Nonresident Mule Deer Hunts

[MaxHenderson]

Beginning to look beyond California as far as mule deer hunts. What would you consider as far as bang for your buck states? Wouldn’t hurt to be able to combine species, and am open to both rifle and archery seasons.


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[MaxHenderson]

Weapon of choice, expectations and time of year will all play in to your options

Well, I live in California, so my expectations could not get any lower lol


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[Sportsman]

if you are open to archery, AZ has OTC. Parts of the state are Aug/Sep and others Dec/Jan. Not all units have OTC and dates vary but you can hunt most of the state other than the strip or Kaibab.

 

[amassi]

Oregon, Idaho, montana, utah, nevada, arizona, new mexico colorado. All offer great hunting but will take a considerable investment in licenses, points and Chevron.
The x zones of northeast ca are wonderful hunting as well and the points are free and fill gaps well between other draws

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[MaxHenderson]

Oregon, Idaho, montana, utah, nevada, arizona, new mexico colorado. All offer great hunting but will take a considerable investment in licenses, points and Chevron.
The x zones of northeast ca are wonderful hunting as well and the points are free and fill gaps well between other draws

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There’s likely an X zone hunt next year for me, provided I don’t get burned by more point creep.


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[MaxHenderson]

if you are open to archery, AZ has OTC. Parts of the state are Aug/Sep and others Dec/Jan. Not all units have OTC and dates vary but you can hunt most of the state other than the strip or Kaibab.

Those Dec/Jan hunts are pretty appealing. I’ve listened to Jay Scott talk about those, seems like it can be solid.


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[willfrye027]

I would look for a zone with high deer density and hunter success. Plenty of these out there with zero to no point requirement. We Californians tend to have lower trophy standards and higher tolerance for crowds. And we love to see more deer in one morning that a whole season in California! At least that’s what my buddies and I have been enjoying the past few years.

 

[CApighunter]

I’d recommend Idaho, put in for a draw and go OTC if you don’t pull a tag. That’s what I did this year and took a decent 3x4 opening day. Some units allow whitetail or mule deer and either sex. I’m also stuck in the point creep here in CA so I feel your pain.

 

[KHNC]

Nebraska is also an option. Be aware it will be crowded during rifle, but archery is a great time to be there. NW area has alot of public and OTC for muleys or WT.

 

[idahohikker]

A lot of good mule deer hunting on low point rifle tags and easy to draw or unlimited archery tags. Look at Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arizona.

If you want to find a number of deer in the rut but a little smaller than other states, look at Montana.

 

[Researcher]

Utah used to be one of the cheapest as far as non resident license and tag go.

 

[menhaden_man]

Here’s a paper worth perusing.

https://www.wafwa.org/Documents%20and%20Settings/37/Site%20Documents/Working%20Groups/Mule%20Deer/Range-Wide%20Status/2018%20Black-tailed%20and%20Mule%20Deer%20Status%20Update.pdf

 

[Tips n Tails]

Same boat. Personally, I’ve been considering Oregon due to them allowing me resident pricing (Active Duty Military) vs. non-res. However, both Idaho & Utah are options I’ve looked at. I’d like to retire in Idaho but hunting wise there seems to be a Idaho “craze” amongst elk & mule deer hunters compared to other states. For ex: NV, AZ, WY.

 

[Jimss]

I would look at draw odds and cost to apply. Obviously some states and tags are easier to draw than others. Colo went to all draw deer tags a few years ago and almost all tags go to those with highest pref pts. It's getting more and more expensive each year to apply in just about every state for limited tags. In fact, I would say $100+/year for application and fees is fairly common. Most states require you to buy a license and expensive pref/bonus pt fees just to apply. Generally archery tags are easier to draw than others. There are also getting fewer and fewer OTC options. It can be mighty crowded in the few states that still allow OTC tags.

 

[Sportsman]

There are also getting fewer and fewer OTC options. It can be mighty crowded in the few states that still allow OTC tags.

This is why I am in the points game. I don't bank on OTC being available forever. I'm about ten years to retirement. I've been able to hunt elk the last two years and depending on work schedule, hope to hunt an OTC option in most years before retirement. After retirement, I would love to do two elk and two mule deer hunts per year at a minimum although I figure four hunts is about what my body can handle depending on how spread out hunts are across time.

 

[Jimss]

Colo has been talking about going away from OTC elk. OTC hunters bring a gob of $ into the small communities across Colo. Just because Colo does away with OTC tags doesn't necessarily mean they will cut tags but they ought to be able to manage elk and hunter numbers a lot better. Right now it is a cluster!

I only like a couple quality hunts/fall and winter so I can give them all of my attention. It's a royal pain in the rear having to travel very far on multiple hunts.

 

[Jimss]

Take a look at how Colo's muledeer have re-written the B&C record books after the CPW converted from all OTC to all draw deer tags. Colo is one of the best muley states in the country! It's a bummer to wait years for a great muledeer tag and once drawn find out it is overloaded with OTC elk hunters! I really believe if both deer PLUS elk go to all draw in Colo it will be a lot better quality hunt for both species. The other benefit to all draw for Colo elk would be that hunters would be burning pref pts when they draw tags rather than building pts and hunting OTC units each year. More limited units means more guys burning pref pts!

 

[Ian Ketterman]

Nebraska is also an option. Be aware it will be crowded during rifle, but archery is a great time to be there. NW area has alot of public and OTC for muleys or WT.

Got back last week from public land mulies in NE. Shot a nice 4x5 with trash at 35 yards but couldn't find blood or the arrow and watched him run a ways. But we had chances every morning and night.