Big Game
Odocoileus hemionus
Photo: GlacierNPS via Wikimedia Commons (PD) · PD · Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Conservation status
Least ConcernTag difficulty (general)
Mix of OTC + drawVaries by state and unit.
Methods generally used
Mule deer are the West's signature big-game animal — named for the oversized ears that stand straight out from a blocky head. A mature buck runs 150 to 300 pounds with a forked-and-forked-again antler structure (each main beam splits into two, then each of those splits again, so a typical mature buck is a four-by-four) that's distinct from the single main beam of a whitetail. The tail is short, white, and tipped in black, and the rump patch is white. They move with a stiff-legged four-footed bound called stotting — all four hooves leave the ground at once — which lets them cover broken ground a coyote can't follow through.
They're crepuscular feeders: bed in heavy cover through the heat of the day, work feeding edges at dawn and dusk, and shift bedding sites with the wind. The rut peaks in November when bucks abandon caution and chase does across open country in daylight — the one stretch of the year a mature buck is reliably catchable on foot. They eat browse-heavy: bitterbrush, sage, mountain mahogany, serviceberry. Population trends have run flat to declining across much of the West for two decades, with habitat fragmentation, drought, and chronic wasting disease all in the mix.
Mule deer hold the western half of the continent — from the Yukon and Alberta foothills south through every Rocky Mountain and Great Basin state into northern Mexico, and from the Pacific Coast east to the western Dakotas and the Texas Panhandle. Core hunting populations live in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and the desert Southwest. Coastal blacktail deer — a subspecies — run the Pacific seaboard from Alaska south through California.
Mule deer summer high in aspen, oak-brush, and subalpine basins, then drop with the snow to sage flats, pinyon-juniper benches, and river-bottom willow at 4,000 to 7,000 feet. They need a mix of dense bedding cover and open feeding flats within a short walk of each other. In the desert Southwest they live year-round in pinyon-juniper and chaparral. Coastal blacktails stay in dense coastal forest and clear-cut edges and don't migrate seasonally.
Rifle seasons commonly open in October and run into the November rut depending on the state. The game is glassing — high points at first and last light — and either a stalk or an ambush on a feeding edge. Flat-shooting cartridges in the .25 to .30 caliber range are standard for shots that can stretch past 300 yards in open country.
Archery seasons typically open in late summer when bucks are still in velvet and patterned on summer feeding routes. Spot-and-stalk on open country and treestand or ground-blind setups over water in arid units are both productive; bowhunters work for shots inside 50 yards.
Muzzleloader seasons usually fall between archery and rifle and reward sit-and-wait setups along feeding routes or water. Effective range depends on the rig and the state's rules on sights and projectiles — check your state hunting page for legal equipment in your unit.
Legal methods, weapons, and seasons vary by state and unit — confirm with the issuing agency before you hunt.
Dcrjsr via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-3.0) · CC-BY-3.0
Guywelch2000 via Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · CC0
11 states