RE: Mule Deer hunt question
Try Colorado or Wyoming. Both require applying to a drawning. Contact their Division of wildlife and see when to apply. Colorado has a statistics book they put out with different game management units, numbers of hunters, success ratio. You can narrow your search down that way. When you see an area you are interested, call the local Division of wildlife office and they can help you narrow yours search more.
Bottom line, you can get drawn almost every year but in areas easy to draw, you will have to get more than a mile offroad to find a good area. Plan on going up in the summer and doing a scouting trip.
Research, research, research. It is actually a kind of hunting. Especially when it pays off and you find a honey hole.
Good luck.