Guided Mule Deer Hunt?'s

[jonnyICE-MAN]

Me and a co-worker were wondering if any of you had experiences with a guided mule deer hunt. Some of the information we would like is names of outfitters, prices and locations. Also input on what to look for in a guide. We would like pretty good odds since this will be our first muley hunt. I thank you in advance for any info and recomendations.

[DonBo]

I just got back from a guided mulie hunt in Montana. You should expect to pay $2500 - $3000 for a quality hunt. An outfitter guaranteed tag in MT is about $800. Figure $200? for tips, $80 for meat processing. $425 for shoulder mount. These are typically 5 day hunts, 2 hunters per guide.

We went to SE Montana, near Broadus, Powder River area. Type in "Powder River Outfitters". There are several outfitters in the area. There were 14 hunters in camp, all shot deer. Some were better than others. You can see my deer in the "Montana" forum, "how's the action out west?"

You can go to other states with bigger deer, but the average size here is as good as any and this is only about a 12 hour drive from the cities.

You could contact me direct for any specifics.

[email protected]

Hope this helps, good luck.

[HNTNBUX]

Great picture and really nice forks on that buck. How wide was it? I hunt South Dakota alot and the best I have found is about 25", but not with forks like that. I can't seem to find one that has it all. Congrats.

[Shack]

I just watched an episode on ESPN, on Sat. morning about an awsome mule deer hunt in Montana. The show was about a (I think) NASCAR race track manager who hunts. I think the show was "Race To Hunt" or "Speed to Hunt".

Anyways, they got into some very nice mules. It sure made me think about putting the ching down and heading out their.

The guide was Dale SR's former guide, when he went out that way to take a mule.

Anyways, good luck.

[DonBo]

Quote:

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Great picture and really nice forks on that buck. How wide was it? I hunt South Dakota alot and the best I have found is about 25", but not with forks like that. I can't seem to find one that has it all. Congrats.

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This deer is only 24", but you are right about the forks, they were the deepest of all deer taken this week. I couldn't have been happier.

[Tyler D]

I may be a little late in replying to this since I havnt really been on here latley, but one thing you really should think about is do it your self mule deer hunting. My dad and I go out every year, mule deer hunting isnt that hard and it is much cheaper to do it yourself and more satisfying. A couple things to keep in mind, first you need good optics, second if you can find large tracts of public land that are roadless you will do much better, third you need to be ready to walk. The deer I shot this year was 3 miles from the truck when we got it, we found an area out away from every thing that was loaded with deer probably saw around 30-40 deer a day tons of does lots of smaller bucks and 7 that were all very respectable all on public land in wyoming.

If your serious about getting a big buck colorado is the place to be without a doubt the best trophy mule deer state in the country, I dont think we are going to be going to wyoming anymore. colordo has awesome genetics and manages their deer herds better than any other state and it shows.

Montana and wyoming just dont manage their herds very well except for some of the special units in montana but they have a very messed up draw system for those units, nevada and arizona are probably your best shot for one over 200" but they are a very long drive, and as a whole colorado has more trophy mule deer.

Just something else to think about before booking a guided hunt.

[DonBo]

Tyler, I kinda got the bug for Mule Deer and Antelope. I've been the guided route and was interested in a DIY trip to WY. Any advice? Tips on where to go? Not all that interested in trophy animals, just a good experience that I can afford.

Sorry, don't mean to hijack the thread...

[Tyler D]

The biggest thing you need to do is figure out is what part of the state you want to hunt and then order some blm maps of those parts to figure out where public land is. We have usually hunted in the gillete area. Antelope are a pretty easy hunt, I think there are more antelope in wyoming than all other western states combined.

Mule deer are tougher, one thing to remember is that in wyoming you cant shoot antelope or mule deer does on public land. Since most people are to lazy to do any walking you need to get out away from the roads a ways before you really start seeing bucks, especially any good ones.

If you have never hunted antelope before it is a riot usually you can find tons of them and can start making stalk after stalk. If you can put in 5 days of hunting you should easily be able to get a good wall hanger antelope. three years ago me and my dad both got antelope that measured out right around 15 1/2 inches on public land. Two years ago my dad was hunting north of gillette with my uncle and cousin and all three of them got nice antelope I think the smallest was 14 1/2 inches.

It is definatley fun doing the do it your self thing out there and good practice if you decide to move on to bigger and better things, I think our days of hunting that area are over just because we will be spending our time mule deer hunting in colorado, and should hopefully be close to drawing some sheep and goat tags in the not to distant future. Good luck if you go.