PEAX Equipment

Mule Deer Units

freu1chr

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 5, 2018
Messages
157
Location
Jordan, Minnesota
Being new to western hunting and applying for units or deciding which unit to go to with a general tag. how do you guys decide what unit you are going to apply for or which unit you will bunt with your general tag? It seems like every area i look at will be good but i am worried that i will pick the wrong area and waste points and a hunt. I am just looking for some tips that you guys look for when selecting an area.
 
Access, habitat, roadless areas, and the health of the population are a few things to consider.
 
I also look at how close the unit is to where I live. There are far better units on the other side of the state that are hours away, but the fact I can be hunting within 30 minutes allows for ALOT more time in the field to learn the area and know where the deer are at. It didn’t make sense to me to drive past 180” deer 30min from home for a 185” deer 6 hours away. I figure I am better off with the harder hunt closer to home that I can do every day after work if desired.

Having said that, I am fortunate to live in a state where every single deer unit can produce a 180”+ mule deer, but you have to work much harder in some units than others.
 
If your coming from MN and haven't hunted muleys before I'd highly recommend SE MT during the rut. Its a really fun hunt as you've probably seen on Randys episodes and you'll have opportunity. Work hard enough and youll find a 150" buck, over that is going to be tough though. Once you hit that 150" mark and have a feel for it you'll be better set for some harder hunts with higher trophy potential.
 
After you pick a region show up a couple days early before season starts. Cruise around at dusk/dawn covering a lot of ground while doing some scouting on foot during the day on areas that are worthy of a closer look. You should be able to narrow your focus down quite a bit by doing that.
 
It depends on what type of animal I want to hunt , a big horned deer or a deer. I have spent many years hunting both but now I just go where I can see a lot of deer. Look at the odds of drawing and success rates to help in your decision.
 
Go hunt insider is amazing. Has every units: draw odds, trophy potential, access points, terrain, and little tid bits about every unit. Worth the 150 per year in my opinion. Also if you get a general deer licence in montana you can hunt multiple units and whitetails if you stumble into one.
 
Keep in mind that everyone and their monkey has GoHunt Insider. There is good data there, no doubt about it, but everyone is reading it. If it looks like the best unit, it will be overrun come hunting season. There are dozens of similar schemes out there to tell you (and everyone else) where the best bucks are. Probably the way to do it is pick the top ten units in a given state, throw those out, then start looking for a place to hunt. It used to be that it took a few magazine articles or television episodes to really destroy a unit, like the Kaibab Plateau, the Henry Mountains, the Flattops, or the Missouri Breaks. Now it gets done a lot quicker.
 
how many people do you suppose just apply based on strategy articles..
 
Keep in mind that everyone and their monkey has GoHunt Insider. There is good data there, no doubt about it, but everyone is reading it. If it looks like the best unit, it will be overrun come hunting season. There are dozens of similar schemes out there to tell you (and everyone else) where the best bucks are. Probably the way to do it is pick the top ten units in a given state, throw those out, then start looking for a place to hunt. It used to be that it took a few magazine articles or television episodes to really destroy a unit, like the Kaibab Plateau, the Henry Mountains, the Flattops, or the Missouri Breaks. Now it gets done a lot quicker.

Kind of depressing, really. I was thinking about it as a non resident who travels out of state based off quality information on line, what if my local deer hunting wilderness grounds got featured on a media platform? Luckily for me I dont see that happening to my zone anytime soon in California for obvious reasons. I only have to hike in a couple of short miles and I have an entire wilderness to my self 99% of the time during deer season. I would be utterly devastated if one year it was crawling with newbs because of an article. Now if there were newbs out exploring off their own hard research and blisters I wouldnt be bothered because I know how long and hard I worked to find an area without help from the likes of Gohunt.
 
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