Nebraska Public Land Mule Deer Hunt

[WKB]

Hey all. Like the title says, I am planning a Nebraska rifle season public land mule deer hunt. Before you tell me how bad it is, I have heard all the bad stuff already. I get it, Nebraska public OTC mulies are not ideal. This is an opportunity to dip our toes in the water and get some experience, that is all. I am going with a work buddy. We have several days of scouting and glassing planned out before we hunt. We both have Calamus West permits. From looking at the deer management map, the public land available to us is the Valentine NWR east of hwy 83, or the entirety of the Bessey Ranger near Halsey/Thedford. I have done quite a bit of google earth and satellite recon so far and the terrain seems similar. We are both in great shape and can ruck with the best of them. My question is there an appreciable difference between the two in terms of the hunt quality or pressure? The Valentine NWR spans both Calamus West and Sandhills so I imagine there will be more deer but possibly more pressure between the sandwiching of two units. The appeal to hunting Valentine NWR is staying close by in Valentine. The closest hotels to Bessey are in Broken Bow almost an hour away. Bessey is also an hour closer to my house. What are your thoughts and opinions.

 

[Matthunts8]

I’m doing the same exact hunt this fall with my two teenage sons.


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[Warrior10]

There is a hotel in Halsey (Redwood Inn), and a restaurant (Double T) and supply store (Sutton's Speed & Supply).

There is also two hotels (Roadside & Arrowhead) in Thedford, along with gas stations, restaurant, grocery store, etc. Thedford is 20min from Halsey and 40min from NWR.....seems like it would open up both options.

Good luck on the hunt, as you said/know...it is going to be tough. God's country though, beautiful.

 

[WKB]

There is a hotel in Halsey (Redwood Inn), and a restaurant (Double T) and supply store (Sutton's Speed & Supply).

There is also two hotels (Roadside & Arrowhead) in Thedford, along with gas stations, restaurant, grocery store, etc. Thedford is 20min from Halsey and 40min from NWR.....seems like it would open up both options.

Good luck on the hunt, as you said/know...it is going to be tough. God's country though, beautiful.

The Roadside and the Redwood are both completely booked during the time frame I am looking at, and the Arrow head is not accepting any lodgers for a looong time according to the proprietor.

 

[Warrior10]

The Roadside and the Redwood are both completely booked during the time frame I am looking at, and the Arrow head is not accepting any lodgers for a looong time according to the proprietor.

I wondered if they would be booked up after I posted that.

 

[The_Jim]

I’m guessing since they changed quotas on those units the hunting pressure is going to be a lot different than the last 10 years. I’m sure the weekend we’ll still be a zoo but with only 15% of the tags go to non residents I’d bet the Monday-Friday pressure to be a lot less.

There’s a few good deer shot in both those places every year, never know what you’ll see. Our mule deer are hurting pretty bad, they finally eliminated mule deer doe harvest on public land. You’ll likely see more whitetail than mule deer. I personally go out every year with the goal of a good mule deer but I’ll shoot basically any whitetail by the end of the week to fill my tag.

 

[Dwnw/theAltitudesickness]

Think The_Jim & OP are both pretty accurate. Know a lot of NR and eastern guys come out hoping for a mulie. 50 years ago the ranch my father grew up on only had mulies- now it is 90%+ whitetails. Most guys want a mulie buck so bad the forkies get shot. Think Nebraska should continue the mulie doe restrictions and include a point restriction on the mulie bucks. Good luck to the OP

 

[Warrior10]

Think The_Jim & OP are both pretty accurate. Know a lot of NR and eastern guys come out hoping for a mulie. 50 years ago the ranch my father grew up on only had mulies- now it is 90%+ whitetails. Most guys want a mulie buck so bad the forkies get shot. Think Nebraska should continue the mulie doe restrictions and include a point restriction on the mulie bucks. Good luck to the OP

Point restrictions are tough, pretty good podcast by RD and a Wyoming Biologist on the subject not too long ago. Pretty unproven on improving the deer herd and quite a few arguments that it hurts it.

 

[Dwnw/theAltitudesickness]

@Warrior10 agree- would love to implement an age class restriction. Or better yet give them some years to recover. Effectively what game and parks is kinda trying to do

 

[NE Herd Bull]

I have not hunted that area for a long time.
However, I have been wondering about last fall's Bovee Fire on the Bessy Range of Halsey National Forest.
and how it impacted wildlife as well as hunting opportunities.

