What’s your state do well?

[MuleyFever]

Utah has really good LE hunting but it is at the expense of opportunity.

I will say that UT is at least trying things. I cant say if they are good things but they seem to be open to ideas. They got rid of the statewide tags which I think was good. Last year they did open up new hunts to try and increase opportunity for elk. Now they are trying some ideas in the southern units for deer that may or may not help.

Great MLM opportunities though.

 

[Brooks051]

California—long seasons and two OTC tags for mule deer or blacktail. Luckily there is plenty of thick nasty country that they could give out a million tags and we wouldn’t affect the population. I can always count on having tags on my home state and at least be hunting.

Ca here. Honestly i think the state does nothing good for the Mule deer population. Best thing they could do is cat management.

 

[PathFinder]

Colorado:
Good: Habitat is a major advantage. Manage by unit, seem to try pretty hard to understand harvest and populations. Give out lots of elk tags. Little to no outfitter welfare. Have to choose between an LE type hunt and general, can't do both. Reissue system is good, though people need to quit talking about it on the internet.
Bad: Too many rifle tags too late in the season. Too many early rifle tags in some units too. Doe tags on mountain units.

Utah:
Good: Manage by unit. Taking a data based approach to management. Lots of collar and neonate studies. Trying some new things. Not a lot of doe hunts. Feeding program for the northern part of the state.
Bad: Too much influence by special interests, legislators and SFW types. Lots of outfitter welfare. Applications for LE and general hunts are separate. Scopes on muzzleloaders.

 

[willfrye027]

Ca here. Honestly i think the state does nothing good for the Mule deer population. Best thing they could do is cat management.

Have you spent any time on the winter range during the rut? In the zones I hunt there are deer of every age class and a much higher proportion of big old mature bucks than some of the other states I’ve hunted. I can’t ever find them during the season but that’s on me.

Wishing we had less cats and bears in CA is crying over spilled milk and a great example of what the OP is speaking out against. Nothing we can do about it (except maybe shoot a bear).

 

[manitou1]

All I seem to see and read and hear is how everyone wants their state to manage deer hunting opportunities differently. Doesn’t matter the state, it’s the same song and dance over and over again.

It feels like nobody actually enjoys their time chasing grey ghosts anymore, so I wanted to fire up a thread to see if anyone truly likes hunting deer in a given state and for what reason.

I, for one, am in the camp that has a good time, even on grinder hunts, and just enjoys the fact that’s deer hunting.

So, in an attempt that may be futile, I’d like to fire up a thread about all the things you like that your favorite mule deer hunting state does well.

I’ll go first and we’ll see if this can go anywhere productive.

I like how Wyoming manages for 20-29 bucks per 100 does in standard units, and 30+ in a lot of special units that don’t take many points to draw/or are general for residents. Doesn’t matter where you go, bucks are getting old. I think that’s pretty cool.

If they do they are failing at it.
We probably see 200 does per buck.

 

[tlbradford]

Washington gives you the opportunity to pursuse them every year without a draw system. Quality deer is few and far between, but at least we can get out.

 

[wytx]

Not management pre say but I like the fact that we get to archery hunt and rifle hunt on most licenses in Wyoming, no choose your weapon for the most part.
WG&F also manages WT and mule deer differently and that allows us a MD license and a WT license.
OTC general licenses are also a great benefit for residents.

 

[IdahoBeav]

They provide a lot of opportunity to hunt big game. If you are willing to hunt with a bow, muzzleloader, and rifle; (aside from a couple 1-week breaks in between seasons) you can hunt OTC from Aug 30 to almost the end of the year.

By my observation, they do a very good job managing cougars and bears.

 

[TripleJ]

Oregon doesn't do much besides offer an opportunity to walk around with a mule deer tag in your pocket and not see very many mule deer.

 

[Pistolpete28]

Guys I think we are missing the point, mule deer hunting is tough right now I get it. The droughts, winters, technology have all had an impact. In times like these I look at guys like @robby denning, he always states that mule deer hunting was a lot worse in the 90s than it is now. In my opinion it will come back.

 

[The Ri Guy]

Washington gives you the opportunity to pursuse them every year without a draw system. Quality deer is few and far between, but at least we can get out.

Being a life-long WA resident, and having never hunted out of state, am I missing something here? Are there really states where Residents can't hunt deer OTC?

 

[Hnthrdr]

Being a life-long WA resident, and having never hunted out of state, am I missing something here? Are there really states where Residents can't hunt deer OTC?

Yep Co is draw only for deer tags

 

[S.Clancy]

Im not gonna touch on MT, IMO it's not really managing anything.

But in general, I find it interesting that across the West you have a ton of different strategies for hunting mulies: OTC in the rut, OTC in October, draw only everything, etc. Guess what, #'s are declining West wide regardless of management strategy. Weird.....

 

[cmahoney]

Room to hunt.


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[bigdub257]

I live in WA.......Let's see.....They manage predators pretty well!

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

I like the fact that I can hunt mule deer every year and can hunt during the rut.

Yes, there are pros and cons statewide. E MT and NW MT are completely different situations. But that opportunity is unique and it’s nice to be able to hunt locally every year with my 2 boys and wife.

I could rant about what MT doesn’t do well, but that’s a different thread.

 

[Schoolhousegrizz]

I love that Utah is open to try new things. We have more collared does than any other state by far. We prioritize mule deer and they are trying their best. They listen to the public. They are hard on predators. I nk we are a few good weather years away from having really good hunting in some areas.

 

[JustHunt]

I like Utah’s stance on lions. It’ll pay off. Every state should be the same.

 

[twall13]

I like Utah’s stance on lions. It’ll pay off. Every state should be the same.

Can you elaborate on this? I assume you are talking about how it was recently opened up to anyone with a hunting license rather than the tag system that's been in place in the past. Why do you think it will pay off?

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[HvyBeams]

Wyoming does a pretty good job at lowering mule deer population objectives every couple of years.