Newbie necessities & questions for mule deer hunt in Southeast Montana

[dietter700]

Hey everyone, my wife and I are planning our first western hunt. We are going out to Southeast Montana to hunt mule deer in mid September with a bow. We are truck camping and day hunting on BLM and BMA. I have some places picked out to hunt already. I am trying to get mentally prepared by reading articles, books and listening to a lot of podcasts on hunting mule deer. (I have only hunted whitetail in the East) Among getting tips and tricks from there I am open to any other odds and ends recommendations people have. Also I need some help with some other questions that I am sure you veteran muley hunters will be able to answer. They are as follows :

1. Game bag- How many ? What size? (my wife and I both have tags). I know they make larger bags for whole quarters but how about back straps, neck meat and all those goodies. Just use zip locks?

2. Hauling out meat- I have a kifaru 22 mag bag and frame. We will be doing day hunts only. Should I get my wife a pack too or just make several trips? How much deer can you haul on a bag like mine?

3. Scent Control - my guess is that we will be pretty stinky. On the east your shunned if you don't practice good scent control but we have variable winds, high alert deer, and terrible topography. Is it safe to just let yourself stink an play the wind?

4. Early season tactics open country - any recommendations would be helpful

5. Glassing - wake up before sun and start glassing on a high spot and look for deer to bed up ? Do the same before dark ? I don't have a spotting scope am I in trouble ? I do have a decent set of vortex binos for me and the wife.

6. GPS- I plan on just using OnX on my phone since we are only doing day hunts. Any issues with that ? I will have to download the maps first I know.

7. Quartering up deer - in PA with the whitetails we shoot we just drag them out, hang them up and skin them out. I tend to let the deer age a couple days when it is cold enough before butchering. I know I will not be doing that here. If and and when we kill a deer, say it's on the first few days. Will you guys just quarter it up and put it on ice in a big cooler? Have you seen issues with taking the meat off of a warm animal with taste, tenderness ect. ?

8. Mule deer behavior - in mid September any other things that you think I should know about hunting them that early would be great!! Hunt near water? where to glass for them? funnels ? ect.

I know there will be other questions, but I REALLY appreciate the advice in advanced. It's really nice having a forum like this I have been learning a ton. It's been a lot of fun planning this so far and I can't wait to get out there. We are not trophy hunting but would just like to kill a buck and have a fun time.

 

[idahohikker]

No need for scent control.

Yes on glassing early and late.

You can buy five deer sized game bags. I think mine are Alaskan and I like them. In lower country without timber you'll want to quarter and get on ice quick in September.

If I was archery hunting deer, I don't know Eastern Montana is the place, especially after this winter. I'd be looking at high country archery hunts in CO, NV, UT, or ID.

 

[GregB]

I just use the Muley or Carnivore bags from Caribou Game Bags, there's an extra bag for back straps etc. Definitly don't use ziplocks to pack out meat. You don't have to have a spotting scope to glass for deer. I used OnX for the first time last year and didn't even touch my GPS. If the weather is cool enough I'll just hang the meat if not I'll put it in a cooler. No issues with taking meat off a warm animal. I'll have some backstrap for dinner the day I shoot it.

 

[a_noob_hunter]

Awesome hearing that you are going out west. Last year was my first time out west (only hunted whitetails from stands in Ohio). I am by no standards an expert, but I can share what I learned last year in Idaho early season (end of August/September) archery deer. We hunted in finger ridges, not high country. In whitetail hunting scent control is bug, out west it's the wind and how it's blowing. Scent control does nothing if the wind is blowing right to the deer. Try to learn as much as you can about how the wind works throughout the day. What I learned is that in the finger ridges, the wind blows (softly usually) downhill on the morning/mid-morning. Usually once it warmed up nearer 10-11 am it would be swirly. BRING PLENTY OF WIND CHECKER. I made the mistake of not bring any and it was ROUGH. In the evening once it starts cooling and the sun starts setting the wind/breeze comes downhill. The wind isn't really predictable so the more you know the better off you'll be. That was the hardest thing for me to try to understand. Where I hunt I can check the weather station and if it says a N wind then usually it's a N wind all evening, but in the mtns the wind is acting completely different 500 yards away from where you are and you have to plan you're stalks accordingly.

