Thanks Mattfish7
2. Find some good vantage points to spend lots of hours glassing with binos and spotting scope. (assuming you have decent glass)
3. Once you locate a buck you are interested in, watch him and make sure he is in his bed for good. They usually switch beds around mid morning when the sun hits them.
4. If he is in a stalkable location have a ton of patience and move very slow the last hundred yards or so. I take my boots off and wear two pairs of socks.
5. When you get to a buck without blowing him out, once again have a ton of patience and let him stand on his own.
6. Let er rip!
X2 on Dwight Schuh's mule deer book, but without the book, a few things can help you with spot and stalk muley bowhunting...especially for open country in high alpine environments.
First...hunt in areas with good bucks...spend time researching areas that produce good bucks...by using state game agency harvest reports and P&Y record book entries. This will help narrow down where you want to apply and do your field scouting.
If possible scout it out before your hunt...I know travel makes that hard sometimes when the hunting area can be hundreds of miles from your home...but worn boot leather will pay big dividends when your hunt actually begins. Sometimes your first hunt into an area is the "scouting trip."
Consider backpacking into remote areas and wilderness areas for two reasons. Separate yourself from other road/truck/ATV hunters, and put yourself where you need to be at first light in order to spot the bucks first...before they see you hiking in. It will save you commuting time and physical wear and tear...plus backpacking in will put you in some breath-taking areas and you will have this area to yourself in most cases.
Once you have a good buck you are willing to stalk, watch him until late morning or even noon...until he is "hard" bedded for the afternoon. Usually in a shady spot...like the stripe of shade from a single tree...or a boulder...or simply tall brush. By this time the wind will have stabilized (in most cases) and the thermals will have finished any drastic changes in direction uphill or down. The buck will hopefully be sleeping by this time...or at least chewing his cud and about to enter the slar-phase (from Cone Heads, sorry).
Take good and I mean really good land marks to the site you hope to shoot from and make your way there slowly and quietly...and check the wind using a windicator powder often. Be prepared for the buck to stand and reposition himself from time to time...as the sun angle moves or he gets uncomfortable. Freeze when this happens and let him lay back down.
Once you are within 50 yards, stop, get in position and consider shooting from there...but only after the buck stands on his own accord. Don't rush the end game...and don't spook the deer by throwing rocks, etc.
If 50 yard shooting is a challenge...then get closer...but keep in mind...the closer you get, the more likely you will be smelled, heard, or spotted by your quarry.
Finally, don't rush the shot...wait for the perfect angle and make it count. That's what puts good muleys on the ground for the "happy hunter" photo.
Good luck on your hunt...and send me a PM with a photo when you get the job done!
--Jim
Move like a predator...which you are. My personal best mulie stalk incorporated all the advice the previous gents posted...covered a lot of ground, took several hours, and got to 20 yards. That was one of my most rewarding hunts. I love hunting mulies, but can't hump the mountains any more.
We could not see the bucks that I knew were there as we approached the spot. At around the 50 yard mark I really had to approach them super slow to be able to spot them before they spotted us and as I would stop often to search, or as I would say, peal the ground back, my friend was starting to think I was crazy and getting very impatient. Then he just shouted out loud, (We are never going to see anything going this slow!) That's when two huge bucks stood up out of their beds at 30 yards and look straight at us before bouncing off.
Thanks Mattfish7
Not saying It can't be done or that people don't do it, I just see much More opportunity with lots of glassing and stalking. Plus it's way more fun!! (IMO)
You can expect most stalks to not work out for a multitude of reasons. They win most of the time.
Personally, if I sneak up on a mule deer and get within 100 yards, I look at that day as success just based on how it feels to get that close. It's all about the chase.
Spot and stalk mule deer hunting in open country is one of the most lengthy sustained adrenaline rushes you'll ever have. Take the few seconds of hunting euphoria you have when a buck comes into view 80 yards away in a tree stand till he leaves or you shoot him and spread that over a few hours. There's nothing like it.
Thanks Matt
Thanks Matt
They will be in the general area unless they get bumped out, just have to glass a lot.
One of my biggest hunting woulda/coulda/shoulda happened on a big 4 pt muley on my first hunt.
I spotted him across a drainage, down from the lip of a plateau, bedded in front of a bush. I had a little less than 2 hours of daylight left, and the wind was right for a stalk.
However, I had to descend 750 feet, then climb 2000 feet to get above him. I thought if I pushed it to the max, I could have made it to the area where he was with some daylight.
I decided to play it safe and back off. I spent the next 4 days looking for that buck, and never found him again.
I practice-stalked a mulie doe bedded in the same position about 4 days after I saw the buck, and it was a very stalkable place.
Oh how I wish I had tried and pushed it that night :)
Bake
Mattfish7
Use your binoculars and spot the buck bedded or a reference that you've burned into your brain to know you are close. Keep alert for other bedded deer or what I like to call "bogeys" and wait for the thermals as stated before me.
Since we have some talent on this thread, any strategys for last day or 9th inning to push a deer or ambush a deer that someone has used with some consistance? On some high country nevada hunts we have may have hunters on escape routes while the primary goes in for bedded approach. I had a 30" buck headed up my trail on this scenario one time but a little fork in front had me thinking I needed more cover, I moved to the next rock up anticpating a 15 yard shot as they approach my trail and I rattled the string nocked broadhead on the rock in front of me trying to watch my footing and the brute blew off my trail on his final 80 yard approch! LOTS OF FUN EVEN WHEN YOU SCREW IT UP...
Also once you have a buck bedded down, really really pay close attention to where exactly he is. Once you get around and above them, you can totally loose where you thought they where. Take photos from your glassing position, use landmarks, use your gps everything to get you right on top of it so you know exactly where they are 'before' you start your final approach.
Buy a "hamskea" 3rd axis level and make sure it is set before you go out and are faced with a steep 50 yard shot.
Mattfish7
MikeC
My best, Paul
Sometimes you have all day, sometimes they'll get up and move for no reason whatsoever. That's why you shouldn't dawdle, but a stalk does you no good if you blow the deer out at 100 yards.
Make sure you take a leak when you are still several hundred yards out. You have no idea how long you'll sit on the bedded deer and it's not very convenient to pee when you are.
I'll also recommend Dwight Schuh's book. Great read and applicable to so many different situations.
Water/blinds can work, but I think would be much more effective in an agricultural setting where you have a defined crossing point.
Once you're set up on the deer as it's bedded, nock and arrow and pay attention to the wind as Paul stated. Be ready to get out of there in a hell of a hurry. Deer that see you/don't smell you won't necessarily blow clear out of the country like a deer will that got a noseful of you at 40 yards.
