Help for a new big game hunter

[Stilllearning123]

Hello all. I’m a turkey/quail hunter getting into big game. I have someone I’m going with in D16 (California.) I hope you guys could also help me figure out how to hunt mule deer, like what tactics and strategies you guys use, and how to scout. Also, I am looking at the Mystery Ranch Popup 28 for my deer hunting. If anyone has any experience with that let me know. Also, how important is camo for mule deer? I was looking at the Subalpine camo because it would look like it blends in well with SoCal desert, but it says it’s for 40 yards or less. Will it spook deer?

 

[Geewhiz]

Welcome to rokslide. If you use the search function in the upper right hand corner of your page you will find pages upon pages of tips, tricks, and tactics for just about any creature on earth.

 

[Stilllearning123]

Welcome to rokslide. If you use the search function in the upper right hand corner of your page you will find pages upon pages of tips, tricks, and tactics for just about any creature on earth.

Alright, I'll look and ask around the website.

 

[mbv3]

this may be obvious but gohunt is a great place to start getting some basic info w/ their strategy articles. i've also learned a lot in general watching randy newberg videos and meateater

 

[TreeWalking]

Good questions re mule deer. The answer varies with the terrain, hunting pressure before and during your hunt, season and even the year itself. Having adjacent private land can reduce the mule deer population on public land during your hunt.

Mule deer above timber line in early season behave much different that those in the rut after the horns harden and then later when the rut has burnt out for the year. Dry, desert areas have mule deer mostly near water sources. In the mountains, may be in the timber when is a warm day. During the rut, bucks will be where the does are which is usually where you find good feed.

Your gear can impact your success more than your woodsmanship and even your years of mule deer hunting experience. You need your feet to hold up if will be hiking miles during your hunt. Boots that fit and are broken in along with two sets of socks, liner and heavier, are helpful. You need dry feet. Clothes to keep you dry and warm. A rifle that shoots predictably out to 300 yards. As for optics, I use my binos more than my spotter and spotter more than my rifle scope. I spend my money to get the best binos I can afford. I spent more than on my rifle/scope combo and I get 30 more minutes of glassing in the morning and evening with great glass and deer can be on the move then. Good binos are almost like night vision if you only previously used okay glass. A spotter is only useful is have open areas to glass further than a few hundred yards.

A blind is useful if the deer can be patterned or you are by the the only source for food or water for miles. I have never used a blind for mule deer. I use a blind for turkey, pronghorn and elk.

As for spooking deer, they bolt when they smell you once and get nervous when see you move or hear you talk. I have had mule deer stare at me for a while but if they smell me then they bolt. I was told deer see parts of UV spectrum we do not so if you wash your clothes with detergent that has "color protection" then you will glow blue to deer. I do not think deer care about camo at all but some camo is made with really good materials for hunting. My grandfather killed a lot of deer and elk with a red/black plaid flannel shirt and tan canvas pants. And, he used open sights so 150 yards was a long poke of a shot. He would speak not of points when announcing he harvest a buck but of the total weight on the hoof. Porn horn was not really a thing until the Sports Afield and Outdoor Life magazine covers beginning in the late 1970s.

Most of us can buy fresh lobster for less per pound than we can spend to get fresh deer or elk. If you add in application costs, license, tag, wear and tear on gear, fuel, motel room, ammunition, gun club membership, etc. A wise hunter noted we do not hunt to kill but rather we kill because we hunted. Embrace the journey for almost certainly there will be curve balls.

 

[Bubblehide]

I have way to much to say to write it here. PM me your phone number and good days and times to call, and I will be glad to have some conversations with you.

 

[cjdewese]

Welcome to Rokslide, I am new to hunting and hunt the So Cal D Zones. Last year was my 1st year and was fortunate enough to get one on opening day so take what I say with a grain of salt as I am still trying to learn everything myself as well. Also, so far I have only bow hunted and hope to keep doing that but definitely not opposed to picking up a rifle late in general season if I haven't had luck yet.

