How to find deer?

Hey Everyone,

Ive looked at this forum for a very long time but just registered to hopefully contribute. Im planning to mule deer hunt in 2019 but still trying to decide between Colorado and Wyoming. I hunted deer in Colorado in the Flat Tops and never seen a buck in a week of hunting so Im hoping that you all might be able to help me distinguish "deer habit" in the west. I can do this all day with whitetail but mule deer are out of my realm.

Thanks!

The entire Flat Tops Wilderness and surrounding areas are terrific Mule Deer habitat. Some of the best actually. Obvious whitetail tactics won't work so well for Mule Deer, such as sitting in a tree stand, still hunting the woods, or working the edges of corn and alfalfa fields, though on occasion it can. Most of Colorado, and the west for that matter, is mule Deer habitat. We dont know what season you hunted, but if you spent a week in the Tops and didnt see any bucks, your tactics probably need to change. Think vantage point and glassing vs sitting game trails and water holes. Of course even if you did everything right there is always the chance of getting skunked and seeing nothing. Best advice is to stay positive, have fun, and glass from sun up to sun down. Good luck!

Sounds like you are suspecting they weren't there. I'm curious if it was just a matter of spotting them within their habitat. I've found that hunting in the west requires a higher quality glass. What type of binoculars we're you using.

My advice is to learn what deer eat at different times of the year... look for the habitat that the food sources are found, and you will find the deer. The terrain is usualy similar. Look for edges of vegetation with shrubs/rocks/grass. Mule deer are pretty easy to find if you know what to look for.

I was using a pair of Maven Optics 9x45 which is $1k glass. I spotted 14 does, 2 bears, several moose and 20ish elk but never a buck. We covered tons of ground but couldn't get eyes on antlers. I was hunting at 11,300 foot for the most part in the opening week of archery season.

Im leaning towards a rifle hunt this year in some lower elevation but I'm not set either way just yet.

I have hunted Mule deer in Washington for over 25 years (somewhat successful. More so with a rifle than with a bow). Much of your question can't be answered "specifically". Sooooo many things (season, weather, predator behavior and much more) can make or break a mule deer hunt (my personal experience in Washington sate). Mule deer in many ways are no different than White Tail, Black Tail or Elk. They require the same things to make an area comfortable and call it home. Yes it is true that they typically make a small area 2-3mile radius their life long home UNLESS something drastic happens (forest fires for example). What I can tell you is that in my own personal experience, game cameras have been an absolute game changer when hunting mule deer. In my early days we never had game cameras so patterning deer either required an amazing amount of hours in the field, experience in their habitat or pure luck. If your even remotely accomplished as a hunter use your instinct and as much knowledge as you can gather about habitat in the area your gonna hunt for mule deer, then do your e-scouting and get out and lay cameras. Nothing guarantees a successful hunt but if you can pattern a mule deer it's been my experience that I have been successful more times than not. Mule deer are not nearly as neurotic as white tail deer and can many times be completely unsuspecting when roaming their home turf. The problem is....Unlike White tail deer they are pretty stealthy and are not as easy to spot. Unlike white tails that have that flight instinct, Mule deer can literally sit deathly still and watch a predator/hunter walk past them at a safe distance. They don't spook as easy as a white tail. It's gonna be up to you to figure out their roaming patterns. One thing I can tell you for sure. If you spot does in an area, there are bucks.

A resource hunters sometimes overlook are State Wildlife biologists and they can be really good folks to call and pick their brains if your not familiar with an area. I have never had one not call me back and just chat my ear off about a specific area they are in charge of. I would surely start with a phone call to the area forest management office and get a name for the biologist in charge.

I hope some of this helps and wasn't too generic.