Muleys, my next step

[isu22andy]

Being from Iowa ive been a whitetail hunter and a variety of other critters my whole life as you can see from avatar. Im mid 20s and in good shape love to walk and tool around in the woods. Not afraid of leaving camp in the morning in the dark and getting home in the dark. Had my first successful DIY antelope hunt this year in WY after only 9 miles on the boots (Was amazed and disgusted at the amount of truck hunters ) . The next step in my step in my DIY quest is Mule deer then followed by Elk. Would love to hunt all every year but like others on here Im just an average joe and have a job and expenses back home that leads my next step as chasing a muley.

Im Not looking for a handout or GPS coordinates or anything like that , but looking for a place to start on the map. Ive got 4 points in SD, 1 in WY but from what Ive read the last SD winter was rough on the herd and WY seems like they are also hurting in the population department ? Where else is there to go or the directions that one might look ? Im not even sure I know what Muleys like better as far as terrain, big vast timber or wooded draws in the open country - seems like to me in my limited exposure Ive seen them in both.

Thanks for any input in the thread. Love this forum since I found it and Newbergs way of hunting!

 

[Irish52084]

I'd suggest Wyoming since you already have a point and you've been there to hunt antelope. Put a premium unit as your first choice and for your second pick a unit with decent draw odds and if you don't draw the 1st choice you'll probably still be hunting mule deer in Wyoming and I can think of far worse things to be doing in the fall. That way you keep your point if you don't draw your first choice.
I think the deer tags for Colorado are drawing only, but someone with more Colorado knowledge could help out there. Arizona, Nevada, Montana and Idaho could all be strong options too.

 

[marshman]

It is for sure an interesting and exciting challenge to try new things. I have been in the same situation, this year. I leave for my first out of state Muley hunt in 10 days.

PM me and I will share what I have done.

 

[SFC B]

While CO deer tags are draw, there are plenty of units where you can draw with zero points every year (like 25/26 where I hunt). Lot's of opportunity. For CO info about hunter numbers and harvest rates check the Hunting Statistics portion of the CPW site. Also, CPW hunt planners can be a big help.

 

[JLDemo]

It really depends on where you go in Wyo, in some areas I hunt the mule deer are thick and healthy with some very nice bucks in the mix. Other areas have had a tough time and really show it with the population and buck to doe ratio. Wyoming is a great option that gives you the option of coming out west with a pocket full of general tags to hunt at once. There's also a lot of cow/calf tags you could pick up if you wanted to hunt every year until you have the points needed to draw the unit or tag you want and in some cases, you could pick up a cow tag in the unit you want to hunt a bull in and really get familiar with the unit. Just shoot me a PM if you want more info in Wyo, I have points in Iowa so I could pick your brain as well.

 

[zachthebowhunter]

Some advice from a guy who took a friend from Missouri on his first mule deer hunt last fall: They generally do not spook like whitetail! My buddy was so worked up when we came over a small rise and a decent 3 point was standing there staring at us that he dam near crapped himself. I kept telling him he wont spook, and to breathe and take your time. The buck was with a doe so really didn't care too much about the movement he had seen pop up. My buddy was so used to whitetail and how they spook at the first sign of movement he later told me that he couldn't calm his nerves.

I wish you luck on whatever hunt you go on! I love hunting mule deer. There is something about them that gets me going. As far as terrain they like, it varies so much it is hard to really say. My advice would be set a day aside for some truck scouting if it's possible or some boot miles just to get an idea of where they are.

 

[isu22andy]

Thanks for the advice so far fellas, anything and everything helps. Playing on a full 9 day trip, would like to take atleast one good one for the wall between 4 of us .

 

[Jasher]

I would go to Colorado. You can get a tag pretty easy. There's some really nice bucks in all the units I have hunted in and they can be drawn with 1 or 2 points.

 

[targetpanic]

Following along too. Three of us are heading out West on our first hunt for mule deer next year.