Beast hunting muleys

[dan33]

I have more experience hunting whitetails by far but has anyone had success hunting bucks leaving bedding to food in the evening for early season archery? From what I gather mule deer don't necessarily use the same trail all the time but would it be possible to get into bow range doing this?

 

[Dos Perros]

My experience hunting them with a bow...it's really tough to get within bow range once they are already on their feet. I would much much prefer to stalk within bow range of a bedded buck, and maybe wait for him to stand, or just close a short distance. Predicting their direction, route, timing, and wind conditions of evening travel is a low probability success kind of game.

 

[WCB]

Depends on where you are at and terrain. I know a bunch of places early season you can hunt Mule Deer just like whitetails. They generally go up and down the same draws and fingers day to day from bedding to feeding. We have killed a bunch of bucks like this.

Even more general there are pinch points etc where Mule Deer will move through that may have an ambush point...or waterholes etc. Again, it depends on terrain, food source, pressure. But to just generally say MD aren't patternable is false.

 

[KHNC]

Why do you describe this a beast hunting? I dont get it. But im not that experienced either.

 

[dan33]

Why do you describe this a beast hunting? I dont get it. But im not that experienced either.

It's just the style of hunting whitetail beds that a guy named Dan infalt came up with.

 

[dan33]

Depends on where you are at and terrain. I know a bunch of places early season you can hunt Mule Deer just like whitetails. They generally go up and down the same draws and fingers day to day from bedding to feeding. We have killed a bunch of bucks like this.

Even more general there are pinch points etc where Mule Deer will move through that may have an ambush point...or waterholes etc. Again, it depends on terrain, food source, pressure. But to just generally say MD aren't patternable is false.

This is what I was hoping to hear. It didn't make sense to me that they would be so erratic that you wouldn't be able to find a general travel route

 

[TheHammer]

It's just the style of hunting whitetail beds that a guy named Dan infalt came up with.

Here I got excited n thought Dan was on the slide… The idea is possible on all game. Way too many factors to consider. A lot of midwestern hunters have went all in to hunt big game in the Rockies and they learn pretty quickly that most white tail strategies do not cross over.

 

[Jmoore]

No expert but agree with WCB, pretty much. As long as it before they strip the fuzz and then they seem to be more sporadic and tougher to pattern. In my experience anyway.

 

[KHNC]

It's just the style of hunting whitetail beds that a guy named Dan infalt came up with.

Thx, never heard of her.

 

[Fortboy22]

Lot of unknown variables contribute to travel patterns and what you can/cant get away with. I don't think there's a general rule related, but my experience has shown that they often do the "same" things but slightly different, day to day. In the high country (above treeline) the bucks can be somewhat predictable early on in the season (same but different routine) but once they get bumped, all bets are off. Spending time watching and reading their movements are worth the time investment on a mule deer hunt. It's best to attempt to wait for them to bed in an approachable spot (favorable wind a huge factor...don't attempt if not in favor) and be patient for them to get up out of their bed for a shot opportunity. Deer will bed late morning but won't be in the same bedded position all day. They will get up a few times throughout the day to readjust, feed a little or find new shade based on changing sun aspect. Also, wait for the thermals to change and be as consistent as possible before attempting your approach. If you routinely get outsmarted trying to stalk them in their bed, then you may want to try to be creative if the terrain and vegetation allows for it, to get between bedding and feeding zones. Stalking a mature buck already on its feet, especially with multiple eyes and ears close by (buddies), rarely works out... but sometimes it does.

 

[Rich M]

Thx, never heard of her.

Use yer google and see what you can learn from there. He’s got some good stuff on how to work the wind. All about WT tho - you’ll have to adapt it to your area.

He’s respectable, on the level of form or ryan avery or robby.

 

[OKHunter84]

I think it's really area dependant. My cousin and his business partner had a ranch in the Oklahoma panhandle / Kansas border and there was both mule deer and whitetail. Those mulies seemed to be in the same area and use the same corridors to the crop fields pretty consistently. At least till the rut hits. Not the same areas as the whitetail, they seemed to segregate themselves.

I've hunted mule deer in the sand hills of eastern New Mexico and they tend to be in the same areas pretty consistently.
The mule deer I've hunted in the mountains of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming all seemed different. Harder to pattern at least.

All that being said, deer are deer. Early season if there's a consistent food source then they'll hit it till it's gone or till they start splitting up the bachelor herds. If you're in an area with crop fields then it should be pretty easy to pattern them out and just be strict about which winds you hunt.

