Wyoming Mule Deer-Backpack or Carcamp?

[Stucktexan]

Some friends and I are planning a mule deer hunt in northern Wyoming and would ideally like to go around mid October time frame. We’re equipped for both backpack hunting and car camping with day trips out but am curious which one is better suited to mule deer around this time.

Will the deer still be in the high country and we’ll have to backpack into the mountains or will the deer have come down in elevation quite a bit allowing us to car camp and day trip out in the morning and hike a few miles glassing?

thanks for any help, never hunted mule deer before.

 

[WyoDoug]

For mule deer you will probably want to base camp and then hike in. Otherwise, at least to my experience, what you see is does and whitetails and muley does are not legal yet. I usually do a basecamp, then drive to a start point and hike from there.

 

[oxn939]

Some friends and I are planning a mule deer hunt in northern Wyoming and would ideally like to go around mid October time frame. We’re equipped for both backpack hunting and car camping with day trips out but am curious which one is better suited to mule deer around this time.

Will the deer still be in the high country and we’ll have to backpack into the mountains or will the deer have come down in elevation quite a bit allowing us to car camp and day trip out in the morning and hike a few miles glassing?

thanks for any help, never hunted mule deer before.

If you can find accommodations close to your hunt area, it's nice to have somewhere to unwind at the end of the day. I'll camp at a trailhead if it would be an hour or more drive every morning, but otherwise, I stay somewhere. Planning to stay in a hostel this fall in WY if I draw.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

For mule deer you will probably want to base camp and then hike in. Otherwise, at least to my experience, what you see is does and whitetails and muley does are not legal yet. I usually do a basecamp, then drive to a start point and hike from there.

So when you go backpack hunting in October you see whitetail and mule deer does? And what do you mean by “yet”?

 

[EYJONAS!]

I've always wondered ....... who is this Doug

Especially after the "hunting spring berries" for bears comment.

 

[WyoDoug]

Muley does are not legal to hunt yet. Wyoming had a major winter kill followed by CWD and other issues causing a major die-off with muleys. It didn't seem to affect whitetails as much. I am hoping the population comes up soon because with deer, I prefer to hunt the does over bucks due to quality of the meat.

Reason why I say you are likely to see more whitetails especially if you are close to water sources. Muleys tend to get a lot of their water via food they eat so they venture out further. Because the muley bucks are hunted and not muley does, you are likely to see the does as far as mule deer are concerned. The muley does have not been shot at in some time and I think they kinda got that figured out. My experience is the muley bucks tend to find sanctuary to bed and feed in and that area is hard to approach undetected. However, where you find groups of does, the buck is somewhere in the vicinity.

Last 4 point muley I shot in Wyoming was in 2014 in the area around Kenneday Peak area east of Saratoga. I found him in some black timber with old blow down that made me work at getting him out. Since then I have taken whitetail does mostly. Especially in the southeast section of Wyoming where I live, I see more muley does by far than bucks.

 

[madtom]

Now I get it.

 

[WyoDoug]

I've always wondered ....... who is this Doug

Especially after the "hunting spring berries" for bears comment.

So what you mean by this? Do I know you? I am me. What do you want to know?

Comment refers to bears eating more grasses, leaves and what berries are available in May when the season opens up along with grubs, mushrooms and what they can dig up. If you do your research there are spring berries available in May.

 

[EYJONAS!]

I guess I should research more

 

[MTLabrador]

I guess I should research more

You’re not alone, I see a distinct lack of berries in May.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

I could tell you the common and scientific name of probably every plant the bears I watched all spring we’re eating, and not one of them produces a berry.
If I didn’t know one I’d pm @1_pointer for the assist, and @Mthuntr could tell us what % clay is in the B horizon.

Aaaaanyway, so what kid of habitats are we talking about in northern WY? Probably no need to backpack unless you want to.

 

[EYJONAS!]

I could tell you the common and scientific name of probably every plant the bears I watched all spring we’re eating, and not one of them produces a berry.
If I didn’t know one I’d pm @1_pointer for the assist, and @Mthuntr could tell us what % clay is in the B horizon.

Aaaaanyway, so what kid of habitats are we talking about in northern WY? Probably no need to backpack unless you want to.

If that ain't a mic drop.........

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Well the west ain’t the south, maybe they have berries in Cheyenne that throw fruit in April.

 

[BuzzH]

Any berries available to bears in Wyoming in May are going to be residual from the year before, freeze dried, sun dried, and be about like eating gravel...probably about the same caloric value as well.

I try to cut WyoDoug some slack...as difficult as that is at times.

Carry on.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Any berries available to bears in Wyoming in May are going to be residual from the year before, freeze dried, sun dried, and be about like eating gravel...probably about the same caloric value as well.

I try to cut WyoDoug some slack...as difficult as that is at times.

Carry on.

In the spirit of camaraderie, I do like ya @WyoDoug, I was just genuinely confused on the doe and species recommendations. Now we just need some guidance from the OP on where in N Wyoming we might me talking about.

 

[WyoDoug]

In the spirit of camaraderie, I do like ya @WyoDoug, I was just genuinely confused on the doe and species recommendations. Now we just need some guidance from the OP on where in N Wyoming we might me talking about.

The area I am looking at for this year IF I draw additional doe/fawn type 3 tags is area 66, mainly as a meat hunt. Yeah I know, heavy hunting pressure but I like to set up before dawn and let other hunters do some of my work for me. I try to anticipate where the deer are going to move to when the orange hats start driving their ATVs and trucks around and shooting starts. I have been seeing whitetails when it came to bucks but not muley bucks. I have been seeing mostly muley does but some whitetails. Muley does are all over the place in just about every area in Wyoming that I know of, just not legal to hunt yet. I am hunting on a general tag for area 135. My last few trips to that area over the last five years, I have seen more whitetail than mulies, again except the does I am seeing both species. I know muley bucks are in the area but have not seen any yet. I have also hunted the southeast corner of Wyoming since 2004 (I live in Cheyenne) and see a lot more whitetail bucks than mulies. There are certainly areas that produce more muley bucks that I haven't hunted yet and would love to find out about them. And if Wyoming opens up muley does, I will be going for them. I will say I saw a nice 4 pt muley buck walk down the alley behind my house last year.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Doug, are you saying there are zero mule deer doe tags available in all of Wyoming this year?

 

[Pucky Freak]

 

[Pucky Freak]

OP...if we haven’t scared you off yet, feel free to repost your question in the backpack hunting section

 

[justinch]

Depending on where exactly you are going, you'll probably encounter plenty of roads/trails that'll make an all out backpack trip unnecessary. I've done it both ways, and there are pros and cons to both. I'd start with day trips if you don't mind the walking. Maybe you'll end up finding a spot that would benefit from an overnight stay rather than a long walk in the morning. That's usually what happened for me. Find a good vantage point to camp near so you can save yourself the walk in. Sometimes you'll find deer down low in the morning and there wouldn't be a good way to approach in the dark so a camp up high is advantageous.