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Does nebraska have mule deerHunting Mule Deer in Nebraska's Sandhills - HuntTested.Deer - Big Game Conservation Association - Nebraska
Does nebraska have mule deer -
Growing up and living in Minnesota, mule deer, like all western big game, have always held a certain mystique to me. Hunting mule deer had been on my hunting bucket list for a long time, but it was one of those hunts that I never quite got around to. I made the decision and made mule deer hunting a priority. Now the question was, where to go and when?
After much deliberation, my dad and I decided on hunting the muzzleloader season in the Sandhills of Nebraska. According to the University of Nebraska Extension Center , the Nebraska Sandhills consists of almost 20, square miles of sand dunes that range miles across northern Nebraska. The Sandhills are the largest dune formations in the Western Hemisphere.
The dunes can be as high as feet, as long as 20 miles, and slopes as steep as 25 percent, The large sand masses that were formed by blowing sand are now held in place and stabilized by vegetation that consists mainly of grasses. I found the Sandhills to be a beautiful terrain that offers miles and miles of country to explore. My dad and I got stuck in my driveway as we were trying to leave my suburban Twin Cities home.
Not a good omen for things to come! Once unstuck, we drove my truck pulling an enclosed snowmobile trailer with my ATV inside. The conditions continued to deteriorate and Interstate 90 was closed due to the weather, west of Chamberlain. We would take back roads from there. The conditions were still bad when we left for the ranch where we would be hunting the next morning. As we got closer we noticed that the power lines were covered in ice.
As we were just about to the ranch, we noticed that the road into the property had a section that looked like it was flooded and iced over. I got out and walked it. It looked passable or, so I thought. It was much deeper than I thought and we were epically stuck. After about 3 hours of laying under my truck digging with an E-Tool, my dad and I were cold and wet. We were in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service. We were contemplating spending a cold night in the cab of my truck.
I left the truck and walked to the ranch to see if they could offer help. There I found the old woman who ran the establishment was covered in quilts, she had been without heat, power, and a phone for three days due to the storm. We needed a plan B. We decided to unload my ATV and go find help. It was a cold seven-mile ride to the nearest ranch. I found the rancher and he agreed to pull me out and rescue the old woman who ran the ranch.
He pulled up with an old one-ton Ford truck with a round bail loader on the back. It was no easy feat to get us out, but after he did, we offered payment for his trouble. Now unstuck and early afternoon, we changed out of our wet clothes and began hunting.
I imagined the hunt would be a lot of sitting on vistas with binoculars looking for deer. In the area where we were hunting, the hills were such that you could pretty quickly glass the area, and if there were no deer you had to hike over the next hill for a new view. We saw a mix of whitetails and muleys that first afternoon. We agreed to slowly walk on either side of the draw. I leveled the crosshairs of my Thompson Center muzzleloader and squeezed the trigger.
The grain TC Shockwave bullet dropped the buck in its tracks. For the remaining days of our hunt, we were surprised to see a number of very nice whitetail bucks and several smaller muley bucks. On our last day, my dad put a stalk on an old muley buck with a heavy, gnarly rack. After tracking the buck over several draws, he crept in close enough for a shot to end our hunt.
I found the Sandhills of Nebraska to be a uniquely beautiful landscape that is an absolute pleasure to hunt. If you enjoy an active spot and stalk-style hunt, hunting mule deer in the Sandhills of Nebraska is definitely a hunt you should consider.
For me, it was a spectacular trip. It was great to get a couple of nice bucks and a pleasure to hike those hills. The blizzard, getting epically stuck, and meeting the helpful rancher all added flavor to the experience of the trip. The future is not guaranteed, someday is not certain, make that special trip a priority today. Note: HuntTested may receive a small commission if you purchase a product from the links on this page.
HuntTested did receive product consideration in coordination with this article. All opinions belong to HuntTested. April 21, April 29, HuntTested. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits.
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