Nebraska Mule Deer

Thecabinandthecottage · Feb 22, 2017

Hi everyone!

I am planning my first Mule deer hunt for the fall of 2017. I am a Wisconsin resident and love hunting whitetails but this will be my first experience hunting Mule deer.

I have been concentrating on Nebraska because I have customers in the state and have to travel down there a few times a quarter on business. I'm hoping to extend a few of those business trips to do some scouting this summer.

Currently I am planning on going out the first week of September for an archery hunt. I have been focusing on the Mule deer conservation areas in the southwest corner of the state.

For my first Mule deer hunt I am not concerned about trophy potential as much as "being in the game"
So to speak and getting is few encounters that at least get the heart rate going!

With the background out of the way here are some questions I am looking for advice on:

1. Anyone have an experience with any of the public access land around these areas?
2. Is there enough public land in the area to strictly hunt public or should I focus on getting private land access?
3. Is it better to put in miles driving to spot the animals or should we plan on hiking a long way in to get away from roads and other human activity?
4. Is scouting the area in late June going to provide us with useful information or should we try to plan a scouting trip in July or August?

Sorry for the long winded first post and thank you in advance for any information you provide!

WestNDMuleys · Feb 23, 2017

It could be different in that area, but I have certainly had the best of luck hiking in to get away from hunters vs. driving around looking for animals. Whichever you prefer though.

trophyhunter · Feb 23, 2017

Don't know anything about the habitat you will be hunting....if your going to archery hunt invest in some scent-lok gear, Scent Killer Spray wash cloths in descenting laundry products, bag them, spray pack and gear to de-scent as much as possible. Same when choosing daily snacks etc....scent on your breath ...busted....stay quiet when walking its not about how much country you cover...its about how you cover/hunt it.....if its hot find water....well used trails......I am sure hunting back there will be much different than how we hunt out here in the west.....much flatter and more cover....good luck let us know how your hunt turns out...

littlebull209338 · Feb 23, 2017

I hunt Nebraska for turkeys and deer and live in Colorado. Much of the good mule deer property in SW NE is private and the numbers of mule deer is way down from what it was a few years ago. If I were going for mule deer in NE I would look more toward the sand hills. The numbers are far greater and with a little work you can find very good properties. I have paid trespass fees which are very reasonable and have had good luck. My best experience has come from hunting with SNAKE RIVER CONNECTION, the Sasse family out of Gordon NE. They are great people and I had 100% success. Their hunts are all guided. Hunting with them is like hunting with good friends. You stay at the ranch and the food is really very good.

ICMDEER · Feb 23, 2017

Good advice from the others. There's not much for remote country there so I'd either drive or glass. The deer may very well be in the corn during that time so hunting could be tough. You just won't see them. You might be better served to go later in the archery season - after the corn is out.

There's not much public ground there and even the private parcels are not often in big chunks; often scattered in smaller parcels. You'll likely need access to private land to be successful.

The biggest pubic area near there is the Crescent Lake NWR. You could consider that.

Best of luck.

Thecabinandthecottage · Feb 23, 2017

Thanks everyone! Great information so far! I will have to look into the Sandhills a little more. I started focusing on the SW corner because that is where harvest data suggested...but perhaps many of those deer were/are in private property.

A couple more questions I have after reading the responses and thinking more about the time of year...
If we do go early, I'm starting to think being away from any corn would be the best which may mean the Sandhills? I've never been through the Sandhills so I really don't know a ton about that area of the state.

What does everyone use for bug spray/elimination early in the year? Especially considering scent control...

How many days should we plan for the hunt? Would we be better served to use the first few days just locating animals and then making game plans? Or if we leave care an animal should we go after them the same day because they could have moved to a different area a couple days later?

DW · Feb 23, 2017

The Sandhills are high desert, I wouldn't sweat the bugs to much.

prizes14 · Mar 2, 2017

I'm a Nebraska resident and posted a similar reply to another thread about Nebraska muzzleloading on some decent public land places to hunt in Nebraska. Don't plan on shooting anything too big though. If you are looking for a big mulie, the south western part of the state around McCook is the place to go but there are very few public places to hunt.

Don't worry about bugs or scent. I hunt both mulie and whitetail from a tree stand and always pee out of my stand, eat food, etc and the deer still walk within 2 yards of me. As far as i'm concerned, all this scent elimination stuff is just a marketing ploy to get people to waste money. Maybe the deer I hunt just don't have a sense of smell.

Nebraskahunter · Mar 10, 2017

>The Sandhills are high desert, I
>wouldn't sweat the bugs to
>much.

I'd be more worried about rattlesnakes than bugs. The Sandhills are big country, a lot of walking with low deer density.

Nebraskahunter · Mar 10, 2017

>Hi everyone!
>
>I am planning my first Mule
>deer hunt for the fall
>of 2017. I am
>a Wisconsin resident and love
>hunting whitetails but this will
>be my first experience hunting
>Mule deer.
>
>I have been concentrating on Nebraska
>because I have customers in
>the state and have to
>travel down there a few
>times a quarter on
>business. I'm hoping to extend
>a few of those business
>trips to do some scouting
>this summer.
>
>Currently I am planning on going
>out the first week of
>September for an archery hunt.
> I have been focusing
>on the Mule deer conservation
>areas in the southwest corner
>of the state.
>
>For my first Mule deer hunt
>I am not concerned about
>trophy potential as much as
>"being in the game"
>So to speak and getting is
>few encounters that at least
>get the heart rate going!
>
>
>With the background out of the
>way here are some questions
>I am looking for advice
>on:
>
>1. Anyone have an experience with
>any of the public access
>land around these areas?
>2. Is there enough public
>land in the area to
>strictly hunt public or should
>I focus on getting private
>land access?
>3. Is it better to
>put in miles driving to
>spot the animals or should
>we plan on hiking a
>long way in to get
>away from roads and other
>human activity?
>4. Is scouting the area
>in late June going to
>provide us with useful information
>or should we try to
>plan a scouting trip in
>July or August?
>
>Sorry for the long winded first
>post and thank you in
>advance for any information you
>provide!

The southwest corner of state is mostly private. If you plan to hunt with a firearm during rifle or black powder it's a draw tag, and I believe it takes 2 NR points to draw that area. I would look into large blocks of public in different areas of the state that you can get away from the roads. The public land hunting in Nebraska for anything older than 3 years is tough. Good luck....