mule deer herd/buck ratio

Well, yesterday ending up being the day, even if it didn't start off as being the day. We thought we'd check out a few areas before going shopping, just to see what was out and about. Kind of like "going for a walk with a gun" level, where unless something jumps in my lap, it's not happening. Anyways, saw a few extra deer, but further away from the main herd, so figured I'll come back later and put a creep/stalk on to a rough halfway point to be good for any chance from either way.

Hours later I came back and gave it a whirl. As far as sneaking into an area it was pretty easy for a bare stubble field, the contours allowed me to walk almost 200 meters on a direct bearing slightly hunched. Then no more than 120 meters of mix belly and knee crawl to get to what I figured was a decent shooting position. I scanned the herd that was coming out, and found a decent (to me) buck that was gonna be the one if things played out right. He was hanging out right on a tree/fenceline with a doe without a care in the world. I tried a few small grunts to see what would happen. It got both their attention, probably more so the doe, but she started towards my position, and he was meandering along. Who knows, maybe they were coming my way regardless of the grunt. Long story short, let him get within 130-140 meters, and the rest is history.

It's not a monster, but it's a starting point for setting the bar, and I don't eat antlers anyways. I'll try to drop a pic or two.
 
mymuley.jpg

It goes without saying, but obviously tags were applied after photos were taken, and yes, have a laugh because I did use my wifes muddy girl pink rifle.:d:d:d
 

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Nice deer and the first 243 I owned was a Muddy Girl stock too because the price was more then right funny thing seems to work the same as one with a black stock for some reason. I can't count how many times I shot a mule buck and the biggest I ever seen shows up everyday for the rest of the season.
 
saskgunowner101 said:
So my wife and I were lucky enough to draw Muley tags in our home zone, but I don't know anything really about muley group or herd behavior. In a healthy herd, how many bucks should be hanging around? We've been paying attention to one group that seems to have about 5-6 does, 4-5 fawns/yearlings, and one buck. And he's not a big buck either. Should I assume there are more bucks waiting for the rut to fire up to start chasing the ladies? Thoughts?

Also, any muley hunting tips specific to Sask appreciated.
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The rut is brought on by MINUTES OF DAYLIGHT.

Cold weather is what makes the animals more likely to be moving around and it usually occurs around the time when the daylight hours are fewer.

We're in the middle of of the last week of Mule Deer hunting in my region and there are a lot of visible Mule Deer along the edges of the clear cuts. If you glass carefully, they're even bedded down during the day in the little swales, out of the wind and maybe getting some warm sunlight, if it's not cloudy.

This year, shortly after the rut began, some of the Muley bucks already had swollen necks from drinking Does Estrus Urine. I saw that on the opening of any buck season Oct 1.

Approaching inclement weather will make the Deer more active the evening before and sometimes the next morning if it hasn't hit yet.

Mule Deer bucks, especially the mature animals, three years and older, tend to go into areas where the Does and Fawns don't venture. It's not until the daylight hours get shorter in mid September that they start to thing about looking for Does.

Now this isn't written in stone, but for the most part in my limited experience it rings true.

I went out yesterday for three hours, to an area appx 15 kliks from my house. I've hunted this area, which is a conglomeration of clear cuts, for the last 25 years.

It's a huge area, with lots of fresh cuts, planted cuts and fallow cuts.

Over the three hours I hunted, I saw several Does and Fawns, laying in the swales, soaking up a bit of sunlight, out of the wind. One lone Doe, feeding and in the last hour, a small herd of 7 Does and Fawns with one of what appeared to be an early spring buck with tiny horns about the size of my little finger.

Following appx 100 meters behind them came a mature buck.

Huge swollen neck, that made his head look small. Very wary old boy, but he was still very interested in those Does, who weren't paying him any attention.

This late in the season, I suspect he had already run the full group.

He was like many bucks in my region, a THREE POINT ON BOTH SIDES. Massive, heavy beams and tines, but since Nov1 it's now a FOUR POINT ONLY season.

I likely wouldn't have shot him anyway, if it were legal, as at this point in my 70+ years, I find myself finding reasons not to shoot them. He's a mature breeder and there just aren't enough of them around anymore.

Maybe if he had been the wonder buck I've been looking for all my life???? Maybe, but then in these declining years, even though I looke at my wall mounted trophies and enjoy reminiscing the adventures, somehow killing that buck of a lifetime just isn't that important. A nice spike would be much better eating than bragging rights.

My JR loves these outings. The Deer even become curious to see this bouncy little black and white creature in their cut block.

