Texas / NM Mule Deer Outfitter/Lease advice

I was considering getting back on a lease next year, but I am tossing around the idea of just trying to go on a guided mule deer hunt in Texas or New Mexico etc. This is something I have always wanted to do just never had a chance...harvesting a Muley is #1 on my list.


I have never done this before and was looking for advice or recomendations for a reputable outfitters in Texas etc. Any experience you can share, do's and dont's etc when selecting an outfitter.

Resonable expectations for $ What something like this should cost.

Does 2X1 hunt mean - two customers one guide or 2 guides with one customer? Sorry if dumb question...just never done it.

Look forward to hearing your expertise...

Thank you

2x1 is 2 customers with one guide, not that bad because your doing soot and stalk generally and if the kill before you they usualy will stop hunting and you finish solo, and if you kill 1st...then your happy. I have hunted Elk with Gila and Apache outfitters out of Reserve New Mexico and they do Mulie hunts and I highly recommend them.

5755190451 Heres their #

There are some good outfitters in Texas doing Mule Deer hunts, but the really good ones are booked out 2-3 yrs at times. Most do 1x1 hunts I have seen. I prefer a lease for Texas Mule Deer due to length of season and hunting private land. If you find the right outfitter who has his hunts under MLD then you will be able to hunt the rut. MD seasons in most of TransPecos region end before the rut, the MLD lengthens the season a lot.

I have been wanting to do something like this as well, I have looked at several ranches around Alpine and Ft. Davis. Take a look at Desert Safaris here in Texas, everything I have heard and seen looks great! I would love to hunt N.M., but my simple mind can't understand all the rules and regs to hunting there.
Good luck in finding something and if you run across a good place (outfitter) shoot me a pm

If you have never hunted mule deer and you are going to spend the money to go with an outfitter to get a good one, be sure to go to an area where they have good mule deer. Of all the big game species in North America, a good mule deer is one of the hardest to find. They live in wide open country that is heavily hunted on public land. Every state with mule deer puts out a few good ones every year, but there are very few areas where they do it on a regular basis.

I don't think Texas or New Mexico is where I would go for a good mule deer. It might happen, but it's pretty rare. A decent mule deer will have four points on each side of his rack and be at least 25 inches wide from the outside measurement. 27 to 28 is where they get to be good. 30 inches is the holey grail and so rare that it's not worth searching for since the places that produce those sized racks on a regular bases are either draw tags that are very hard to get, or on private land that is crazy expensive.

Fork depth will add to the score, but in my opinion a good mule deer is all about that width with decent forks.

Eastern Montana used to be pretty good and easy to get a tag, but it's all private land. South Eastern Idaho has them too. Wyoming has them all over the state, but you need to know where as one area is great, but twenty miles away there wont be anything. Colorado is really tricky. It's overhunted on most of the public land, and the private land where the hunting is still good is very pricey. I think some of the edges states where their habitat ends and where most people hunt whitetail is where you will find the best deals. Western Nebraska, South Dakota and North Dakota have some great bucks, but they are spread out. Nevada is a great state if you can get a tag, same with parts of Arizona and Utah.

Take your time and do a lot of research. Make sure you are looking into recent results. If the hunting wasn't any good last year, don't expect it to be any good next year. There are a lot of outfitters out there that are showing of racks from ten years ago and haven't shot anything decent since then.

Eddie

Texas is an awesome state to mule deer hunt in but it can get expensive quickly. When have very very good mule deer in my part of the state, I work in the oil and gas industry and out in the field a large amount of the time and see giants regularly. Look into Martin, Dawson, Gaines, and Andrews counties.

Eddie i thought the same thing about Mule Deer in Texas but these last 2 years ive been seeing some absolute monsters coming out of Texas reguarly, you may want to do some research on the Mulies coming out of the panhandle.

Gaines County Texas

Check out Desert Safaris and Wildlife Systems photo galleries on Mule Deer. They kill some dang good Desert Mule Deer. They manage their lands for good deer and only book a few hunters each season. They are booked for the next few years due to their quality of bucks they take. They are pricey for their hunts but it does not seem to hurt their business.

Lots of good outfitters and ranches out there for muley's and if possible hunt with someone on the MLD program that way
your able to take advantage of the rut and a much longer season or plan it according to a good moon phase.
A short 2 week season along with a nearly full moon and warm weather can really put a damper on muley hunting.

I just got back from a mule deer hunt with desert safaris and killed a great mngmt muley at their ranch near Alpine. I then went and filmed some hunters this past week at their other ranch in muleshoe,tx and saw some big mules there too. All hunters tagged out with great bucks. First class all the way.

I don't see where anybody has thrown out any prices for the OP. I think DIY Texas hunts are running around 2500.00 to 3K, but I don't have very much experience hunting them. Gone three times, killed twice. Once on the Sierra Diablo draw and once my second time hunting a broke-down oil-field ranch right on the NM border west of Kermit. If you wanna play hide-and-seek with them in the sand dunes and camp in the dust and the grit, give me a PM; I'll take you out there, even if you did go to Tech...

As far as guided, contact Mulie-mike on this forum.

West Texas mule deer hunts, from what I have seen are crazy-high-priced, if you go through an outfitter. They will advertise an average rack score of 150-160. What does that mean? It might mean two big boy 170-180+ bucks, and some in the 140's.
A New Mexico elk hunt, getting your tag through an outfitter, can cost less than a Texas mule deer hunt.
I was fortunate to have a friend take me panhandle hunting for mule deer on a private ranch last year. Paid a decent fee to the land owner, and got out of there with a nice 5x5 scoring 167.
Do your homework. Sounds like you are. It took my 2 years to string last year's hunt together.

Do searches for hunts for specific counties, instead of general hunts for mule deer.

I offer mule deer hunts on public land in southern nm . these are draw hunts but I have been able to draw everyone I apply through the outfitter pool. I base them 2 on 1 guided in quality hunt units 33 and 41 including meals and lodging for $2500ea plus tax and nm lics,
these units have potential for 160-180 class bucks doesn't mean everyone will kill one that big just that they exist we did kill some that size this year biggest was 183 al hunters tagged out or had at least one shot opportunity

I offer other public land hunts in units 30,31, 34, 36, and 32 these are more mountainous type hunts( with the exception of unit 31) a realistic buck will go 130-150 ( unit 31 can produce some larger bucks 130-170 ) again not everyone will kill one this big but the guides know the areas and will give you the best chance at finding them. these hunts I offer 2 on 1 guided only for $1500 ea plus tax and lics.

I offer hunts for elk , antelope, oryx, aoudad, and wild quail as well

for more info call steve 575-706-1857 southwesthunts.com