Montana Mule Deer Hunting:
Some hunters mistakenly think, "Deer hunting is just deer
hunting" - and they don't consider the vast differences between
Mule Deer Hunting and Whitetail Deer Hunting.
Communication with your pro Montana Mule Deer Hunting
Guide/Outfitter will help you know about the terrain in which
you will be hunting, what kind of camo to bring, temperature and
weather to plan for as well as hunting licenses, regulations and
draws. You will also want to have a clear understanding of
the accommodations, meals, transportation and hunting services
that will be provided on your Mule Deer Hunt. Be sure to make
prior arrangements for transporting your trophy Mule Deer back
home with you, as well as the meat.
Montana Mule Deer Hunting Techniques:
 Whitetail
Deer hunters are accustomed to still hunting from blinds or
stands over food plots, and some times Mule Deer are hunted
using these methods. But more often than not, Mule Deer
are hunted using the "Spot and Stalk" method. Some very
important things to consider are how physically challenging the
hunt might be and what special items you need to make sure you
bring. Here are just a few things to consider as you plan
a Mule Deer Hunt.
Be Physically Prepared for Your Mule Deer Hunt:
If you are used to still hunting, you will want to make sure you
are physically prepared for your Mule Deer hunt by getting in
the best possible shape you can. If you are accustomed to
flat land in low or moderate elevations, an all day hike in the
mountains can really be a challenge, and take a lot of the fun
out of it. The only things, other than exercise, you can
do to prepare for the altitude change is arrive early so your
body can get acclimated to the altitude, drink plenty of water,
stay hydrated, avoid caffeine and alcohol and also eat high-carb
foods. Signs of altitude sickness are headaches, loss of
appetite, fatigue, nausea or vomiting. Obviously, this
could be a kill-joy, but it is easily avoided by taking those
simple steps.
Get Mule Deer Fit: Hike for long distances with
your pack and in the boots you plan to wear. Walking for
20 minutes on a treadmill in an air conditioned spa in your
Nikes is not exactly going to cut it. Strength training is
important too. You don't have to join the gym, but start
by doing a moderate number of push-ups, sit-ups, lunges,
stretches, and dumbbell curls, chest flys, shoulder raises,
shoulder presses and pull-ups. These are basically the
same things you had to do in PE (perhaps a few years ago).
They still work. Start small, but gradually challenge
yourself. Pretty soon, you'll be in great shape and
enjoying all the fringe benefits, too. Oh yea, check with your
doctor before starting any exercise program.
Get The Right Mule Deer Gear: Because spot and
stalk is the most common method for Mule Deer Hunting, you will
want to make sure you have invested in premium binoculars like a
good pair of 8X40 or 10X50 roof prism binoculars with high
quality coated optics. Once you have located the mule
deer, switching to a good 20-45X spotting scope can give you a
better idea of the size mule deer and range you are looking at.
You will also want the most comfortable and highest quality
hunting boots AND socks you can buy. Do you homework and
don't skimp on these items. You'll be glad you did.
Hone Your Skills with Your Weapon of Choice: The
next important preparation in getting your skills with your
weapon in shape. If you plan to archery hunt for mule
deer, understand you will need a powerful bow capable of
shooting long distances accurately. Train those draw
muscles by target practicing often. Check with your Pro
Montana Mule Deer Hunting Guide about the type of arrows and
broadheads you will need to use. As for you rifle, prepare
for long distance shots. Mule Deer travel all through the
day and you may have to take shots that would normally be
considered out of range if you were whitetail hunting.
Practice at the firing range as often as you can. Remember
when you travel the chance of things getting out of order on
your gun or bow is very likely. Re-site your weapon and
practice at the Outfitter's target range before heading off on
your hunt. Another reason besides altitude change to
arrive early.
Patience & Staling during the Mule Deer Hunt:
Your pro Montana Mule Deer Hunting Guide/Outfitter should have
located the Mule Deer, or at least have a good idea about local
trails and habits of the herd, so pre-scouting should not be
required. Mule Deer, like their cousins the Whitetails,
have incredible vision, hearing, and sense of smell. If
you want to be successful on your hunt, you must address each
issue. To counter the Mule Deer's vision, wear the right
kind of camo for the area of the country you are hunting.