I'll go out again tomorrow, maybe see a spike or fork Moose. If not?????????? It's still great just being out there.
 
Thanks guys, I'm pretty happy with all said and done, and next time with a little knowledge under my cap I can be a little more picky. Now, to find one for the wife... and how come nobody told me they taste so good?:d My wife already prefers muley over WT
 
Taste - I am pretty sure is from what they feed on?? For sure the Whitetail from Community Pastures in Zone 46 Saskatchewan tasted much different that the Whitetail that my brother would get near Grande Cache, Alberta (Prairie Grassland versus Rocky Mountains??) I would guess there is a difference from Val Marie short grass prairie to Prince Albert spruce and poplar?? But, as likely no difference if both feeding on farmer's crops???
 
Hard to say really, I was just surprised is all. I guess seeing too many posts on the internet about rutted up muleys only being good for sausage. Once I had the tarsal glands and hide off, there was no funk, same as WT.
 
saskgunowner101 said:
Hard to say really, I was just surprised is all. I guess seeing too many posts on the internet about rutted up muleys only being good for sausage. Once I had the tarsal glands and hide off, there was no funk, same as WT.
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There are two large pink glands, one on each side of the buck's neck that you should also remove.

These glands get enlarged from them drinking estrus urine. Usually, when you cut the throat to bleed out the animal, these glands empty as well.

If they aren't emptied or removed, the liquid in them will be absorbed into the neck and shoulder meat.

As far as Metatarsal glands, they can make one heck of a mess, if not taken off prior to gutting/skinning.

Yes, it sounds like a no brainer but IMHO, these two parts on the Deer gave the derogatary "Stink Buck" term.

People will leave them on or clean the animal, without removing them and they contiue to ooze out the pheromone packed secretions and it gets all over the meat.


If the buck is aggressive and there are other bucks present, they will often be "overheated" from contuous activity.

We had two Whitetail Bucks in the back yard last night and they thumped around and battled for hours. You could smell their excretions all over the yard.

I've seen Deer slick with the excretions from their Metatarsal glands, when they wipe their faces on them and lift their legs up to their bellies to spread the scent.

The first legal Mule Deer buck I saw this fall came within 50 feet of my blind and I could smell the musky odor on the breeze coming from him to me.

I passed on that Deer.

It's normal for bucks to spread the scent from their eyes and metatarsal glands over their bodies to get more of the pheremones onto the breezes to be carried to does in estrus.

If the animal hasn't been running itself ragged for days/weeks, they're usually just fine for eating. If they've been aggressively seeking does, by mid October they can have lost as much as 25% of their body weight, often the reason for buck die offs during harsh winters. The meat from these very lean animals can have a strong flavor and be tough.

Still, most animals are just fine. Some people just don't appreciate the flavor of venison.

There is one other thing that can put certain palates off venison, and that has to do with the minerals in the soil, where they live.

There is one such area close to where I live. The bucks all have slender/basket sets of horns, without brow tines. They look good but they have a very unique and IMHO unpleasant flavor. I no longer hunt that ranch because of this. To bad because it's only 5 kliks from where I live.
 
rutting or not I wear rubber gloves and have a dedicated small skinning knife for skinning out the leg glands and I start well above them and work down towards the hoof. I skin a good few inches past the joint and take care not to cut the tendon so I can saw off the lower leg bone with glands and still have the joint and tendon intact for the hanging hooks or rope. Once the lower leg and glands are removed I take off those gloves and switch to clean hands and my main knife for the rest of the work.
I don't generally slit the throats on my deer unless I have failed to penetrate the heart/lungs but I do skin out the esophagus and neck glands on the rutting buck. Have not had a bad tasting mule deer yet. Haven't tried white tail yet but maybe one day
 
45ACPKING said:
rutting or not I wear rubber gloves and have a dedicated small skinning knife for skinning out the leg glands and I start well above them and work down towards the hoof. I skin a good few inches past the joint and take care not to cut the tendon so I can saw off the lower leg bone with glands and still have the joint and tendon intact for the hanging hooks or rope. Once the lower leg and glands are removed I take off those gloves and switch to clean hands and my main knife for the rest of the work.
I don't generally slit the throats on my deer unless I have failed to penetrate the heart/lungs but I do skin out the esophagus and neck glands on the rutting buck. Have not had a bad tasting mule deer yet. Haven't tried white tail yet but maybe one day
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That's how I do it as well.

Most folks don't even know about the glands in the necks.

I was very careful on the last buck I harvested. I wore disposable elasticized polymer gloves, given to me by my Doctor. Those things are fantasic. Strong, stretchy, don't slip off etc.