Be prepared to spend alot of time behind glass. I'm used to sitting in a stand waiting for deer to walk past me. Out there I needed to spot them and try to find a way to get close enough.

Be prepared to take long(er) shots. I had a 5 pin sight (20,30,40,50,60) and this year I'm running a 4 pin slider (20-50). I wouldn't run anything less than a 3 pin slider just because sometimes you have quick opportunities that 1 pin sliders wouldn't give you enough time to adjust. I tried stalking some nice bucks and I was gonna peak over a ridge about 35 yds away and shoot a buck except even tho they couldn't see me behind a ridge, my scent floated up to them and they spooked. They didn't know where or what I was but they kinda fast walked skyline at 70 yds in a single file line, with a big 4x4 leading and another big 4x4 bringing up the rear pushing about 4 smaller 2x3 and 3x3 bucks around. One of the smaller bucks saw me and stopped. The last big 4x4 poked in the rear to get him to keep moving but then saw me draw. I didn't take time to range them (first mistake) and held slightly above his back with my 60 pin. He saw me swing on him and I punched the trigger (second mistake) and I shot over his back. They got out of there in a hurry. Ended up hanging where they stopped to where I shot from and it was 70 yds. A this to say be prepared for longer shots (40+ yds). My brother ended getting a nice 3x4 with a 72 yd shot. He definitely spent alot of time practicing but it paid off when he smoked the buck at 72.

Feel free to pm me with questions. I am by no means an expert nor do I consider myself a very good mule deer hunter but I'd gladly share my experience and what I learned if it can help someone.

Also a good backpack and a good pair of shoes goes along way.

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[a_noob_hunter]

Awesome hearing that you are going out west. Last year was my first time out west (only hunted whitetails from stands in Ohio). I am by no standards an expert, but I can share what I learned last year in Idaho early season (end of August/September) archery deer. We hunted in finger ridges, not high country. In whitetail hunting scent control is bug, out west it's the wind and how it's blowing. Scent control does nothing if the wind is blowing right to the deer. Try to learn as much as you can about how the wind works throughout the day. What I learned is that in the finger ridges, the wind blows (softly usually) downhill on the morning/mid-morning. Usually once it warmed up nearer 10-11 am it would be swirly. BRING PLENTY OF WIND CHECKER. I made the mistake of not bring any and it was ROUGH. In the evening once it starts cooling and the sun starts setting the wind/breeze comes downhill. The wind isn't really predictable so the more you know the better off you'll be. That was the hardest thing for me to try to understand. Where I hunt I can check the weather station and if it says a N wind then usually it's a N wind all evening, but in the mtns the wind is acting completely different 500 yards away from where you are and you have to plan you're stalks accordingly.

Be prepared to spend alot of time behind glass. I'm used to sitting in a stand waiting for deer to walk past me. Out there I needed to spot them and try to find a way to get close enough.

Be prepared to take long(er) shots. I had a 5 pin sight (20,30,40,50,60) and this year I'm running a 4 pin slider (20-50). I wouldn't run anything less than a 3 pin slider just because sometimes you have quick opportunities that 1 pin sliders wouldn't give you enough time to adjust. I tried stalking some nice bucks and I was gonna peak over a ridge about 35 yds away and shoot a buck except even tho they couldn't see me behind a ridge, my scent floated up to them and they spooked. They didn't know where or what I was but they kinda fast walked skyline at 70 yds in a single file line, with a big 4x4 leading and another big 4x4 bringing up the rear pushing about 4 smaller 2x3 and 3x3 bucks around. One of the smaller bucks saw me and stopped. The last big 4x4 poked in the rear to get him to keep moving but then saw me draw. I didn't take time to range them (first mistake) and held slightly above his back with my 60 pin. He saw me swing on him and I punched the trigger (second mistake) and I shot over his back. They got out of there in a hurry. Ended up hanging where they stopped to where I shot from and it was 70 yds. A this to say be prepared for longer shots (40+ yds). My brother ended getting a nice 3x4 with a 72 yd shot. He definitely spent alot of time practicing but it paid off when he smoked the buck at 72.

