Hunting Mule Deer Habitat

I’m fortunate to live in the epicenter of the country’s best mule deer hunting. Central Colorado has high numbers of my favorite big game animal and has long been known for producing trophy quality bucks that, despite some misinformed detractors, are very good table fare. Colorado has the perfect blend of productive alpine summer range, large aspen groves, and sage-covered winter range. More than any other factor as a do-it-yourself public land...

Are Mule Deer Going Extinct?

Hunters have been watching or reading about the mule deer’s decline for so long that some worry they’ll witness its end. Writers and speakers often quote Professor Valerius Geist’s opening lines of Chapter 8 in his 1990 book “Mule Deer Country,” where he warned: “For all its current abundance, the mule deer, so different, so uniquely American, so young and promising, is nevertheless a species marked for extinction.” Geist’s next two sentences...

5 Best Mule Deer Cartridges

Named for their large, mule-like ears, mule deer are the second most widely distributed deer species in the United States. However, since they’re best adapted to arid, rocky environments, they can only be found west of the Missouri River and especially in the Rocky Mountain region. This western terrain is what distinguishes a good mule deer cartridge from a good whitetail cartridge. While muleys tend to be larger than their eastern cousins, both...