Montana mule deer

Jdan9 · Nov 27, 2011

Now that the season is over was it as bad as everyone anticipated? We scrapped our original hunt plans of hunting block management properties between Circle and Jordan because of the supposed winter kill. In hindsight I'm just wondering!!

tagsoup · Nov 27, 2011

I didn't get to go this year. But all of my buddies that went this year killed nice bucks.

wapiti111 · Nov 28, 2011

F and G harvest reports are way down. Even elk.

stephanie · Nov 29, 2011

I hunted for three days near Malta and one day between Circle and Jordan....saw very few bucks worth shooting the whole time. The areas that I was hunting in used to be just full of deer all over. There was one whole day we went without seeing anything. The whitetail population in eastern MT is extremely low with whole herds wiped out in some areas due to blue tongue. Muley population is down due to the very harsh winter last year. You didn't miss out. In fact, I think the next couple years will be rough....

MTSHEDHEDZ · Nov 29, 2011

WT numbers were average and MD numbers were WAY down on the front,lowest I have ever seen for this time of year.

kingfish · Nov 30, 2011

We hunted Jordan again this year and the numbers are down some. We saw great bucks but we also walked 10 miles a day. White tail number are way down. Some say they lost 80% of their herds. The butcher we talked to said he was only going to butcher about 500 animals this year compared to 900 annually? Fewer hunters also.

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

Big_DD · Nov 30, 2011

It was pretty bad where I was, the numbers were way down. We was seeing maybe 20 deer a day. It'll take a few years to bounce back too.

BRUIN4L · Nov 30, 2011

Hunted unit 702 Block Management and numbers were way down. Have hunted this propery many times and this is the lowest numbers ever. We killed 4 bucks out of 5 hunters but no quality bucks and we worked our tails off for the bucks we did get.

Bozeman · Nov 30, 2011

I drew a Bridger tag after an 8 year wait and what a disappointment. The worst part is knowing what the unit used to be like in the 80's and early 90's. The deer numbers are in the toilet and the buck quality is low. I saw 6 bucks and 14 does with the biggest being a 20" 3 point. I can't believe that we even have mule deer doe tags in the state. I just don't see the numbers to justify anything like that. Especially on the west side.

wapiti111 · Dec 1, 2011

Wow, that is not a very good report for the Bridger tag. I have put in for this tag the last few years, may want to rethink now.
Mule deer herds have been declining for years, now with the winter we had last year, there will be tough times ahead..

MTSHEDHEDZ · Dec 1, 2011

Yep Im afraid its time to do away with the doe tags for about 5 years and see what effect it has on these areas with lots of doe tags.

4x4muley · Dec 1, 2011

I kept track of every deer I saw this year while hunting. The best day was 29, right after a fresh snow, sunny,and calm. Most days I would see between 14 -16 deer, a combination of both whitetails and mule deer. Where I hunt it is mostly private land, and as far as I could see on neighboring private land, I would still see very few deer. Most of the deer I did see were same deer from day to day.

For years I have written letters to the F&G suggesting they cut back on the doe tags, but it never really seems to happen. Now it's actually to the point, in my opinion, where the season almost needs to be closed for a few years or go to a draw tag for mule deer bucks. I hate to see that because I love to go after mule deer,and the thought of not being able to hunt them doesn't sit well with me, but something drastic needs to be done.

On a side note, many days I did see more coyotes than deer. I tried my darndest to eliminate as many as possible.

Teanawayspikehill · Dec 2, 2011

A group of 5 of us hunted on the breaks this year and we went 0-5. The previuos 2 years we went 7-7 and 6-7! Besides a few small 3 points we didnt see anything worth shooting. I averaged seeing maybe 8-10 deer a day is all. It was just crazy. I heard the winter kill was bad but I didnt see any dead deer. Just weird. I think we will give it a couple years before we head back.

Dreaminbig · Dec 3, 2011

Hey Jdan I sent you some pics of this years bucks did you get them?

Jdan9 · Dec 3, 2011

Dreaminbig, I didn't get them!!

Stubaby · Dec 5, 2011

Jdan9, how did you do?

"That's a special feeling, Lloyd"

wapiti111 · Dec 5, 2011

stubaby, I have been searching wyoming moose here on mm and noticed you were involved in a big wy. moose this fall. If you don't mind me asking what area was that bull taken? Thanks..

Jdan9 · Dec 5, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Dec-05-11 AT 07:54PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Dec-05-11 AT 07:52?PM (MST)

We did good, we were going to cancel our trip then a friend got us access to a piece of private in a different part of the state.
Hoping to be able to do it again next year. Notice the second generation hunters got the better deer!!!

http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos/7386dscn2671.jpg

treedagain · Dec 5, 2011

looks like you guys did good

Stubaby · Dec 5, 2011

Nice.....good thing you didn't hit me up over the fly rod. You guys would have killed all the deer in the drainage I would have sent you in

We saw 20+ bucks about this size.

This is my buck from opening day. I already posted it, but oh well. I am happy with him. I got a little frustrated as I saw two that were considerably bigger later on in the season.

As far as the moose goes....you mean this one?

Ya, I was standing there peeing my pants as my buddy put an arrow through him. I don't know what unit it was because I live in Montana and I don't know the WY units. I do know that were were within a half hour from Burgess Junction. Why do you ask?

"That's a special feeling, Lloyd"

wapiti111 · Dec 5, 2011

Yep, that is one great moose. I bet that was a great sight to watch your buddy harvest him. I live in MT. also, but have preference points saved up for WY. moose and starting to do some research on units, thinking about putting in for WY. moose and burning my pp's. Thanks for the info.