Badlands mule deer

[Bfishn]

Realistically the easiest change they could make that would have a positive affect and give everybody more opportunity is to eliminate rifle hunting in the badlands all together. Make it Bow and Muzzy only. Rifle success rate is 80-85% for Muley, that's pretty ridiculous and is the entire reason that they cant give out many tags. They could give out 2-3 times more tags if you turned those rifle tags into muzzy badlands tags, you would also see more mature bucks because nobody would be able to be poking out 600yds.

 

[Mort]

In a sort of deer gentrification move over the last 20 years a sizeable percentage of the mulie population has moved full time within the limits of Watford City.

Saw a picture the other day of a buck in the city limits of Watford city I was told, it don't surprise me, with them getting kicked around so bad, they chase them all the way into town

 

[Obi-Wan]

Realistically the easiest change they could make that would have a positive affect and give everybody more opportunity is to eliminate rifle hunting in the badlands all together. Make it Bow and Muzzy only. Rifle success rate is 80-85% for Muley, that's pretty ridiculous and is the entire reason that they cant give out many tags. They could give out 2-3 times more tags if you turned those rifle tags into muzzy badlands tags, you would also see more mature bucks because nobody would be able to be poking out 600yds.

These are not your grandpa's muzzle loader the boys are shooting today. They are just a single shot rifle...


https://youtu.be/08j4u6tL0RU

I hate to burst your bubble but not EVERYBODY bow and/or muzzy hunts

 

[Enslow]

Eliminate rifle hunting hahahahhaha dumb.

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I’ve never read so much BS. Hahaha

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Muleys are in little towns all over they are not getting pushed into town.

 

[SDMF]

you would also see more mature bucks because nobody would be able to be poking out 600yds.

It'd take me less than 30min to have a scope with lots of travel mounted and say 12-15 shots downrange in order to establish a 200yd zero and a good constant velocity then run a ballistic table. Assuming you have a precise zero and accurate velocity with relatively low ES/SD there's only 2 tricks to the above video of the 715yd pronghorn. 1. A good rest. 2. A really good read on the wind.

Pretty much every in-line ML on the market over the last 20-25yrs is faster with higher BC bullets than what factory loaded 45-70's are with smokeless.

Actually, I would prefer a good scope, but, wouldn't need it. A really good set of peep-sights would be almost as good though it'd take a bit longer (say 2-3hrs) to confirm sight settings at distance.

 

[pluckem]

With regards to the "meat" hunter. Actually right now the big guy upstairs is probably staring down at that thread response not happy. The badlands - most of the hunt imo is the scenery - the experience --- last is the horns. Sorry maybe that makes me a meat hunter --although the older i get the more get the wave by -- i need the perfect shot/perfect spot/then horns

I'm not sure how you interpreted my response, but I want to be clear that I could not care less if someone wants to just fill the freezer or hold out for the Booner'. I really don't care what people do with their tag.

The point I was trying to make relates to the difficulty of drawing the mule deer buck tag and how I believe this has lead to a change in the mindset of many of the people who apply and draw the mule deer buck tags. In general people who are looking to fill the freezer could do so many more times by applying for whitetail or doe tags. So it would make sense that people who prioritize filling the freezer would apply for the doe or whitetail tags in the badlands.

There are many reasons I hunt the badlands. The scenery, larger tracts of public land, and the experience one can have there are the top reasons.

ND does not have much for public land compared to other western states and the majority of it lies within the badlands and mule deer country. Limiting tags to manage the units for more trophies would also mean limiting the opportunity for public land hunters in ND, which is not a good thing IMO. Every ND rifle deer tag I have held and filled was from public land. As much as I would like to chase 180" bucks I would hold public land access and opportunity higher.

 

[Obi-Wan]

Realistically the easiest change they could make that would have a positive affect and give everybody more opportunity is to eliminate rifle hunting in the badlands all together. Make it Bow and Muzzy only. Rifle success rate is 80-85% for Muley, that's pretty ridiculous and is the entire reason that they cant give out many tags. They could give out 2-3 times more tags if you turned those rifle tags into muzzy badlands tags, you would also see more mature bucks because nobody would be able to be poking out 600yds.

Why not take those 1000+ muleys that were taken with bow ( 2017 ) and put them in the lottery that would increase the opportunity for everybody to get drawn for a muley tag - Along with your application you would have to specify what weapon and would be restricted to that weapon and season.

 

[guywhofishes]

.

 

[Fly Carpin]

Why not take those 1000+ muleys that were taken with bow ( 2017 ) and put them in the lottery that would increase the opportunity for everybody to get drawn for a muley tag - Along with your application you would have to specify what weapon and would be restricted to that weapon and season.