We have had a wetter than normal spring and early summer in my part of NE. Hopefully the sandhills enjoyed similar conditions and the area is on the rebound.

Can anybody speak to the current conditions of that area?

 

[The_Jim]

I was in broken bow in late June and everything looked really good as far as moisture. I believe the western half of the state isn't in a drought anymore.

It seems like Game and Parks was pretty far behind the curve on the mule deer and the doe restriction should have happened 10 years ago. We have lost like 2,000,000 acres of habitat that was turned into cropland over the last 20 years, so antler restrictions only do so much when the game has nowhere to live.

I assumed @WKB was rifle hunting, but if your archery hunting Bessey I think its going to be pretty busy too. NR archery tags aren't good for mule deer anymore in the MDCA so that is going to push all the NR archery hunters into the remaining 2 units that have mule deer. Also, Bessey is the closest area to shoot a mule deer for any resident hunters in Eastern NE...

 

[PSUBowhunter]

I’ve hunted up around Valentine serval times in recent years. Last time I was there, I swore I would never go back, but with recent tag allocation changes, I would possibly consider it.

I will say one thing though, your odds of killing a mule deer there are very very low. I hunted there three years in a row and never saw a muley on public land. A decent amount of whitetail, but never a mule deer

 

[bowhuntercoop]

Going to be a rodeo to put it nicely.

 

[BigDog00]

I was in broken bow in late June and everything looked really good as far as moisture. I believe the western half of the state isn't in a drought anymore.

It seems like Game and Parks was pretty far behind the curve on the mule deer and the doe restriction should have happened 10 years ago. We have lost like 2,000,000 acres of habitat that was turned into cropland over the last 20 years, so antler restrictions only do so much when the game has nowhere to live.

I assumed @WKB was rifle hunting, but if your archery hunting Bessey I think its going to be pretty busy too. NR archery tags aren't good for mule deer anymore in the MDCA so that is going to push all the NR archery hunters into the remaining 2 units that have mule deer. Also, Bessey is the closest area to shoot a mule deer for any resident hunters in Eastern NE...

In the early 2000's it was open season on does. I remember being able to buy a pile of doe tags to supposedly help reduce CWD. Now they wonder why the mule deer are hurting so bad.

 

[KHNC]

Most all of NW Nebraska hunting is barely a shadow of its former self in the early to mid 2000's. Public and private. The herds have been hammered by EHD and hunting pressure for years. Hope you and your buddy beat the odds.

 

[Warrior10]

I have not hunted that area for a long time.
However, I have been wondering about last fall's Bovee Fire on the Bessy Range of Halsey National Forest.
and how it impacted wildlife as well as hunting opportunities.

We have had a wetter than normal spring and early summer in my part of NE. Hopefully the sandhills enjoyed similar conditions and the area is on the rebound.

Can anybody speak to the current conditions of that area?

Was fine early (moisture wise). The temps the last 10 days and the projected next 10 days are flipping it fast.

 

[Laramie]

I wouldn't get too hopeful about the tag restrictions lowering hunting pressure. The quotas were set to essentially maintain the levels they had in 2019-2022 so they didn't get any worse. The pressure on public land in a state that is less than 3% public will be tough no matter what.

A very small % will harvest a decent buck so maybe you guys will be in that group? Best advice is to keep your patience and hunt hard.

 

[stevevan]

I wouldn't get too hopeful about the tag restrictions lowering hunting pressure. The quotas were set to essentially maintain the levels they had in 2019-2022 so they didn't get any worse. The pressure on public land in a state that is less than 3% public will be tough no matter what.

A very small % will harvest a decent buck so maybe you guys will be in that group? Best advice is to keep your patience and hunt hard.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but I hunted the Bessey area ( both public and some private) a few years back and the deer hunt was poor at best. I have no plans to make a return trip.

 

[Laramie]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but I hunted the Bessey area ( both public and some private) a few years back and the deer hunt was poor at best. I have no plans to make a return trip.

Not sure why that was a reply to me? I know the hunt is absolutely terrible. My point was that people shouldn't get hopeful that they limited tags as the pressure that has been experienced in the past will remain relatively the same - horrible.

 

[TSAMP]

I know Bessey also has serious ATV traffic as well. It isnt all about other hunters.