TOUGH BUCK 2026
Mark you calendars for February 14, 2026 for the TOUGH BUCK Hunt Giveaway Workout, where fitness meets backcountry grit at the Western Hunting & Conservation Expo in Salt Lake City.
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Lessons from the Mountain: A Solo Hunter’s Guide to Mule Deer
Hunting mule deer alone in the backcountry is one of the purest forms of wilderness experience. The silence of high alpine ridges, the thrill of spotting a buck in a hidden basin, and the challenge of navigating rugged terrain—all of it is magnified when you’re on your own. But solo hunting also demands a level of preparation and caution that can’t be overstated. Here are key lessons for staying safe, efficient, and ready for anything the mountain throws at you.
Understanding Mule Deer Migration Corridors and How to Hunt Them
Few things in the West are as impressive as mule deer on the move. Each year, herds travel miles between summer and winter ranges, navigating rugged mountains, valleys, and human development along the way. These seasonal highways, known as migration corridors are critical to mule deer survival, and for hunters, they also present unique opportunities.
Faces of Forestry: Randy Morrison
MDF’s Randy Morrison has a very personal and professional purpose as a California conservationist.
Three Numbers That Define Federal’s New 7mm Backcountry Cartridge
Federal Ammunition has recently launched a ground-breaking long-action hunting cartridge focused on 7mm/.284 heavy-for-caliber bullets, raising the bar for what a non-magnum, centerfire rifle hunting load can achieve. Three numbers quickly back the innovation behind it: 20, 170 and 3,000.
How to Track a Wounded Mule Deer: A Step-by-Step Guide
Every hunter hopes for a clean shot, but even the best shot placement doesn’t guarantee an immediate recovery. Tracking a wounded mule deer takes patience, skill, and respect for the animal. Doing it correctly not only increases your chances of success but also ensures a humane harvest.
Hunting Mule Deer Between 5,000 and 10,000 Feet
Ask any mule deer hunter and they’ll tell you: elevation matters. Between 5,000 and 10,000 feet, mule deer country shifts dramatically from sagebrush basins to aspen slopes to high-country meadows. Each band of elevation offers unique challenges and opportunities, and hunters who understand how deer use these habitats will have the best chance at success.
Migrations Across the West: Following the Old Roads
If you’ve never seen a line of mule deer moving across the skyline at dawn, nose to tail, mile after mile, you’re missing one of the last great natural wonders in North America. These migrations aren’t just impressive; they’re ancient. Some herds travel over 150 miles between their summer and winter ranges, crossing rugged mountains, ranch fences, and six-lane highways like they’ve been doing it for a thousand years, because they have.
On Location: The Crossroads Project Part 3
Healthy deer populations depend on healthy forests and good deer habitat is complex. You may be wondering, “what do mule deer have to do with wildfires?” Turns out, quite a bit.
Remembering My First Mule Deer Buck
It’s been twenty years since that hunt, but I can still feel the burn in my legs, the thin air in my lungs, and the pounding of my heart as if it happened yesterday. I was twelve years old, hunting with my mom in the high country, and I was about to take my first mule deer buck.
How to Pattern High Country Bucks Before the Rifle Opener
Success in the high country doesn’t happen by luck. Rifle season comes fast, and by the time the opener rolls around, hunters who have done the homework, the scouting, the glassing, and patterning mule deer bucks, are the ones most likely to punch their tag. The key is simple: treat pre-season scouting as seriously as the hunt itself.
On Location: The Crossroads Project Part 2
Working within local communities like Burney, California allows the Mule Deer Foundation and USDA Forest Service to accomplish active forest management projects.
Clearing the Way for Wildlife in Northern Arizona
Local partners and volunteers contributed to a very successful fence removal project along a big game migration corridor in Arizona.
Brew Coffee, Support Conservation: Hunting Day Coffee Company Partners with the Mule Deer Foundation
The Mule Deer Foundation is proud to announce our partnership with Hunting Day Coffee Company, where 30% of profits go directly to MDF’s mission of conserving mule deer, black-tailed deer, and their critical habitats.
Blacktail Deer Foundation Looking for more Staff!
JOB SUMMARY:
This unique Regional Director position will focus primarily on starting, organizing and executing fundraising chapters along the I-5 corridor in WA & OR, for the newly formed Blacktail Deer Foundation (BDF).
The BDF was formed in early 2025 and is a branch of the Mule Deer Foundation. Blacktailed Deer have been part of the MDF’s mission since its inception in 1988 and BDF chapters will focus on improving the conservation of Columbia & Sitka Blacktail Deer from California to Alaska. MDF/BDF Regional Directors organize local volunteer chapters to hold fundraising events in support of the continued mission accomplishment of MDF, ensuring the conservation of mule deer, black-tailed deer and their habitat.
Where Do They Go? Locating Mule Deer in Drought Years
On the dry ridges outside Tucson, AZ hunters know that a year of poor rainfall can turn a once familiar hunting ground into an unfamiliar puzzle. Traditional glassing spots may come up empty, and the basins that normally hold deer can feel barren. But those who adjust their strategy now hyper focusing on scarce water sources, higher elevation forage, and subtle changes in deer movement can still find success even in tough years.