How many times are you going to respond to the same post you creepy stalker

 

[Obi-Wan]

How many times are you going to respond to the same post you creepy stalker

Sorry to offend you I didn't realize we were limited to 1 response per post I will try to do better in the future

 

[Enslow]

Guy what did you say?

 

[Ugly Dogs]

Rifle season should not be during the rut. That would limit the amount of mature bucks taken.

Fine I'll take the four month season to rifle hunt, and you take the 16 days to bow hunt the rut. Oh wait we already get to bow hunt the rut. As a group us hunters are some of the whiniest fuckers around.

 

[dirtytough]

Winter kill has been mentioned a few times. Not sure if you guys ever look at Colorado weather but Gunnison gets as cold or colder and more snow. And has mature deer.

I honestly believe the deer I killed was old and regressing. I am completely happy with the buck even though it won’t score. Is what I’m disappointed in about the hunt is that I only found a few mature bucks. And again I was out walking and glassing all day. I easily saw over 100 bucks.

2016 while scouting in the summer I saw some bucks that I thought were ok. A buddy killed one of them and it went 176”. Opening day I hunted a completely new area to me since I had seen better bucks previous years then what I turned up that summer. I saw 3 bucks opening morning that were bigger then the buck he killed. Again his buck was nice. But it wasn’t a buck I was even excited about preseason.

Someone mentioned B&C. Like I said I saw a lot of nice bucks from 2011-2016. So it doesn’t surprise me if there are more entries during the last ten years. Also I was just at a farm and the farmer had a buck that is probably bigger then 220” on the wall. Of course it wasn’t mounted or ever scored. Most of the old timers never cared or even knew what score was.

A couple changes I would like to see is a 9 day rifle season in October. ND is open enough it’s still hard for the bucks to escape even if they aren’t completely stupid during that time. You have to apply for an archery tag as your first choice. It would be an automatic draw. But that way the guys that really want to archery hunt get to archery hunt, and the guys that really want to rifle hunt have better odds of drawing a rifle tag.

I like the idea of muzzy hunting instead of rifle if they had muzzy rules like Nevada or Idaho.

I just like to see mature animals. And this was definitely not my year to see them in the badlands. Even most of the bulls I saw where rag horns haha.

 

[Enslow]

If you think it’s tough to find a nice muley in the badlands head to Montana where it’s even tougher to find nice Muleys.

 

[628977]

There is nothing wrong with rifle hunting. The success rate just increases dramatically with a rifle versus a bow. The point of taking the rifle season out of the rut is that it would give the deer a little more of a chance to survive (In theory making for more mature deer on the landscape), the season but yet the same amount of tags could be issued to make the hunters happy that they get an opportunity to hunt.

 

[Bfishn]

IMO i don't see them ever moving the season, October is Pheasant hunting they aren't going to have rifle hunters competing with that. Moving it later puts too much pressure and stress on them going into winter.

 

[Obi-Wan]

There is nothing wrong with rifle hunting. The success rate just increases dramatically with a rifle versus a bow. The point of taking the rifle season out of the rut is that it would give the deer a little more of a chance to survive (In theory making for more mature deer on the landscape), the season but yet the same amount of tags could be issued to make the hunters happy that they get an opportunity to hunt.

Success rate in most cases is self imposed by one setting the standards of an animal they are willing to harvest and I think that is especially true with bow hunters.

 

[SDMF]

Success rate in most cases is self imposed by one setting the standards of an animal they are willing to harvest and I think that is especially true with bow hunters.

You haven't spent much time in sporting goods stores the week before archery or rifle opener. While it may not be the case with your hunting group, the VAST majority of deer hunters are in the "Brown it's down" category. Here's a couple clues:

1. How many times can I shoot this broadhead into a target and still use it for hunting?

2. If I miss my target and only shot the broadhead into the dirt a couple times it should still be sharp enough right?

3. I've still got a 1/2dz arrows from my last bow, they should work right?

4. If you put a new string-loop/nock/peep in for me my pins should stay sighted in right?

5. I'm going hunting tomorrow/tonight and I want a broadhead that matches my practice tip flight. No, I don't trust mechanicals and they're too expensive, just give me a fixed blade that matches my field points out to 40yds, I'm not going to shoot further than that anyway.

Etc, etc, etc.

 

[guywhofishes]

overheard sales conversations are the main reason why I can’t browse at sporting good stores for long without looking forward to getting out

 

[SDMF]

overheard sales conversations are the main reason why I can’t browse at sporting good stores for long without looking forward to getting out

Olympic shooting coaches and every branch of the military/law enforcement that employs Snipers should be recruiting in sporting goods stores the week before and week after rifle opener.