First trip out west!

[Refund]

Hello, long time lurker here..

I mostly hang out on AT because it seems like Rokslide has more guys that hunt out west and I haven't been fortunate enough to make it out there yet. I figured this question may better be suited for Rokslide.

I want to make my first trip out west for mulies during a rifle season and I was hoping that I could get a little guidance. I would ultimately like to do an archery elk hunt but mule deer have always been high on my list and I feel like this is a more mentally and physically manageable hunt.

like to try to stay as far east as possible within reason to get my feet wet. I was looking at western South Dakota and Nebraska but from what I understand the draw odds aren't that great for non-residents, especially ones with no preference points and there isn't too much public access to productive land in comparison to other states known for their hunting opportunities. I am planning on going next season and I know some states allow you to buy points for a fraction of the cost of a tag which is something I'd be more than happy to do now to increase my chances for the next coming season. I'm not so certain that a single point is going to help me draw into a more desirable zone though or if I would be allowed to buy a point and get an OTC tag during the same season. I guess another option would be to hunt an OTC state while investing points into another state. I don't know if I'd be better off biting the bullet and just driving a couple extra hours to Utah, Montana, Wyoming, etc.

I literally know nothing about hunting mule deer, it would be an entirely new experience for me. Any information as far as things that I should expect or your first experience going out west that you guys would be willing to share would be much appreciated. Having somebody experienced narrow down the scope of things I should be researching (I believe at this point I've suffered from paralysis from analysis) would even be a great help..

Thank you guys and I hope you and yours are well!

 

[scfreeman66]

Buy a Wyoming point and enter the special draw for next season. It'll cost ya, but highly likely that you'll draw a tag for the eastern part of the state.

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[IAMike304]

I was in a similar situation with regards to western hunting. Difference being I have been building points in several western states for 10+ years(mulies and elk). I am hunting SD this November with my bow to get my feet wet on mule deer. Archery tags are a lot easier to draw. I plan to bow hunt the other states I have points in, so I figured going to SD would at least get me some experience in things like stalking, locating, patience while glassing etc.

 

[Smokeslider]

How much time have you spent out west? If I was coming from the east side and haven't spent much time out here, I would take the opportunity and go to a place that represents the Western Hunting experience as much as possible. CO, MT, NV, etc.

 

[Refund]

Buy a Wyoming point and enter the special draw for next season. It'll cost ya, but highly likely that you'll draw a tag for the eastern part of the state.

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I was thinking of investing in some elk points in WY. The only thing that sucks in my situation is that the guys that I hunt with are either crazy about tree stand hunting for whitetail or wouldn't be up for the 24+ hour drive. I don't know if I can convince them to invest in the preference points, etc. I need to look into group draws.

I was in a similar situation with regards to western hunting. Difference being I have been building points in several western states for 10+ years(mulies and elk). I am hunting SD this November with my bow to get my feet wet on mule deer. Archery tags are a lot easier to draw. I plan to bow hunt the other states I have points in, so I figured going to SD would at least get me some experience in things like stalking, locating, patience while glassing etc.

Best of luck man! It kind of blows my mind that people can put a stalk on a mule deer in such open country. I imagine that a lot of times there isn't much of a play on a deer and you just have to go for it or wait them out. For that reason, I was thinking of going during rifle season to increase my chances but the rifle season in Nebraska seems to fall right around my whitetail bow trip every year. I guess it's OTC Nebraska bow!

A big concern for me is back country camping, it's something I'm not very experienced with. I'll have to do a few camping trips before next season. Ticks are a massive issue here in NY, hopefully not as big of an issue out west during hunting season. A few weeks ago I went scouting on a whim in NJ, I walked through some knee high grass for about 40 yards, I looked down and I must have had a dozen ticks on me. I guess it's better than dealing with rattlesnakes.. It likely wouldn't hurt to soak my gear in permethrin regardless. The idea of living off of my back and out of my truck for 7+ days after driving for 24 hours one way is already wearing on my mental fortitude lol.. I presume that is something that I will have to look further into once I nail down a location and start scouting. Correct me if I'm wrong but I have the assumption that there isn't going to be many options as far as hotels go in the middle of nowhere and if there is a handful of them it would probably be more productive to hunt away from them.

