Eastern Deer hunter saying "Hi!"

[IronBuck]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-23-03 AT 09:04PM (MST)[p]I joined this site a while back but have not been here in quite some time. I see that several of your members have stired things up over at Real Tree so I thought I stop back in here to say Hi!

I had no idea that Western hunters were so hostile towards whitetails and Eastern hunters. I was just wondering why you felt hunting mule deer was harder? While I have never hunted mulies I have hunted elk out West quite a bit with my bow. I have seen and stalked lots of mulies for the fun of it and find them much easier to approach than the neurotic whitetails here back east. Most of us are not food plot hunters and do we not hunt high fenced privatre ground. We are just hard working everyday guys who enjoy hunting when ever we can head out. East or West.

Maybe some day I will give up on elk and take up mule deer hunting.....with the prices of tags I can only choose either one or the other...not both. I enjoy my 10 days out West every fall.

So tell me, why are mulies harder to hunt than whitetails?

 

[BCBOY]

IronBuck,
Welcome to MM! Good to see ya stopping in and saying hi! These guys are pretty passionate about their muleys and asking a question like that has seen many a newbie hiding for cover, but I think you probably have the skin to deal with it. LOL!
BTW, We're not all a$$holes, we just like making a$$es out of ourselve a lot that's all.

 

[IronBuck]

Hi BCBOY

Those are sure some nice pics you have posted. Outstanding bucks! I also see that you use a 99 in 300 Savage. When I am not bow hunting I am usually in the thick stuff with my old 99 made in 1936, also in 300 Savage. It has been through a few generations! It still has the redfield receiver site that my grandfather put on it 40 years ago. It is a great action for getting off quick well aimed shots. Through years of use it isvery slick and cycles like a dream.

Actually I really would like to get a nice mulie to add to my collection of whitetails and a few elk. To bad both time and money are on short order.

 

[IronBuck]

Skunkshit (nice name)

I'll tell you right now you do not know me from Adam......so I'll take it easy on you. I did not post this message to start anything. It is a serious question.......just tell me why you feel hunting mulies is harder. Can you provide an honest adult answer or just talk about your Penis envy and fire off some profanity?

As far as stalking them with my bow.........YES I HAVE, several times. They were not monsters but easily in the 27-28" range. This was while hunting elk at just above treeline. Now because I did not have a tag, I was not to worried about blowing the stalk so I had no problem being aggressive. And having hunted both East and West (have you?) I will tell you that there is NO WAY that I would have been able to get within range of a mature buck as easily here back East. The toporgaphy out West lends itself to stalking better than it does here in the East. Spotting deer is easirer and at a distance where they can not see or smell you. This alows the planning of the stalk. The area I was hunting also is not hunted by much more than sheep hunters.......teh mule deer are virtually left alone, perhaps this made it easier as well. Your thoughts?

 

[BCBOY]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-23-03 AT 10:25PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Dec-23-03 AT 10:24?PM (MST)

Those ol' Savages sure are great guns. A lot of history in them. Mine has been passed down from my grandfather, to my father and then to me. In a few years my son will be old enough to hunt and then my daughter after that. That gun has shot many a big game animal. It just feels so good in my hands. It is like it is part of me.
BTW, this Skunk dude is a new poster here and the jury is still out if he is just one of the regular stupid kids here that signed up with a new name. There are some immature kids on this site that we like to raz pretty hard.

 

[B_F_E]

I have no hostility towards whitetails, just empathy, any animal that comes running when its called should be called a pet. On the other question about all you whitey hunters, I have no problem at all with any whitetail hunter, you hunt what you can, the same is true for myself, except for Elk, which also come running when called.
As far as the "what I hunt is the best" issue, I think that's indemic to every hunter primary passion. not to many people go to a local sporting event & yell out "my team sucks, your team rule's"
Anyway, welcome to the site, sorry you have to go back east after your 10 days in heaven every year.

 

[Moosie]

Every western boy (I/E. ME) turns the TV on sunday morning and See's BUBBA loading the feeder and Taking 10 mins to climb the Treestand to wait the 1 hour to shoot his Whitetail deer. In the Meantime, You see a Axis buck, a Russian Boar, and a Muflon ram walk by the stand

Truth be told, with all that and the Southern Accents, I think the TV, (REAL TREE) makes the Whitetail hunters look bad.

I've never killed a Whitetail, And never killed a "TROPHY"" muledeer. but I do have to say chasing a Mulie instead of sitting in a Tree waiting for one gives me a Stiffy !! (PS, Can I say Stiffy here ?)

Ironman, NO offence to you personally I hope, but just relaying a Preception.

• 
  [*] -Moosie

~~If you're going to walk on thin ice, Ya might as Well DANCE !!
WALK the TALK, Or shut the HECK UP !!

 

[IronBuck]

This post is not inteneded to be an "East-West" battle or a "Whitetail is better than mulie post" I was just interested in what everyones point of view was on the differences between hunting both species. And why every one thinks hunting miulies is harder. I just got through reading the very long winded and entertaining post "Why Mulies Suck" post and it has answered a lot of my questions.

