Still Hunting Mule Deer in the Mountain West?

[AntelopeEater]

Do any of you still hunt for mule deer in the Western Mountains? Like Nevada, Utah, etc.?

From what I gather, it seems mule deer hunting in real life in places like Nevada and Utah seems to involve most hunters spending most of their time on or near roads, glassing, glassing, glassing, glassing for hours and hours.

Problem is, I don't find glassing fun. I like hiking and exploring on foot though.

Plus, outside the rut when the vast majority of hunts that don't take a bazillion points or extreme luck to draw occur, on a typical sunny day the mule deer are usually only active around sunset and sunrise.

On an early September day during muzzle loader season, this means about 10ish hours of the 12ish hours of light are kind of not that useful, at least for someone who gets too bored trying to glass without any deer to watch.

Anyone actually have success quietly walking thru stands of aspens or other trees/brush mid-day "still-hunting" for deer in their bedding areas?

Besides being slow and as quiet as possible, and always keeping wind in the face or up to 90 degrees from the side, and ideally having the sun at one's back as well, any other tips on how to do it successfully?

 

[AntelopeEater]

Oh, and avoiding sky-lining oneself when going over or along ridges, anything else?

 

[Reporchie]

As a youth, we would still hunt thick stuff and I saw one legal buck over 5+ hunt… convinced me to like glassing real quick. Switched to primarily glassing/spot and stalk and went 4 for 6. I’ve always been a fan of glassing in the mornings and still hunting in the evenings. The active period in the evening is just so small that even if I saw something my only move would be to wait until morning. But hiking helps break the monotony and feels more valuable to spend the evenings that way.

 

[Cornell Cowboy]

I think in general mule deer densities in most areas are too low to support that style of hunting. You need to cover too much ground and you can't do that at still hunting speed, but you can sitting behind glass. I'm not saying there's no scenario where it might work, I just think it's a low odds play. I did it all the time with whitetails back east and I think it works pretty well for elk when you know where they bedded, but mule deer just don't pattern that well and aren't concentrated enough. Just my opinion...

 

[Moserkr]

I still hunted MT and now Im back in CA and still hunt here. You are doing it right, just watch your step and stay in the shadows.

 

[Caseknife]

Pretty much all I do is still hunt, carry binos, but rarely do I carry a spotter.

 

[Matthew57]

There’s good places for that strategy in my state. I don’t do it a ton, but it can work.

 

[nrpate05]

Still hunting thick timber is tough, but I've had success moving between smaller scale broken country. Basically a move and glass strategy. You don't sit in one area very long, but pick a few areas to hit during the day and move slowly between them glassing along the way.

 

[AntelopeEater]

Still hunting thick timber is tough, but I've had success moving between smaller scale broken country. Basically a move and glass strategy. You don't sit in one area very long, but pick a few areas to hit during the day and move slowly between them glassing along the way.

That sounds great, less boring than sitting in the same area all day, but also less taxing than moving through brush all day long, kind of a hybrid mix between the two styles, I like it.

 

[BOHNTR]

Still hunting aspen/conifer landscapes is one my favorite ways to kill a mule deer with a bow.

 

[ovis2]

A time and a place for everything. Yes, mule deer hunting is often glass and stalk, but in some situations still hunting the timber heads of drainages, big or small, can be surprisingly productive. But you do have to move painfully slow and see every stick an twig. It can actually be a lot of fun.