Good morning!

I was wondering if anyone could provide some direction on where I should start if I want to find info about hunting either public or private land for mule deer in Montana? I've tried the Montana FWP website and am frankly confused. Are the public draw hunts any good? Eastern or Western Montana? Should I look at another state? I'm really looking to self guide, dry camp. I also read about a winter kill on mule deer in eastern Montana, any info on that? I've hunted New Mexico and Colorado in the past, just looking to try something new. Thanks!

On Your Own Adventures forum, Randy Newburg, and Eastman's are dedicated to western hunting and has lots of info.

Thank you!

Montana out of state draw ends each year on March 15 so not much time left. I have hunted there several times with a guide and had some very good hunts. There are some very good units for public land hunts there as well and some years not all tags are drawn and are available over the counter or from Montana Wildlife department (have picked up some pronghorn antlerless tags that way).

The sights mentioned above are good resources to check.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll check them out.

I've hunted both Western Montana in the mountains and Eastern Montana in the planes and the breaks. Western part can get kind of thick with hunters,but we saw animals every day. Most of the time the best way to hunt was to get up high early before daylight and let all the other hunters push the animals around. One time I had so many elk running my direction that I had to jump off of the trail as they ran by!!! They where all cows with a few spikes that where legal, but not what I was looking for. We managed to get a decent 5x5 a few days later. Saw some decent whitetails, but nothing worthwhile for Mule Deer.

One of the best hunts I ever went on was for Mule Deer near Broadus. Hundreds of thousands of private acres to hunt on and if I remember correctly, I shot my buck on the 3rd day after passing up over 90 legal bucks. There where ten guys in camp and I was the second to last to fill my tag. Most everyone there shot their buck on the first day.

A buddy and I got lucky and drew an elk tags for the Missouri Breaks, and while driving to where I had hoped to hunt, met a landowner at a restaurant a couple days before the season opened. After finding out that my buddy and I had tags, he told us that the elk where eating up his crop and he would let us hunt his land. Opening day we saw a dozen nice bulls all around the edges of his crops, and where done before dark.

Have you looked at Wyoming? App deadline is May 31 for deer. Random draw tags for every area, long odds but somebody has to draw them. Some regions do not need PP to draw but private land abounds in those units.
Some areas of Wyoming, Montana and Colorado are experiencing winterkill, check your areas closely.

Thank y'all for the information. I'd prefer to chase elk, but the guys I'm going with prefer mule deer. I really just want to see animals and some new country. I've read about the winter kill this year and in past years really affecting animal numbers, but being unfamiliar with the state, it can be confusing. I shouldn't have waited until this late in the game to start researching!