Mulie Movement?

[ellsworth]

So I've been spending a lot of time in the woods and barren straights of this god forsaken desert country!! and I've noticed a few things as far as deer movement.

I was wondering if some more seasoned guys could help me out.

I know mule deer might be a little different but i'm assuming that once the rut starts to kick in most of the behavior will be similiar to whitetails?

I've noticed that all bucks are still heavily in velvet, when do they usually start to shed it off?

I saw two 1.5 year olds, following a doe, not really chasing just naturally migrating with her, is this a sign that the rut is coming?

I observed a heard of about 7 bucks, one alpha 4 point (4x4) and the rest were 2x2's all bedded together with two does. Does this mean that the rut isn't on because of lack of their competitive nature?

I noticed that even when spoked the deer will follow the fence lines religiously, is this something that will change once the rut starts to hit if it's not already?

Thanks for the help, i've been reading tons of mags, and a lot of deer and deer hunting, but I think I haven't been picking up to much on the mating behavior of deer in general thought I would ask. Hopefully some other people are having these questions as well.

All the best,

Ellsworth

[BC CHASER]

The rut doesent start until early Nov.  I have seen bucks show signs of rut in late Oct. though.  Once the rut hits everything changes.  The deer should start anytime now rubbing their velvet.  Most of them will be done by the first week in sept.  The 2 little ones folling the doe are just hanging on to mom.  Did you draw a tag?  Im not sure there are any units open during the rut.

[ellsworth]

Na I didn't draw a tag, just wanted to clear up some confusion I had about out here.  I just moved to Washington about 80 days ago, i'll be hunting Archery in the area where I saw the movement.  But I came from Wisconsin, so the rutting activity is much different here.  Just wanted to get a handle for mulie biology and some of the difference in deer behavior out here.

I'm kind of a nerd like that.

For archery, I don't think there are more than two eastern units, open in late season, so i'll be indoors for the rut I think.

Thanks for the help, BC

[CP]

Where abouts in WI?  I lived in Hudson a bit while I was in school at the U of MN.  I got a nice buck out of the Willow River State park while I was there. 

I’m no expert but I find Mulies to be a lot more unpredictable than WT.  They have a wider range and prefer more open country.  They don’t seem to be as set in their patterns, not as curious, maybe a bit smarter.

Welcome to WA.

[ThePascoKid]

I found the exact opposite about muley's if you have the time or live in muley country where you can scout and glass them every day you will find that they are extremely predictable.  When I was at wazzu I worked for a ranch that had a guided hunting operation and I got to scout daily a month or so before season and you could set your watch by the movements of the bucks right up until the first gun shots then everything changed.

[andrew_12gauge]

ive found that mulies arent really patternable in their movements but they do seem to find a home area and stick to it within a mile, most of the bucks will be losing their velvet the last ones will be around mid-sept although my uncle shot one in 2005 that was in full velvet in oct rifle season. as far as the rut is concerned there are always a small number of does that dont get bred and will cycle throughout the year, i was hunting a mature 170 class muley last year that was running with a group of does but he always was chasing the one doe around. just some of my observations