Early October Mule Deer

[ganngus]

Anyone with an experience hunting mule deer in early October? If so, can you recommend any potential resources to do my own research? I am looking for resources to help narrow potential e-scouting, but most resources I seem to find focus on high country deer in August/Sept and rut activity in late seasons.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[brn2hnt]

Robby’s book. It’s so good when I thought I had lost my copy I bought another.

It’s got a lot of stuff you don’t wanna hear, but it’s solid gold.


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[scfreeman66]

Robby’s book. It’s so good when I thought I had lost my copy I bought another.

It’s got a lot of stuff you don’t wanna hear, but it’s solid gold.


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I'm interested, what book is it that you are referring to?

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[realunlucky]

I'm interested, what book is it that you are referring to?

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Here's Robby's book

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[Gear-Reviewer]

I'm interested, what book is it that you are referring to?

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Robby Denning- Hunting big mule deer. Is the book I’m thinking?

 

[Gear-Reviewer]

Lol never mind, @realunlucky beat me to it!

 

[wytx]

Most of our mule deer seasons open Oct 1 here in Wyoming, most of us hunt them early Oct and do ok.
Mature bucks are usually by themselves until late Oct. where I hunt anyway in Wyoming.

 

[ganngus]

Thank you for the book recommendation. I just ordered me a copy.

 

[Idahodmax]

Same spot as they are in September, just now by themselves. And nocturnal lol.

 

[Kmk343]

Great info, as a newbie to western hunting I'll have to look some of these up.

 

[Wapiti1]

Robby's book and The Edge by Long and Duplan are essential mountain mule deer reading, IMO.

Public Land Mulies by Long is also good.

Jeremy

 

[T_Nelomz]

Don’t get stuck on just Mule Deer books. A hunter can learn from books related to any deer species that can cross over to your mule deer hunting. A lot of good podcasts out there with outfitters, guides, or consultants with a wealth of knowledge. You might have to read an entire book or listen to a 1-hr podcast just to pick up and learn one new thing but it can make a difference over the years of hunting. Below is my book list people have not mentioned yet:


Blacktail Trophy Tactics 2- By Boyd Iverson

Trophy Blacktails: The Science of the Hunt- By Scott Haugen

Mapping Trophy Bucks- By Brad Herndon

Hunting Open-Country Mule Deer- By Dwight Schuh

Mule Deer: A Handbook for Utah Hunters and Landowners- By Dennis Austin

Mature Buck Success by Design- By Jeff Sturgis

All Weather Whitetails: Forecasting Your Next Hunt of a Lifetime- By Jeff Sturgis

Whitetail Success by Design: Designing Your Next Hunt of a Lifetime- By Jeff Sturgis

Mule Deer Strategies: A Handbook of Hunting Techniques- By Walt Prothero


Check out all the information on Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) website:

https://www.wafwa.org/committees___g.../publications/

Also, go to Google Scholar and search for as many research papers on deer that you can. Learning and knowing everything you can about your target species will help your hunting success.


If you ever decide to hunt desert mule deer.

Deer of the Southwest- By Jim Heffelfinger

Those are all solid recommendations. Jeff Sturgis' info on on All weather whitetails is spot on. He also has tons of great free info on youtube, his channel Whitetail habitat solutions. Took 2 nice whitetails following his weather advice.

 

[Jimss]

Early Oct is likely the toughest time of year to hunt muley bucks in many locations. As soon as they shed their velvet they are an entirely different animal. Timberline bucks that had set routines while in velvet generally head to the trees and seclusion until the rut. Some may move a ways once they shed velvet. Here in Colo we often get the first dump of snow at higher elevations in late Sept-early Oct and that can change things up considerably as well. Sometimes it doesn't take much snow to move bucks while others may stay on windswept ridges until the rut or super deep snow drives them down.

With that said, things can change dramatically from one area to another. The more time you spend in the muley country you will be hunting the more tendencies you'll likely figure out. Anyway you look at it Oct can be one of the toughest times of year to hunt muledeer. That's one reason why the earlier season dates in many states (Colo and others) are easier to draw.

 

[Ponderosafire]

Thanks for the previous replies. I'll be looking into Robby's book for sure. I have an early October hunt this year in a fairly heavily hunted unit in central Oregon. Should i be looking for bucks in the high country? Alpine meadows and ridges? I do plan on trying to get far off of roads and trails

 

[SOJ51]

As a beginner reading through Robby’s book has definitely taught me a lot, hopefully I can apply it when I’m in the field