Veteran Hunter but Noob to Mule Deer, Many Questions???

[Zingnut]

I am mid 40's from the midwest, hunted since I was 18, I am experienced in archery, muzzeloading, and rifle. I currently hunt whitetail, turkey, coyote, pronghorn, and some elk in the past. I am wanting to remove the mule deer off my bucket list. I am only a DIY public land hunter. I am interested in rifle or muzzleloader (Inline poly tip) mule deer hunting. I have hunted CO, MT, and WY for elk and pronghorns. I need some direction to get an average mule deer not looking for a monster, just something to possibly mount something similar to what you would consider a low end trophy like we do here with 140/150+ whitetails. I would like OTC tags, but will draw. I have spike camp hunted in the past and have all the gear to do so. Average 3-5 mile walk ins. I will most likely be by myself or a buddy hunting with me. Not sure if I am giving enough info or not. Looking for suggestions to narrow down to state preferences, and unit if possible. My budget is normally $1000, but to take this step into the mule deer world I could go up to $2000. Again I am very familiar with DIY public land hunting with great success. I just need to be narrowed down to state and unit if possible to gather info from rangers and CPO employees. Let me off easy for being so green and the stupid info in this post but figured I would try to gather some intel from those that know mulies like I know whitetails.

Thanks, Jeff

 

[GregB]

Welcome to the forum. Look at the regs for each state to see if they have OTC, see what units in the state are OTC, look at harvest stats from each states F&G website. Then pick a state and unit. No one is going to do the work for you. If you can figure out the elk and speed goat regs and draw process in 3 states you can do the same for mule deer.

 

[Djacker]

I am mid 40's from the midwest, hunted since I was 18, I am experienced in archery, muzzeloading, and rifle. I currently hunt whitetail, turkey, coyote, pronghorn, and some elk in the past. I am wanting to remove the mule deer off my bucket list. I am only a DIY public land hunter. I am interested in rifle or muzzleloader (Inline poly tip) mule deer hunting. I have hunted CO, MT, and WY for elk and pronghorns. I need some direction to get an average mule deer not looking for a monster, just something to possibly mount something similar to what you would consider a low end trophy like we do here with 140/150+ whitetails. I would like OTC tags, but will draw. I have spike camp hunted in the past and have all the gear to do so. Average 3-5 mile walk ins. I will most likely be by myself or a buddy hunting with me. Not sure if I am giving enough info or not. Looking for suggestions to narrow down to state preferences, and unit if possible. My budget is normally $1000, but to take this step into the mule deer world I could go up to $2000. Again I am very familiar with DIY public land hunting with great success. I just need to be narrowed down to state and unit if possible to gather info from rangers and CPO employees. Let me off easy for being so green and the stupid info in this post but figured I would try to gather some intel from those that know mulies like I know whitetails.

Thanks, Jeff

Jeff

What state in the midwest do you consider a low end trophy whitetail a 140150"? Just curious.

 

[Djacker]

Jeff

What state in the midwest do you consider a low end trophy whitetail a 140150"? Just curious.

140-150

 

[Zingnut]

I live in southern Illinois , Shawnee national forest country. It’s defiantly not a given but with good scouting and trail cam setups you can see some bruisers. It’s always my luck that I see the 150-160’s during bow season just out of range of my skills and equipment. Then gun season I see all the 140ish bucks and pass waiting on the ones I saw early season.

Thanks for the advise so for. I guess what I would consider a trophy would be p&y size buck so 145 and up. I am realistic and know that my chances are low at getting one that size. I would just like to narrow it down to a 50/50 shot at seeing one in that size range.

Am I unrealistic?

 

[Rich M]

Didn't you see any mule deer while on any of your other hunts? Couldn't you use that experience as a stepping stone?

 

[COSA]

Not much experience on whitetail, but 140-150 would probably equate to 160-170 class mule deer?
Achievable, even on general/easier to draw tags, if you can pass bucks up - and be willing to go home empty handed. I'd look to Colorado 1-3 point units and use some of your whitetail hunting skills to hunt smaller, thicker areas....

 

[Zingnut]

I did see a few shooters when I was hunting elk in CO unit 14, thick timber where I was hunting. When we hunted pronghorn near New Castle, went by Devils Tower on the way home and saw a ton of mulies in the Sundance area.

I will start my research for the areas I may want to hunt and start either drawing or seeing if there are available OTC. Is it easier to draw muzzleloader tags vs rifle, like it is here in IL?

Also I will really have to read up on mule deer activity, like what are they foraging on during season or are they rut crazed like in IL... Are they water dependant during a 24hr period or across a couple days? Like in IL you hunt pinch points on the travel corridors to agriculture or mast crops, is there a similar draw to concentrate mule deer? (Water holes?, scrapes? (Do they Scrape?), do they have mast craps?)
Is there a good source to teach me biological needs of mulie bucks?

Sorry but the title was not wrong when I said Many Questions????

Thanks for the help!

 

[Zingnut]

Very good info. I will have my wife put them on my B-Day wish list. Shes always looking for something to buy me that I did not already buy myself.

Thanks

 

[Zingnut]

Just grabbed the Eastman Hunting mag from my dentists office with all the mulie deer info in it. That has a ton of statistical info that I was looking for to narrow down what state I want to focus on for this trip.

 

[KHNC]

Well, you should probably eliminate NW Nebraska. OTC tags , tons of hunters , and few trophy muleys left.