Howdy all, going on my first mule deer hunt in New Mexico next month and need some info...any thing you can pass along would be great....going to spot and stalk them on a 10,000 acre ranch...unit 32....

questions:

When's their rut usually begin.....
Rattling work?
How about grunt calls?

I would love to help you buddy but I haven't officially hunted mule deer yet either. I've been told "spot and stalk, spot and stalk".

Get some good binoculars. They love canyon country. They'll get up on the flats etc. to eat. I've also heard that they are like cattle. If they are used to a truck driving through the place, they'll just stand there and look at you. I've heard lots of stories about guys just shooting them out of their trucks.

The bigger question I have is this: if you shoot a mule deer in a canyon...how you gonna get him up out of there?

Thats how I got mine, and yea, that last sentence is the part I forgot about

I have actually hunted unit 32 several times. Your best bet is to do 2 things. The first one is drive around way up in the high country and cover ground for a spot and stalk. The other is to get to the top of any ridge and keep your fingers crossed you can see more deer than orange shirts walking around.

Will a doe estrus scent work on mule deer, too?

glass glass glass!

if the weather is cool in the morning most will bed down on a eastern slope so the am sun can warm them up. Play the wind! Mule Deer are not as "smart" as a whitetail, so you can usually sneak up closer. But they do love hiding and bedding down in thickets!

If you have time I would glass from hill tops and ridges the frist day, if you spot a good buck in the evening 90% of the time he will be there or in the area the next morning.

Good luck!

Well said.

I don't completely agree with the "not as smart as a whitetail" part unless your talking about young bucks and does. I've watched from a distance while mulie bucks laid their heads on the ground and hid in the wide open while hunters walked within about 40-50 ft of them. Mature muliie bucks are masters of concealment.

Buy the best binoculars you can afford if you already don't have some and USE them!

Bill

One thing I've noticed about mule deer is that they're often very predictable. For instance, if you're sitting on a ridge and see a buck a mile away walk out into a bottom or opening at 5:30 in the afternoon, chances are he'll be there again tomorrow afternoon about the same time unless something spooks him. Move into position about 3:00 and see if he shows.

Get up high and glass. Do not overlook any areas, even out in the flats, especially after the shooting has started. Better bucks may leave the high places and head to the flats to survive for the hunting season. If you see numbers of does, look closely for a buck, as usually there is one close by. Look for their lighter colored rump patches. Let your binoculars do the walking to find them and map out a stalk.

I've hunted them in Unit 30 now for 14 years. As above, get the best glass you can afford for they will be invaluable, save you alot of steps. One way I find deer is look for the reflection of the white on thier rears early in the morning or late in the evening. When the sun hits it it will glow. Hunt the canyons if you can. If you can find a canyon that is isolated and away from roads, there will be deer there. If you are comfortable hunting with others, do so. Either walk in a line or abreast of one another, this has worked for me numerous times. If not, get on a vantage point and watch for other hunters. I've watched deer circle ceder trees keeping it between them and hunters even though they were only 40 or 50 ft away and bed back down as soon as they passed by. Bucks will lay down fully on the ground. One year while hunting a canyon, I watched my cousin jump a herd of does I had been watching along with a couple of bucks. The does ran off but the bucks laid down flat, one stayed flat after I shot it. The big thing is patience, take your time in glassing. You'll do more of that than anything else. Last year I bought some Steiner Predator C5's 12x45 and you will be surprised how much you will appreciate good glass. I leave here on Nov 9-Nov 18, 28 more days. Good luck to ya Bro.

If the area has alot of roads drive them especially if there are alot of hunters in the area walking. The most important part of mule deer hunting is spend alot of time glassing, most of the time you will find bucks bedded down. Also mule deer tend to be more in the open country and not the thick cover. I have hunted muled deer for the past fifteen years and I would say 75% of the bucks have been in transition areas from open terrain to slight tree cover. Most hunters spend there time in the thick areas and never see anything but they do push the deer down to the lower area's. We took three bucks last year this way that all scored 185 and above.

You guys talk about "unit 30" or "unit 32". What are you talking about? Thanks for letting me ask.

Wow, three bucks above 185", heckuva hunt.

Show us some pics!

Those are the game mgmt. unit numbers in N.M.

Also, do not overlook even the smallest looking patch of cover. Mule deer are used to being in the open so they do not require huge areas of cover to hide or lay in.

they are very predictable if you see them one day, you can probably bet they will be there tomorrow. We lease out for mule deer hunting and all of my hunters have not spent more than 1 hour hunting. We drive up pick out the one they want, they sit the next day for maybe 30 minutes shoot and were done.

+1....I leased 7900 acres in Childress for several years and I had a golf cart, I killed my best mullie on the way to the stand, sitting in the drivers seat...I agree, they are fairly easy to pattern and can be stalked during bow season if the condition are right.

the mature bucks will almost never show themselves in day light, last year i was glassing a hillside where there were a couple of does and small bucks for about 2.5 or 3 hours and towards sundown i heard a big buck about 40 yards upwind from me...........never even saw him till he got up and i heard the rustling. where there's a group of does chances are there will be a big buck in the shadows watching. I hunt in lamb county texas

Thanks guys...lots of good info here....I'll definately spot/stalk then. As for good binocs, my budget only allows a Nikon Monarch. I know Steiners and Leicas are the way to go...but too steep in cost for my wallet. I will say my Nikon and me were able to spot a herd of elk one year before my guide did with his Leicas.....so I don't feel too bad using them. Thanks all.....