October mule deer

[Big west]

*FIRST POST* Hey y’all, I’ve been lurking for years following Robby, listening to every hunting podcast available, and generally devouring any and all hunting information I can find. Finally decided to join the fray.

What I wanted to post first is an October mule deer discussion. I’ve archery hunted mule deer every year since I was 14 or so and I love it because the deer are visible and you can find mature mule deer much easier, but harder to kill. This year I have my first rifle deer tags in over 8 years, drew a southern idaho controlled hunt and a third season Colorado. I’ve always had a bad attitude towards hunting deer after they strip velvet and before the rut but I want to become a more skilled hunter across all the seasons. Hoping to learn a lot in Idaho this October.

Any tips/tactics/approaches for October success when the deer are less visible?

Cover a lot of country, look in places you wouldn’t normally look. Go deep go hard.

 

[david2duck]

Well I have to eat crow a little bit. I said October mule deer wasn’t what the internet made it out to be but this season kind of kicked my butt.

I told myself I was holding out to break the 170” mark and came home empty handed. Not sure I even saw a buck that would break 170”. We found bucks and could have killed many just not what I was after. I did find a buck we named trident (he had matching tridents on the front of each main beam) but I don’t believe he would have broke 170”. He was one of the coolest bucks I’ve seen and was at minimum a 9x7. I hunted him for over 3 days and never could get a pattern on him. I’m pretty positive I jumped him, on day 4 of hunting him, in some dark timber. Not 100% sure but all my instincts tell me it was him.

It’s been awhile since I haven’t punched my deer tag.