Nebraska Public Land Mule Deer Hunt

[William Sublette]

Those areas are small and the habitat of secondary quality.


The private ranches surrounding them have food , water, and cover.


(And way less pressure)

The public pressure starts August 20, antelope, deer, grouse, turkey, and Instagram varmint hunters.

By the time rifle season starts, most deer have been bounced to the security of neighboring private.


Nearby Residents with options don't even bother hunting those areas.


In summary:

Vacation time wasted , is a whole year wasted. Vacation time is more precious than money.

 

[NeHunter13]

Hey all. Like the title says, I am planning a Nebraska rifle season public land mule deer hunt. Before you tell me how bad it is, I have heard all the bad stuff already. I get it, Nebraska public OTC mulies are not ideal. This is an opportunity to dip our toes in the water and get some experience, that is all. I am going with a work buddy. We have several days of scouting and glassing planned out before we hunt. We both have Calamus West permits. From looking at the deer management map, the public land available to us is the Valentine NWR east of hwy 83, or the entirety of the Bessey Ranger near Halsey/Thedford. I have done quite a bit of google earth and satellite recon so far and the terrain seems similar. We are both in great shape and can ruck with the best of them. My question is there an appreciable difference between the two in terms of the hunt quality or pressure? The Valentine NWR spans both Calamus West and Sandhills so I imagine there will be more deer but possibly more pressure between the sandwiching of two units. The appeal to hunting Valentine NWR is staying close by in Valentine. The closest hotels to Bessey are in Broken Bow almost an hour away. Bessey is also an hour closer to my house. What are your thoughts and opinions.

*Edited to remove lodging recommendations as it was already addressed*

Never hunted the valentine area but have hunted Bessey the last 6 years. We hunt the trees and find a few whitetail but never really hunted the hills. We typically don't see many muley's but I know some people do find them in the western half of the park.