How much time have you spent out west? If I was coming from the east side and haven't spent much time out here, I would take the opportunity and go to a place that represents the Western Hunting experience as much as possible. CO, MT, NV, etc.

I've made a few snowboarding trips to UT and CO, I was going to go to WY this year and then the end of the world began. Other than that, I've been fly fishing at the Yampa in CO once.

I definitely want to do an archery elk hunt and it's probably a great idea for me to start investing in preference points but I'm not sure what the best state for that is, that's why I'm here.. I've been leaning towards the beautiful state of WY, it's a few hours closer than the other states and from what I understand it's a great state for elk. Even better if I can draw a desirable location by investing in those points.

I believe at this point the best plan for me may be to invest in some points, perhaps in multiple states and keep hunting close to home, maybe do an OTC Nebraska archery hunt for mulies and/or antelope in September in the meantime.

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Thank all you guys for your responses so far! I appreciate it.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Invest in points in the states that have them, for every species you're interested in hunting. Forget about babysitting your hunting partners, concentrate on going solo and perhaps they'll want to go at some point in the future.

 

[Fitzwho]

You don’t have to go camp in the back country. Start by camping at the truck or hike camp in a mile and hunt from there. Truck camping let’s you be more mobile since you won’t have the opportunity to scout most likely. Don’t want to hike in 5 miles to find that there aren’t any animals there.

You can still buy deer, elk, and antelope points in Wyoming and Montana. As well as deer and antelope points in South Dakota (Black Hills Deer and West River Deer).

Western SoDak Actually has pretty decent public access, the Black Hills are almost entirely public. More whitetails in the hills, but a super fun hunt. I’ll be headed there next year for sure.

Nebraska’s deer tags are over the counter, so you can buy whatever is left and go hunt. Get in early next year when they go on sale and you should be able to get any tag you want. Much less public access, but doable from the research that I have done.

 

[Refund]

Invest in points in the states that have them, for every species you're interested in hunting. Forget about babysitting your hunting partners, concentrate on going solo and perhaps they'll want to go at some point in the future.

I just feel like a 24+ hour drive is a lot to do for a solo hunt. Regardless, I'm going to invest in the points. My mind my chance about that in a year or two.

I think I'm going to go with WY and CO--maybe throw UT as well.. $150ish a year seems more than manageable. Let me know what you guys think..

You don’t have to go camp in the back country. Start by camping at the truck or hike camp in a mile and hunt from there. Truck camping let’s you be more mobile since you won’t have the opportunity to scout most likely. Don’t want to hike in 5 miles to find that there aren’t any animals there.

You can still buy deer, elk, and antelope points in Wyoming and Montana. As well as deer and antelope points in South Dakota (Black Hills Deer and West River Deer).

Western SoDak Actually has pretty decent public access, the Black Hills are almost entirely public. More whitetails in the hills, but a super fun hunt. I’ll be headed there next year for sure.

Nebraska’s deer tags are over the counter, so you can buy whatever is left and go hunt. Get in early next year when they go on sale and you should be able to get any tag you want. Much less public access, but doable from the research that I have done.

I'm going to try to do some camping trips close to home and break myself in to prepare for that. Maybe 2-3 nights late season for a rifle or muzzle loader hunt if the temperatures aren't absolutely brutal.

Yeah, most if not all of my scouting is going to be done virtually. My idea was to hike and glass the first day, basically dedicate my first day to trying to develop a plan when I'm actually there--from my experience, I think I have a decent idea and then things always seem to change drastically once I get my feet on the ground.

I would have considered flying there to go on some hikes with some glass packed during the off season just to enjoy myself but not with all of this chaos going on right now. Maybe it will be better within a few months..

