TEN SECRETS FOR TAKING MOUNTAIN MULE DEER
Be Where the Deer Are
Editor’s
Note: Last week I hunted with Chad Schearer of Central
Montana Outfitters, a guide for 14 years to mule deer,
antelope, elk, bear and fish. He also has an unusual
talent of knowing how to get out-of-shape, overweight,
middle-aged-plus hunters within range to take shots
at the game they're hunting. This week Schearer, who
has had his own outfitting business for 10 years, tells
us the secrets of how to take those trophy mountain
mule deer that so many hunters want to bag. Schearer
serves on the pro staffs for CVA Muzzle Loaders, Mossy
Oak Camouflage, Knight & Hale Game Calls, Trophy
Rock Minerals, Buck Knives, Montana Decoys and Fred
Bear Archery.
1) The most-important element for taking trophy mule
deer buck is to hunt land that historically has produced
those type bucks and that is managed to produce trophy
mule deer bucks. Look for an area that doesn't have
much hunting pressure, like private land. If you're
hunting public lands, your best bet for taking a real
trophy mule deer is to get as far away as you can from
public roads.
On the private land that I hunt, we take a limited
number of mule deer off that property each year. I've
been working on the land that I hunt for nine years
now. We don't take any does off this area, because mule
deer does are different from white-tailed does. As the
population of the deer begins
to grow, mule deer does will migrate. So, you don't
have to worry about an overpopulation problem with mule
deer does as you do with white-tailed does. We only
take 15- to 20-trophy mule-deer bucks off this place
every year. We'll see 20 to 30 nice bucks each day we
hunt, so I know we can take more than that. We want
to harvest about one buck per 1000 acres we hunt. We've
found that by not taking more than 15 to 20 bucks every
year on the ranch we hunt, we can maintain a high number
of trophy animals there. We're hunting 18,000 acres
on one ranch and 3,000 acres on another ranch that adjoins
the first ranch we hunt, which gives us a total of about
21,000 acres. If we don't harvest more than 15 to 20
trophy bucks per year, we're still leaving an awful
lot of quality bucks on the property.
2) Do your research. If you're going to consistently
take trophy bucks each season, you have to put in quite
a bit of time scouting each season to see where these
bucks are living. One of the real secrets to scouting
is to scout so you don't disturb the deer. Scout from
a distance. Don't drive in close to where the deer are.
You want to do all you can to prevent
the deer from feeling any hunting pressure. I usually
glass and scout for deer from a distance of a mile to
two miles away. If the bucks are going to be there when
you want to hunt them, you can't let them know that
you're in their area. So, using your optics instead
of your feet to scout is the best way to solve this
problem.
To learn more about hunting trophy mule deer, you can
contact Chad Schearer at P.O. Box 6655, Great Falls,
MT 59406; (406) 727-4478 (home); (406) 799-7984 (cell);
email him chad@centralmontanaoutfitters.com;
www.centralmontanaoutfitters.com.
TOMORROW: WHY OPTICS PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN TAKING MONSTER-SIZED
MULE
|