Feel free to pm me with questions. I am by no means an expert nor do I consider myself a very good mule deer hunter but I'd gladly share my experience and what I learned if it can help someone.

Also a good backpack and a good pair of shoes goes along way.

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Sorry just realized I stated it wrong. In the morning the wind blows UPHILL because the cool air is warming and rising. In the evening it's the opposite. The wind is cooling and "sinking" DOWNHILL. I had trouble remembering which way it was until the last evening I stalked a group of 3 bucks, 1 really nice 4x4 uphill as they fed and got within 65 yds before getting busted.

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[dietter700]

That's awesome, thank you guys so much. Very helpful!

As for game bags, do you store meat in cooler wrapped in game bags or are the game bags just used for transferring the meat from field to cooler?

 

[fishspook]

Good luck in SE Montana. Be prepared for open country: I'd pick up a spotting scope.

 

[sndmn11]

That's awesome, thank you guys so much. Very helpful!

As for game bags, do you store meat in cooler wrapped in game bags or are the game bags just used for transferring the meat from field to cooler?

I keep them in. You will want to elevate the meat off the bottom so that it isn't in water, pulling the drain plug is a good idea too. In the vastness of the country, find the micro habitat within that provides all the same things that your whitetails need and focus on that....look for the 5% of habitat out of the whole environment.

 

[kupper]

I was lucky in that i got to hunt eastern montana last year. While I cant say that we say many great deer there where a couple decent ones. Best one we turned up was probably low 160's at best. I bet we consistently found 8+ bucks a day but we were mainly focused on finding the elk.

Game bags: I normally carry two game bags (black ovis deer sized) in my kill kit and i normally put two quarters in each game bag. 2 has always been plenty for me and ive packed out a lot of deer solo. add a third if you want to let your wife pack some meat. Neck meat, back straps, and tender loins all fit in with the quarters. Avoid plastic bags as it doesnt allow the meat to breath and cool.

Meat Hauling: with your kifaru setup youre going to be packing meat between the bag and frame. I have never made two trips with a muledeer. Ill admit that its pretty miserable packing solo when you have your pack full of optics and snacks buts its very doable. Yes I would recommend you getting your wife a pack. I dont know that I personally would drop the coin on an expensive pack for her but maybe a badlands or used kuiu would work fine as she'll not need to pack heavy loads. My Girl friend just uses a frameless small hunting pack and i normally give her a front quarter, the back straps, neck meat, and tenderloins. Its just that much extra weight you wont have to carry.

Scent Control: The wind. get wind checker and use it often. none of the scent control in the world is going to do a bit of good if you dont have the wind right.

Early season open country tactics: While ive only hunted eastern MT once I have hunted western ND with success on big animals every year for the last 10+ years. This comes down to glassing. put your binos on a tripod and put them to work. I run a spotter but use it more as an inch counter than I do glassing. Dont get stuck on only hunting the areas you have already picked out. Hunt where you are finding the most deer and can glass the most amount of area. Once you find a buck watch him bed and unless you are very close keep glassing unti he makes his second bed. Once he is bedded for the afternoon then make your stock. Everything looks different when you get over to where the deer is so pick out several land marks. Make sure you go over hand signals with your wife.

Quartering: I like the idea of freezing 2 gallon milk jugs. It will stay plenty cold and that way you can rest your meat on top out of the water. Wouldnt be a bad idea to put ice inbetween the jugs and crack the drain once you have quarters in there.

Glassing: already covered it in early season tactics but I cant stress it enough. Glassing is everything. Your fine without a spotter but they are handy to have. Make sure to bring a tripod to glass off of, its a game changer. glass all afternoon also but dont be afraid to move spots and discover more country to glass in the afternoon.

