Spot and Stalk vs. Calling

So I am going to hunting mulies during the rut this year. Having a great debate and thought this was the place to bring the debate.

During the rut what do you think would be more successful

1: sitting patiently 12 hours a day and calling

2: stalking covering lots of ground

3: stalking and calling covering lots of ground?
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southwind
Spot and stalk would be my suggestion. During the rut I would not rule any method out.

As far as calling, what are you thinking about?

It is my opinion that mule deer do not repond to calling well. Early season I think you can call a little with a bleat and get some response out of curiosity. Unlike whitetail rattling really isn't a muley thing nor is grunt calling.

With the bucks rutting their attention will be on does and not much else which lends to stalking well except that they are more on the move.

find the does.

I certainly would not rely upon calling as my primary method.
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bigbuck92
ive never heard of calling them so spot and stalk is the way to go. plus its funner cause you get to see more country
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Default Avatar
The only thing that I've ever seen calling working well for with mule deer is to stop em dead in their tracks if they're running and you need a shot. Other than that, I think spot and stalk is the way to go, anytime.
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proutdoors
I have read 'claims' of calling in muleys, I have never witnessed it myself. With the bucks being distracted, I like ambush methods the best during the rut. I also have enjoyed success with spot and stalk methods during ALL seasons of legal hunting.

PRO
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NONYA
You show me how to call in a shooter MD buck and Ill teach you how to use mind control to make big bull elk sit still while you put a bridle on em. (???)
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Default Avatar
Nonya - You don't know how to saddle up a bull? What are you a rookie? They are so tame, and slow, they can barely hear or smell anything and they aren't good climbers either. :) Ok... maybe that is a bit of a stretch? I am constantly amazed at elk and their abilties to smell, climb, survive harsh winters, and my all time most frustrating ability of the mighty wapiti is that lovely jump they do to go 180 degrees and from standing still to 40 mph and out of sight. Can you tell I am an avid member of the rocky mountain elk foundation?? If I could hunt elk everyday from now until the day I am six feet under I would be a perfectly happy man.

That being said...

Thanks to everyone for your help, like I said it my first time hunting mulies in the rut and I am an admitted rookie. I love this site for everyones quick response though. I'll have to post our success when we get back around thanksgiving.
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Default Avatar
i would spot and stalk and keep an eye on the does too .
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Cvrn
During the rut anything can happen.

I have stoppped a Buck while running away and I have also brought numeruos bucks in to see what is going on when calling.Naturally a doe will come into a distress fawn call, and during the rut there is a good chance a Buck can or will follow her.

Spot and stalk is your best way to hunt them, but if you jump something dont be afraid to try to stop them or bring them back with a bleat or grunt.

Good luck.
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Default Avatar
Mulies don't respond much to calls, spot and staulk is your best bet.
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Default Avatar
Do buck mule deer respond to antler crashing?
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southwind
Mule deer as opposed to whitetail are not near as aggressive and while they fight it is not at the frequency of their cousins. It is a calling card for whities but would suspect it might work on mule deer in a very very very small window. I think it may work against you more than for you. ($$)
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southwind
O.K. I am going to keep an open mind about this but there are some that swear by this Mule Deer call.

Anyway, here is a link: http://www.elkinc.com/searchResult.aspx?categoryid=11
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BOHNTR
I've used that call on mule deer and blacktails.....with very poor results. It will call in does, especially when using the fawn in distress tone. However, the advertisement leads one to beleive you can call in bucks as well. Since I first started using the call almost 17 years ago, I've yet to be able to call in a buck. Plenty of does, just not bucks.

Now having said that, it will stop a buck that's on the move. So, it's probably a good tool for gun hunters that have a much greater range. But for bowhunters, it's a limited call at best, IMHO.
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Default Avatar
Great.... just what I need "the fawn in distress call" I will have a mountain lion jumping on my friggin' head while I am mule deer hunting.
:dumb

they would put me on the darwin award winners log...
Question: what do mountain lions enjoy eating
Answer: the weak and the distressed

Moral of the story: Do not make noises like the food of meat eating cats that are as big as you.
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Default Avatar
i do the last one. i spot and stalk while i call.
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Show_Me_Your_Rack
well deer are not as STUPID as ELK you cant just drive up to them and herd them into your truck then shoot them!!!!!!!! I would go to some high consentrations of does and glass there will be big bucks in the area and new ones all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Default Avatar
you cant do that with elk
elk are just as smart as deer.
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Default Avatar
Guys, I know we are getting off topic just a tad but.... have you ever hunted whitetail deer. No offense to mulies since I have a tag this year and don't want to jinx myself but...... they are the dumbest animals I have ever seen intellectually. If you have ever hunted a whitetail you would know what I mean, they are much faster, spookier and always on guard as opposed to mulies that plod along and stand there and look at you half of the time.

