Mulie help please :)

[Deerhunter85]

Does anybody know of some good resources I can get my hands on to help me get to know mule deer and how to hunt them? Anything you can think of will help. I live on VI and only get to the mainland for a 5 to 7 day hunt once a year. Out of six years of hunting them I've only got 1 by chance when visiting a friend in Quesnel. Any help anyone could give would be greatly appreciated. Weather it be helpful hints or pointing me in the direction of books, videos or other resources. I will be searching the pages of HuntingBC too. I'm sure there has to be some good stuff on here and I'm probably not the first person to ask. Many many thanks ahead of time. :-D

DH85

Pic's I took on my honeymoon in downtown Radium Hotsprings.
5X6 at 15ft



http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/rachaelcoverdale/matts/CIMG8740.jpg
http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/rachaelcoverdale/matts/CIMG8738.jpg

[coach]

Do a search of Dana's threads here on HBC. Hard to find any sources of advice any better than what's in those pages.

[BlacktailStalker]

Downside of living on the Island for sure. Many of us are in the same situation. Good luck !

[Whonnock Boy]

Personally I have not read it, but Val Geist's Mule Deer Country is supposed to be one of the best books out there.

[Brambles]

Hunting High country mulies by Mike Eastman

Public Land Mulies by David Long

Buy em, read em, live em.....Two of the best books on mulie hunting IMO

[coach]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?8146-So-You-Want-To-Kill-A-Monster-Muley&highlight=Monster+mulie

[frenchbar]

reading books on mule deer habits is a start ..but you will learn a lot if you just head up in the interior in oct.. somewheres that hold good deer populations and hunt it for a while if you have lots of time ..best way to learn

[Weatherby Fan]

Hunting High country mulies by Mike Eastman

Public Land Mulies by David Long

Buy em, read em, live em.....Two of the best books on mulie hunting IMO

Right you are Brambles by far a cpl of the best reads for Mule Deer as well as V.Geist's Mule Deer Country also very good.

[The Dude]

Order some books, and while you're waiting, read Dana's thread. Not many stones left unturned there.
I have Val Geists book, but there are lotsa good ones out there.
And don't hunt them in region 4, cuz they're all gone anyway. :D

[kennyj]

Personally I have not read it, but Val Geist's Mule Deer Country is supposed to be one of the best books out there.
Very good book.Lots of good info and great photos.
kenny

[springpin]

The Dude has it right, no Mulies in region 4..
http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/ab100/springpin_2010/034.jpg

[canucks6]

go where u think people wouldnt.
glass and glass then glass some more.

[canucks6]

val geists a wast of money.
high country mike eastman, is a great book.

[cameron0518]

IMO, you are way overthinking it. Just get out into some country and look for them.

[Brambles]

IMO, you are way overthinking it. Just get out into some country and look for them.


nothing wrong with being educated before diving head first into the bush. Obviously there is no replacement for experiance but you can sure chip away at some of the theory in the off season to give yourself a head start and keep motivation high. killjoy.

[dana]

val geists a wast of money.
high country mike eastman, is a great book.

Val Geist's Mule Deer Country is tops on my list of books. It is one of my yearly reads.

[saskbooknut]

In the East Kootenay, hunt high in the early season. If you are seeing sheep you are in the right country for big Mule deer bucks down the Lodgepole or Wigwam areas, above Fernie in all those lovely slide slopes or up the Bull river.
Get high, glass at dawn and dusk and you will find bucks that interest you.
Later in the season you can hunt lower. My nicest Mule Deer came from Barnes Creek in the Arrow Lakes country - 235 non-typical. I cannot claim any great skill in bagging him, we just about bumped in to one another as he came up from water at 10 AM, he bounced off 75 yards and stopped to see what scared him - big mistake.
I hunted for many years with only a week or ten days holidays from VI or N. Vancouver.

[cameron0518]

your eyes show you where the animals are, not books. not saying it doesn't hurt to look into things a bit to find the type of terrain they may live in if you are inexperienced but wouldn't waste more than 5 minutes on it. each to their own though. I'll save you the time searching, look in cut blocks and on the edge of cut blocks up high in the early months, lower as the snow comes.
nothing wrong with being educated before diving head first into the bush. Obviously there is no replacement for experiance but you can sure chip away at some of the theory in the off season to give yourself a head start and keep motivation high. killjoy.

[frenchbar]

As much as being out in the feild is the way to go to learn ..READING the books is a must..many a great tips on hunting mule deer in these books the guys speak of . better to have a bit of knowledge heading out as to have none .

[dana]

your eyes show you where the animals are, not books. not saying it doesn't hurt to look into things a bit to find the type of terrain they may live in if you are inexperienced but wouldn't waste more than 5 minutes on it. each to their own though. I'll save you the time searching, look in cut blocks and on the edge of cut blocks up high in the early months, lower as the snow comes.

You have 9 months outside the season to pick up some books and learn something valuable about the critter, its habitat and its habits. If you don't educate yourself you are destined to learn from trial and error. And the error will be very high. ;)

[frenchbar]

If you don't educate yourself you are destined to learn from trial and error. And the error will be very high. ;)

its still a hell of a pile of fun tho.lol

[Brambles]

Also any of the Walter Prothero books are top notch. He does tend to repeat himself from book to book so I don't think its worth investing in the whole collection like I did but if you get one and read it you'll get a good grasp of his teachings. Good tactics in there. Not just sit up high and glass routine.

As well as

The Complete Guide to Mule Deer Hunting: Tactics and Strategies for Success by Sam Curtis.


Video's are fun but your not gonna learn as much from most of them IMO. Mossback and Muley Crazy are some of my favorites but hardly comparable styles of hunting or terrain. At least not for me in the jungle.

[dana]

Most mule deer videos are showing hunts in open arid terrain which we don't have too much here in BC. But there are some good hunting strategies that still can apply here. The Muley Crazy series is by far the best out there. If nothing else a guy will learn what a monster versus a dink truly looks like. Muley Crazy III On The Trail Of Trophy Mule Deer is one of the best 'how to' videos I've seen.

As for other good reads, Mule Deer: Behavior, Ecology, Conservation by Erwin Bauer is another great book about the species.
Mule Deer: Hunting Today's Trophies by Jim Van Norman & Tom Carpenter is good book for beginners and really gives some great tips on how to hunt and what to look for.

[Brambles]

Too bad the only way to kill a mature "qualty" buck is the Eastman way!!!

[dana]

It's all because they rack bracket 'tangs' ;)

[Brambles]

qualty tang

[springpin]

Knowledge of the animals your hunting is as important as bringing your bow, or rifle. But that's only my opinion.

[dino]

A great beginner spot is the Gang Ranch late oct. If your not afraid to hike you will see lots. Im from the island too and I know how hard it is to find out the info your looking for. Trust me, the gang ranch has a huge migration and late oct during the any buck season is your best all around bet if you can hike plus theres all kinds of other Island guys there.

[Deerhunter85]

Thanks everyone for your helpful insights and opinions. :smile:
So many of you are very knowledgeable in this area from many hours, days and years spent out in deer country. Being from the Island its hard to get the time in over there scouting and finding deer, learning their habits and where they are.
I plan on getting some of the suggested books and soaking up as much knowledge as I can before hitting up the hills again. Hopefully this year will be more successful thanks to the members of HBC. :smile: