Mule Deer Bedding

[Elite7]

Guys,

I will be going on my first mule deer hunt in eastern Wyoming this fall and have started my research. I have gone through the county gis maps and have a good idea of what public land is accessible. My next phase of research is narrowing down certain pieces of public that I plan to spend some decent time checking out once I'm out there. I am looking for rugged terrain/ coulees that is remotely close to what i think would be feeding areas. My main question is how far are mule deer willing to travel from feeding area to bedding? Here in Missouri our whitetail are generally within a half mile or so. I am assuming a mule deer will have a larger range? If anyone is willing to share any other suggestions or tips to help me narrow down areas/ terrain, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thanks!

 

[Topgun 30-06]

They will not travel any further than they have to if they aren't pressured to bad. If you are going to be in an area that has private land with irrigated ag fields like alfalfa, they will hit them just like our whitetails back here. If there are bedding areas in the public land area near there, I'd be looking for their travel routes and be set up to glass as it gets daylight when they head for their bedding areas and in the last hour when they head back to the fields. The better bucks may not appear until late October when they start coming out early to check for estrus does. That's why I really concentrate on the last few days of October before the season ends where we hunt on 10/31 because the rut is just getting ready to start.

 

[Elite7]

Topgun,

I appreciate you taking the time to give me advice. Our plan is to be out early because it works best for my whitetail hunting here at home. I assume the bigger bucks are mainly nocturnal and become less closer to the rut and that is why they don't show up until the rut?

 

[antlerradar]

Top gun is mostly right. Most deer will not travel any farther than they have to. Older bucks will however travel farther and will often be more than a mile from alfalfa fields at first light and they often bed down shorty after light. Some older bucks never hit the fields and stay in the remote places up until the rut. When the rut starts most will travel to find the does in the fields. I have seen some that traveled five miles. Those buck can be hard to find with out the help of the rut. Bucks that hit the fields during the season rarely get any age if they have good genetics.

 

[Hoffmann]

Guys,

I will be going on my first mule deer hunt in eastern Wyoming this fall and have started my research. I have gone through the county gis maps and have a good idea of what public land is accessible. My next phase of research is narrowing down certain pieces of public that I plan to spend some decent time checking out once I'm out there. I am looking for rugged terrain/ coulees that is remotely close to what i think would be feeding areas. My main question is how far are mule deer willing to travel from feeding area to bedding? Here in Missouri our whitetail are generally within a half mile or so. I am assuming a mule deer will have a larger range? If anyone is willing to share any other suggestions or tips to help me narrow down areas/ terrain, I would greatly appreciate the help.

Thanks!

I'm in the same boat but i'll be hunting southern Wyoming. It sounds like we are using the same strategies and have the same ideas - if you aren't using google EARTH (not maps) I would highly recommend it. I've used it before but never to the extent that I'm discovering now.. you can get ground level views of the topography to guess where deer might hide, virtually sit on hill tops to see what glassing will be like in person at those areas, even measure shooting distance with the measurement tool. I'm looking for the roughest BLM country I can find amongst flat land and near water & ag fields. From what little I've gathered it sounds like hunting pressure in my area at least is less out on the BLM vs. up in the forest service. I've also found claims that mule deer stay within one mile of their feeding areas or water if possible, I think it really depends on the individual animal.

My overall goal right now is locating the most rugged country in the mainly flat BLM that is close to water and ag fields, but away from roads if possible. If the deer have prime real estate like that near feed & water and I CAN'T find them in it, worst case is I can sit on top and glass for miles around. they can't be that far.. God willing that will pan out! From one amateur to another - best of luck and take my ramblings for whatever they are worth! I'll keep my eye on this post for more qualified advice. I'd love to see what others say, looks like we already have some good info being shared.

 

[Poke 'Em]

Could be 1/2 mile. Could be 2 1/2 miles. I've seen deer do both regularly.

 

[Brian in Montana]

I've hunted both whitetail and mulies pretty extensively, the other posters are right, neither species will go any farther than they have to, but my impression is that mule deer will generally go farther. They are still a predictable animal when you get right down to it. Hunting them between bedding and feeding areas is the way to go, IMO. And I think evening is more productive than morning in terms of a general ambush in their patterns, but it's also true that in the rut bucks will be out cruising well into mid morning, sometimes alone just searching, sometimes harassing a hot doe.

I love elk, but hunting mulies in the rolling canyon country can be an enormous amount of fun. Good luck out there.

 

[Elite7]

I appreciate all of the advice. This is the information i was wanting regarding their travel distance. Thanks!

 

[the nikster]

I have hunted eastern Montana a couple of times. The area I hunted had several fields near the road system and these fields were covered with 2 points and flat heads last hour before dark. If you watched the fields right at sun up you saw the same deer and might assume no decent bucks were in the area. One night I got caught away from the truck as evening came on. It was at least 90 minutes after last light when I got to the truck.
I had to drive past /through the fields back to the landowners cabin. I was amazed at the deer I saw in the fields! In an effort to legally take a deer, I was back at 3 am to watch the field. When my eyes became accustomed I used my bins to search the fields and found some nice bucks as they were leaving the fields. I could follow them a bit with glass but eventually I would have to turn the truck on and use the headlights as I moved to another spot. I never was able to see the bucks again after turning the truck on. A few mornings later I hunted a coulee about 3 miles away at daybreak and watched a familiar buck bed down in an impossible spot. You would never guess he laid down where he did, almost right in the open! Totally unapproachable.
The next morning I was in his bed at daylight and he never showed.

 

[Hoffmann]

I have hunted eastern Montana a couple of times. The area I hunted had several fields near the road system and these fields were covered with 2 points and flat heads last hour before dark. If you watched the fields right at sun up you saw the same deer and might assume no decent bucks were in the area. One night I got caught away from the truck as evening came on. It was at least 90 minutes after last light when I got to the truck.
I had to drive past /through the fields back to the landowners cabin. I was amazed at the deer I saw in the fields! In an effort to legally take a deer, I was back at 3 am to watch the field. When my eyes became accustomed I used my bins to search the fields and found some nice bucks as they were leaving the fields. I could follow them a bit with glass but eventually I would have to turn the truck on and use the headlights as I moved to another spot. I never was able to see the bucks again after turning the truck on. A few mornings later I hunted a coulee about 3 miles away at daybreak and watched a familiar buck bed down in an impossible spot. You would never guess he laid down where he did, almost right in the open! Totally unapproachable.
The next morning I was in his bed at daylight and he never showed.

Useful story, I'll glass the open a little more carefully now.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Useful story, I'll glass the open a little more carefully now.

If anyone who hasn't hunted them much thinks they are dumb, they had better think again and that's all I'll say on that!

 

[jeremys4]

most mulies I watch feed all the way to their bed. Just grazing along the way. They have four chamber stomachs just like cows they chew the cud. Get out and glass that's the
Best way to hunt out west. Sometimes you get lucky and don't need much more that skill behind your weapon. I don't hunt behind ranches I hunt big rugged country more opportunities and less pressure that's were the smart deer are? Or stupid deer all depends good luck.