You've all sold me on spot and stalk....... thanks.
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Default Avatar
Calling in Mule deer bucks is akin to Bigfoot, You hear about it but never see it.
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proutdoors
speedgoat, maybe you are only seeing/finding the dumb muleys. :)

Truth is, old mature muleys are as smart as any critter in the hills. Spot and stalking a 'trophy' mule deer is as challenging as ANY hunting out there. IMHO

Bigfoot, that's funny right there. :))

PRO
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bigbuck92
hey man i got a bigfoot hangin on my wall. there not to hard to hunt :)
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proutdoors
"bigbuck92" wrote:hey man i got a bigfoot hangin on my wall. there not to hard to hunt :)
 Doesn't the wife get ticked having your foot on the wall? (???)

PRO
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bigbuck92
dont got me a wife im to young for one of them.haha :) my mom kind of minds though.lol
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Show_Me_Your_Rack
i hunted white tail and they are a sinch i shot a doe and not 10 minutes later a buck came and tried to mount the dead doe so i shot him to also on our VIDEO i have numerous mule deer that i called in both with horns and grunters as well as the old yote call!!!!!!!!!!! whitetail aint nothing like a mule deer
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killerbee
HAHAHA,thats pretty funny, SHOW_ME_YOUR_RACK, he sounds like you and elk hunting :)) :)) . anyway i agree i've hunted whitetail and all we did was just sit in stand and wait,BBBBBBBBBBBBOOORRRRRIIINNNGGG!!!!!!!!!!
but REALISTICLLY, only ignorance[ meaning not-knowing] is to blame for calling1 animal stupid. if a person only hunts for monster muledeer you will see how tuff it is course if you just drive down a gravel road you can kill a 2 pnt buck roadhunting every year. depending on what person of those two you are, thats the outlook you will have on that animal. also if your only experiance with 1 animal is on some "once in a lifetime" tag and you go out and call in 350 bulls left and right you will think that elk are stupid, or you can hunt them on a normal general hunt and hold out for a trophy bull and you will quikly learn how tuff they are to hunt. the if you go out east and hunt for trophy whitetails like they do you can see a trophy buck being hard to kill as well.
but i deffinatly use to love to see the easterners come out on our mule deer hunts and tell us how hard it was to kill a big whitetail and these muley bucks are just stupid then after a couple of hrs putting a stalk on a big buck them whinning like little babbies cuase they never had to walk that much! :)) :)) :)) :)) :)) :)) then accually asking if we would hang a stand for them on a trail." uh, sure mr. what ever you want" ,,,," hey did you see anything today?" ----- " uh no just a couple doe's" :)) :)) " well we seen a couple nice bucks, stalked and killed a toad" [conversation with the hunter] :)) :)) huh, treestanding for whitetails,BBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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bigbuck92
lol. thats what i was thinkin killerbee but didnt know how to put it into words. thanks for writing that.haha
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Cvrn
This last year I really tried a number of different calls to see for myself.And I tried the Elkinc. Thinking it would work cuz i heard alot about it. Garbage,garbege and garbeage no matter how you spell it, it is not even close. Tried a coulpe others that did not work well either. Finally got my Buddy BB to have Kay (his wife show me how it was done she is the MASTER) after hearing it a few times I found a old Javalina call that sounded alot like her and works pretty good. I have called Doe in with Bucks trailing them. as for calling in a Loner buck I have done that as well, but this one is a little tricky. when I was younger I would get allergies and scratchy throat so I had learned to itch it by making a small frog noise in my throat. and if you do it very,very soft I have had a buck come right back to me within 20 yrds it sounds just like another buck grunting while following a hot doe, not sure of the connection and why but it works.

Good luck, Dont be afraid to try some stuff. people usually give pretty good info on this site.
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FastGM3
"southwind" wrote:O.K. I am going to keep an open mind about this but there are some that swear by this Mule Deer call.

Anyway, here is a link: http://www.elkinc.com/searchResult.aspx?categoryid=11
 I like the Mule Deer Buck Lure myself, with 200lb test line and a heavy duty Fenwick fiberglass rod. :thumb
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