Winter Range Muleys

Late hunts offer unique trophy opportunities.

- Jason Brooks

Growing up in a small town along the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountain Range, there wasn’t much to do in the winter months. My father is an avid mule deer hunter, and our Sunday afternoons were often spent driving the county roads looking for bucks that had made their way out of the high country and were now lying around and chewing their cud, awaiting the spring thaw. Since this was a wintertime activity, there were always new deer to find and look at, which was done from afar, as we made sure to never disturb the deer. The idea was not to get close or even let the muleys know we had spotted them; we were just there to admire the deer and then move on to find more. It was a great way to learn about the animals we loved to pursue in the fall.

It was on one of these Sunday trips during the first part of December that we came across a hunter who was putting a stalk on a nice buck. Staring through the spotting scope, our worst fears were running through our minds until we pulled out a copy of the hunting regulations and learned there was a late season archery hunt open in the unit. This was my first realization that hunting season doesn’t have to end when we carve pumpkins. Several states offer late season mule deer hunts, which can vary from limitations on rifles, archery or muzzle loaders, special draws or even raffle or “incentive” (depredation) hunts. A chance to pursue big mule deer bucks on the winter range can give the hunter a chance at a deer of a lifetime.