I went through three pair before I was finished.

It was a young White Tail and wasn't bad as far as pheromone secretions went. I found that these gloves weren't as slippery as my bare hands.

The real reason I kept the gloves on was that I had a nasty cut, requiring a half dozen stitches, on the palm, just under the little finger. I didn't want it to get infected, even though the likelihood of that happening is almost nil.

I'm getting long in the tooth, not in bad shape, but Chemo made me a Type II Diabetic appx 20 years ago.

I heal well but not as quickly as I used to, so a bit of precaution doesn't hurt anything.

As far as cutting the throat goes, I do it, unless I'm saving the cape for something/someone.

Depending on how far I have to pack that animal, if I can't get the pick up close or the SXS quad close enough, I don't even pack out the bones any more.

Meat hanging in a mesh bag will cure just as well as hanging on the bones.

If the ribs of a buck aren't to fat, I will take a rack from each side. The rest of the bones, including the head, minus tongue/horns will be left behind for the other critters to gnaw on and help them get through the coming winter.

Usually the ravens/eagles/vultures and maybe a bear will have the bones stripped to the white in a few days, so nothing goes to waste. Rabbits, ground squirrels, red squirrels, chipmunks and mice eat the bones for the calcium which is so hard for them to come by in their feed.

When I debone a deer, I doubt there's more than a few pounds of meat that gets left behind. I take the organs as well, other than the kidneys.

I usually remove the heart/liver and don't bother to remove the guts. Keeps everything squeaky clean this way.

Oh well, back out again Friday morning, this time with the Quad. Most hunters are out of the bush now, other than a few die hards, trophy seekers and bow hunters.

You know, now that I mentioned bow hunters. I didn't really learn how to hunt effectively, until I took up muzzle loader (No super strong inlines in those days) and bow hunting.

It's a huge learning curve, that if you want to be successful at, you really need to do your due diligence in so many ways, as well as getting intimate with the animals in the area you're going to hunt.

Chemo caused me to lose a lot of body strength and no matter how much I tried, it never came back to its previous levels.

Not only that, but I don't traverse the terrain as well as I used to. What used to take 20 minutes, now takes an hour or more and if it's downhill, my knees let me know about it all the way down and the next day or two.

If this keeps up, I'm going to have to look for a partner to hunt with. Sadly, most people aren't into it as much as I am and shy away. The last fellow I went out with caught royal hell from his wife, because he didn't make it home for dinner at 6pm, right around the end of September. There were at least 2 more hours of shooting light left after that and they're usually the most productive hours.

Now his wife won't let him come out to play with me any longer.

Good luck guys/gals, I've seen more Mule Deer this year than I have in a long time. Lucked out in one big clear cut and took out some wolves, which we have to many of. I see a lot of White Tails as well, but not where I can legally shoot them. I refuse to trespass on private property and by this time of year, the animals do need a safe place.

Maybe I'll see a nice spike/fork moose on Friday??? I've seen them where I'm going to hunt before. Hopefully a logging show hasn't opened up there on the side of the three year old clearcut.
 
We were drawn in Zone 10.

Been hunting there for almost 15 years.

That area is a mere shadow of its former self.

Leader Sk....Along the river in Zones 12 & 14 used to be one of the greatest areas in Sask for BIG Mulies.

The former #1 Buck and I think current #3 came from Zone 12 I think.

We usually hunt the The Great Sandhills....which was also a great area.

Huge pastures, sage, rolling hills.

They had a really hard winter last year, the numbers are extremely low. Only seen 2-3 Bucks that would be barely 150-160.

The C.W.D, cull hunts have pretty much decimated the whole area.

Talked to alot of ranchers....

Same result, low numbers, small bucks, very dry and worried about fires(vehicle exhausts and cigarettes).


We all basically decided we werent going to shoot smaller bucks that likely have CWD anyways.

Just really sad and pathetic what happened in those zones and the Govt response to a problem they created.
 
45ACPKING said:
rutting or not I wear rubber gloves and have a dedicated small skinning knife for skinning out the leg glands and I start well above them and work down towards the hoof. I skin a good few inches past the joint and take care not to cut the tendon so I can saw off the lower leg bone with glands and still have the joint and tendon intact for the hanging hooks or rope. Once the lower leg and glands are removed I take off those gloves and switch to clean hands and my main knife for the rest of the work.
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I don't always remember to bring gloves, but yeah, this is pretty much what I do. I have a dedicated beater of a knife for the task or I can clean the blade off easily enough.
 
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