009, 07:20:00 PM

Mulie hunting is lots of fun. They are very stalkable. You will spook some of them but if you keep at it sooner or later it all comes together. You can definitely get recurve close. I love hunting them.

trashwood · August 13, 2009, 07:41:00 PM

Wingnut, Jason and I have hunted mule deer while elk hunting. We have taken them spot and stalk. Also in the Rockies ya can find funnel areas. Not exactly like the whitetail funnels but funnels caused by the terrain that ya could highjack them.

We shared a camp site with several does one yr. There was a natural salt lick or something on the ground that they kept licking in this square foot area. could have filled up the freezing then if we had taken a shot.

Mule deer hunting in the Rockies seems easier to me than hunting them in the desert. Maybe we were just lucky though

Wingnut has hunted mule deer a lot. Maybe he'll pick up the tread and give ya some ideas.

rusty

trashwood · August 13, 2009, 07:46:00 PM

ah now I am not suggesting anything here but one day we came back to camp?? (or somewhere we were) and the mule deer were dining on apples we had left out

I would not think that a the mule deer in the area????

rusty

PSUBowhunter · August 14, 2009, 10:31:00 AM

anyone else??

Don Stokes · August 14, 2009, 01:43:00 PM

I'll be doing it in October- I'll get back to you!

schlaggerman · August 14, 2009, 05:21:00 PM

I've gone out west mulie hunting perhaps a dozen times and have killed 6 or 7 of them. Generally speaking the younger bucks are easier to kill than whitetails, but the older bucks are every bit as tough to get an arrow in as an older whitetail. I have hunted them only in the mountains, not on the plains, and have found them to be somewhat patternable. Maybe not using the same runways everyday but the same general area everyday if undistrubed. I like to get above them in the morning and try to intercept them as they head back up to bed for the day. Sometimes this involves a treestand and sometimes just moving to get in front of them to set up an ambush. Being a midwest treestand hunter I haven't had much luck stalking them, but that's probably due to my inexperience with this type of hunting.

centaur · August 14, 2009, 05:55:00 PM

I have killed a few, but never a big buck. Most of my hunting was in desert conditions. It is great fun to spot and stalk, and usually lots of action. But, like other critters, the big ones don't get big by being dumb. That said, a young mulie buck ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer.