Gentlemen
I was invited to hunt a private ranch in the Craig area next week for the rifle season. While an avid whitetail hunter I have never hunted or even seen a wild mule deer. For those of yall that have hunted the area, what advise can yall give me to get me started.
The ranch has two small mountains with 3 draws that run down to a small pasture of grass land. The ranch says his timber is about 8,500 ft in elevation. The ranch is one half a section, 1/2 mile wide by a mile deep.
Extended forecast has it sunny with lows in the 30's highs in the 50's.
My idea of a trophy is a mature buck, I have no desire to shoot a youngin'

A couple of questions.
Will the muleys move early and late like whitetails tend to, or will they move throughout the day?
Do muleys bed in timber and move out to feed?
During this season will the mature bucks be around does or will they be solitary?

I really appreciate the info!

Perry

From what I remember from my hunts in units 421, 21 and 22, bucks like to get on high spots so they can watch a good bit of area when they bed down.

Also mule deer tend to be more like elk and sort gather harems of does, I think you may be up there a little early for rut, but not sure on that.

I suggest that if you have time to do a little scouting to look for a couple of good trails and see if there is a water source on the property.

Best of Luck, they are, to me more fun to hunt than white tails.

quote:

Will the muleys move early and late like whitetails tend to, or will they move throughout the day?

Morning and evening are best but they’ll be up and down throughout the day. A deer won’t piss in its bed and will get up once or twice to answer nature’s call. They will also get up to reposition as the sun position changes. This is really only helpful in open country as if they’re in the aspens you probably won’t see it

quote:

Do muleys bed in timber and move out to feed?

Both. They like open sage as well as aspen stands. Every place is different but I always like glassing where the sage meets the bigger aspens. Just a good place to start

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During this season will the mature bucks be around does or will they be solitary?

. If they’re with the does it’s by chance and not because they are getting rutted up. The rut won’t get going until November.

If there’s an agricultural component like an alfalfa field on the ranch hunt there. A lot of the movement during second season is dependent on weather. If it shows it can be really good, if it’s hot and dry it can be really tough

Best of luck!

A whitetail can call 320 acres home, but 320 acres is not much when talking mule deer. They can move miles in that country. I would recommend you don't pressure their bedding areas until you are getting close to the end of your hunt. Get on a vantage point and glass.

part of the answer lies in when your gonna be there, the weather that week, and the moon phase.


our deer hunt is going right now.
the deer are all heading from public to the safety of private land.
but they were already on the move from the canyons to the lower foot hills a week before the hunt even opened.
I got my deer [nice 26" wide 5X6] about 2 minutes after shooting light opening morning by hunting a piece of public land that is bordered on 3 sides by private property.
the key is that it was about as low as I could possibly go and still be able to shoot.
we got 2 more deer in the next 2 day's by using the same technique.[a nice 4x4 and a smaller 2x3]

it's becoming a legendary year for no deer around here....
and our numbers are waaaaay down due to last winters snow fall.
but everyone is looking in the wrong places.
they ain't seeing the bucks out in the fields with the does and assume they all stayed up on the ridge tops, and some of the larger bucks are up there still, but not all of them for sure.

Any buck with 4pts to the side you'd better nail him if you have a shot.

That's a big area and small property. Be willing to hunt off the place on the forest you'll have lots more chance of seeing one.

You're lucky getting on private land up there. Not many let hunters on without paying a big gate fee.

Good luck and dress warm, it can get plenty cold and deep up there.

George

I'm assuming you're talking 2nd season beginning Saturday, 10-21. If so I may be be able to help you. I've lived in Craig for 37 years now and killed a few mulies over that time. E-mail me at 270burns@gmail.com. Our local club, The Bears Ears Sportsman Club, hosts hunter sight-ins on Thursday and Friday prior to the season at the Cedar Mtn Range on county road 7 north of town and I will be there both days. Ask for Andy.

Look for 4 points on 1 side, or a big 3x3 (we don't count the eye guards out west as points). Even a small to average mule deer is going to look big compared to whitetail. Finding a true trophy in 2nd is very tough. The bucks will most likely be gone from bachelor herds, and a month away from the rut. They've moved down from the summer range but aren't fired up and stupid yet. Toughest season if you're expecting a mature 160" or bigger. Also, they're not as dead set to a routine like a whitetail, they can use a trail 1 day then be 10 miles away the next. You should see some activity early, but in my experience I've always seen the most movement/ numbers in the evening.

quote:

Originally posted by MC:
A whitetail can call 320 acres home, but 320 acres is not much when talking mule deer. They can move miles in that country. I would recommend you don't pressure their bedding areas until you are getting close to the end of your hunt. Get on a vantage point and glass.

I completely agree with this, you also need to explore Public lands adjacent to the property, as the season progresses you may "collect" deer on this private lands escaping Public land pressure. Treat this small piece of ground you have access to as a "private reserve " so to speak, it is not big enough to be home to many deer permanently.

