I'll be going mule deer hunting for the first time next weekend and was wondering if any of the seasoned pros out there could give me a few pointers. The place i'll be hunting is in Gaines county up in the panhandle, and it's only a section of land (but my grandma owns the land and I figured I might as well give it a whirl since it's never been hunted, and is free to hunt on). I just kinda figured I'd do the spot and stalk very slowly, and try to play the wind. What about corn, do mulies come to corn like a whitetail will? Thanks for any advice.

Im no Pro but I would stick with spot and stalk, cover some ground and play the wind...Good Luck!

I've always done spot and stalk. If you have a cotton field or one near by, hunt close to it. They love eating cotton which I've always found funny.

Cotton seed is your friend with mule deer. If there are no cotton fields near the section then I would suggest dropping lines of it perpindicular to the wind direction. If there are mules nearby they should come running. It will also help distract your stalk. Good luck.

I'd say about half of the section is cotton fields, the rest of it is rolling hills that are slightly covered with mesquites and other brush. I never have actually seen a mule deer on the property, but one of the farmers on the place has seen several. I was up there in September and saw quite a few tracks.

Spot and stalk for mulies.

Were the tracks in both directions with regard to the cotton field? I would glass the mesquite areas for bedded down mules in the middle of the day and would watch the edges of the cotton mornings and evenings. You might take a few bags of cotton seed and make a line in across one or some of the mesquite covered areas. Keep your glasses out.

Or try Indian Cotton. Supposed to make them stay in an area longer.

man,good luck. there are some absolute monsters in gaines county.my dad lives in seagraves,and a man that works for him(danny young)killed a buck that scored well over 200" last year near loop.i cant remember the exact score,but it was the best muledeer in texas last year. we hunted terry county last year(just north of gaines) and my uncle killed an eight point that i bet weighed 300 lbs. good luck,i hope you have fun and get a big boy.

Id set up so I could glass that cottom and make my stalk move after I found the one I want. Good luck.

mbavo, whats your dad's name? My mom is from Seagraves and my grandma and uncle's family still live in Seagraves. Their last name is Bandy, my granddad ran the only grocery store in town for about 30 years called "Bandy Market" I believe. BTW, I think I saw the buck you were talking about that scored 200" at the Beers and Deers taxidermy shop right outside of Seagraves.

Never heard of indian cotton, but that doesn't mean anything.

my dad is earl bavousett. he moved there about 15 years ago. he runs a gas storage facility near loop.

there are some big bucks around there. they have plenty to eat(cotton,peanuts,alfalfa). last year was the first year for a muledeer season there.

Yeah, I saw some of the bucks killed out of Gaines county last year on the Texas Big Game Awards website. That's why I figured I better give this a try since its free. Honestly, I'd be suprised if I even saw a deer since mulies are so nomadic, but I'd rather sit for two days in the field and not see a deer than to sit at home on the couch.

i hear you man. you never know.sure hope you have a good hunt. be sure and let us know how it goes.

I will be hunting southwest of Seminole in Gaines and on in to the northern end of Andrews County. My wife's cousin has a lot of land. I hunted it last year and never saw a deer. That being said, a big 14 was shot a mile south of where I was hunting. Surprised I couldn't see it as you can generally see about 4 miles in any direction! Last year, I tried both methods and didn't see a deer. In correspondence with the wildlife biologist that works that region, they are quite nomadic and will cover lots of ground in a day so you just sort of have to be in the right place at the right time! Good luck TxFisher!

Hey TxFisher,

Any updates? Should be whitetails around there aplenty if you get the mulie out of the way. Let us know.

doubt he has an update... Mule Deer season in the Panhandle doesn't open until this Saturday.

TxFisher.. my .02 cents. Look for fresh green. Winter wheat will be getting hit hard by the Mulies right now. And get your hand on the best optics you can acquire. Spot and stalking works in that country, but you have to be able to find your quarry.. Best of luck!

glass the hills i dont hunt them in the panhandle but i do in the South dakota if you spook one get on him and get ready for a shot they usually stop and look back after bounding a few times

Good point on the opening. Jumped the gun. I'll be heading to Ft Stockton 12/1 for mules, white tails & blue quail for a week. Got excited.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I'm already packed and ready to go! I'll let yall know how it went.

+1 dk, If you know of any wheat around there then hunt the paths to the wheat fields or the field edges.