Mule Deer Hunt Planning

[NDSportsman]

Ok so after 7 years without a tag I finally drew a mule deer buck tag in 4B. This is my first ever mule deer hunt and first ever hunt in the badlands of ND. I am super excited to say the least. Now I am starting to make plans and get my poop in a group. I have so many questions!

1. First of all, camping out there. I had planned to use a fish house/RV model as a base camp in one of the campgrounds but do they fill up? Can a guy reserve a spot? Should I bring an ATV along or not?

2. Which week should I take vacation the opener or the last week? I assume there are lots of hunters on the opener but will I miss out on the big one if I wait? How about the rut and deer movement? Weather conditions?

3. Need a pack for my gear and to get my meat and head out if I'm successful. I have a day pack but it won't handle meat hauling. Should I just get a frame and use my day pack with it? Would like to keep it under $200 since I'm not sure how much it'll get used after this hunt. Any recommendations?

4. Thinking about getting a handheld GPS and the NDTRAX chip. Or should I just stick with the phone and an app? Not sure what everyone else uses.

5. Was going to use my .270 but I'm thinking this is a great excuse to buy a new rifle! I'm leaning towards a 7mm mag since we don't have one in the family. Thoughts on caliber, platform, ammo?

6. I plan on getting out there a few times in September and October to scout a little and at least have an idea of where to start come the season. Wondering what I should look for as far as big buck areas come mid November? Water? Food sources? Breeding areas?

7. Meat processing places? We usually cut up our own but might be easier to find a place to package it out there before heading home? Or just keep it in a cooler on ice?

Any help or suggestions are much appreciated!

 

[Obi-Wan]

1 low amount of tags should equal low amount of campers, I haven't hunted out west for 8 years so not sure what it is like now

2 I have had the best success the 2nd week, fewer hunters = less pressure

4 GPS is great but you should also have a grasslands map

5 You can never have to many guns so buy away, but the 270 will do anything you need it to do for Mule deer in ND

7 We quartered ours and kept in coolers. November weather can be 80 or 20 you never know from one year to the next

 

[shorthairsrus]

muley hunt 17 for shorhairs

1. camp no i will be in hot tub - my muscles
2 Opener and last weekend 2 long weekends -- to old to walk more than 3 1/2 days
3. skin, saw roap and wife to carry hind qtrs, hope to take a big one so we can pack out head and horns
4. good q -- not sure if the oil boom made enough towers - packing my old lowrance with maps
5. 300m and 308
6. i will be fishing or at football --- to old to get all worked up. stalk and walk and see what i can get
7. cut up my own - cant wait -- that is my main goal is that first piece of venision ont he grill rare

 

[sweeney]

Ok so after 7 years without a tag I finally drew a mule deer buck tag in 4B. This is my first ever mule deer hunt and first ever hunt in the badlands of ND. I am super excited to say the least. Now I am starting to make plans and get my poop in a group. I have so many questions!

1. First of all, camping out there. I had planned to use a fish house/RV model as a base camp in one of the campgrounds but do they fill up? Can a guy reserve a spot? Should I bring an ATV along or not?
You can camp anywhere on grasslands, the campgrounds out there that are primitive are first come first serve don't offer much more than non-potable water and a vault toilet which both can be pretty damn nice. ATV's in my opinion aren't needed as most trails that are legal to drive on can be drove with a pickup, and if on grassland you can't use use ATV for recovery anyways.