Some of this depends on what kind of tag you have. If it is a draw tag or land owner tag for that unit then you can hunt wherever you want on public land or private with permission in the unit. If it is a private land only tag then you are stuck on private land and you must have permission to hunt.
Be careful and enjoy the hunt. And keep your eyes open as there are elk in that part of the world and mistakes get made every year.
C.G.B.

Some years ago I fished a lot at Craig and Creed, colo. in the headwaters of the Rio grande as I recall every summer with an uncle of mine..We saw lots of deer and elk almost daily, but that's been many moons ago, but don't see why it would be less today.

Ive hunted Mule Deer all my life..In simi arid areas Mule deer bed on high points under a rim rock looking down if you try to climb to them they simply hop around the point as they are gone..If you come up the other side and come down on them you will get a good and probably close shot..

If your seeing lots of does and small bucks your probably not in big buck country unless its the rut. early on the bucks run in bunches of 3 and 4, then separate and go it alone, differs from location to location as does the rut. Get away from roads, have a mountain between you and the road works well, but nothing about mule deer is written in stone, most trophies are accidents being in the right spot at the right time.

Trophy mule deer IMO start at 26 inches if heavy horned, 28 inches if not. A real trophy and they are few and far getween git spreds of 30 to even 40 inches and have dark horns as a rule and depending on gene pool heavy in the Northern timber country or far South in Mexico. All mule deer look bigger going away..A trophy muley will have a spread that extends at least 3 inches past outspread ears, unless its a very high horned deer then spread will probably be even with his ears but very very high..

The bottom line is if he is a real monster buck you will know it on sight, if he is just another 4x4 you will be trying make up your mind and trying to make him bigger, so don't shoot..

In timber deer lay up in thick stuff and come out to the edge of the timber in the evenings and mornings..I don't like evening hunts as if you wound, it gets dark and you may never find him..

Books have been written on the subject with lots of ideas and vast knowledge, but if you kill a monster mule deer, you just got lucky and skill has little to do with it...My dad said big muleys are like gold, they are where you see them..and they make fools out of experts..He also said hunting elk was akin to masturbation,once you pull the trigger you have and awful mess on your hands..He also said a good horse and a pocket knife was a good way to fill a deer tag.

Dad was a philosopher for sure, not a good shot, but a hell of a cowboy.

Just go and have a good time, forget the tape, and enjoy your hunt, if you like the way your deer looks, then shoot that one.

I put my grandson in law on a 160 to 170 buck two days ago, he said it wasn't big enough, I said shoot him, he is a dandy, he said nope, I had a near heart attack, but gave up..I said what are we looking for, he said he wanted at least a 35 icher and preferred a 40...I said good luck with that.

My best mule deer and I had no damn idea it was that big, I shot in Unit 21, south of Rangely, just off of the Cathederal Bluffs, it grossed 170 and netted 163 and 3/8ths.

He was the most handsome deer I have ever seen.

The best part was, that even though I was on a Guided Hunt, I had found the trail and the spot I wanted to hunt from on the previous day, and I was on that spot, by myself before daylight the next morning. Before the buck walked out, I saw two mustangs working their way down a draw just north of where I was setting and then a yearling Muley doe walked out about 20 minutes after the horses had moved out.

She moved on and right at 8:00 a.m., I heard something coming down the same trail the doe had been on and this buck stepped out. I just saw that it was a legal buck, he was about 80 yards away and I put a 225 grain Barnes "X" flat base out of my .340 Weatherby high thru his shoulders and spined him.

That was probably the most memorable hunt I have ever done, finding the spot and being there at the right moment.

I leave at 6am gentlemen. Thank you all for the great info. I will recount my tales in 10 days or so. Again thank you all for the info!

Perry

Hope you are able to connect with a good buck.

I think you will enjoy the experience.

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Originally posted by perry:
I leave at 6am gentlemen. Thank you all for the great info. I will recount my tales in 10 days or so. Again thank you all for the info!

Perry

Good luck Perry! Got get 'em.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:

I put my grandson in law on a 160 to 170 buck two days ago, he said it wasn't big enough, I said shoot him, he is a dandy, he said nope, I had a near heart attack, but gave up..I said what are we looking for, he said he wanted at least a 35 icher and preferred a 40...I said good luck with that.

Oddly enough there was a guy on this forum that used to sell hunts for deer like that....

Not real familiar with Mule Deer, but I wonder if many people ever see a Mulie at 35 - 40".
Isn't that pretty dang uncommon?

Most likely found at a deer farm as a breeder, if at all?

An honest 30" buck is hard to find, holding out for 35 and 40 inchers is an exercise in futility for most people. Yes they can be seen they are however hard to come by.

Drum- bury the hatchet and get on with life. Ray is old enough, he doesn't need you bustin' his balls every chance you get. As soon as Ray posted that I knew Drum would be hot on his tail.

And a 40" buck is rare enough that maybe a handful out of a million wild bucks are killed each year. Maybe less than a handful each year. And 35" outside is something most hunters will never see in 60 years of hunting. So I'd say they are rare.