I think there is a lot of truth to the fact that the more a buck (whitetail or mule deer) is hunted the smarter he becomes and the harder he is to kill. I hunt all public land or small tracks of heavily hunted private land back here in the East. All the the things that you see on the videos goes out the window in an area like this. Grunt calls? Forget it, they have been educated...they run the other way. Rattleing? They have seen to many people do it and never come in. Treestand hunting still works as long as you can get over 24 feet up in a tree and kep the wind in your favor........the deer have learned that death comes from above! Hunting from the ground in some areas has actually become more productive because the deer are not expecting it. Especially if you stalk them in the snow (A VERY fun way to hunt Eastern whitetails)

What I hope to learn from this post are some of the things that mulies do or do not do so that if I hunt them I have a better understanding of their general behavior. I have had lots of success hunting elk because i DO NOT hunt them like whitetails. I think this is a mistake that many Easterners make when hunting out West. Each geographic region has it's own particular way that it is best hunted.......this does not mean that one area is better than the other. Or that any species is better than the next. As hunters we are are all members of the same group and concentrate on teh animals in our own regions. If we are lucky.......we are able to travel teh country...or the world to enjoy hunting other regions and their game.

I will say the this.......the West has it ALL OVER the East when it comes to views while hunting. The Rockies are the most beautiful place on earth as far as I am concerned. I love love the high country. You are right.........they are 10 days of heavan!

 

[BCBOY]

Another thing to note on the trophy bucks out west is that they don't just have us hunting them. They have the Greatest Deer Hunter Ever hunting them, MR. PUMA. They have to be more wary, because even when our hunting seasons end, they are still being hunted. And then for us up north, throw a few packs of Wolves and a Grizzly or two in the mix and those big bastards have to be on guard 24/7.

 

[MichaelJ]

I would say the big difference lies in sheer(sp?!) numbers. There are WAY more Whitetails than there are Mule Deer, and just the challenge of finding a big buck is a lot harder. I have never hunted Whitetails BTW. My dad grew up in Indiana though. Also, from what others say, (not just on this board) but whitetails are a lot easier to pattern than muledeer. That is why tree stand hunting is popular in the midwest. (may not be in your area though) Also, the terrain requires a lot more effort to get into really good areas, where the big boys hang. Just my .02

Michael~All Gods creatures welcome, right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy.

 

[Outlaw69]

Welcome Ironbuck,
I think a few of the muley only hunters think what they see on t.v. is how it's done everywhere. Some fat slob taking a big whitey off a food plot at 70 yds from an elevated blind. Never seen anyone do that in North Dakota. Although we have our share of the lazy road hunters.

I've hunted both and I've covered enough miles and walked enough slews, shoulder high c.r.p., drainages, riverbottoms, badlands and highcountry to know it's not easy to get that trophy muley or whitey. I hunt hard every deer season no matter what the tag says. That being said, I'd rather hunt a muley.

 

[Tuffbucker]

Welcome IRonbuck!! Hope you will stick around for a while and get to know us.....then pass the message on to your buddies at Realtree that we are alright guys!

Where do you elk hunt at??

As far as skunkshiot is concerned, dont let him get your feathers ruffled....we think he might be one of many personalities one of our regular youngsters on here has!!

Again, welcome and enjoy!!

 

[OSOK]

Ironbuck.

Plain and simple... You need to buy each of your buddies over there a six-pack for christmas, so that they can all learn how to sit back and relax!LMAO...

(Hopefully you don't take offense to that)...

 

[jamwayden]

I've hunted both muleys and whitetails in Washington state and the whitetails are, by far, harder to hunt then muleys.

 

[Tuffbucker]

In my opinion....i think the determining factor is which is harder to hunt...TROPHY mule deer or TROPHY white tail.....I have killed a buck every year Ive been hunting(mulies) but Im yet to kill me what would be considered a TROPHY mule deer. Where I hunt, its easy to get a buck every year, but from what Ive seen and heard, there are more trophy white tails taken each year than there are mulies......doesn't that say something about which is a little more difficult. It may have to do with the sheer numbers of white tails compared to mulies, or it may have to do with the deers cunningness.....but there are great hunters hunting both types of deer every year....so it would definitely be attributed to the deer and not the hunter....

NOthing wrong with hunting whiteys, but my vote goes for muleys.....but then again, Ive never hunted whiteys....so maybe aim just a bit biased.....

 

[IronBuck]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-24-03 AT 11:41AM (MST)[p]OSOK:

No offense taken LOL

Tuffbucker:

What is the definition of a trophy mule deer? Is it score? Mass? Spread? I am assume that the definition would change from region to region?