2. Which week should I take vacation the opener or the last week? I assume there are lots of hunters on the opener but will I miss out on the big one if I wait? How about the rut and deer movement? Weather conditions?
You just have to go out there and get a feel for the deer some years the rut hits early in the season, but for the most part if you take off the middle to end of the season you will almost guarantee some prime rut time

3. Need a pack for my gear and to get my meat and head out if I'm successful. I have a day pack but it won't handle meat hauling. Should I just get a frame and use my day pack with it? Would like to keep it under $200 since I'm not sure how much it'll get used after this hunt. Any recommendations?
There are tons of great packs out there it is just a personal preference thing, if I am going for an all day where I have to walk back to truck at the end of the day I carry my larger pack, but most times I go I have a smaller pack when I am jumping points or glassing mid day

4. Thinking about getting a handheld GPS and the NDTRAX chip. Or should I just stick with the phone and an app? Not sure what everyone else uses.
IMO gps with trax is pretty damn nice but others I hunt with use phone apps personally I like to carry the paper map with me and set my gameplan on that ,then go to my gps and waypoint possible pickup spots or areas I want to get to. THen I carry the gps and turn it on as needed to check where how far off track I am sometimes walking a mile around something saves you 2 hours of up and downs to cover a half mile

5. Was going to use my .270 but I'm thinking this is a great excuse to buy a new rifle! I'm leaning towards a 7mm mag since we don't have one in the family. Thoughts on caliber, platform, ammo?
.270 will get it done personally I use a 7mm mag with 140 gr bullets the ballistics speed and energy they carry has been decent for me

6. I plan on getting out there a few times in September and October to scout a little and at least have an idea of where to start come the season. Wondering what I should look for as far as big buck areas come mid November? Water? Food sources? Breeding areas?
just get out there and put some miles on and a lot of time behind the spotting scope, it is a big unit and has a lot of nice deer and great areas once you decide what area you want to focus on break that area down and glass away use your maps to plan walks and ways to maximize your time in the field, you will find out the big deer can be way back in the butt crack of things or walking across the road into a hayfield

7. Meat processing places? We usually cut up our own but might be easier to find a place to package it out there before heading home? Or just keep it in a cooler on ice?
We usually process in the field and pack everything back to camp from there it's ziplocks and coolers or back home so I don't really have anything for you as far as butcher shops in that area

Any help or suggestions are much appreciated!

Good luck

 

[pluckem]

Ok so after 7 years without a tag I finally drew a mule deer buck tag in 4B. This is my first ever mule deer hunt and first ever hunt in the badlands of ND. I am super excited to say the least. Now I am starting to make plans and get my poop in a group. I have so many questions!

1. First of all, camping out there. I had planned to use a fish house/RV model as a base camp in one of the campgrounds but do they fill up? Can a guy reserve a spot? Should I bring an ATV along or not?

I haven't seen any campgrounds filled in 4B. Sather is the busiest, however usually always a spot somewhere. ATV would only be needed if rain/snow storm moves in. If dry, a 4x4 with good tires should get you most places.

2. Which week should I take vacation the opener or the last week? I assume there are lots of hunters on the opener but will I miss out on the big one if I wait? How about the rut and deer movement? Weather conditions?

Hard to say this far out. Temps and weather will be a factor in the movement you see and that can happen at anytime during ND season. Opening weekend probably is the busiest, however there are always people out there. If the weather is decent expect to even see a number of bowhunting parties as well. The ND season this year runs a week later than normal and includes Thanksgiving. The holiday could sway a number of hunters to aim for the last weekend. But it could also be the best time for deer movement. If you go scout and have a specific animal picked out ahead of the season, id be out there opener looking for him. If not, and time is limited, Id avoid the first 3 days.

3. Need a pack for my gear and to get my meat and head out if I'm successful. I have a day pack but it won't handle meat hauling. Should I just get a frame and use my day pack with it? Would like to keep it under $200 since I'm not sure how much it'll get used after this hunt. Any recommendations?

If this is a one time only use, IMO just buy an external frame hauler. You should be able to find one under $100. When you shoot your deer go get it tagged and then head back to pickup and offload unnecessary gear and swap your day pack out for the hauler.

4. Thinking about getting a handheld GPS and the NDTRAX chip. Or should I just stick with the phone and an app? Not sure what everyone else uses.

Id call this a must, I have both, but out there with limited service I much prefer my Garmin Montana with NDTRAX.