It seems like a lot of the pieces of public there are 100k+ acres which are massive in comparison to the 200 to 12,000 pieces that I'm used to hunting.. When I scout the smaller parcels here, the piece is either looks good or it doesn't. In contrast, I feel like I should be able to find at least a few deer if I throw a dart at the map and pick a single 100,000 acre plot at random out west.


Can anybody tell me about their experience with GoHUNT? Worth the cost?

 

[Mt Al]

Invest in points in the states that have them, for every species you're interested in hunting. Forget about babysitting your hunting partners, concentrate on going solo and perhaps they'll want to go at some point in the future.

Spot on! Invest in points, head out solo, you can go easy a few times to get used to it.

You can even stay in a hotel in almost any small town in Montana, Wyoming, etc. and do just fine. You don't need to take a camp on your back deep into the unknown to kill a nice mule deer - at all.

One way to go is get a mule deer doe tag, tags/licenses to kill predators and upland game birds and head out and have a ball learning the ropes. Takes all the pressure off the whole "hero picture" thing, might get a coyote, fox or badger.

Point is, just go! You'll have a ball no matter what.

 

[BLJ]

@Refund. Thanks for asking this question.
@ Mt Al. I like that idea, personally. Are there any states that offer OTC rifle doe tags or are they draw only ? What about predator tags? I think that would be a great trip.

 

[Refund]

@Refund. Thanks for asking this question.
@ Mt Al. I like that idea, personally. Are there any states that offer OTC rifle doe tags or are they draw only ? What about predator tags? I think that would be a great trip.

I believe in most states you can take predators as a result of big game hunting.. For example where I hunt in NY and NJ, while deer or bear hunting you can take a yote.

I believe that Nebraska has a week long OTC rifle season in November. Some states seem to sell tags for the entire season. For example, in Ohio a deer tag is good for bow and muzzleloader. In NY and NJ you need separate tags for bow, rifle/shotgun, late/muzzleloader season, etc.

 

[Refund]

Spot on! Invest in points, head out solo, you can go easy a few times to get used to it.

You can even stay in a hotel in almost any small town in Montana, Wyoming, etc. and do just fine. You don't need to take a camp on your back deep into the unknown to kill a nice mule deer - at all.

One way to go is get a mule deer doe tag, tags/licenses to kill predators and upland game birds and head out and have a ball learning the ropes. Takes all the pressure off the whole "hero picture" thing, might get a coyote, fox or badger.

Point is, just go! You'll have a ball no matter what.

Thank you for this information.. If I go out that way I may spend a few nights camping just for the experience and to prepare myself for elk. I didn't think of predator hunting.

@BLJ It appears that you need a "small game tag" at least in Nebraska..

 

[BLJ]

Predators already on a standard hunting license makes sense. Had it in my head that you would need a tag for everything.

 

[Mule34]

If you plan to hunt with a rifle, stalking them actually isnt that hard to get within 250 yards all day. If you plan on chasing them with a bow, that is where it can get tough. windy days are good days to close the distance. I always look at the direction of the wind and plan my route around the wind. Im sure I hunt a lot different than a lot of people also, I am in South Dakota and a lot of it is rolling hills and grassland depending on where you go. I have closed the distance on a bedded mulie using only a yucca plant....haha

I would use a lot of the advice in here, preference points are cheap.... buy them everywhere. My brother is from out of state and finally drew a rifle tag here, took him 5 years. I would just look for OTC options and just start planning and make sure you follow though with it!

 

[Refund]

If you plan to hunt with a rifle, stalking them actually isnt that hard to get within 250 yards all day. If you plan on chasing them with a bow, that is where it can get tough. windy days are good days to close the distance. I always look at the direction of the wind and plan my route around the wind. Im sure I hunt a lot different than a lot of people also, I am in South Dakota and a lot of it is rolling hills and grassland depending on where you go. I have closed the distance on a bedded mulie using only a yucca plant....haha

I would use a lot of the advice in here, preference points are cheap.... buy them everywhere. My brother is from out of state and finally drew a rifle tag here, took him 5 years. I would just look for OTC options and just start planning and make sure you follow though with it!

