For you serious mule deer hunters

I live here in Washington and am tired of chasing the mule deer here, like chasing something that doesnt exist ](*,) , well they do,but seeing even a 24" muley is a feat. Our draw units arent much better and the odds are horrible. My question where should someone like myself begin to look? I am thinking of WY or CO, I wanna go somewhere I can get a tag and hunt this season and begin the point accumlating process. I will be applying for a point for sure in WY if I dont go there.One thing that is stopping me from hunting WY is the no access to wilderness for non res, dont know what to expect, for what I can hunt there. I am open to hunting bow,muzzy and rifle, prefer the latter 2, cause i will be bowhunting elk in ID.I am not looking for 190 bucks, just a chance to have fun see animals and have opportunity,I was leaning to CO due to access to wilderness, I prefer the mountaneous parts, scenery and a quality experience is big part too, not affraid to pack in and stay. Any help would be greatly appreciated :) Thanks Shane
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BIG R
apply for NV.Great chance to kill a good buck when you draw plus 90% of the areas are public.Any questions on zones send me a pm.
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ridgetop
If you want to try Utah, I could help you out.
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I've been doing alot of research on CO. I plan to go there myself, if I get lucky enough to draw. I won't be looking for the high demand zones, I plan to find an area that I can draw fairly easy as long as the peaks are high & I can get quite a few miles away from any & all roads for the early season bow hunt. I have no problem sharing info if you want to keep in touch.
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AGCHAWK
Hey Shane! Nice to see some of the HuntingWA site on here once in a while.

There are a lot of great folks here that may be able to help ya out. (I see a few already "rogering" up) Hopefully they can get ya pointed in the right direction.

I feel the same way you do...but pending military retirement is keeping me from hunting outside of WA and ID at the moment. I'm hoping to head down toward CO or UT one of these days too. GOOD LUCK!
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Thanks for the tips guys.
AGCHAWK, Yeah i got some helpful tips already :)
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We have a cabin in Eastern Washington, I won't say where, but each year 5 or 6 30-32" Mulies are taken out by hunters. I bowhunt in the same area and always stumble upon whitetails and end up shooting decent bucks, though I do see a ton of mule deer, just can't seem to pattern them. Last year my dad missed a very large mule deer buck 29-30", we see them, so if your in the right area of Washington state, you will do just fine.

Here is a picture of some mulies last year up in the area we hunt in, this is in the middle of town.....

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c77/ldjbuff/0923081153.jpg" alt="" />
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NONYA
Mule deer in town are NOT represenative of what you have to hunt OUT of town,we have 200"+ non typ deer all over town,show me one,JUST ONE outside of town.
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sawsman
I understand about what you are saying about mulies in WA. I lived in eastern WA for several years and all I ever seen were blacktails. I guess it really depends on what part of the state you hunt.

Nevada, Wyo and Colo would all be good states to put in for.

sawsman
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Sorry to change subject, but did you say no wilderness access to non res . Holysmokes! Can a man [non res] fish, hike or camp in a wilderness area? Or is WY saying that just non-res hunters are to stupid to find there way in and out? :>/
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"maintguy47" wrote:Sorry to change subject, but did you say no wilderness access to non res . Holysmokes! Can a man [non res] fish, hike or camp in a wilderness area? Or is WY saying that just non-res hunters are to stupid to find there way in and out? :>/
 That's just for Large mammals. Helps keep their guides in business,makes sure you get your animal out and properly cared for, a grizzly doesn't eat ya and the state is not wasting time and money on search and rescue. Fishing,hiking and camping are OK.
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I,m allergic to grizzly bears!
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Don't sweat the nonresident rule on the wilderness hunting in Wyoming. There are still millions of acres of quality hunting here. I would focus on Colorado and Wyoming. You can get a good mule deer hunt in one of those states almost every year. You can get some decent leftover licenses in each state every year and still build points to get a great license every 3-4 years. I live in Wyoming, but if I was only going to hunt mule deer in one state, it would be Colorado. Colorado is better managed and has higher quality deer. And with the split season, you can have a less-crowded experience. You can apply in other states, too, but those would be my two top picks, especially if you want a solid hunt every year.
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