5. Was going to use my .270 but I'm thinking this is a great excuse to buy a new rifle! I'm leaning towards a 7mm mag since we don't have one in the family. Thoughts on caliber, platform, ammo?

This is what I use, I have had great luck using the 150gr Swift Scirocco II.

6. I plan on getting out there a few times in September and October to scout a little and at least have an idea of where to start come the season. Wondering what I should look for as far as big buck areas come mid November? Water? Food sources? Breeding areas?

To start Id focus on finding ideal glassing locations. Areas that allow you to look over cover that cant be glassed from a road/trail. Once you have a dozen of those locations picked out then you can start scouting for deer and letting that tell you where to spend your time during the season. You might see 20-40 deer in one location on a day and 0-2 deer the next. Stay flexible and mobile.

7. Meat processing places? We usually cut up our own but might be easier to find a place to package it out there before heading home? Or just keep it in a cooler on ice?

How far away are you? If you plan to quarter or debone in the field and haul it out, it should easily fit in a cooler and then have no need to find something right away.

Any help or suggestions are much appreciated!

See comments in red above.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

#5 is all I can give an opinion on. There is nothing wrong with 270 but as Obi said a guy can't have enough guns. I see nothing wrong with 7MM to anchor a nice Mule Deer. What I have and like is my Ruger M77 in 7mm Rem Mag pushing 140gr Barnes TTSX that I load up (but the last 4 deer have fallen to my 6.5-284 Norma, testing till my wife gets a tag). My 7 has a scheels scope and the 6.5 a Vortex but I would prefer a Vortex on the 7.
Good luck on your decision and your huntThumbs Up

 

[NDSportsman]

Thanks for the replies guys.

To answer pluckem's question about how far away I am, I'll be coming from the evil east central part of the state so about 350 miles one way. Yeah I was planning on deboning in the field and getting the meat into coolers ASAP. Just not sure if I want to drop off at a meat place before heading home or not. Probably will just head home and process into steaks and burger on my own.

 

[Kurtr]

Ok so after 7 years without a tag I finally drew a mule deer buck tag in 4B. This is my first ever mule deer hunt and first ever hunt in the badlands of ND. I am super excited to say the least. Now I am starting to make plans and get my poop in a group. I have so many questions!

1. First of all, camping out there. I had planned to use a fish house/RV model as a base camp in one of the campgrounds but do they fill up? Can a guy reserve a spot? Should I bring an ATV along or not?
Cant help you with that

2. Which week should I take vacation the opener or the last week? I assume there are lots of hunters on the opener but will I miss out on the big one if I wait? How about the rut and deer movement? Weather conditions?

Dont know the season but i would go when the moon is not full.

3. Need a pack for my gear and to get my meat and head out if I'm successful. I have a day pack but it won't handle meat hauling. Should I just get a frame and use my day pack with it? Would like to keep it under $200 since I'm not sure how much it'll get used after this hunt. Any recommendations?
Its not $200.00 but kifaru, stone glacier or exo. They are packs you can use the rest of your life. Eberlestock will work if you like pain and suffering.
4. Thinking about getting a handheld GPS and the NDTRAX chip. Or should I just stick with the phone and an app? Not sure what everyone else uses.

Onx maps just up dated the app and you dont need cell service with it. I have used a bunch of the mapping programs and really like it. Hand held gps are going to be obsolete in the near future
5. Was going to use my .270 but I'm thinking this is a great excuse to buy a new rifle! I'm leaning towards a 7mm mag since we don't have one in the family. Thoughts on caliber, platform, ammo?
Do you have good glass and a tripod it would be better to have that than a new gun as glassing for mulies is how you find them. binoculars on a tripod are key i mean like the best thing since sliced bread. If you really want the cats ass the swaro btx is it.



6. I plan on getting out there a few times in September and October to scout a little and at least have an idea of where to start come the season. Wondering what I should look for as far as big buck areas come mid November? Water? Food sources? Breeding areas?

