Non Resident Rifle Mule Deer Hunting info

[rayneydayzz]

Some buddies and i were looking for some insight on where to go for a DIY mule deer hunt as a non resident, as the point system and applying for draws is new to us. We did some research and it looked like the top places for a DIY hunt would be Idaho, Montana or Colorado for low point tags; but we are also open to any and all suggestions. Some help on pointing us in the right direction to research on what zone to apply for would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TradLife406]

Montana doesn't have many good bucks. Colorado and the SW though. Wyo.

 

[Bubblehide]

Hunt Southern California on an over the counter tag.

 

[wnelson14]

95% of the members here have spent a lifetime trying to figure out what your asking for and wouldn’t give the info up to their own children.

I would Read the site rules and info, and start using the search button.

There are endless research tools and websites to help get started with what your are asking.

 

[Bphips5]

Mule deer numbers are down across the range. Montana has been hit hard with declining numbers. The biggest thing is being honest with yourself on what class mule deer satisfies you and pick the place that’s has that deer and is the easiest to draw. Best of luck to you.

 

[.284reaper]

Mule deer numbers are down across the range. Montana has been hit hard with declining numbers. The biggest thing is being honest with yourself on what class mule deer satisfies you and pick the place that’s has that deer and is the easiest to draw. Best of luck to you.

No kidding been hunting all over Dillon all week and have yet to see a decent buck. Heading to Helena now hopefully will see some more sign of life

 

[AntelopeEater]

California sells thousands of OTC deer tags, and bear tags are also OTC.

I got a great bear and a 4x3 deer with OTC tags earlier this season, though I paid an outfitter to get access to private land.

Without access to private land or intimate knowledge of the local areas the odds of a successful harvest aren't great, but the public lands in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range are a gorgeous place to take your rifle for a hike in!

The male mule deer on public land in Cali are almost entirely nocturnal during hunting season, you won't see them except right around sunrise or sunset as a general rule unless they get flushed out from their beds.

Just bring a bolt action or lever action rifle to avoid all the ever-changing gun laws regarding semi autos there.

And you must bring your own non-lead hunting ammo, you cannot buy ammo in California as a non-resident, they require background checks for ammo purchasers and if you aren't in their system they won't sell.

If you go to reddit.com, there is a subreddit for r/californiahunting that has a lot of info and lots of hunt reports, both successful and not. That subreddit is marked "NSFW" though so you may have to update your settings.

 

[Ultracarry]

We do have smaller deer in Southern California… never had an issue filling tags - 100% for us over the last 4 years when I decided to even deer hunt in this state.

 

[HookUp]

Colorado for sure. Buy a GO hunt membership, research pic a unit and go.

 

[Bubblehide]

We do have smaller deer in Southern California… never had an issue filling tags - 100% for us over the last 4 years when I decided to even deer hunt in this state.

Yeah here's a small one

 

[Jxmartinez03]

Onx elite has hunt research tools that’ll help point you in the right direction. I’d lean towards otc tags unless you are hunting that state for other game. I hunt OTC Elk in CO so since I’m already paying the license fee I put in for the deer draw.

 

[Weaseltail]

I'd probably steer clear of Idaho. Mule deer numbers are way down. Even the hard to draw hunts are seeing very little success.

 

[roadhntr]

95% of the members here have spent a lifetime trying to figure out what your asking for and wouldn’t give the info up to their own children.

I would Read the site rules and info, and start using the search button.

That's such a BS, selfish and hopefully untrue response. I'm sure you have no problem seeing people pay memberships to sites like gohunt, epic and huntingfool that pimp out specific units every year for profit.

 

[madtinker]

Utah non-resident fees were high (for my cheapskate self) but had a great time in Utah and was able to draw with zero points.

 

[cbk215]

Following thread

 

[Rich M]

Buddies and I went 2019 for muley. Never been there before. Got a 160 on day 6. Buddy missed deer on days 7 and 8. Left day 9. Season ended day 10. 1 pt unit.

Moral of that story is - pick a state you can afford and just do it. Analysis paralysis is a real thing.

A guided management mule deer hunt was reasonable not too long ago. When you factor in all the BS, points, tags, years of your life wasted, it isn't a bad deal. You go and shoot a buck that isn't huge, but they aren't small. Plus you get to learn about hunting them from a pro if you want to go again.

We did antelope in 2023 after a couple years of being 1 pt behind on the unit I wanted. What pushed us into a guided hunt was being able to plan it. You get everything all lined up and get the "Deer John" letter. Know you gotta wait another year, then again and again. Screw that - let's go guided, it's like $1,000 for every year of life you waste on those preference points. Was a good trip, then we did some fishing and sight seeing. Nice vacation and good time with buddies.

Have 2 points so far for the next and last trip. No rush this time - all of us are getting ready to retire, so instead of a week trip, it'll be longer and less scheduled. We had a storm stop us from a float trip, if that happens next time, we'll wait a few days and then do the float trip.

 

[Brad1974]

I went to a general unit in Wyoming for archery mule deer in september that was a low point unit currently, but there's no way in hell I'd step foot on that ground during rifle season. The pressure was bad enough during archery season. I heard some crazy stories from guys that hunted there in the past and a guy I know that has hunted the unit for many years said the amount of hunters in there this rifle season was insane. Not many good bucks either since the winter kill 2022-2023.

 

[Can’tDraw4Shiz94]

Idaho has a lot of tags and is generally easier to get a tag than most.

But, like said above. Numbers are down and quality is down. Most of the time when a great buck gets taken now, it’s usually in a sought after draw hunt. Though, last season I seen many good bucks taken, so it may be on the up.

 

[Fitzwho]

What’s the closest state with mule deer from where you live? Say the closest 3. I’d start there if any of those have general or low point requirements. Also depends on weapon choice.

-Utah General deer units
-Colorado has plenty of units for second rifle and even some for 3rd rifle that can be drawn with very few points.
-Nebraska
-New Mexico (no points)
-Wyoming, some opportunity with 1-3 points, but most of these will be harder access
-Montana, as mentioned some population concerns, but the opportunity is there.
-Idaho, watch the leftover general tags start popping up and/or apply for controlled hunts.
-Arizona - mid at best other than the high end units.
-Nevada, can probably skip unless you want to go into the guided deer draw and still wait several years.
-North Dakota - I believe only gives out 1% of tags to nonresidents
-South Dakota - cheap to build points, haven’t hunted deer here myself yet, but I have 10 points.
-Kansas - random draw for mule deer stamp after you pull a WT tag, limited access for public hunters in most units.
-Texas - pay to play, there are some public drawings, but I’m a resident with 10+ points and have yet to draw any tags in my home state.
-California - more opportunities for deer than you would imagine, depending on your location, it’s about as far away as you can get.
-Oregon, haven’t looked super hard at it, but there is definitely opportunity here, might want to look at it for this fall, because it might be illegal to kill a mouse in this state by this November.
-Washington - my level of knowledge on this state = I’m fairly certain there are mule deer here.

 

[Short Track]

Wyoming with an outfitter is booking 3 years out. I have 6 points now, I'll have 9 in 3 years, and it's a 1 point unit !!! outfitter asked me for a deposit 3 years out !!