Check with the pro hunting guide about recommended camo patterns
and manufacturers. Also, plan your stalk from behind the
deer. If possible, with the sun at your back and in his
eyes. If the deer stands up to stretch or feed during the
stalk, then it may be necessary to stay motionless for a long
period of time.
Hunting Mule Deer in wide-open space requires a careful plan of
attack!
Next is the Mule Deer's incredible sense of smell. NO
SMOKING. And drinking alcohol in excess is not a good
plan. The smell of it will be in your skin the next
morning. Use fragrance free soaps, detergents, shampoos,
deodorants. Avoid smelly foods like bacon and coffee.
Take a big garbage bag with you and put your hunting clothes in
the bag over night with a little of the local dirt in the bag.
Lastly, plan your stalk downwind. It only takes one sniff
of something out of place to send them bouncing off into the
next county.
"My, what big ears you have!" My first thought when I
saw a Mule Deer for the first time. They are big for a
reason! Mule Deer have amazing hearing. You will
have to be very stealth during your stalk. I have seen
hunters remove their boots and stalk closer in just their socks
to be extra quiet and get a better shot.
In conclusion, spot and stalk Mule Deer hunting may be more
challenging than you first considered, but with careful planning
and preparation, you'll be in store for an exciting hunting
adventure you'll want to repeat year after year. And if
you don't come away with a big rack, you are sure to enjoy to
delicious flavor of the mule deer meat.
More about Mule Deer:
There are 2 major subspecies: the
Mule Deer, with tail white above, tipped with black; and the
Black-tailed Deer, with tail black or brown above.
The Cervidae Family includes deer and their allies, including moose,
elk, and caribou. Member of this family occupy a wide range of
habitats, from arctic tundras to tropical forests, and can be found
over most of the world. All have slender legs. Most are brown or
gray in color, with white spots characterizing the young, and in a
few species, the adults. In all but one genus of cervids, at least
the males have antlers.
Comparisons - The Mule Deer, while closely related to the eastern species-the
white-tailed deer, are remarkably distinct in their biological,
ecological, and behavioral attributes.
The Mule Deer carries its thin, black-tipped tail drooped, unlike
the uplifted, bushy white tail of its cousin. They have a distinctly
different gait from the leisurely, graceful leaps of the white-tail.
When startled, a Mule Deer will move in a series of stiff-legged
jumps with all four feet hitting the ground together.
Mule Deer are usually a dark gray-brown, with a small white rump
patch and a small, black-tipped tail. Their large ears are
distinctive. White-tail deer are tan in color, with a larger tail.
Mule Deer antlers are normally smaller and branch to form 2 equal
forks, while the male White-tailed Deer has forward curving antlers
with a number of points (tines) branching from the main beam.
Mule Deer Physical Description - Mule Deer have large ears that move constantly and independently,
from whence they get their name, "Mule" or "Burro Deer." They do not
run as other deer, but have a peculiar and distinctive bounding leap
(stotting) over distances up to 8 yards, with all 4 feet coming down
together. In this fashion, they can reach a speed of 45 m.p.h. for
short periods.
This stocky deer with sturdy legs is 4 to 6-1/2 feet in length and 3
to 3-1/2 feet high at the shoulder. During the summer, the coat on
its upper body is yellow- or reddish-brown, while in winter more
gray. The throat patch, rump patch, inside ears and inside legs are
white with lower portions running cream to tan. A dark V-shaped
mark, extending from a point between the eyes upward and laterally
is characteristic of all Mule Deer but is more conspicuous in males.
Males are larger than females. The bucks' antlers, which start
growth in spring and are shed around December each year, are high
and branch forward, forking equally into 2 tines with a spread up to
4 feet.
