Finding Mule Deer

[Jeephunter]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-05-10 AT 10:03PM (MST)[p]My family hunting party of three just finished our sixth consecutive hunt, over about 12 years, with no harvest. All of us are very frustrated. We believe we have all the pieces together for a successful hunt. For example, we all have the ability to shoot confidently out to 400 yards, and have good field skills and equipment. We routinely see all kinds of wildlife while sitting or stalking; elk, bears, lion, Cues deer, muley does, coyotes ect, just no muley bucks. I had a Cues buck walk up to my within 30 yards of me a few days ago. We are by no means novice hunters, just lousy Mule Deer hunters. To be clear, its not just that we are not getting a confident stable site picture of a nice sized buck to pull the trigger, where not seeing any bucks at all.

We are not getting into the game. I think the problem is a lack of proper stalking and scouting, but none of us have much of an idea where to start with that--or at least what we have tried has not worked. We move around the unit, or hike in, glassing for bucks in cover, but never find them. We started years ago in high country (8000 ft) but have moved lower (4500-6000 ft) to hunt into country we can see the game in, but that has not helped. Moreover, we are in Arizona where the deer enjoy year round ranges so are driven to move by something other than snow. The literature I have found on Muley hunting seems to be structured around hunting the rockies.

What I am looking for is some kind of pattern, method, or set of rules that I can follow that, with sufficient time and effort, I can reasonably expect to locate where Mule Deer bucks are bedding/living in Arizona high country or or even the desert. In short, what kind of places should I look for them and how should I look for them. Where not to waste our time, and what has the best chance. I could care less about trophies--any buck will at least be a step forward.

Most hunters around us seem to road hunt, covering thousands of acres in the morning and evening in slow moving ATVs or 4wd golf carts on forest roads. Once they spot a deer from the road, I assume the procedure is to step out, load your rifle and shoot. This is not for us. While not filling a tag is depressing, most of the enjoyment we get from our hunts is the time out in the field--that's most of the point and why we keep doing this after so many failed hunts.

Apologies for the long post, but can someone recommend a book or a other guide that is chocked full of (Arizona) muley wisdom? I am willing to put the work in for next year, but I need to make sure I am at least following the right principles.


Thanks in advance.

David

 

[GRAYLIGHT]

David,

Focus your effort on water, feed and cover. Find out what elevation they are by pre hunt scouting. Oftentimes if you stay at the same elevation for the whole hunt, you could be missing the boat altogether... Also, If you are seeing Coues bucks, try hunting even lower... Muleys and Coues often mingle but my personal experience has led me to areas when they are not in rut, where the muleys can hang out undisturbed without most other species around. For instance if you are seeing a ton of elk... Go somewhere else... These are generalizations and of course, you will see these animals together but that is more the exception than the rule... I want to see you succeed, so I'm just trying to throw out thoughts that come to mind.

Also get a good tripod and a set of 15's to mount on it and glass from a distance to do the work for you. Blindly stumbling around the higher elevations in thick pinion or pine stands usually results in long nature hikes... Secondly, if you are seeing a lot of other hunters... Find somewhere else to hunt... Game usually vacates areas where people are road hunting, sounds like you are all willing to hike... Remember that when it's hot and dry, deer will need to water, so if you hunt low, check cattle tanks for activity and hunt in or around canyons with limited water. Hunting canyons with lot's of feed and water will scatter game and you will be less likely to find anything in concentrations.

Be persistent and good luck... When it happens... Shoot straight I hope I didn't ramble too much!

 

[OldMan]

Don't know much about Arizona, but I'd rely more on scouting before the season. Glassing for deer and looking for fresh sign while the hunt is on. Keep checking new areas until you find them since there is no need to keep looking into the same empty canyons.

Just curious if you grew up hunting with someone to help teach you or if you are learning as you go now? Good luck.

 

[bucktaxi]

Graylight covers it very well.

 

[Jeephunter]

Graylight,

Thanks--really good stuff. We do tend to stick to the same elevations and we hunted along a small creek most of the hunt which, though hot and dry, obviously kept them scattered. We did work some tanks in lower elevations, but probably not enough.

What does a good food source look like? We found a slope with thousands of ripe prickly pear fruits--thought we hit the jackpot, but it had no deer sign whatsoever. Grass and brush are everywhere.

We tend to avoid the juniper areas that are overly grassy like the link below and look for country with more brush/browse at about the same elevation, but there is tons of this country and to my untrained eye, I don't see areas that look high/low on feed.

 

[Jeephunter]

What is the difference between pre-season scouting and looking for deer in season?

I have hunted small game and varmints in the Arizona desert from about the age of 10. My father has taken hundreds of Whitetail back east before we moved out here. We started to get into chasing big game in Arizona in my 20's.