GPS: I run onx and basemap either one work.

Muledeer behavior: If you can find old fields this will hold deer. If the bucks still have velvet they dont like really thick trees and normally bed under something thats going to offer shade or on side hills. Once you find a deer dont be afraid to wait a day or two until the wind is right or he is in a stalkable locations, they arent going to move out of the area unprovoked.

 

[dietter700]

I was lucky in that i got to hunt eastern montana last year. While I cant say that we say many great deer there where a couple decent ones. Best one we turned up was probably low 160's at best. I bet we consistently found 8+ bucks a day but we were mainly focused on finding the elk.

Game bags: I normally carry two game bags (black ovis deer sized) in my kill kit and i normally put two quarters in each game bag. 2 has always been plenty for me and ive packed out a lot of deer solo. add a third if you want to let your wife pack some meat. Neck meat, back straps, and tender loins all fit in with the quarters. Avoid plastic bags as it doesnt allow the meat to breath and cool.

Meat Hauling: with your kifaru setup youre going to be packing meat between the bag and frame. I have never made two trips with a muledeer. Ill admit that its pretty miserable packing solo when you have your pack full of optics and snacks buts its very doable. Yes I would recommend you getting your wife a pack. I dont know that I personally would drop the coin on an expensive pack for her but maybe a badlands or used kuiu would work fine as she'll not need to pack heavy loads. My Girl friend just uses a frameless small hunting pack and i normally give her a front quarter, the back straps, neck meat, and tenderloins. Its just that much extra weight you wont have to carry.

Scent Control: The wind. get wind checker and use it often. none of the scent control in the world is going to do a bit of good if you dont have the wind right.

Early season open country tactics: While ive only hunted eastern MT once I have hunted western ND with success on big animals every year for the last 10+ years. This comes down to glassing. put your binos on a tripod and put them to work. I run a spotter but use it more as an inch counter than I do glassing. Dont get stuck on only hunting the areas you have already picked out. Hunt where you are finding the most deer and can glass the most amount of area. Once you find a buck watch him bed and unless you are very close keep glassing unti he makes his second bed. Once he is bedded for the afternoon then make your stock. Everything looks different when you get over to where the deer is so pick out several land marks. Make sure you go over hand signals with your wife.

Quartering: I like the idea of freezing 2 gallon milk jugs. It will stay plenty cold and that way you can rest your meat on top out of the water. Wouldnt be a bad idea to put ice inbetween the jugs and crack the drain once you have quarters in there.

Glassing: already covered it in early season tactics but I cant stress it enough. Glassing is everything. Your fine without a spotter but they are handy to have. Make sure to bring a tripod to glass off of, its a game changer. glass all afternoon also but dont be afraid to move spots and discover more country to glass in the afternoon.

GPS: I run onx and basemap either one work.

Muledeer behavior: If you can find old fields this will hold deer. If the bucks still have velvet they dont like really thick trees and normally bed under something thats going to offer shade or on side hills. Once you find a deer dont be afraid to wait a day or two until the wind is right or he is in a stalkable locations, they arent going to move out of the area unprovoked.

That is some awesome information! thank you so much. You mentioned when the buck makes his "second bed" you're just talking about his day time bed? His "first bed" if you will, would be where he sleeps at night essentially?

Also could you recommend an in expensive tripod ?

 

[a_noob_hunter]

That is some awesome information! thank you so much. You mentioned when the buck makes his "second bed" you're just talking about his day time bed? His "first bed" if you will, would be where he sleeps at night essentially?

Also could you recommend an in expensive tripod ?

I think what he meant by first bed is usually the deer bed down mid morning (10-11) but usually only up to an hour maybe 2 till they lose their shade from the sun moving. They will then get up and move to a different bed that they will rest in until feeding time. In my experience I watched some does bed around 10:30 and once it got pretty warm (bout 12 ish they moved to a different area and stayed bedded (except for standing up here and there for a nibble) until about 4 when they would get up and feed. Trying to stalk deer in their first bed can be risky because they usually aren't in there for really long. Most stalks are when they are in their second bed because usually they are settled there for several hours.

