Big muleys are not easy to find even on the better ranches. They're smart and use all of their outstanding senses to survive. Do not expect to find a trophy-class deer just by riding around on ranch roads, stopping occasionally to glass. One of our most successful do-it-yourself trophy mule deer customers over the past 20 years is Gary, a contractor who recently moved from southern California to Park City, Utah. Gary has hunted most of the properties where Hunts.Net books unguided mule deer hunts, including the Manti and Echo leases in Utah, both Idaho properties west of Soda Springs, and two of the Wyoming ranches. He consistently either takes a good buck or helps one of his sons, his father or his uncle to kill one. Iasked him to share his insights:

"Big mule deer are a lot harder to hunt than most people think," he said. "You might see a trophy out in the open in September or during the rut after the season, but not very often during rifle season. Mature bucks are pretty nocturnal in October, and the bigger the buck the more nocturnal he is. If you don't happen to be in exactly the right spot during the first few minutes or the last few minutes of the day, spotting and stalking isn't going to work. And if the weather is warm, he'll be bedded before first light and probably won't start moving around until after dark. You'll need to still hunt through the timber, which is almost impossible to do if the weather is hot or dry, or you'll need to put on drives.  

"Or you can do what I usually do, and that is to be patient and just keep hunting, glassing into timber during the day and on the edges at morning and evening.

"Just because you're seeing does and small bucks doesn't mean there are no big bucks. The older bucks act totally different than the other deer, and they often hang out in different areas. A lot of times a big one will give you just a moment to take your shot, so you need to be ready all the time.

"I'm prepared to shoot long distanceas, and I carry top-quality optics. A lot of guys show up on trespass-permit hunts, and they don't have good binoculars and they don't have a spotting scope. I would hate to handicap myself that way.

"Most hunters just can't act quickly enough to make a shot count when things are happening fast. If a big buck shows himself at all, it's usually just for a moment, and then he's gone for good.

"A lot of guys just want to drive around on an ATV or in a truck and look for deer. The big bucks hear them coming and hide.

"Some guys think if they don't see a big muley, the big bucks have cleared out of the country and gone somewhere else. My experience is that the bucks are right there -- you're just not seeing them.

"Most of the ranches I've hunted have bordered public land or ranches that get just as much or more hunting pressure, and so the deer really don't have anywhere to go. Instead, they just hide. There are plenty of places for a buck to hide, and with his eight-power eyes, his fantastic ears and his nose, he usually will sense you before you know he's around.

"I figure that I see only about 10 to 20 percent of the bucks that see me, and in a week of hunting I might see only two or three mature bucks. "

"The big ones seldom have antlers that are less than 24 inches wide, and they're usually 26 to 28 inches or so. Bucks over 30 inches wide are rare anywhere, and I don't see one every year in the areas I hunt. I don't worry about spread much.  I'm looking for a heavy rack, and I want long points if I can get them.

"On good properties I can usually find at least one shooter in a week, and I've seen several in a day, but that's really rare.

"If you want to be assured of seeing big bucks, you need to go to a game farm or book one of the premium guided hunts where the outfitter can afford to take only two or three hunters per 5,000 acres. I'm not interested in game farm hunting myself, and the premium hunts costs too much now at $6,500 to $10,000. I choose to spend my money and time on trespass permits in good areas. There's no guarantee I'll be able to find what I'm looking for, but I'm confident the kind of buck I want is there, and I like the challenge of matching up my skills against his wariness to see if I can find him."