We always knew western hunting would be different, but we may have been poisoned by early success. Both my brother and I took a deer on our first deer hunt hunting basically whitetail style at 8000ft on separate days/locations. My brothers deer had a respectable rack.

Since then its been a lot of unfilled tags. We have tried to adapt, but as you suggested, its been learn as we go, but with poor results.

Thanks,

 

[Cali4x4]

I agree with everything grey light has to say. With exception to the talk of other hunters. We all want a place to ourselves. But unless it is a limited tag or private you will usually see SOME hunters. Not alot of hunters but if no hunters are around there might be a reason like a lack of deer, bucks in particular.

Do not hunt together early in the AM . Spread out and be glassing different areas. Have one man "drives" while still hunting towards anothers glassing location for mid morning rendevous. Hunt all day. Glass in the evenings.

In the high country I look for the baren spots in a good looking area. They are areas browsed baren by deer coming a little out of cover and then retreating back at first light. Repeating LATE in the evening at dark.

 

[AZWALKER]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-06-10 AT 07:04PM (MST)[p]To be successful at hunting Mule deer in Arizona, it needs to be a year round affair. You need to know where the green up areas are. The areas, within a given area, that got the most rain.

Pick 4 units to put in for now and watch the weather patterns for the next 6 months. Watch the snow fall amounts in those units. This spring, go out and shed hunt those units and look at which areas got "greener" than others within those units. Before you put in, know exactly where you want to hunt first choice through fourth and apply accordingly. When the monsoons hit in July, start watching the radar in the unit you drew EVERDAY! You may need to adjust your plan a bit if you noticed lots of monsoon rain in areas that weren't green in the spring. Ideally, you want to find a spot that got lots of snow, spring rain and monsoon rain. Once you have that area find four more with the same qualities.

Now, come early August, you need to spend as muck time there as possible. You need to find the bucks in their summer pattern. They are more visible at that time and you'll get a good idea of what is in the area. While you're there, take long hikes into the nastiest places in the area you can find. When I say nasty I mean, you don't ever want to go back in there nasty. Thats where you'll be hunting, steep nasty thick country. Thats where the bucks will be.

Anyone can go out and stumble onto a buck every once in a while but to be consistant, you need to have a plan and be as at home in your area as you are in your own home.

Arizona is tough. There are thousands of acres that are roadless or have a few trails people only pass through a couple times a year. Sometimes to get into deer, you need to hike in a long way. The absolute biggest problem with that is water. For you not the deer. Theres a reason you don't hear about alot of guys hiking into areas in Arizona and staying out for a week at a time. You would need at least 7 gallons of water, at least! Thats 8 pounds per gallon. Do you want to try and hike 56 pounds plus your gear three miles into rough country! And thats just for you!!!! No way. Theres a way to do it that I have thought about for a long time but have yet to try. Get creative.

Or start hunting Coues deer.




"Don't feed me sh!t then try to convince me it tastes good."

 

[m_freeman]

JeepHunter check your PM inbox.

 

[OldMan]

The biggest difference between pre-season scouting and doing while hunting is that you don't want to be burning up hunting time trying to locate the deer. Great advice above.

 

[elkchaserreturns]

Hello Jeephunter,
Started my mule deer hunting here in AZ in 1968. Have had "my share" of success over the years. Moved to Grand Junction CO. in 1995 & returned to AZ in 2006. I didn't come back to AZ for the deer hunting!
All I can tell you is there are not near as many Mule Deer here in AZ as there was "back then". Lot's of opinions and theories as to why!?
All of the advice given here is valid and the only thing I might add is this:
AZG&F publishes unit by unit drawing results and "percent success" data every year. That info may help you decide where to put in in the future.
One final point to consider:
AZG&F stays funded by selling tags, they don't really give a flap if there are actually enough deer around to justify those tags.
If you don't believe me, go buy one of their "over the counter elk tags" and tell me how you do.
Good luck!

Elkchaser

 

[m_freeman]

you need to preseason scout to find the areas that actually hold the deer, read the published DFG reports. Put in for those units.

 

[nripepi]

Hunt in CO or WY to help develop your skills. Lots more deer there. Make sure you are hunting at first and last light, not hiking. Hike in the dark.

 

[jarheadhunter]

I don't live in AZ and I have never hunted Mule Deer there. I did go down last year though and did some predator hunting with my brother. I don't know if this is legal there or not during the hunt but, it would be a good way to help you locate some deer. While we were coyote hunting we had multiple nice four point bucks come into our distress calls. This was in January and they were with does when they came in. It was pretty crazy trying to call in some coyotes or bobcats and we got a herd of about 20 deer with 2 bucks in the group. They came within about 20yds from us. Then we went to a totally different area about 100 miles from there and the same thing happen. We were in just low desert country. Like I said I don't think it would be legal to do during your hunt but, if your just wanting to find where some bucks are it might be worth a shot. Plus coyote hunting is always a good time.