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[dietter700]

I think what he meant by first bed is usually the deer bed down mid morning (10-11) but usually only up to an hour maybe 2 till they lose their shade from the sun moving. They will then get up and move to a different bed that they will rest in until feeding time. In my experience I watched some does bed around 10:30 and once it got pretty warm (bout 12 ish they moved to a different area and stayed bedded (except for standing up here and there for a nibble) until about 4 when they would get up and feed. Trying to stalk deer in their first bed can be risky because they usually aren't in there for really long. Most stalks are when they are in their second bed because usually they are settled there for several hours.

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Boom. Perfect, thanks for clarifying!

 

[kupper]

I think what he meant by first bed is usually the deer bed down mid morning (10-11) but usually only up to an hour maybe 2 till they lose their shade from the sun moving. They will then get up and move to a different bed that they will rest in until feeding time. In my experience I watched some does bed around 10:30 and once it got pretty warm (bout 12 ish they moved to a different area and stayed bedded (except for standing up here and there for a nibble) until about 4 when they would get up and feed. Trying to stalk deer in their first bed can be risky because they usually aren't in there for really long. Most stalks are when they are in their second bed because usually they are settled there for several hours.

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exactly right but in my experience its more around 8:00-9:00AM that they make their first bed and than once the sun hits (normally an hour or less) they move to their second bed. Once in their second bed they typically get up and stretch at 11:00-12:00 and then lay back down in the same spot. Ive been burned a couple times by moving in on deer to quickly while they are in their first bed. I have also lost track of them when they move to their second bed so its kind of situational based. As far as an inexpensive tripod cameralandny runs deals on the promaster xc525c for $199 sometimes or you can find a demo model. This is the tripod ive used for the last 4 years and still love everything about it. you might be able to get into a used slik 624 for cheap, or If you are just running binos then the vortex summit should work just fine although its a little too light for a big spotter in my experience.

 

[Austink47]

I just want to second getting a tripod.
Stink and bring an extra wind checker.
Have fun.

 

[nubbin]

I was in SE montana last year for my first trip out west. So my experience is minimal. Sounds like your pretty well prepared, make sure you have some leg gaiters to keep the morning dew off your pant legs! Its open country and can be tricky, 90% of our deer were found with just our binos but a spotting scope or high powered binos on a tripod will help from going after a deer not wanted. At 3-400 yards in 3x9 binos a buck is hard to judge, you can see the headgear but not really judge size. Also if they bed up in the sage they are nearly impossible to see, a spotting scope can help aid on watching from a distance while you plan a stalk or strategy.

Early season tactics can very. When my buddy went on a guided hunt 2 years ago it was an extremely dry and fiery summer. Food was scarce and the deer were holding tight to shade/water/alfalfa. We went in looking for those but problem was they had a good summer and the prairie grass was abundant. After a couple days of nothing i asked for help from a local whitetail guide and he said the mule bucks stay out in the open areas feeding on the grass and dont even bother with the alfalfa. After that tidbit of info we moved out away from the ag lands and got on the bucks right away.

mule deer are pocket animals! If you start seeing bucks cinch down on that area! They'll be in bachelor groups in september still, some in velvet. Find a vantage point in the morning and glass, glass, glass. Their white butts really stick out in the mornings and evenings when the sun is low. Watch them to bed then stalk, a feeding animal is hard to move in on. Just like any deer keep the wind in your face and if moving on them keep cover between you. If you feel like they can see you then they most definitely can!

Last thing and i'm done. If you're driving down the road and see some deer you want to go after DONT STOP AND LOOK AT THEM!!! Just keep driving by and they'll pay no attention. Get out of sight and get a vantage point on them.

good luck and happy hunting! Its a blast, get a pronghorn tag if you can!

