Advice- Mule Deer Hunt

[357magag]

Buddy and I are looking for 2024 Muley Hunt.
We have no pref pts in any state.
Looking at rifle hunt
High success rate for 180" +.

What state, unit, and or outfitters do you recommend?


Our budget is 30k or less.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Your options are close to zero barring a miracle.

 

[huntnful]

I can’t tell if this is a joke or not.

But there is no high success rate 180”+ deer hunts with 0 points for $7k. Maybe $70k.

 

[357magag]

I can’t tell if this is a joke or not.

But there is no high success rate 180”+ deer hunts with 0 points for $7k. Maybe $70k.

Corrected budget to $30k.
Hard to believe there on no landowner tags out there for this kind of money.
70k? Think you are the one with jokes.
Mexico has a high a very high rate of success for 180" for $15k

 

[WeiserBucks]

Corrected budget to $30k.

Add a zero and buy a Governor tag

 

[Calbuck]

Might as well shoot for a 200”

 

[huntnful]

Corrected budget to $30k.

Look into UT and NV guided hunts with landowner tag included.

I honestly haven’t spent a ton of time researching those high dollar hunts, but they’re out there.

 

[357magag]

Might as well shoot for a 200”

Heck yeah might as well and pay for you to come hunt with us. As you seem like you would be good camp company with your humor and all.

 

[Calbuck]

Heck yeah might as well and pay for you to come hunt with us. As you seem like you would be good camp company with your humor and all.

Sounds good on two conditions. Make that three.
1. I don’t drink Bud Light
2. I get to shoot first
3. I only road hunt

 

[EdP]

Wow, that's a big ask but 15K is pretty big money for a MD hunt. My guess is Mexico or Canada would be your best chance. Personally, I would not step foot in Mexico. If you google MD hunting in Canada you will get some hits in your price range.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Zero experience but if I was looking to spend big money on mule deer, I’d look to Sonora or Alberta

 

[QuackAttack]

Is there really a holy grail of Mule Deer hunting? Generally speaking, animals seem to grow bigger in colder climates and Ag for food…so somewhere in Canada?

 

[LongWayAround]

You might look for an outfitter in eastern Colorado.

 

[butcherboy]

Jicarilla reservation but last I checked a few years ago just one hunter was around 20k +.

 

[357magag]

Canada seems be priced decently at $10k.
Sonora around $13-15k.
I will also check the Jicarilla.
Thanks

 

[willfrye027]

You could probably do a pretty good guided hunt in CO with landowner tags for 15k apiece. I don’t think there is a slam dunk/reputable Mexico hunt for that cheap.

One of the BEST things about mule deer…you can’t really buy them. 180” is a fairly tall task these days.

There are some states, some units you can get with zero points. You won’t kill a 180” but you can have an adventure and a fun hunt. I’d do that for this year and honestly wait for conditions to improve before dropping $$$ on a high dollar hunt while the herds are all way down.

 

[Schoolhousegrizz]

I would think you could get a really good unit wide voucher on a Colorado unit for 15k. You may have to go DIY depending on what you spend on the voucher. However, high success on 180+ is still a tall order. You could look to Nevada or CWMU'S in Utah. Once again, high success on 180+ is a tall order.

Henry Mountains, governor tags, Antelope Island (all way more than 15K), other than that, from my experience, 180+ will most likely take lots of tags and time. With that said, lots of 180 bucks are killed on general units across the West every year.

 

[Firestone]

Mexico

 

[Rich M]

I hunted eastern CO and shot a 160, was checking the deer and biologist showed me a photo of a truly gigantic deer that made mine look like a forkie - body and antler size... You could start calling outfitters in E CO and asking them about the opportunity for tagging a truly big one. Then, if the cost is low enough, offer a finders fee for a 180+. It'll help encourage the size of the deer.

This almost has to be a private land hunt, with very few exceptions.

 

[The_Jim]

I have a buddy that did a 0 point outfitted hunt north of Denver . He saw a lot of nice deer and shooting a solid buck. The outfitter was driving around acreages and knocking on doors for permission - they were basically hunting in peoples backyards. Some kind of weird suburban style hunt. It was not what he expected, so if you hunt eastern Colorado make sure you ask questions about what the hunt will be like.