Why I hunt Mule Deer

[BOHNTR]

I was recently e-mailed a question from a fellow MM member living in whitetail country that asked why I love to hunt mule deer so much. After giving it some thought I was finally able to somewhat express it here on my keyboard. I wonder if many here feel the same way as I?

Mule Deer:

Since I began hunting Mule Deer with a bow some 28 years ago, I’ve come to realize the inevitable. They are truly most unpredictable and nomadic, trying the patience of even the most skilled bowman. If not for their ability to sense danger at the most inopportune moment, the vast and remote country they choose to reside, or their incredible ears detecting the smallest decibels, I would have many adorning my wall. However, it is because of their behavior I find myself haunting their domains freely and annually with nothing more than a bow & arrow in my hand. They are a true representative of a wild era lost to progression.

BOHNTR )))------------------>

[akw270]

Amen.


Something about a large Mule Deer buck. Such pretty animals.
Mule Deer are kinda like snowflakes! (In my opinion, if you've seen a whitetail, you've seen em all. obviously with a few exeptions.) Mule Deer have so much more character.

[MuleyMadness]

Interesting thought. I hunt them for a variety of reasons I suppose. But I can't compare them to whitetail, because I've never hunted them before. I love muleys for a variety of reasons:
1. Keen sense of smell, can be hundreds of yards away....catch wind and jump up snorting and take off instantly from a sniff of human scent. Amazing

2. Hearing, incredible ears. The slightest of noise can send them bounding on the dead run.

3. Every buck acts, looks, a little bit different.

4. They get smarter and smater with age. I watched a big buck get wounded one year and completely disappear the next year. Like BOHNTR said he went solely "nomadic".

I'm just plain fascinated with them, of course it takes a larger one to get me excited these days. My heart doesn't race on a good ole 2-point like it use to.

[AGCHAWK]

I agree with all of you. I have had the opportunity to hunt both White-tail and Mule deer and would would much rather go after the mulies any day.
Like I stated earlier, I agree with the reasons already posted but there is something else that really intrigues me. Mule deer seem to have more "peronallity" that the white-tail, at least in my experience. Each big buck is different, from his rack to his habits to his behaviour. To know how one buck reacts to different scenarious won't necessarily be the same way the next buck will react. They cause you to constantly change your tactics and approach because each one is unique.
I don't know though, I COULD be blowing smoke. I will admit, I'm rather jaded in my views and these observations could be all in my mind....BUT DON'T SPOIL IT! I rather enjoy seeing each buck as an individual rather than just "another nice buck".

[WYMULEYMAN]

I wish i could follow those posts with something intelligent of my own, but i think that bohntr, muleymadness, and agchawk have already hit the nail on the head with their replies. what else is there to say. just the thought of hunting these amazing animals makes my heart pound and race. it is the only subject that never bores me, i can talk, think, and breathe mule deer 365 days a year and never talk enough about it. although in the whitetails defense i would love to hunt a great big whitey some day. just to say that i did. the character of mule deer seems to fit me better than anything in the world. i was a born and bred mule deer nut.

[razorbackbowhunter]

well i agree with what u guy said about mule deer. they are one of the great big game animals. I never have hunted muleys, but i have dreamed of it for a long time. this year will be my first hunt for them, but i have stalked them for fun while bow hunting elk and found them alot easier to get close to than a whitetail buck. I know i dont have a lot of experience stalking mule deer but growing up hunting whitetail when they see they are gone they dont look they run. But i guess i wouldnt stick around long either with about one million rednecks slinging bullets and arrows at me every chance they get. But either way they are both great anmials and i have alot of respect for both. But anyone can kill either with a rifle, but it takes a real hunter to take them with a bow.

[Danthe2pointmuleyman]

hey,
well first off no affense to all the whitetail hunters out there but MULIES are just the most awesome deer out there. you get a sickness when seeing a muley, the good ole case of buck fever. im hooked for life hunting this great animal an i have alot of respect for the muley also. mulies an elk make my world go round now if i could only get my girlfriend to go up hunting with me i dont care if the muley has a rack or not i just love watching them an stalking them to see their every move. one mintue ur in awe than the next they have disappeared an you look an look an look but cant find em anywhere. they can lay down in oak brush an not be seen for hours even though they are in the same place. well anyhow i think hunting in general if its huntign whitetail or birds or mulies or elk or etc... is just a great experience in itself.

[bacagrant]

First of all it wasn't the beauty and size of the deer that got me hooked. It was the action. I was 14 and all alone on a mountain when I first killed. I was climbing up on the top of a flat top, justing cresting when a 4 point buck jumped from his bed and crossed in front of me moving like the wind. I pulled up my 300 savage and found the deer in my scope and pulled the triger. It was over in a flash. In the same flash I knew my lifes calling woud be as a Mule Deer Hunter. Now almost forty years later I live eat and breath the fine art of hunting big bucks. I'm not rich I'm not famous and most family member say i lack good sense. I have raised 4 beautiful kids all of which hunt mule deer with me. We leave those that don't feel the way we do at home and go off in search of Monster Muleys.

[BOHNTR]

bacagrant:

Great story....Welcome aboard!

BOHNTR )))---------------->