Wyoming mule deer pointers

[tacoma96]

A friend and I our looking at doing a mule deer hunt in 2018 and I am hoping for any pointers some veteran hunters could share. This will be the our first western hunt but we are seasoned whitetail hunters from Missouri. We have one prefrence point each and would like to just worry about getting out and hunting next year, not wanting to accumulate points for several years at this point since we have no idea what we are doing yet. We are not worried with trophy deer and are currently considering unit 78.
Any pointers on equipment, approach to western hunting, or any good resources out there we should be looking at would be greatly appreciated. We have no clue what we are doing and are not going to pretend that we do.

 

[bojangles808]

buy robby dennings book on hunting mule deer. lots of great info to get started with included gear info and tactics

 

[tacoma96]

buy robby dennings book on hunting mule deer. lots of great info to get started with included gear info and tactics

Ordered, thank you sir

 

[JWP58]

Unit 78 I believe, off the top of my head, is a LE unit with not many tags.

I'll give you the same advice I gave my buddy who hunted muleys this year in WY. If you want to hunt apply for a region tag with high odds of drawing....like 100% odds. Will big bucks be few and far between? Yes. Will there be pressure? Yes. But you'll get to hunt.

We found and shot a 160" 4x4 on his first day....go figure. A good deer for a area generally considered a poor deer unit.

 

[Conroy]

Choose a low odd unit as your first choice and a high odd for second. You will get to hunt the easy to draw unit and continue to build points if that’s what you want to do.

 

[tacoma96]

Choose a low odd unit as your first choice and a high odd for second. You will get to hunt the easy to draw unit and continue to build points if that’s what you want to do.

That is a good idea. Thank you everyone for the help. Do you all use spotting scopes or bino's or both?

 

[JWP58]

That is a good idea. Thank you everyone for the help. Do you all use spotting scopes or bino's or both?

Both is optimal, however unless you're really concerned with antlers you can get by with just binos. The spotter will save you some hiking if you spot deer at 8 or 900yds and can determine if it's a deer you're interested in or not.

 

[HOT ROD]

Pick a general area. That can be drawn with 1 point.. Then start breaking the units down.. With in Ur general area... Start with sum map research.. A few phone calls to Wyo Game & Fish.. Then go kill sum critters..

 

[tacoma96]

We are looking for opportunity over the size of the bucks, does general unit D give us that opportunity?

 

[JWP58]

We are looking for opportunity over the size of the bucks, does general unit D give us that opportunity?

I think it could provide both if you look in the right places.

 

[Snowy]

Get your binos on a tripod and use it as much as possible. Be where you want to glass from before light, not on the way to where you want to glass from. Good luck and have fun.

 

[tacoma96]

Get your binos on a tripod and use it as much as possible. Be where you want to glass from before light, not on the way to where you want to glass from. Good luck and have fun.

What binos do you recommend?

 

[JWP58]

What binos do you recommend?

The best you can afford. But seriously you don't have to have swaro's or Leica's to find deer.

 

[Snowy]

Agreed, best you can afford, though of course wise use of what you've got is better than selling the farm for alpha glass. A couple of the better values going in my book are the last generation of Cabela's branded Meostars and older Leica Trinovids.

 

[George]

A friend and I our looking at doing a mule deer hunt in 2018 and I am hoping for any pointers some veteran hunters could share. This will be the our first western hunt but we are seasoned whitetail hunters from Missouri. We have one prefrence point each and would like to just worry about getting out and hunting next year, not wanting to accumulate points for several years at this point since we have no idea what we are doing yet. We are not worried with trophy deer and are currently considering unit 78.
Any pointers on equipment, approach to western hunting, or any good resources out there we should be looking at would be greatly appreciated. We have no clue what we are doing and are not going to pretend that we do.

This year I drew a tag on my first try and it was my first mule deer hunt since leaving Iowa and from my limited experience I have found mule deer to be easier to pattern than whitetails. You'll find bedding up the draw and water down the draw and a fairly straight line of travel in between. Someone on this site mentioned letting the deer come to you and that is what I did and it worked. I got another good piece of advice from a friend in town when I mentioned going to the top of the world to find a muley he said that you are working way too hard to find a mule deer. He suggested hunting close to home first and if that doesn't work then go up. My buck died 1.4 miles from my house. Good luck.

G

 

[tacoma96]

I really appreciate everyones response I'm looking forward to the idea of being able to get away and not having to answer the work calls 24/7. I'm excited just to get away for a couple of long weekends to scout early in the year. Do most of you stage water during scouting trips that way it is already there when it is time for the hunt?

 

[MNTNHUNTER284]

It depends on where you are hunting whether or not to stage water. There is an area I hunt that I have not found a good water source but the deer are there so I have packed water into it before. Most mountains I have hunted I can find water to filter or use tablets to purify.

 

[ddiwd33]

scout scout scout and more scout, mask your scent, play the wind and i just you are packing right(rifle and ammo)

 

[ddiwd33]

What binos do you recommend?

why don't you use aimpoint instead, they are cheaper and they get tthe job done.

 

[JWP58]

why don't you use aimpoint instead, they are cheaper and they get tthe job done.

Aimpoint makes binoculars?