eastern montana mule deer

casey12 · Nov 12, 2011

Im going on a mule deer hunt nov 16 ,and all i hear is bad things ,esp the fish and game . Is there any place that I could have a good hunt and have a chance at a 175+ buck.

Bambistew · Nov 12, 2011

a chance at a 175??? I take it you haven't hunted in Montana much.

I'd hunt the western part of the state for big deer. The east gets hammered by hunters. The west has a lot fewer deer, but there are just as many 'big' bucks, which is about 2 per 100 square miles.

Good luck on your trip.

MTSHEDHEDZ · Nov 13, 2011

Alberta,just keep heading north.

ismith · Nov 13, 2011

Its seems like its either a ton of work, or a whole bunch of luck when it comes to big muleys here in Montana.

eagle_eye · Nov 14, 2011

I hunted up by Jordan last Thursday and I have never seen so many hunters out and about. Was hunting public and BMA, and saw 20-30 rigs, only one of which was from Montana. Seems to be the place for out-of-state hunters this year. I saw over 80 deer, and 7 bucks, but they were all small, and I'd rather shoot a doe for meat than a buck.

Good luck.

Big_DD · Nov 14, 2011

Was in NE Montana on the opening and deer were pretty thin. I'd say down at least 80-85% in the area we was in. One bit of good news, the bucks we did see were bigger on average than the previous years.

Between the three of us we all got decent bucks but they were very few and far between. Lot of miles between them and lots of hours glassing.

Best peice of advice I could give you is to get out and walk the coulees and washes, the grass is really tall in the bottoms and most deer were bedded up before light.

Stubaby · Nov 14, 2011

Let's see your bucks. The ones we killed had so much fat on them I couldn't believe it.
For the other guy...you might find some 130-145ish bucks but there are lots of guys here in MT who will never shoot a buck bigger than 170 on public land. if anybody knows where some 175 bucks hide they for sure aren't sayin. Good luck on your hunt. Let us know how you do. Genetics and the fact that the rifle hunt is 5 weeks long and goes through the rut just doesn't make for lots of big, high scoring public land muleys.

"That's a special feeling, Lloyd"

Big_DD · Nov 14, 2011

This is the deer I took, I passed on two about an hour before that were bigger than him, I don't know why. I guess cause it was at first light on opening morning. Anyway, I decided to take this guy cause I have never killed one in velvet and for some reason he was still in full velvet. I checked his sack and he still had both nuts so I am not sure what was going on with him.

Here is a picture of the three bucks the three of us took. The buck on the left was my dads, and the buck in the middle is a friends.

Stubaby · Nov 15, 2011

Nice bucks.....thanks for sharing.

"That's a special feeling, Lloyd"

hunt4130 · Nov 17, 2011

what a stag! congrats! all are nice bucks!

MTSHEDHEDZ · Nov 22, 2011

Nice bucks!

kingfish · Nov 24, 2011

We just got back from Jordan Tuesday and the rut is on the deer hurds are down a bit especially the whitetails they have been decimated. The locals think they may have lost 85% of their whitetail herd. The Mule deer are down a bit but if your willing to get off the roads you will find some great bucks. We did.

Government doesn't fix anything and has spent trillions proving it!!!
Let's face it...After Monday and Tuesday, even the calender says WTF!