1st thing is do your homework and try to spend as much time as you can walking around the areas you hope to hunt before the season starts or this year when the season ends to try and get an idea of where they might be next year. I was lucky enough to have grown up in the area I am hunting my entire life and know it really well as far as water sources and places I have historically seen deer when I was young and not a hunter so I was able to focus on a few areas when I 1st started.

Deer need 3 things, shelter, food and water so start trying to identify those things in your area. For me, water was the easiest since I already knew of several springs that I used to drink from as a kid. In all but 1 place I knew of for water I found deer sign really close to it and started to branch out from there following game trails trying to find some of the other things they needed.

Last year I got my deer on a game trail between their bedding area and a water source. Shot it at 26 yards 15 minutes into 1st light opening day. I use trail cameras and had been seeing bucks almost every day on that trail for almost a month leading into it so I was fairly confident in my setup. I had several other places I wanted to hunt for my 2nd tag but with the fire closures things got a little weird last year. I had interactions with several does/fawns, 1 spike buck and had 1 other legal buck within 50 yards but couldn't get anywhere near close enough to seal the deal.

As far as camouflage I hunted with old Air Force BDU's that I got from my brother. The morning I shot my buck I was in a makeshift ground blind inside a clump of smaller oak trees. Before I shot my buck I had a doe within 5 yards before she blew out. After opening morning I had does at less than 10 yards, the spike buck at 18 so to me my camouflage wasn't an issue. In all of those cases I was down wind and remained really still, actually drew on the spike for practice and didn't get busted.

As far as tactics, for my bow hunting I almost always sat near trails in makeshift ground blinds trying to ambush deer moving through my area. For rifle hunting I would imagine sitting further back from those areas so you can play the wind better would work well. Where I chose to focus the longest shot I would have ever had was 60 yards with how thick and forested it was.

Good luck, hopefully the national forest can open up sooner rather than later and we can really get after it down here. In the meantime if you have any private land you might be able to get access to or BLM are your only options until they lift the restrictions.

 

[Stilllearning123]

Good questions re mule deer. The answer varies with the terrain, hunting pressure before and during your hunt, season and even the year itself. Having adjacent private land can reduce the mule deer population on public land during your hunt.

Mule deer above timber line in early season behave much different that those in the rut after the horns harden and then later when the rut has burnt out for the year. Dry, desert areas have mule deer mostly near water sources. In the mountains, may be in the timber when is a warm day. During the rut, bucks will be where the does are which is usually where you find good feed.

Your gear can impact your success more than your woodsmanship and even your years of mule deer hunting experience. You need your feet to hold up if will be hiking miles during your hunt. Boots that fit and are broken in along with two sets of socks, liner and heavier, are helpful. You need dry feet. Clothes to keep you dry and warm. A rifle that shoots predictably out to 300 yards. As for optics, I use my binos more than my spotter and spotter more than my rifle scope. I spend my money to get the best binos I can afford. I spent more than on my rifle/scope combo and I get 30 more minutes of glassing in the morning and evening with great glass and deer can be on the move then. Good binos are almost like night vision if you only previously used okay glass. A spotter is only useful is have open areas to glass further than a few hundred yards.

A blind is useful if the deer can be patterned or you are by the the only source for food or water for miles. I have never used a blind for mule deer. I use a blind for turkey, pronghorn and elk.

As for spooking deer, they bolt when they smell you once and get nervous when see you move or hear you talk. I have had mule deer stare at me for a while but if they smell me then they bolt. I was told deer see parts of UV spectrum we do not so if you wash your clothes with detergent that has "color protection" then you will glow blue to deer. I do not think deer care about camo at all but some camo is made with really good materials for hunting. My grandfather killed a lot of deer and elk with a red/black plaid flannel shirt and tan canvas pants. And, he used open sights so 150 yards was a long poke of a shot. He would speak not of points when announcing he harvest a buck but of the total weight on the hoof. Porn horn was not really a thing until the Sports Afield and Outdoor Life magazine covers beginning in the late 1970s.

Most of us can buy fresh lobster for less per pound than we can spend to get fresh deer or elk. If you add in application costs, license, tag, wear and tear on gear, fuel, motel room, ammunition, gun club membership, etc. A wise hunter noted we do not hunt to kill but rather we kill because we hunted. Embrace the journey for almost certainly there will be curve balls.

