in over my head

Hit up Bohnter for some advice he should be able to give you some good ideas

When I lived in Colorado we watched the mulies during the rut even though we couldn't hunt them. Sounds like the country you are hunting is similar. Find the does and you'll find bucks. Probably where the sage meets the rugged country would be a good place to start. If there are oaks and acorns in the hills they would be there unless the snows drive them out onto the sage flats. Having good binos and or a spotting scope is important to locate them. We called some in just to see if we could do it and had some video of two that came right in to rattling. Mulies aren't smart during the rut. One guy I know has still photos of a buck he walked right up to that are frightening. The buck stood up at about 7 steps and puffed up. My buddy then retreated slowly and got out of there. I stopped to open a gate in a trophy area and went back to the vehicle (Geo Tracker)and saw antlers sticking up out of the sage on the other side of the road. It was a rutty buck that I videoed as he watched me for a moment then decided he was waiting no longer and went through the open gate and up the road and onto a little mesa with his head down trailing a doe. They are fun to watch if nothing else. If there's snow they are easy to spot. The only problem you'll have is that the does may see you and leave taking the buck with them. They don't get dumb like the bucks. Good luck.
Mark

I don't have any real mule deer advice for you, but good luck with that tag.

Hunting bucks in the rut is great. If its cold there is a good chance they will be active most of the day. Find the does and you'll find the bucks. In general they are distracted by the does making it easier to stalk. I shot over the top of a good buck on a muzzleloader hunt during the rut of few years ago. He didn't even look up from the doe he was chasing. Have fun sounds like a great hunt.

I wouldn't say in over your head!!! That's a great thing to be able to do.... Hunt Muleys in the rutt!!! It's the most fun ever and it's when the big boys are out! Tree stands probably won't be the best option though... Thats not a hold fast rule but more often, muley bucks will be chasing does around and you'll want to get in the game and plan a stalk or intercept... just glass hard and put a good one down! Good luck!

I've hunted coyote a couple time in November up in that corner of the state. As such we were low in the sage and rolling hills. All the buck that we have seen during that time were in the vegetation growing near the creek beds and washes. Have seen 4 bucks right around 25" on my two trips up there. Good luck to you.

what area will you be hunting in. I hunted the early season near Jarbidge and Mountain city a few years back. Some really nice sized amimals in there and during the rut you should see some whoppers. I agree that a tree stand or a blind probably be your best best. But that is just my opinion and I'm sure that there is someone here that could tell you why I'm full of S*#! What I like to do is get up high early in the morning well out of where I will be disturbing the deer and spot. Once I find the deer I want to hunt I watch until they have bedded down for the day, usually sometime in the mid-late morning (if unmolested by other hunters or people). Once the one I want is bedded down I make sure that I double/tripple check the surroundings around my deer then I make a slow and deliberate stock. Usually the wind has steadied itself out around that time so I get downwind and can usually get close. A buddy of mine likes to get up high spot and then figure out where the deer are headed then get ahead of them, find a nice ambush spot and let the deer walk to you. Just make sure you are downwind and it should work. I would recommend getting BOWHUNTING FOR MULE DEER by Dwight Schuh. It's a little dated but still a great book especially if you are new in bowhunting.
Another thing that I would recommend is getting yourself a nice pair of binos as well as range finder (if you don't already own them). 10x42 or 10x50 are perfect for the big open country that northern Nevada or most of the wester states for that matter. I have Leica's 10x42 with the range finder built inside that I love. Lastly practice practice practice shooting as often as you can. Nothing breaks my heart more than putting all the effort and luck into getting within shooting range and then blowing the shot.... well... I guess that I have blabbered on here enough. Hopefully you will be able to find something that I have said useful. Have a great hunt!

A-ron, I don't live very far from the area that you'll be hunting (on the Idaho side). There are a lot of deer in the area, in all 3 states. Make sure that you are boned up on your navigation skills so that you don't inadvertantly cross a line that could get you fined. A few years ago, there were a lot of lions in the area, but I haven't heard much about them in the last couple of years. I see large doe herds every time I head that way to scout so you should have pretty good luck. If you need someone to tag along and take pictures, give me a shout.