The Mule Deer is slower and less colorful than the White-tailed
Deer, but its pastel, gray-buff color provides a physical adaptation
to the desert environment which disguises it from predators like the
Cougar, the Coyote and the eagle who will swoop down on a fawn.
Mule Deer have no canine teeth and, like the cow, have a multi-part
stomach, the first two chambers of which act as temporary storage
bins. Food stored here can be digested later when the deer chews its
cud.
Mule Deer Vocalization - Deer are not especially vocal, although young fawns bleat on
occasion. Injured deer utter a startlingly loud "blatt" or bawl.
Tail - The tail is usually tipped in black with a white basal portion, and
its under parts are white.
Ears - The Mule Deer large ear is gray on the outside and white on the
inside.
Mule Deer Feet - Another physical adaptation, its larger feet, allows the Mule Deer
to claw out water as much as two feet deep, which it detects with
its keen sense of smell.
Mule Deer Behavior - Seasonal movements involving migrations from higher elevations
(summer ranges) to lower winter ranges are associated, in part, with
decreasing temperatures, severe snowstorms, and snow depths that
reduce mobility and food supply. Deep snows ultimately limit useable
range to a fraction of the total. Mule Deer in the arid southwest
may migrate in response to rainfall patterns.
When startled, a Mule Deer will move in a series of stiff-legged
jumps with all four feet hitting the ground together. This gait
offers two advantages: it allows the deer to out-distance predators
in rough terrain, and to see above the thick brush. If necessary,
they can turn or completely reverse direction in the course of a
single bound.
Mule Deer are active primarily in mornings, evenings and moonlit
nights. This inactivity during the heat of the day is a behavioral
adaptation to the desert environment that conserves water and keeps
the body temperature within livable limits. Sweat glands and panting
also provide evaporative cooling during hot periods.
During the middle of the day, the Mule Deer beds down in a cool,
secluded place. The mature buck seems to prefer rocky ridges for
bedding grounds, while the doe and fawn is more likely to bed down
in the open.
Mule Deer Habitat - Mule Deer moves between various zones from the forest edges at
higher elevations to the desert floor, depending on the season.
While the Mule Deer occupies almost all types of habitat within its
range, it seems to prefer arid, open areas and rocky hillsides.
Mule Deer Diet - Food of the Mule Deer is quite varied. In Spring and Summer it feeds
on green leaves, herbs, weeds and grasses more than on browse
species. The reverse is true in Fall and Winter.
Mule Deer are browsers and eat a great variety of vegetable matter,
including fresh green leaves, twigs, lower branches of trees, and
various grasses. They are particularly fond of blackberry and
raspberry vines, grapes, mistletoe, mushrooms and ferns. They eat so
carefully they can even consume the fruit of cactus.
Breeding - The mating season for Mule Deer reaches its peak in November and
December, as antlered stags round up females and fight for their
possession. Antlers are shed after the breeding season, from
mid-January to about mid-April. Most mature bucks in good condition
have lost theirs by the end of February; immature bucks generally
lose them a little later. Males and females mix freely while
traveling together in groups during winter months, often down to the
desert floor.
Dominance is largely a function of size, with the largest males,
which possess the largest antlers, performing most of the
copulations
Mule Deer breed in late November and early December. A buck will
find a suitable doe and they will often play chase games at
breakneck speeds before mating. They will remain together for
several days.
When antlers start growing again in the spring, the group breaks up.
The females go off by themselves and eventually give birth and nurse
their young; the males wander in friendly twosomes or small bands
throughout the summer months as antlers grow.
From April through June, after about a 200-day gestation period, the
doe delivers 1 to 4 young (normally 2). Fawns are born in late May
or early June. A doe will usually produce a single fawn the first
year she gives birth and then produce twins in following years. The
fawn, colored reddish with white spots, weighs about 6 pounds at
birth. It must nurse within the first hour and stand within the
first 12 hours. During early weeks of life, the fawn sees its mother
only at mealtimes for feeding. Spots begin to fade by the end of the
first month.. They have white camouflage spots and are further
protected by having little or no scent. Fawns usually stay with the
doe for the first full year.
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