For many of us who call the Eastern United States home, hunting often means heading out to familiar spots each fall. Whether to deer woods, duck blinds, or locations passed down through generations. We’ve honed our techniques, know the right time to be there, and have the right gear for the job. But occasionally, while scrolling through photos of impressive animals tagged out west, you may wonder, “Why don’t I do that?”
So, what’s holding you back? Is it the distance or the fear that you won’t have the technical expertise to succeed? In truth, these aren’t great reasons to miss out on an entirely different hunting experience that could provide lifelong memories. Here are some reasons to load up the truck and head out west.
The Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) applauds Senators John Curtis – UT-(R), Tim Sheehy – MT (R), John Hickenlooper – CO (D), and Alex Padilla – CA (D) for introducing the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) in the United States Senate. This bi-partisan Act will allow federal land management agencies including the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to improve the health of our public lands including work on important habitats for mule deer.
As part of our ongoing efforts to protect wildlife and ensure the survival of mule deer, we ask for your cooperation in respecting the winter range closures and restrictions that are in place during their critical winter survival period. Shed hunting is becoming a larger recreational pastime and it can be tempting to go out early especially as the weather gets better. However, the Mule Deer Foundation urges you to wait because now is an important time for mule deer and other wildlife trying to survive the last bits of winter. Late spring is when they are in the worst shape they will be in all year and any extra energy expenditure can be life threatening.
You have just finished a grueling day in the backcountry looking for Muleys. To the west, you see the sun setting. It’s time to make your way back to the truck, so you grab your GPS. You instantly know something is wrong as your thumb goes across the screen. It’s smashed!
The Mule Deer Foundation Clearfield Utah – April 4th 2025POC: Ashley Rambo, [email protected] Clearfield, UT –…
At the end of a long season, I usually toss my gear into my garage, where it sits for a bit. It used to sit there until the next season, but a few years ago, life got busy, and I found myself scrambling the night before the opener. After that experience, I realized that this time of year is the perfect time to do a deep gear breakdown and maintenance.
The Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) strongly supports the newly introduced bipartisan legislation led by U.S. Senators John Curtis (R-UT) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), which seeks to enhance and expedite emergency watershed recovery efforts in the wake of natural disasters such as wildfires, floods, and other catastrophic events. These bills, the Making Access to Cleanup Happen (MATCH) Act and the Watershed Protection and Forestry Recovery Act, are vital to preserving the health of our western landscapes and ensuring the resilience of communities that depend on these natural resources.
The winter weather is looking incredible for big game outing this fall. According to our partners, foresters, and biologists in the field who have been watching the snow-pack everything is looking incredible for our 2025 hunting season.
The long hike made his pulse jump. He gasped for air like he was making hook shots at the basketball court, and his ego was still in a relatively positive place. Last night, he slept in his truck at a trailhead below; the tight space gave him a crick in his neck. He took a minute now to check the GPS on his phone; he still had a quarter mile further to go before cresting out. Back on his feet, he took a long pull from the rubber hose over his shoulder and got back to it, headlamp beam bouncing out ahead. Mentally, he was humming along to KC and the Sunshine Band, a song he didn’t want in his head but wouldn’t go away, and as the chorus played over and over, he crested the bowl at 9,300 feet.
Deep in the Black Hills National Forest the Mule Deer foundation is hard at work building strategic habitat for mule deer and a litany of other species.
The USDA Forest Service manages nearly 200 million acres of public land all over the country. That’s a lot of ground to cover, especially when you consider the agency’s mandate to make decisions on how best to utilize and maintain the land for “the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run.”
The Blacktail Deer Foundation field team kicked 2025 off right with a conservation project on Kodiak Island Alaska capturing, collaring, and tracking black-tailed deer.