Wow. What an answer. Thanks so much! Can I pm you once my account fully activates? I have alot of questions.

 

[Stilllearning123]

I have way to much to say to write it here. PM me your phone number and good days and times to call, and I will be glad to have some conversations with you.

Alright, sure. I can't pm yet because I just made this account but I can in seven days. (However I might just buy the premium account so then I can sooner) Then I will for sure. Thanks so much

 

[cjdewese]

Wow. What an answer. Thanks so much! Can I pm you once my account fully activates? I have alot of questions.

Of course, happy to try and help any way I can.

 

[Stilllearning123]

Welcome to Rokslide, I am new to hunting and hunt the So Cal D Zones. Last year was my 1st year and was fortunate enough to get one on opening day so take what I say with a grain of salt as I am still trying to learn everything myself as well. Also, so far I have only bow hunted and hope to keep doing that but definitely not opposed to picking up a rifle late in general season if I haven't had luck yet.

1st thing is do your homework and try to spend as much time as you can walking around the areas you hope to hunt before the season starts or this year when the season ends to try and get an idea of where they might be next year. I was lucky enough to have grown up in the area I am hunting my entire life and know it really well as far as water sources and places I have historically seen deer when I was young and not a hunter so I was able to focus on a few areas when I 1st started.

Deer need 3 things, shelter, food and water so start trying to identify those things in your area. For me, water was the easiest since I already knew of several springs that I used to drink from as a kid. In all but 1 place I knew of for water I found deer sign really close to it and started to branch out from there following game trails trying to find some of the other things they needed.

Last year I got my deer on a game trail between their bedding area and a water source. Shot it at 26 yards 15 minutes into 1st light opening day. I use trail cameras and had been seeing bucks almost every day on that trail for almost a month leading into it so I was fairly confident in my setup. I had several other places I wanted to hunt for my 2nd tag but with the fire closures things got a little weird last year. I had interactions with several does/fawns, 1 spike buck and had 1 other legal buck within 50 yards but couldn't get anywhere near close enough to seal the deal.

As far as camouflage I hunted with old Air Force BDU's that I got from my brother. The morning I shot my buck I was in a makeshift ground blind inside a clump of smaller oak trees. Before I shot my buck I had a doe within 5 yards before she blew out. After opening morning I had does at less than 10 yards, the spike buck at 18 so to me my camouflage wasn't an issue. In all of those cases I was down wind and remained really still, actually drew on the spike for practice and didn't get busted.

As far as tactics, for my bow hunting I almost always sat near trails in makeshift ground blinds trying to ambush deer moving through my area. For rifle hunting I would imagine sitting further back from those areas so you can play the wind better would work well. Where I chose to focus the longest shot I would have ever had was 60 yards with how thick and forested it was.

Good luck, hopefully the national forest can open up sooner rather than later and we can really get after it down here. In the meantime if you have any private land you might be able to get access to or BLM are your only options until they lift the restrictions.

Thanks for the reply. If you ever want to hunt some birds in cali shoot me a pm

 

[rooster440]

There’s some good bucks in D16, I enjoyed hunting that unit. Good luck, it gets heavy pressure!


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[MountainTracker]

I’d start with this book, lots of good info

Robby Denning
Hunting Big Mule Deer: How to Take the Best Buck of Your Life


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[Stilllearning123]

I’d start with this book, lots of good info

Robby Denning
Hunting Big Mule Deer: How to Take the Best Buck of Your Life


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks!

 

[EastHumboldt]

Walter Prothero has written several books on mule deer. Informative and fun reading. I learned a lot from him.

 

[Stilllearning123]

Walter Prothero has written several books on mule deer. Informative and fun reading. I learned a lot from him.

Thanks I’ll check it out!

 

[Boarmaster]

I killed my first big game animal 35 years ago. Prior to that I had spent my young life hunting small game on our farm In Ohio. There I was out in the middle of a swamp in Florida by myself with a 250 hog down proud as a peacock but without any plan what so ever as to what to do next. So the advise I always give is to consider the chance you might be successful and have a plan. Good luck.