With whitetails, if all you see are the shows or magazines it would be easy to assume that huge trophy bucks are everyhere. Not so where I hunt in South Western PA. We have had a few booners come from here but they are very very rare. Hunting pressure is so great that it is just hard for a buck to live long enough to get antlers that score above the magical 170 mark. But some do. I would consider a real trophy where I hunt to start at 140+. I have been fortunate to get a few this big or bigger....my biggest to date is a 155 class 11 point.....err I am sorry...5x6 :-} I also consider ANY mature buck, one that can live beyound 3-4 years plus with all the pressure we have a trophy. One of my favorite bucks is one I chased for 3 years before I got him. In that time he had been hit by a car, shot in the rear with a shot gun slug and hit by two other bow hunters. Yet he was still the boss of the woods. Running off many of the "dominant" 130-140+ class bucks. He was a big boddied buck, dressing out at just over 200 pounds. The old boy was a true survivor...and warrior. He was only a 4 x4 that would be lucky to score 90 P&Y when I finally caught up with him. He was on the decline seeing as he was over 7 years old..........absolutely ancient for a White tail in this state. He is mounted along with my P&Y entries. A lot of guys that see this do not understand why.......but the true hunters understand.

I have yet to see an honest Booner in teh woods around here........But I will sure keep looking

PS:

I hunt elk in South Western Colorado...on public land outside of Durango and Pagosa Springs.

 

[OSOK]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-24-03 AT 12:38PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Dec-24-03 AT 12:18?PM (MST)

Iron,

When you can wade thru the pig barn w/o pluggin your nose, and getting all upset. You'll find that most of us "passionate", mule deer guys, really aren't all that bad... You make very valid points. All of which we've heard time and time again. At least if you've been around any of these sites, fore more than a month.

If you'll read thru the whitetail vs. mule deer thread. That'll give you an idea of how I feel about the subject anyway. I'm not downplaying the cunning of a 4 y/o whitetail buck, just the way most easterners (Texans fall into that category as well), shouldn't stereotype a 4 y/o or older mule deer buck as I've heard, time and time again. Both animals have gotten to that age fore a reason.

As far as stalking. I don't think either species is tough at all to get in on, when given the right conditions and circumstance. I don't have a vast hunting history, w/ whities. But I do have enough experience to share my view.

I can't remember off hand, if you were one of the one's that got all uptight, w/ what I had to say! Honestly, I didn't think everybody would get all uptight the way they did. Then again. I hadn't spent enough time on there to figure out that it was frequented by a bunch of stiffs in the first place. I made the post on a friday. In which, I was totally, planning on making it a hunting based post. Until your buddy jumped on there, came up w/ his thesis, that I must be some kind of evil do'er... Was computerless, until monday, at which point King detective mod boyee' had already banned me, neglecting any opportunity I might have had to set things straight.

Honestly, I think there could be some great discussion, about "Who really is", some of the better deer hunters in America. But it didn't go that way. And, I'm not necessarily stating that "we", mule deer fanatics, are at the top of the food chain. Towards the end of the last posts, that I saw on there anyway! A KentuckyTeacher posted, in a well thought out manner, which is what I honestly expected to here from a bunch of "Professional", whitetail supporters. Ya, I did go against the grain. But Chrimanee'. Show a lil backbone...

I guess all that said. The only one I had any sort of beef w/, was your wonderboyee', you know who he is... In my opinion, that was way lower, a blow than I had even thought of taking on anybody on that site... How professional is that? He claims he didn't right out call me. But it was his conclusion, so it's the same thing, IMO...

Merry christmas...

At least I woke that convent up!!!

On edit:

To answer your question. I have archery whity hunted. IMO, it's the same thing as elk hunting w/ a bow. Except, they don't bugle to locate...

Aaaand. It's nice to see a few easterners are finally smartening up to the fact, that treestand hunting is fore girls!!!;>)

 

[txhunter58]

Note the name of this website! That is the real answer to your question. If there is a website called Monsterwhitetails.com, the guys on there would be fighting mad if someone came on there and said Mule deer are harder to hunt.

From one who has hunted both, there is no better, smarter. Each individual animal creates a challange for each of us. Only individually can be decide how much of a challange there is.

For example, you hunt the timberline. That is a big thing! The vast majority of hunters never see timberline unless they can drive to it. So one reason that someone can say that muleys are harder to hunt is because of the country they inhabit. It is very hard just to get to that country.

There is no best, just fantastic challanges for each kind of game you hunt! I love both! To each his own.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

 

[idhunters]

Hell, I'm bored, might as well add my 2 cents worth:

My first reaction to your post Ironbuck was that you should try hunting those same mule deer the first part of October when they aren't in bachelor groups or above timberline. That is when most general rifle seasons occur in the west and it is one of the toughest times to catch a big buck.

Do I think mule deer are harder? Really I don't know, how can we compare a mule deer hunt in the 2nd week of October vs. a whitetail hunt during the rut? Most would agree that muleys are kinda dumb during the rut (aren't we all!);

My feelings are that the sheer number of whitetails vs. mule deer, the fact that most general seasons for muleys are in october vs. rut for whities, and, in my opinion, tougher country to hunt where the muleys live (not tougher to see them, tougher to hike) and much lower deer densities for muleys, it just seems that to actual harvest a "trophy" 180+ muley is "harder" than a B&C whitetail. BTW, I have a 150 class whitetail, killed in Idaho. Pushed him out of a patch just like you would a mule deer.

Welcome to the site, if your interested in trying your luck on an Idaho mule deer, send me a private mail.

Just my opinion.
Lance