Free: Contests & Raffles.
I understand your question but want to spin it a different way for something to think about. If I were in your position, I wouldn't be looking for easiest but instead I would be looking for a style of hunt I enjoy and the terrain in which I hunt. For me, I enjoy mulie hunting the best for a few reasons, including that I like glassing and hiking versus sitting in a stand for whitetails. I also enjoy the high open mountains or rolling hills for mulies instead of the cat hair thick rain forests that blacktails seem to call home. Once you figure out what style and location you enjoy, focus on that and the hunting will become easier because you will gain knowledge and experience.
This could get intersting real quick!Here is how I take your post......right or wrong:WT vs BT vs Mulies: Which do I have the best chance of getting a shot on my first year.My , either a BT doe or Muley doe. Being on this side you should be able to find some area to hunt and would have good odds if you have a unit that is any deer. For eastside muleys....if you are looking to simply notch a tag and make some meat, muley doe is your go to.Looking forward to the argument debate that you have (will have) stirred up.Best of luck this year and hope you notch a few tags.
Quote from: vandeman17 on July 20, 2015, 03:56:59 PMI understand your question but want to spin it a different way for something to think about. If I were in your position, I wouldn't be looking for easiest but instead I would be looking for a style of hunt I enjoy and the terrain in which I hunt. For me, I enjoy mulie hunting the best for a few reasons, including that I like glassing and hiking versus sitting in a stand for whitetails. I also enjoy the high open mountains or rolling hills for mulies instead of the cat hair thick rain forests that blacktails seem to call home. Once you figure out what style and location you enjoy, focus on that and the hunting will become easier because you will gain knowledge and experience. This is a double edge sword, in that I do quite enjoy hiking. I think the eastern slope of the cascades is a gorgeous area. However, it would be a bit far for me to travel during the season. While I could make a weekend or two of it, and hit the areas on my days off as far as scouting goes, that would be the extent. I wouldn't be able to go before work during the week(I work 230-11 most days).Quote from: h20hunter on July 20, 2015, 04:01:51 PMThis could get intersting real quick!Here is how I take your post......right or wrong:WT vs BT vs Mulies: Which do I have the best chance of getting a shot on my first year.My , either a BT doe or Muley doe. Being on this side you should be able to find some area to hunt and would have good odds if you have a unit that is any deer. For eastside muleys....if you are looking to simply notch a tag and make some meat, muley doe is your go to.Looking forward to the argument debate that you have (will have) stirred up.Best of luck this year and hope you notch a few tags.I should've mentioned that I would be hunting modern firearm. There are no any deer GMUs for mule deer during MF.I do hope that doesn't turn into any arguments. I actually would like to hear from people and their experiences and whatnot. You'll be amazed at what you can learn by just simply listening to stories!Thanks.
Quote from: JeffRaines on July 20, 2015, 04:38:48 PMQuote from: vandeman17 on July 20, 2015, 03:56:59 PMI understand your question but want to spin it a different way for something to think about. If I were in your position, I wouldn't be looking for easiest but instead I would be looking for a style of hunt I enjoy and the terrain in which I hunt. For me, I enjoy mulie hunting the best for a few reasons, including that I like glassing and hiking versus sitting in a stand for whitetails. I also enjoy the high open mountains or rolling hills for mulies instead of the cat hair thick rain forests that blacktails seem to call home. Once you figure out what style and location you enjoy, focus on that and the hunting will become easier because you will gain knowledge and experience. This is a double edge sword, in that I do quite enjoy hiking. I think the eastern slope of the cascades is a gorgeous area. However, it would be a bit far for me to travel during the season. While I could make a weekend or two of it, and hit the areas on my days off as far as scouting goes, that would be the extent. I wouldn't be able to go before work during the week(I work 230-11 most days).Quote from: h20hunter on July 20, 2015, 04:01:51 PMThis could get intersting real quick!Here is how I take your post......right or wrong:WT vs BT vs Mulies: Which do I have the best chance of getting a shot on my first year.My , either a BT doe or Muley doe. Being on this side you should be able to find some area to hunt and would have good odds if you have a unit that is any deer. For eastside muleys....if you are looking to simply notch a tag and make some meat, muley doe is your go to.Looking forward to the argument debate that you have (will have) stirred up.Best of luck this year and hope you notch a few tags.I should've mentioned that I would be hunting modern firearm. There are no any deer GMUs for mule deer during MF.I do hope that doesn't turn into any arguments. I actually would like to hear from people and their experiences and whatnot. You'll be amazed at what you can learn by just simply listening to stories!Thanks.If travel time and finding time to hunt is a stretch then my advice is to hunt BT close to home and just become proficient at that. Many skills you learn will translate into hunting the other species as well. Good luck
If you aren't real fussy and would be willing to shoot a young buck all three are pretty easy.
