Mule Deer Hunting

[calfbuyer]

I am going mule deer hunting for the first time in SW New Mexico. I know nothing about mule deer or hunting them. White Tails around here are like fleas on a dog, I can look out my bedroom window and see them every morning. I have killed some pretty nice bucks and now days it takes a real big buck to get me exited. The mule deer thing is something new and different so i am pretty pumped up about it. I just don't know what to expect.
Anyone else on here a mule deer hunter?

 

[slick4591]

Mine was more like stalking than hunting. Never got close enough to get a shot even after walking my azz off in some pretty rough country. Good luck with your hunt!

 

[dun]

Mostly it depends on the weather and terrain. If it's hot and dry, setting up over a water hole late in the afternoon will sometimes work pretty well. Otherwise spot and stalk is most common. Good binocs and good boots are what you use most. Typically they like to bed where they can see a good distance, but at times they'll bed in cover that would make a whitetail clostrophobic. Deer season in NM used to only allow 3 days hunting per license. The season was fairly long but you only had a 3 day period that your tag was good for. Unless you'll be using a guide you should get there a couple of days ahead and scout the area so that those 3 days aren;t wasted.

 

[Kingfisher]

Just like in Texas. What matters most is that your hunting some place that actually has a decent population.

 

[HOSS]

I have not hunted mule deer in SW New Mexico but I have hunted them several times in SW Idaho in the Owyhee desert and it would probably be similar due to it's rugged desert conditions. We spent allot of time sitting just below the edge of canyon rims glassing the opposite slopes and bottoms. In the early season it was still hot and we found almost every buck bedded under rock ledges in the shade or under shrubs and bushes in the shade. It got to where we would sit and glass the area picking out dark shady spots. When we would find a deer it would be in the shade. In the mornings and evenings we would find them browsing on the ridge-tops or more gentler slopes. We hit the jackpot when we found a canyon with a stream in the bottom that ran out to an irrigated alfalfa field. It was a literal parade of bucks coming down the bottom in the evening. It was still tough getting into bow range as the canyon was probably 500 yards wide at the mouth and fairly thick in the bottom. Be prepared to wear out a good set of boots and bring the best binoculars that you can afford. 10X seems to work best.

 

[Dave]

Be sure to have good boots. You will walk a lot more than you ever did hunting whitetails.

 

[dun]

Something I discovered Mule deer hunting but it proably applies to whitetails in some areas. In large tracts of land, skip the first half mile from the roads and hunt the mile past that. Might as well stop at that point because there will be more hunters. What it boils down to is you're hunting between the lazy SOBs that won;t get far from the road and the fitness freaks that hike as far as they can.

 

[ousoonerfan22]

Excellent advice already especially what Dun just posted!
Are you bow hunting or using a rifle?
Any agriculture in the area you're going to hunt? If so that will make it a lot easier to get set up on them.
As mentioned above get there a few days early find a high spot and start glassing!
Spot and stalk is a lot of fun especially if you're carrying a bow!

 

[calfbuyer]

It will be private land, shouldn't be any other hunters. Huge place 20 thousand acres. Will be hunting with my 270 that I rarely use for these little 90 pound white tails around here. From what I understand it is just ranch land no farming but there is water in every pasture but that may be 5000 acres. My dad and brother were out there this summer and stayed at the cabin on the place. They said it is ROUGH. They did find some nice sheds but didn't see any deer. We will be staying there for about 5 days and I figure it will take at least a couple just to kind of get to know our way around.

 

[ousoonerfan22]

Do you have a topo map of the ranch? Wish you had more time for scouting what's the water source..... tanks/windmills?

 

[cow pollinater]

I don't hunt them much but I do see them regularly. I've always found that it's alot easier to drop down on them than it is to try to sneak UP to them. They spend alot of time looking downhill and then when they get spooked they go up. The only three that I've shot that I went out with the intent of hunting were all below me with a breeze coming up the canyon and that way I was able to walk right up to them.

 

[highgrit]

You need a hand held GPS and get a few land marks and the location on your GPS. Then go to the nearest airport and rent a plane and instructor to fly you around the ranch. Mark where you want to hunt on your GPS. You can scout more
in 1 hour from the air than if you walked and drove all day. Plus you know what your looking for when your hunting, this is the best way to scout bar none. Rent a 182 Cessna and all 3 of you can fly and scout.

 

[3waycross]

Try to bring one of the new rangefinders with the angle compensation and a good set of shooting sticks!

 

[Stocker Steve]

Used to hunt the Missouri Breaks. Mule deer watered in the dark and were a mile or two up the coulees by full light. WT crawled into the thick brush close to the water.
Used to hunt the MT high line. Mule deer stayed in the bottom of the big coulees next to crop fields and away from the roads. They were not pressured as much as in the breaks and you could sometimes cut them off coming back from the crop fields.
In both MT cases there was a low deer density so you usually had to move around and glass to find a big one. Long shots were common. A range finder and doping the wind was often needed. A bipod was nice. Made shots out to 400 yards on deer, longer on antelope...
Local "guides" usually drove around leased land in a truck for a couple days during the rut and then shot from the road.

Used to hunt West River SD. Mule deer stayed in the wooded creek bottoms along with the WT. Did not have much success with tree stands. Thick cover was in patches and deer did not seem to move as much during the day as they do in a forest. Did a lot of sneak and peek, looping around from high point to high point. Shots were usually less than 100 yards.

Good luck.