Nebraska Public Land Mule Deer Question
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Southern IL
Posts: 55
Nebraska Public Land Mule Deer Question
Hey all. A buddy and I are looking to go muzzleloader hunt Nebraska this year for mule deer in December. We figured we'd skip the rifle and go with the muzzleloader to avoid the majority of the crowd. Plus tags are easy to get. I was curious as to if anyone has hunted this area and whether or not anyone has any suggestions of where to go. I've been hearing a lot about the northwest corner near Chadron/Ft. Robinson and the North Central area by Samuel McKelvie NF. Any help you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
#2
Spike
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 48
Sticky situation you got there.....unfortunately Nebraska doesn't have A LOT of public ground and the ground that is public has tons of guys like yourself trying to hunt it, so it can get a little crowded.
If I were you I would look into Ogallala national grasslands, Red Willow WMA which is north of McCook in the SW corner of the state, Halsey National Forest, those are the ones that I've heard have good mullies....I'm in eastern NE, so I'm a whitetailer
Also take a look at this guid:
http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/hunting/pdf/huntguide.pdf
I GOT THE ITCH!!!!!!!!!!
BPete
If I were you I would look into Ogallala national grasslands, Red Willow WMA which is north of McCook in the SW corner of the state, Halsey National Forest, those are the ones that I've heard have good mullies....I'm in eastern NE, so I'm a whitetailer
Also take a look at this guid:
http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/hunting/pdf/huntguide.pdf
I GOT THE ITCH!!!!!!!!!!
BPete
#3
Sticky situation you got there.....unfortunately Nebraska doesn't have A LOT of public ground and the ground that is public has tons of guys like yourself trying to hunt it, so it can get a little crowded.
If I were you I would look into Ogallala national grasslands, Red Willow WMA which is north of McCook in the SW corner of the state, Halsey National Forest, those are the ones that I've heard have good mullies....I'm in eastern NE, so I'm a whitetailer
Also take a look at this guid:
http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/hunting/pdf/huntguide.pdf
I GOT THE ITCH!!!!!!!!!!
BPete
If I were you I would look into Ogallala national grasslands, Red Willow WMA which is north of McCook in the SW corner of the state, Halsey National Forest, those are the ones that I've heard have good mullies....I'm in eastern NE, so I'm a whitetailer
Also take a look at this guid:
http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/hunting/pdf/huntguide.pdf
I GOT THE ITCH!!!!!!!!!!
BPete
#4
Spike
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 4
I agree with bchunts.. up here is a great place for mule deer. About everywhere you go your going to have crowding problems on public land thats just how it is but if you get back to where no one else really wants to thats where the big boys are! Good luck!
#5
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Southern IL
Posts: 55
Hey everyone. Thanks for all the replies. We have decided that we are definitely heading up to the Chadron area. We are both in good physical condition and definitely willing to hike back a mile or two to get to where the deer are at. We figured there would be a crowding issue, so that is why we're heading up during the muzzleloader season. I would assume there will be a significantly less number of hunters than during the rifle season. We were debating on pulling my pop up camper up there for lodging. Will the weather be too harsh for this during that time of year up there? If anyone else has any advice that can help us on our hunt, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks again for all the help.
#6
Spike
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 4
I've hunted Chadron area public. What are your expectations for mule deer? Not to say you won't do well but not a lot of nice mule deer come from public in that area, you would be hard preesed to find a 20" buck. Chadron is a college town and a lot of students hunt the area. Beautiful country, I would try Wyoming, much more land to hunt.
#7
I've hunted Chadron area public. What are your expectations for mule deer? Not to say you won't do well but not a lot of nice mule deer come from public in that area, you would be hard preesed to find a 20" buck. Chadron is a college town and a lot of students hunt the area. Beautiful country, I would try Wyoming, much more land to hunt.
Thanks!