For me blacktails are easier to hunt, they hang out in my front yard..
Hunt both mule deer and blacktails. For mulies you only get 9 days. So hunt that season and then hunt blacktails until October 31st, and again in November during the 4 day late season. That's what I would do, except for this year I bought a Weyerhaeuser permit so I'll spend all my time hunting blacktails.
Vail tree farm requires a Weyerhaeuser access permit. But there are a few sections of state land in 667 you can hunt, along with land that is owned by other timber companies. It will require a lot of researching and scouting to find those areas though.
The way seasons are staggered, there really isn't any reason you couldn't hunt all of them, and decide for yourself which is hardest. I hunt blacktail, primarily because they just happen to be where I hunt elk. I don't so much intentionally hunt them, as I do take targets of opportunity. That said, if you stick to the west side, hiking into a logging area, where it is legal to hunt, you'd do well to check the shaded areas of spurs on north facing slopes that have been clear cut before about 9am. Once the shade leaves the spurs, so do the deer. I haven't had a problem finding deer yet.
There is no answer to this.. You would be narrow minded to choose one. They all have vulnerabilities. Hell just hunting one particular Muley buck could be the toughest animal you ever chased while another guy goes out first day no idea what he's doing and shoots a 200" buck . Terrain can play a role for each, weather ,weapon choice,OTC versus limited entry .
Jeff, as much as the residents in Eastern WA hate to hear this, one tried-and-true strategy (BobCat mentioned this) is to hunt opening week on the dry side, and finish the longer season close to home. Take 4 or 5 days (say, Saturday to Tuesday) and go after grain fed WT, and then hit the wet woods close to home around Halloween, during the BT peak rut.I know tons of hunters who do this.
This same type of poll came up about 10 years ago down in the tuccannon at the Wooten range managers house,we had a blind taste test of all three deer,all steaks were prepared the same way by a single cook.Care to guess as to which deer subtype won the taste test 9 to 1? I'm going out on a limb and going to give y'all a bunch of credit,I'm betting it will be a hands down winner vote as well.
Blacktail the hardest, just because where they live. Mulies the easiest because when spooked they have a bad habit of doing the hippity hop for a couple hundred yards then turning broadside to what spooked them.
They each have there difficulties. I would say the easiest would be mulies. However then you factor in their lower population numbers, high hunting pressure and the inability to hunt them during the rut makes it difficult to kill a good buck. Second would be whitetails mainly because the rut makes them so vulnerable and they are easier to pattern. A good blacktail is the hardest mainly because of their habitat and it's tough to pattern them. As far as wariness I would give that to a whitetail hands down. My dad and I call them paranoid schizophrenics. They will jump out of their skin if a leaf falls. . If you take the rut out of the equation I would say a good whitetail buck is the toughest to kill.
It might be easier to get a blacktail just because there is no 3 point minimum.
Quote from: bobcat on July 23, 2015, 06:51:44 PMIt might be easier to get a blacktail just because there is no 3 point minimum.I was actually thinking about that. I think you're right. Imagine if blacktail went three point or better. I bet the success rate would drop 80-90%.
Hunt both mule deer and blacktails. For mulies you only get 9 days. So hunt that season and then hunt blacktails until October 31st, and again in November during the 4 day late season.