Big hill and glass and glass and glass and glass and glass

7. Meat processing places? We usually cut up our own but might be easier to find a place to package it out there before heading home? Or just keep it in a cooler on ice?
Either way it is cold enough that time of year

Any help or suggestions are much appreciated!

Glassing is the most important part of mule deer hunting i have seen more people walk by deer sitting behind the binos on a tripod than you can imagine

 

[NDSportsman]

sweeney,

You said you can camp anywhere on the grasslands, how far off the road can you set up camp? Is it legal to hike in a few miles and pitch a tent? Sorry if these are stupid questions but like I said I'm a newbie.

 

[Fly Carpin]

sweeney,

You said you can camp anywhere on the grasslands, how far off the road can you set up camp? Is it legal to hike in a few miles and pitch a tent? Sorry if these are stupid questions but like I said I'm a newbie.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/dpg/recreation/camping-cabins/?recid=79451&actid=34 This has all the info you need on dispersed camping

 

[NDSportsman]

I've got some decent binos and a spotter (Swaro) so those should be covered.

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/dpg/recreation/camping-cabins/?recid=79451&actid=34 This has all the info you need on dispersed camping

Thanks a ton for the link! That answers a bunch of questions!!:;:thumbsup

 

[pluckem]

4. Thinking about getting a handheld GPS and the NDTRAX chip. Or should I just stick with the phone and an app? Not sure what everyone else uses.

Onx maps just up dated the app and you dont need cell service with it. I have used a bunch of the mapping programs and really like it. Hand held gps are going to be obsolete in the near future

Ill say they are getting closer to being a replacement, but they are not there yet, at least for me. I have the ONX app for ND, great tool, especially when you have service or when you want to check things out on your couch or camp. However in the field, it had a couple of issues for me.

1.) Battery life and reliability on my Iphone 6s was a problem. If the phone gets below 30-40f it shuts off. doesn't matter how much battery life was left, it will shut down and takes a long time to warm back up and be useable again. I also use my phone to digiscope and document animals in both photos and video. As well as use it for communication. I could see my battery life drop and even when I made efforts to retain it and always keep it plugged in when possible there were many days the phone was dead before the end of the day. Not good when its needed to communicate with hunting partners about pick up times or meeting areas.

2.) Even when I saved map data ahead of time to be able to use without cell service it was sometimes slow to load and the data took up a fair amount of space on my phone. Some days I hunted 20-50 miles from the area the day previous so I always had to make sure I had the area downloaded ahead of time. I only have 16gb so that might have been the problem? maybe it would have worked better on a droid or larger data capacity phone. If you hunt a certain area and don't range from the area much, this wouldn't be much of an issue either.

After using many GPS and maps in the past I would say, for me, the Garmin Montana with NDTrax AND birdseye imagery to get the satellite overlay is the best option. However, if you don't have that set up. ONX phone App is the second best option.

If your handheld GPS does not have Satellite images built into the map I would put the ONX phone app ahead of it. So if you already have a capable smart phone with large battery reserves and data storage, the ONX app is the less expensive option and will likely meet your needs. Just be prepared to keep it warm and have power reserves.

 

[tikkalover]

Good luck :;:cheers The only advice I can offer is keep looking over your shoulder....................... for that mountain lion that is sneaking up on you. :;:stirthepot ;:;boozer

 

[Kurtr]

Ill say they are getting closer to being a replacement, but they are not there yet, at least for me. I have the ONX app for ND, great tool, especially when you have service or when you want to check things out on your couch or camp. However in the field, it had a couple of issues for me.

1.) Battery life and reliability on my Iphone 6s was a problem. If the phone gets below 30-40f it shuts off. doesn't matter how much battery life was left, it will shut down and takes a long time to warm back up and be useable again. I also use my phone to digiscope and document animals in both photos and video. As well as use it for communication. I could see my battery life drop and even when I made efforts to retain it and always keep it plugged in when possible there were many days the phone was dead before the end of the day. Not good when its needed to communicate with hunting partners about pick up times or meeting areas.