 

[dan33]

I think it's really area dependant. My cousin and his business partner had a ranch in the Oklahoma panhandle / Kansas border and there was both mule deer and whitetail. Those mulies seemed to be in the same area and use the same corridors to the crop fields pretty consistently. At least till the rut hits. Not the same areas as the whitetail, they seemed to segregate themselves.

I've hunted mule deer in the sand hills of eastern New Mexico and they tend to be in the same areas pretty consistently.
The mule deer I've hunted in the mountains of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming all seemed different. Harder to pattern at least.

All that being said, deer are deer. Early season if there's a consistent food source then they'll hit it till it's gone or till they start splitting up the bachelor herds. If you're in an area with crop fields then it should be pretty easy to pattern them out and just be strict about which winds you hunt.

I've seen kind of the same thing with whitetails. In ag and swamps they tend to be more consistent in their bedding area while in hills they move their beds based on the wind. Is the wind a factor at all with mulies?

 

[OKHunter84]

I've seen kind of the same thing with whitetails. In ag and swamps they tend to be more consistent in their bedding area while in hills they move their beds based on the wind. Is the wind a factor at all with mulies?

Yes sir, most definitely have to keep the wind right

 

[wildwilderness]

It's just the style of hunting whitetail beds that a guy named Dan infalt came up with.

Yeah, that’s called spot and stalk for mule deer and is one of the more common ways especially early season. Wait for them to bed and the thermals to switch then go sneak in.

 

[TheHammer]

Yeah, that’s called spot and stalk for mule deer and is one of the more common ways especially early season. Wait for them to bed and the thermals to switch then go sneak in.

Two completely different strategies. Dan has been involved in the commercial tree stand production world for 31 years.(maybe longer). Unless there are guys using tree stands to spot and stalk mule deer…. I could be mistaken on that, and I’m sorry if I’m wrong. Dan hunts and has hunted majority high pressure public ground, here in southern Wisconsin, the kind of ground where 10 guys are within 250yds of each other….Most of dans strategies focus on staging areas directly out of known bedding areas, catching their initial movement just at last light. His most famous picture is the pic of his mounts on a barn which was used for the cover of his book which was published in 2014. And he has since added quite a few more. He’s the type of guy who gives back locally and tries to help anyone he can as he can. I think he would be a great guest on the rokcast. By now it’s obvious that a lot of my success locally is because of tips and tricks he’s given me, on these same public lands. So here’s a shout out to his beast gear tree stands and sticks.

 

[TaperPin]

I’ve seen a few saddles that mulies walk over every day to get to and from a big bowl - they seem pretty consistent until pushed by something. We’ve stood motionless near a small tree just to see their eyes get big as they crossed our scent about 30 feet away. Lol

There’s a video of a bow hunter that saw some antler tips sticking up in a small wash and he crept up and grabbed the antler. Lol

 

[dan33]

Two completely different strategies. Dan has been involved in the commercial tree stand production world for 31 years.(maybe longer). Unless there are guys using tree stands to spot and stalk mule deer…. I could be mistaken on that, and I’m sorry if I’m wrong. Dan hunts and has hunted majority high pressure public ground, here in southern Wisconsin, the kind of ground where 10 guys are within 250yds of each other….Most of dans strategies focus on staging areas directly out of known bedding areas, catching their initial movement just at last light. His most famous picture is the pic of his mounts on a barn which was used for the cover of his book which was published in 2014. And he has since added quite a few more. He’s the type of guy who gives back locally and tries to help anyone he can as he can. I think he would be a great guest on the rokcast. By now it’s obvious that a lot of my success locally is because of tips and tricks he’s given me, on these same public lands. So here’s a shout out to his beast gear tree stands and sticks.

Dan is the GOAT. The hunting world needs more guys like him.

 

[Rich M]

Dan is one of the GOATs. We've got a couple on here if you wish to use their expertise too.

I wonder if muleys tend to frequently bed or use the top 1/3 of a rise on the downwind side to get scents from top and bottom like whitetails. Do remember some you tube video where multiple muley bucks bedded in an area with swirling winds - hunters couldn't get a good angle for a stalk.

 

[dan33]

Dan is one of the GOATs. We've got a couple on here if you wish to use their expertise too.

I wonder if muleys tend to frequently bed or use the top 1/3 of a rise on the downwind side to get scents from top and bottom like whitetails. Do remember some you tube video where multiple muley bucks bedded in an area with swirling winds - hunters couldn't get a good angle for a stalk.

Drop some names.