Dakota mulies

[t.r.]

Mulies have wider and taller racks than whitetails. Bodies tend to be heavier, too. But some heavy whitetails are taken each year in grain country such as Illinois, Kansas, and Iowa. Mule deer does around here commonly weigh in 170 to 180 lbs live weight. Bucks typically weigh 225 - 275 but I took a 300+ lb buck in 2001. It took two of us to load into a wheelbarrow and tie it down!! It was a big 'un but not armor-plated. One shot through the chest knocked the animal down.

Dakota mule deer antlers nearly always have less mass than Rocky Mt animals. The antlers are smaller diameter and I don't know why this is so common. A wildlife biologist would have more input. This photo shows one of my best Dakota bucks. Hopefully, you can detect the smaller diameter antlers I'm referring to. It's very common for eye guards to be absent or very small.

Dakota mulies are found in many places from arid butte & canyon country to high alpine meadows. They thrive on sage and other plants. But here is my input you'll rarely see it print:
Find a patch of mountain mahogany on partially shaded north slope and watch it from 125 yards or so after snow covers the ground. Mulies are drawn to this plant like a magnet each and every year. Don't know what mountain mahogany looks like? Your library should be able to help. My BEST shots at this set up occur about 15 minutes before dusk. I like to sit on a insulated pad with my back to a boulder or tree to break up my human outline. Wait until the heads are down feeding before moving your rifle into position. Choose the animal and wait for a good shot through both lungs. Doesn't really matter what rifle you hunt with as long as its accurate and light enough to carry long distances in rough country.

Good hunting to you.

TR

[deerwhacker444]

Very beautiful animal, someday I hope to harvest a nice muley like yours.

For those of you that have hunted both, which one is hardest to hunt? I was told by a buddy that mule deer are a piece of cake compared to whitetails and mule deer seem to be stupid. Is that what you've experienced?

[Old Ironsights]

Always liked mulies more than white tails... buck or doe.

Maybe I just like sagebrush fed deer...

[bigbore442001]

If you don't mind me asking, were the Dakota mulies you have hunted taken on private land or public land? In addition, is such terrain found in the Black Hills NF? Again, sorry if I sound a bit foolish in asking these questions. I have been through the Black Hills and saw what appears to be mostly conifers and those jagged peaks like Harney's Peak.

[Old Ironsights]

... I have been through the Black Hills and saw what appears to be mostly conifers and those jagged peaks like Harney's Peak.

That's good mulie country...

[bigbore442001]

I never thought of that. You see the vast majority of my hunting experience has been hunting whitetailed deer and turkey in New England. So I really wouldn't know what to look for. When I was out there I sort of figured that if I were hunting, I'd find a source of water or get on a saddle between two peaks. To me that would be the best way animals would be concentrated in their movements.

[Old Ironsights]

In my experience white tailes aren't "smarter", just more experienced.

Think Hunter Density.

The East/Midwest is 3 yahoos with a shotgun per square foot and out west in Mulie land it's 30 sq miles per yahoo.

[bigbore442001]

Don't get me wrong, I never implied that the mule deer was dumb or anything of that nature. It is that I know what good whitetail habitat looks like. I can drive by an area and get a sense of what a good spot would be. I didn't have that same sense of what a good spot would be out there.

[Old Ironsights]

Don't get me wrong, I never implied that the mule deer was dumb or anything of that nature. It is that I know what good whitetail habitat looks like. I can drive by an area and get a sense of what a good spot would be. I didn't have that same sense of what a good spot would be out there.

Actually I was trying to respond to both you and deerwhacker444...

I shot my last Mulie napping in a clump of willow/alders in a draw surrounded by scrub but no surface water...

[t.r.]

There are many mule deer in Black Hills. But highest concentrations from about mid-November and throughout winter months are the ancient migration routes and remote basins. Some urban areas can be included such as Chapel Valley near Rapid which is an ancient wintering place for these amazing animals. The "burn areas" of a few regions have respectable populations, too. Friendly TIP: get a BH Nat'l Forest map and phone the USFS for locations of burns within past 15 years.

Black Hills mule deer like to sleep in the forested edges of large meadows but feed in the open after dark. My scouting trip to Custer County was focused upon these edge areas where prairie meets forest.

Yes, we hunt on public lands each and every year. There is a vast amount of public lands - no need to pay trespass fees.

Mule deer will stand still while I drop into steady sitting position and shoot. In contrast, whitetails run away like scalded cats. Is this dumb or just their nature?

Prairie and canyon country of western South Dakota is classic mule country. White River valleys, Cheyenne River valleys and many other rough country places are good areas for hunting trophy bucks. Good binoculars, excellent boots, and being in good shape are more critical to success than magnum rifles or gadgets seen on TV.

This heavy bodied buck was taken by my oldest daughter at this location: "Piedmont burn". 4WD is very helpful to get to this area. But I've had good luck with ordinary mountain bike when snow is absent. Along Mt. Rushmore Rd are burn sites from the bad fire of a few years ago. Check it out in mid-November. Local hunters rarely walk farther than 1/4 mile from their pick-ups and do not even comprehend the trophies that are just a little farther away.

[marlinman93]

Those are both great looking mulies! Where I hunt in Eastern Oregon, we also seem to get mulies with spindly antlers and no mass. Occasionally a decent one shows up, but most that I have shot don't have large bases or diameter. We also don't get the 150+ and better size racks that some other areas of Eastern Oregon get.
My brother shot a 6x6 mulie 7 or 8 years ago, and it didn't even go 150, if that tells you how spindly the racks are.
Yor hunting technique of hunting the shaded north sides of slopes is a great tip, as that's what I've done for 30 years, with good success. I'd say that once the sun hits the hills almost every deer I've taken in the last 30 years was from the shady side of a draw or ridge.
Mule deer around here take a lot of patience in these open areas, as they will spook and run at 600+ yds. for what seems no reason. On the other hand, if you do your part right, and take a long time to slowly advance, I've gotten shots under 50 yds. in open grasslands. Lots of spotting, watching, and careful movement when they aren't looking, or pulling back and using natural barriers to move and re-enter at a closer point, will pay off in closer shots.
Thanks for the great pictures, and post!

[Buffboy]

TR, Great pictures. My brother lives just outside Custer and has mule deer running through yard all the time, whitetail too. The Black Hills has both in abundance.

In my experience the best muley hunting is in the area just west of Pierre, out to the Philip, then down to Winner area if you're looking for big racks in SD. Basically between the cheyenne and white rivers. The plains mule deer always seems bigger. I got to watch a perfect 6x6 at about 50 feet for about 5 minutes while I had a "whitetail only" tag just south across the cheyenne from Cherry Creek. He was a monster. I kept wishing he'd change species but it wasn't to be. I was also wishing I'd left the rifle at the camper and brought the bow(I'd considered it), I had an "any deer" tag for that. He'd have been a chip shot.

In my area east river you can walk over the hill from spooking mule deer and spook whitetail in the next gully. Still, there's a lot more whitetail than mule deer. East river mule deer get big bodies but don't usually get the large racks of western muleys. That's more a problem of people shooting them before they get full sized IMO. There are some exceptions to that though. I've seen some really big ones before the season but they seem to elude the hunters (including me) quite well.

I've also seen hybrids in my area. A friend's son shot one about 12 years back that was truly monstrous in both body and rack. Shot it with a handy rifle in 30-30, it was his first deer.