Archery mule deer

[TrailDog]

Glassed up some alpine monsters the other day at work, NWest Montana. I was able to stalk to within 50 yards of these two bucks bedded on a ridge before my dog blew up the scene...pretty exciting day at the office to say the least! I think I'm going to switch plans next week and try and chase these deer down with my bow...it'll be my first time chasing mountain mulies with a bow...any advice? Put them to bed in the morning and then make a stalk?

 

[Titan_Bow]

It's tough for sure, I just spent a week in Colorado chasing them. I got 4 stalks and saw 14 bucks in total, 12 of which were 2.5 year olds or better. Glassing them until they bed is generally the best approach, but they do tend to get up after that initial bed, usually to resituate as the sun moves shadows around.
If you have the time to watch a group of bucks enough to know their escape routes, where they tend to feed, etc. getting in close and waiting them out until they get up to feed can be a good tactic. I usually don't have the patience to do that, so I tend to stalk into them and bust them out LOL

A couple of the bucks I unsuccessfully stalked this week LOL. Got within 50 yards or so both times. On one stalk, I knew I was close, just couldnt see him, he was bedded inside a thick clump of krummholz. I was probably 40 yards above him and it was STEEP. I moved to try and see down into the trees and my foot slipped on loose rocks and all I heard was his hooves as he bound out of there. Like I said, it can feel like an exercise in futility, but if you stay at it long enough, you'll eventually have the stars align.