you know Montana is one of the few western states that allows you to hunt
mule deer during the rut
now be advised that a big old trophy mule deer that's
five six seven years old is a smart buck and he won't allow you
just to stumble in on him he has many escape routes to get away from hunters my
strategy for hunting a trophy mule deer is to set up find that buck and
pattern it now this buck right here is only 75 yards away from me he was laying
in this patch of timber he will stay there in hopes that I will walk right
past him when I give you my contact right there that was all she wrote
buck says I'm had I'm outta here
well that's a pretty good buck but he isn't quite what we're looking for
there's another one up here that's a little wider but that's a good 160
boxy buck really good buck we'll see if we can't find a better one
this is the type of hunting I like to do for mule deer the rut is just now coming
on you notice I'm up here on a lookout I can look a lot of country over I got
four or five bunches of does and eventually a buck's gonna come in with
these does I'll sit here maybe two days and just glass and glass and glass now
if you're really looking for a trophy mule deer this is one of the most
effective ways to hunt trophy mule deer now it isn't for everybody because you
have to have a lot of patience but once you find that buck you key in on him
find these patterns and then you can slip down and take him so this is really
the key to trophy mule deer hunting is being able to be patient and finding a
lookout like this that you can look a lot of country over
Buck's are just now coming out this single buck he's 3x4
just a little buck nothing we're looking for but they are starting to move around a bit
that's the advantage when we're above him he hasn't a clue we're around we could pattern
him if he was a big 'ol buck
doesn't have a any does with him he's kind of looking around for does it's
just the beginning of rut we're gonna take off and go to a different spot look
around and see if we can find some bucks before it gets dark
what I'm doing here is setting up glassing trying to find a good trophy
mule deer and a lot of times you got to be very patient you sort through lesser
bucks and do not get discouraged it's a three point and he's got two cheaters
one on each side that'll make him about 26 inches wide but it's just a big three
point where the couple cheaters is really not what we're looking for but
maybe next year he'll be a real impressive deer those cheaters we're gonna leave
this buck alone and go to a different part of the country and set up and do
some more glassing and try to find that one buck that we can key in on the
pattern and hunt don't get discouraged because if you get discouraged and take
a lesser deer then you were always regretted
that's the buck we want to go after now what we're gonna do is try to pattern
this book he's in a field there's absolutely no way that we can hunt him
right here the best thing we can do is just to sit up here pattern him oh he's
leaving there he goes chasing that hot doe
well the next morning we pick a
little different look out to look down on that buck and hopes that he'll show
up again and you know he doesn't he isn't in there this morning so ease
along and start spotting up in the timber and on the slopes and there he is
evidently what happened is he came down to the fields and went back up very
early now he's heading right now towards his bedding area he's all alone he must
have bred that hot doe and he's kind of easing along here looking for more
does well he's about 25 inches wide look for point but on one side on it on
the driver's side he's got an extra point off his g2
most hunters would try to make a stalk on that buck but you know he's moving
best thing I can do is just sit back here follow him at a distance if I can
get up on a ridge find out where his nest is in other words where he's bedding
typically these bucks like a certain area it's like their home I've said that
before in other videos and you've watched me take bucks and that's what
they do they have an area that they really like to stay in that's what we're
doing here we set up on another ridge just watching
until he gets into his nest but we can find out where he's bedded and then set
up and wait and hopefully get him as he's coming or going into his feeding
area he'll make a mistake here they always do but it's like a chess game
who's gonna have the most patience you or the buck
we will be leading right
into his hand if you go and make a stalk on that buck right now or when he's in a
position where he has several escape routes what we're gonna do here is just
sit back watch the buck he's a great buck he's gonna go in there we're gonna
find out where he's living and we're gonna make a plan up
we're gonna try to make a stalk on him he's by himself he's looking for does
and that's how I hunt trophy mule deer take a deer like this and methodically
hunt that buck what we do here is I ease along here and I find him actually
laying in a bunch of scrub pines it's right on the edge of it there's a gully
that runs right underneath him allowing me a perfect stalk right up within a
hundred yards of him and that's what I do right here he's right up on the buck
doesn't even know I'm there he's sleeping there it's probably 10:30
in the morning
I am able to get right on this bucks and he doesn't have a clue that I'm around
I take him right out of his bed right here with a dead rest
and out of his bed well we finally got this buck
Tom and he's seven years old I
aged him and he gave us a slip a couple times he's a smart old buck but we
finally got him didn't we after seven days well you know he's an old black
horned mule deer that's because he's living up here in this this timber
country and just hunting him and not getting sidetracked by other deer and
finally taken a buck and that's that is really true trophy hunting the Eastman
way