 

[dietter700]

I was in SE montana last year for my first trip out west. So my experience is minimal. Sounds like your pretty well prepared, make sure you have some leg gaiters to keep the morning dew off your pant legs! Its open country and can be tricky, 90% of our deer were found with just our binos but a spotting scope or high powered binos on a tripod will help from going after a deer not wanted. At 3-400 yards in 3x9 binos a buck is hard to judge, you can see the headgear but not really judge size. Also if they bed up in the sage they are nearly impossible to see, a spotting scope can help aid on watching from a distance while you plan a stalk or strategy.

Early season tactics can very. When my buddy went on a guided hunt 2 years ago it was an extremely dry and fiery summer. Food was scarce and the deer were holding tight to shade/water/alfalfa. We went in looking for those but problem was they had a good summer and the prairie grass was abundant. After a couple days of nothing i asked for help from a local whitetail guide and he said the mule bucks stay out in the open areas feeding on the grass and dont even bother with the alfalfa. After that tidbit of info we moved out away from the ag lands and got on the bucks right away.

mule deer are pocket animals! If you start seeing bucks cinch down on that area! They'll be in bachelor groups in september still, some in velvet. Find a vantage point in the morning and glass, glass, glass. Their white butts really stick out in the mornings and evenings when the sun is low. Watch them to bed then stalk, a feeding animal is hard to move in on. Just like any deer keep the wind in your face and if moving on them keep cover between you. If you feel like they can see you then they most definitely can!

Last thing and i'm done. If you're driving down the road and see some deer you want to go after DONT STOP AND LOOK AT THEM!!! Just keep driving by and they'll pay no attention. Get out of sight and get a vantage point on them.

good luck and happy hunting! Its a blast, get a pronghorn tag if you can!

Also very helpful, can't thank you guys enough!

 

[MTCHIRO]

Good binos and good spotter are a must in SE Montana. Be prepared to spend hours behind them glassing. I would rather sit behind glass then walk around and hope to find deer.

 

[dietter700]

I was in SE montana last year for my first trip out west. So my experience is minimal. Sounds like your pretty well prepared, make sure you have some leg gaiters to keep the morning dew off your pant legs! Its open country and can be tricky, 90% of our deer were found with just our binos but a spotting scope or high powered binos on a tripod will help from going after a deer not wanted. At 3-400 yards in 3x9 binos a buck is hard to judge, you can see the headgear but not really judge size. Also if they bed up in the sage they are nearly impossible to see, a spotting scope can help aid on watching from a distance while you plan a stalk or strategy.

Early season tactics can very. When my buddy went on a guided hunt 2 years ago it was an extremely dry and fiery summer. Food was scarce and the deer were holding tight to shade/water/alfalfa. We went in looking for those but problem was they had a good summer and the prairie grass was abundant. After a couple days of nothing i asked for help from a local whitetail guide and he said the mule bucks stay out in the open areas feeding on the grass and dont even bother with the alfalfa. After that tidbit of info we moved out away from the ag lands and got on the bucks right away.

mule deer are pocket animals! If you start seeing bucks cinch down on that area! They'll be in bachelor groups in september still, some in velvet. Find a vantage point in the morning and glass, glass, glass. Their white butts really stick out in the mornings and evenings when the sun is low. Watch them to bed then stalk, a feeding animal is hard to move in on. Just like any deer keep the wind in your face and if moving on them keep cover between you. If you feel like they can see you then they most definitely can!

Last thing and i'm done. If you're driving down the road and see some deer you want to go after DONT STOP AND LOOK AT THEM!!! Just keep driving by and they'll pay no attention. Get out of sight and get a vantage point on them.

good luck and happy hunting! Its a blast, get a pronghorn tag if you can!

Hey, what gaiters would you recommend for early season like that. I found some Outdoor research ones on sale but don't want to get real burly ones. ya know.

 

[nubbin]

I just borrowed some redhead ones from a buddy and guy i went with had some KUIU gaiters. I do know his KUIU gaiters were a lot easier to put on than the redheads i borrowed. I wore them all deer season here in Arkansas too and love them. Wet grass, mud, creek crossing are a non issue and don’t have wear rubber boots. They even help hold in heat in the boots sitting in the stand.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

Sent you a PM!!!