Mule Deer Hunting Management
I spent the afternoon yesterday, November 17th, filming mule deer. I love this time of year to film deer and will be putting this footage on YouTube for all of you to view. This is the time of year all of the big bucks appear. The rut brings them from their hiding holes out into the open giving me the opportunity to plan for next year’s mule deer hunting season in Wyoming.
Peak Adventures is booked for the 2013 trophy mule deer hunting season. We have opening for the Powder River Hunt combo and I would like to take this time to explain what the Powder River Hunt is about. Our PRH is a combo hunt. You will have the opportunity to harvest a trophy antelope and a Powder River deer. The Powder River deer is a mature buck that has either reached his peak and is going downhill or has genetics that will not allow him to become a 190 inch deer. When I tell potential clients about this hunt a lot of them say “This is a management hunt?” Yes, this is a management hunt but so is a trophy hunt. I’ve had a number of clients ready to kill a Powder River Deer and I’ve had to hold them off for a Trophy Deer. I’m telling you, the Powder River Deer are not small, they’re mature deer!
If I had to choose between elk, antelope or mule deer to hunt in Wyoming, I would choose mule deer. There is something about the “Gray Ghost” that gets my blood stirring. I don’t know how many big elk or antelope that I’ve seen hanging on someone’s wall, it’s a lot! I know I’ve only seen a couple of big mule deer hanging in someone’s house. In my opinion a large mule deer is the best western big game trophy.
I work a full time job and use my vacation to guide hunters. Occasionally, I have the opportunity to take some time off for myself and when I do you can bet I’ll be hunting trophy mule deer. After seventeen years of hunting I still don’t have a 200 inch deer on the wall. For that matter, I don’t have a mule deer on the wall period. I’ve seen and could have harvested 180 plus deer but I pass them up hoping they’ll be bigger next year. I’ve seen only three that would make the 200 inch mark and two of those where in the late summer on a pre-scouting trip.
I saw two mule deer yesterday that would go the 160 inch mark. This is awesome because it tells me, even with the drought; we have the genetics to grow some 190 inch deer. I will be getting back in the field November 24th and hope to spend a couple of days filming. I’ll post another blog after this time.
I feel encouraged about our management of this natural resource after one afternoon! As an outfitter it is my job to make sure that I don’t exhaust this resource by overhunting our leases. During the hunting season when we are having a hard time finding the big deer it makes me wonder if we need to change our mule deer hunting program. November is the time of year that assures me Peak Adventures is on the right track to providing a quality hunting area.