Thank you, great advice! I figure setting aside $100-300 a year for preference points in 2-6 states isn't going to be a huge deal.

If my schedule cooperates next year, I would rather do rifle over bow for my first trip. I'd be stoked either way though.

Anybody have any advice on some sleeping pads? Is a R value that is too high possible? is there a good number for most of the season? I invested in a 0 degree revelation quilt from enlightened equipment if that's relevant. I can move around a lot when I sleep so I figured the quilt would be a better, more comfortable and versatile option.

 

[Odell]

Couple things, I would really recommend car camping on your first trip since you don't have much backcountry and backpacking experience. There are many places that you can do this and still be "off" the grid through day hiking. We hunt an OTC archery unit in Oregon and an OTC rifle unit in Washington where the photos would make you think we are hardcore backcountry hunters, but I'm sleeping on a queen inflatable mattress, eating steaks and sipping bourbon at night.

This way you aren't trying to learn too many new things at once. It can take a bunch of backpacking trips to figure out gear and get dialed in.

Secondly I would try to make a relationship with someone out west who can take you. Then you can fly in and learn from them while cutting out a 24 hour drive. I think its possible, work through the connections you have, you will know a guy who knows a guy and maybe get some help.

also i have found OnX to be well worth the money

 

[Refund]

Couple things, I would really recommend car camping on your first trip since you don't have much backcountry and backpacking experience. There are many places that you can do this and still be "off" the grid through day hiking. We hunt an OTC archery unit in Oregon and an OTC rifle unit in Washington where the photos would make you think we are hardcore backcountry hunters, but I'm sleeping on a queen inflatable mattress, eating steaks and sipping bourbon at night.

This way you aren't trying to learn too many new things at once. It can take a bunch of backpacking trips to figure out gear and get dialed in.

Secondly I would try to make a relationship with someone out west who can take you. Then you can fly in and learn from them while cutting out a 24 hour drive. I think its possible, work through the connections you have, you will know a guy who knows a guy and maybe get some help.

also i have found OnX to be well worth the money

That sounds like my kind of evening..

Perfect example of why I want to start small with the black tail hunt instead of going straight back country elk while I invest in some bonus/preference points. I'm trying to break myself in; I want to be experienced enough with the other aspects of the experience so that I can focus harder on filling my expensive elk tag and enjoying the rest of the experience versus stressing out over what should be the smaller things.

If I can do an OTC black tail hunt for 5-6 days, camp a few nights and spend a a couple of nights in a hotel I think I'd have a great time.

EDIT: I'm intimately familiar with ONX, I love the app. I am still curious about GoHUNT because it seems to be a desktop version of ONX focused on the western hunter.

 

[Werty]

One thing that people don't do, take a trip out during hunting season. Even if you don't have a tag, ya it's not as fun. You can see how much pressure an area gets, if the deer are around. Also, no pressure on killing anything. My father stayed in camp last year and drove around while I hunted, he says he loved it.

 

[elkman224]

Try for rifle over bow as your odds of success will increase. Some units in WY you can draw with 0 or 1 point and you have until September to buy a bonus point in WY. SD is cheap for points as well. Draw your tag and then reach out to outfitters and landowners in that unit. I have booked guided hunts cheap with outfitters that didnt have their hunters draw. They have to pay for leases and no hunters hurt them. Last guided trip to WY we stayed in outfitters tents but cooked and provided all of our meals and we went 3 for 3 on bull elk.

 

[gwest]

Go Hunt is worth the money if you are using it to filter your states/units/species. It will give you all the information you are looking for in one area. I use mine all year long checking success rates and tag rates for different units in different states. It is helpful in narrowing down your states and units options.


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