2.) Even when I saved map data ahead of time to be able to use without cell service it was sometimes slow to load and the data took up a fair amount of space on my phone. Some days I hunted 20-50 miles from the area the day previous so I always had to make sure I had the area downloaded ahead of time. I only have 16gb so that might have been the problem? maybe it would have worked better on a droid or larger data capacity phone. If you hunt a certain area and don't range from the area much, this wouldn't be much of an issue either.

After using many GPS and maps in the past I would say, for me, the Garmin Montana with NDTrax AND birdseye imagery to get the satellite overlay is the best option. However, if you don't have that set up. ONX phone App is the second best option.

If your handheld GPS does not have Satellite images built into the map I would put the ONX phone app ahead of it. So if you already have a capable smart phone with large battery reserves and data storage, the ONX app is the less expensive option and will likely meet your needs. Just be prepared to keep it warm and have power reserves.

Airplane mode and battery will last for days. I phones are junk in the cold. Main reason I have a droid. With the new up date it saves maps in 100 Square mile units . Now it will switch from topo, satellite and a hybrid topo.

Dark energy posidon will charge a phone up to six times and on air plane mode you are set up for over a week in the back country.

 

[Whisky]

After using many GPS and maps in the past I would say, for me, the Garmin Montana with NDTrax AND birdseye imagery to get the satellite overlay is the best option. However, if you don't have that set up. ONX phone App is the second best option.

.

Never heard of this Birdseye thing until now. That does look like the cats ass. So you get satellite imagery as well as TRAX info on the same map? Does the TRAX shade over the satellite imagery with different colors of private vs public? Got a screenshot? thanks

Never been a fan of using the phone in place of GPS

 

[GSM]

7 years and you've done nothing to prepare? Frankly, I am surprised this thread turned out the way it did. Good Luck!!

 

[NDSportsman]

7 years and you've done nothing to prepare? Frankly, I am surprised this thread turned out the way it did. Good Luck!!

Wow, I wouldn't say nothing but I wasn't going to spend a great deal of time planning something that was unlikely to happen. Is that what you normally do? Life is too short for that. I supposed I could have asked this stuff 7 years ago, would that have made you feel better? Thanks for the info and well wishes.

 

[pluckem]

Airplane mode and battery will last for days. I phones are junk in the cold. Main reason I have a droid. With the new up date it saves maps in 100 Square mile units . Now it will switch from topo, satellite and a hybrid topo.

Dark energy posidon will charge a phone up to six times and on air plane mode you are set up for over a week in the back country.

Good to know droid doesn't have issues with cold temps, however forced to run iPhone for work. I used airplane mode when possible, however I wouldn't call ND badlands "backcountry" and such the need to communicate (with hunting partners) with the phone required it to stay in a mode that allowed that for the most part. Solo hunting and backcountry backpacking trips would have a lot less need for continued communications on logistics during the hunt.

 

[LBrandt]

Game carts are nice if there is not much snow.

 

[pluckem]

7 years and you've done nothing to prepare? Frankly, I am surprised this thread turned out the way it did. Good Luck!!

I am all for preparing and making the most of whatever tag you have in your pocket. However, more and more, I see the lack of ND deer tags and the long wait to get them, are putting way too high of expectations on hunters. At least socially. There are some great animals out west that anyone would call a trophy, however they are not running everywhere and I would guess most people who have waited 7 years for a tag might be disappointed with what they will find.

Maybe its just me, but it seems to have taken away some of the focus on camaraderie and enjoying time in the field and put pressure on filling a tag with a B&C animal because the tag has a 7 year wait on it. When the reality is there aren't anymore trophy animals running around out there when it took 2-4 years to draw vs. the 5-8 year wait it is now.