If you could hunt Mule Deer, where?

If you could pick a guided hunt for Mule Deer where would you go. Considering Texas, Sonora, New Mexico, Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming. Any other suggestions and locations?

Sonora for Desert Mule Deer, Colorado for the Rocky Mountain variety.

I would contact Mulie Mike. http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/users/6499

I just booked a hunt in Alberta for 2019.

If money is no object, then the Jicarilla Apache's in New Mexico. Or Sonora Mexico. If you don't have stupid money, but are sorta loaded.. then Nebraska Sandhills. If you're on a budget and want a decent Texas panhandle mulie, you call me. (But I'm usually booked up for years).

Don't forget Idaho. Lots of good Mule Deer up there.

Eastern Colorado

Sonora

Nevada would be second choice, well managed and have had a four point rule for 20 plus years and get some age on them. Hunted therein central part of state 18 years ago and saw some big deer but no cigar.

My next choice would be the North Dakota Badlands.

I would pm Jgraider about hunting the sand hills here first.

Alberta would be my second choice, sounds like NP has a outfitter and Goldstein does as well. Might be the same one.

I know stxranchman had a good Alberta connection might search his posts for it.

If money was no options, then for Rocky Mountain Mule Deer, I'd probably go to Alberta Canada. If I wanted a desert Mule Deer, I'd go to Sonora Mexico. If I was really lucky in the draw, I'd go to Utah or Arizona. I would avoid public land with vehicle or ATV access. It's hit or miss, and anywhere you go, somebody else has already put in ten years or more hunting it and knows it better then you do.


If money is a concern, and you have a lot of time, deep into a Wilderness area. The more points needed, the better the area usually is. For those types of hunts, it doesn't matter so much what state you go to, you put in for every state and go to the one you get drawn.

If you want to see a lot of mule deer, and you are willing to pay for it on a guided hunt on private land, Easter Montana is amazing. When I hunted out of Broadus, I shot the 92nd legal buck that I had seen on the third day. I saw bigger then what I shot, and I regret not going after one of them that I video taped, but didn't realize what he was while looking through the view finder. That one haunts me and always will!!! Easily 30 inches, and deep forks. Mine was 28 inches and just a nice clean, older buck. My buddy shot one that was not quite a wide, but had more points. Two other guys in camp shot bigger. One on the day I did, the other on thee last day. Four other guys shot theirs too soon and didn't believe their guides when told not to shoot. They where the biggest bucks they had ever seen, and the fever took over.

That was 15 years ago, so things might have changed. But if I was going to book a mule deer hunt, that's where I would start.

I have a friends number hunt would be in Childress he is great guy.

Lot's of good suggestions here. I've been hooked on mule deer hunting since my dad first took me in 1971 at age 11. Haven't missed a year since, hunting several different places. I try to look at it like this:

1. What are your expectations? Everyone wants the magical 30" wide buck or 190+ inches, including myself. The reality is that those types of bucks are few and far between anywhere, including Sonora, Alberta, the Jcarilla, Book Cliffs, etc, etc, etc. Alberta can be good, but winter kill can be brutal. The Indian areas in Saskatchewan can be hunted by a non resident and they are intriguing as well. The fact is today, any buck 175" or better is a true trophy, and even those aren't everywhere.

2. Can I get a tag? Obviously, the best areas in Arizona, Utah, Nevada, lots of Colorado, etc are very hard draws, and some near impossible. Some of these areas do have landowner tags available, but guided hunts can run $20k on premium Utah ranches.

3. If money were no object, and I were after the very top end bucks over 200", I'd take my chances in Sonora MX or the Jicarilla. Keep in mind, in Sonora a very small handful of hunters will even see a 190+" buck, or 200" buck, and many will not even see a shooter in a weeks worth of hunting. I had the good fortune of hunting Sonora twice, in 2006 and 2007. I absolutely lucked into a monster 35" 212" typical in 2006. The next year I went to the same place, same time period, and did not see anything over 170" and only saw one of those. It can be very tough.

4. If I were wanting a realistic chance at a 180" buck, I'd hunt the TX sandhills, as Pithfork said. Access can be very tough (our place is full for the forseeable future), and can be expensive. Hunting is can be very tough as deer densities are very low.

All of this IMHO, of course.

I now hunt for them in the Davis Mtns here in TX but went to WY every year for about 10. Always got a tag or 2 and never came home with unfilled tag. Was outstanding. Public land on a budget is good. Private land can be even better....

I've seen big ones in Idaho but I've never hunted there.

Easy. Back home in CO on a private ranch I have access to in Yuma County. 10,000 acres with the Arikaree River flowing through it and big expanses of sagebrush covered ridges. Huge deer on the place and I'm just about the only guy the owner lets hunt it. It has both whitetails and mulies on it and every once in awhile you see a hybrid as well.

This is the first year we are allowing rifle mule deer hunters on our place in northwest South Dakota. My brother and I guide on private property only and have been archery only for several years. Just a option and best of luck in your search.
www.huntsd.net

Kaibab NF in Arizona. Utah. Wyoming. Mexico.

I hunted with Jim Dacar of Colony Outfitters 20 years ago and really enjoyed the area. Any chance that you know them? They had 20,000 acres of private land in the very North East corner of Wyoming that was just thick with deer and pronghorn. It was almost overwhelming seeing so many animals. I shot this nice ten point whitetail, and of course, saw a bigger one the next day. But there was no way I could let this guy pass, he came up out of a creek bed and walked 500 yards straight at me with two other 9 point bucks. They all jumped the fence one after another, 20 yards from where I was hiding.

It was a draw area and I tried a few times after that to get a tag, and never did.

Is there a draw to get tags for your area? Will you be updating your website for the price of mule deer rifle hunts?

Wyoming. I have successfully hunted Mule Deer in WY, CO, UT & AZ. For deer density and quality bucks Wyoming would be my first choice with Colorado my second. The largest MD buck (30" wide, 5X5) I have taken was in CO, self guided.

We hunted desert mulies in the Davis Mountains in January of 2017 and we're booking a return trip in January 2019. There are several very good outfitters with large tracts of land on MLD in Texas, so you can hunt the rut. I opted to hunt Texas because (1) I just like Texas, (2) I didn't have to purchase an additional license or tags, and (3) travel convenience. Trophies taken from our group ranged from low 160s to low 180s, with 100% shot opportunity (would have been 100% success, but I passed on 3 shooters, including the one I should have shot just one hour into our first hunt...that's on me obviously).

If I had unlimited time and resources, I'd consider Sonora or Colorado and try for a 200 inch animal.

Wouldn't go to Sonora, to much going on down that way. Just google borderland beat and go back and look at some of the stories. Jim Shockey left early on a hunt down there after some problems scared him off

The funnest mule deer hunts I’ve ever guided were west of Fort Stockton, off Hovey Road.

I’ve done a couple jobs out that way. We see deer from time to time. Haven’t seen a good one yet.

Davis Mountains

As someone who has taken over 30 mulies, I would have to say my dream hunt would be the eastern plains of Colorado. (No I have never done it).

We have some pretty good mule deer hunting in South Dakota plus you can see Whitetail Antelope and Turkey all on the same place at once. Good populations in the right places of just good-quality animals.