bow hunting muledeer

[Rooftop]

This year was my first time ever hunting muledeer. I went bowhunting the badlands of northdakota and had an awesome time and came real close to taking a very nice buck. My question is the terrain there is so up and down that it is very difficult to spot a deer and actually see him bed down. I managed to bed a few deer and had good success at getting pretty darn close but just could not quite seal the deal. Are most areas like this where you hunt mule deer? It seems everyone talks about just watching them from a high spot until they bed and then going after them, but for me it was a real challenge just trying to find where they went to bed because there was so many little hills they can hide behind. I knew that bowhunting was going to be a challenge in open country and I love the challenge it brings, I guess I just wonder if there is better terrain I should be hunting where I can have a better advantage of viewing the deer from high spots and watching them bed. I live in michigan so I have to travel quite a ways to mule deer country that is why I chose ndakota, Should I go back there and keep trying or is there another state near by that I might have better terrain to work with. I am not looking for the next world record deer just an area with decent deer numbers and decent size bucks to go after. I hope I dont sound like a quitter because I definately am not, Just looking for advice from experienced mule deer hunters. Thanks in advance, Scott

 

[FAB]

Scott I have the same situation here in KS. Across most of the plains states you cant watch deer bed like they do out West, just not enough high ground. The best way I've found to stalk muleys in this type of terrain is to approach bedding areas very carefully and slowly glass them as you go. After you've hunted them awhile you can almost predict where deer are likley to bed out here. As you work your way to a bedding area glass as you go. By that I mean take a few steps and glass, take another few steps and glass. Every time you move forward you will expose new terrain and you have to glass it to find a bedded deer. It's a very slow way to hunt but you will have a better chance at finding a bedded deer this way and more importantly you need to see the deer before they see you. It took me several years to get this technique down but it works very well once you get the hang of it and I now can stalk up to within a few yards of muleys every year. The trick is finding the right deer in the right spot. I dont get chances at really good deer every year because big muleys tend to bed in places that keep them big. But if you keep trying you will get your chance. I hunted Utah last year and can tell you that what you gain in terrain advantages out West you lose in wind predictability. In the mountains the wind changes all the time. Lost a chance at a 180+ bedded at 40 yards because the wind swirled. I was just waiting for him to stand and the wind gave me away. Keep trying and you'll get your shot.

 

[elkaddiction]

Welcome to the wide world of spot and stalk muledeer hunting. Over the lat few years, I've kept some records of stalks. It seems right now only 1 in 14 are sucessful, meaning you got within shooting range undetected. It's hard to find which gully they bed in, or out here, which service berry bush they've bedded under. Similarly, the country always looks different when you get over there. It's part of the challenge and the joy of this sport. It seems I get busted far more often by swirling mountain winds or deer I didn't see more than anything. I love getting close to shooting range with the anticipation of looking around the rock or bush to see if he's still their! I tend to split my mule hunting with stalking in the morning and sitting on water in the evenings. In any given season, I'll convince myself that whatever methond I'm not using at the time is most effective! Still, I've manage a shot opportunity on a tropy bucks 3 of the last 4 years.

 

[canhunter]

This is what makes Mule Deer hunting so fun. Your area and terrain are fine if it actually holds deer of the quality you are ok with. The deer will bed in those high percentage areas. You just have to find them and then plan your stalk based on terrain and wind. Even though the terrain is different the deer are still going to bed or be in a area because it offers certain things. Food, water, shade/cover, vision, and escape routes. Study the terrain based on the needed features and you will find the deer. You may blow a few out with mistakes, but at least you finding the animals. Now adapt your approaches or stratagies based on your mistakes. The biggest two factors to defeat are vision and wind. I don't use fancy clothing (it does work) but constantly moniter wind and stay out of view during the stalk. If you can pattern a buck like some farm country bucks set up an ambush. Again the needed items need to be found studied and then your hunt planned. I think a lot of guys make mistakes by getting in a hurry and not really planning how they are going to make the stalk. I don't even attempt a stalk unless I can formulate a plan that I know will work as long as everthing stays the same. Also be willing to totally walk away instead of trying to force it to happen again a common mistake. I would guess based on my observations 80% of blown stalks were due to bad planning and trying to force it to happen. I have averaged success (actual kill) of less then 1-3 on all my bucks over 160. Getting close enough to shoot is right at 50 percent or less. I am very careful about when I even make the attempt, and have watched a certain buck for days until the situation is what I want. Last year I made only one stalk over two weeks of hunting but watched the buck I killed for five days straight. This years buck I was close enough the first time, but he would not present a shot and I let him walk away. The second attempt sealed the deal. The other part was I watched this buck on seven different days and only made two stalks. I tried to give a description of not setting yourself up to fail and get discouraged about a great animal to hunt.