23 Muley Hunt...

[gaps]

Just got back from my Brother-In-Law's muley hunt in 23 and we didn't have much luck. We hunted there for 3 full days and didn't see but 2 muleys. I glassed a coues buck opening morning at 437 yards that i think was with another buck but we could only see its rear end because it was bedded in the bush. This was at an area between black mesa and aztec peek. The next day on black mesa we walked up on 2 muley bucks that were bedded down right at sundown but they took off and we couldn't get back on them, especially without any sun. We were primarily hunting on top of black mesa and around coon creek and we had no problem seeing coues. My buddy glassed a couse buck and doe on top of black mesa at 351yards. We saw plenty of sign of deer on top of black mesa, a buck and doe skull and backbones that some coyotes got (looked like coues), one shed from a coues, and plenty of bedding spots. We were only familiar with that part of the unit and so we hunted there all three days, especially because of all the signs of deer. My question is, are there many muleys down low this time of year or are they in the higher elevation? We stayed low and glassed in the rollers but only saw coues. What have others seen and what do you recommend to get on some muleys? I hope some others that were out there had better luck, but from looking at their camps and driving past them it didn't look like it....I believe we had a tough 3 days seeing much of anything was because of the moon being almost full every single night we were there! Do you think the moon has a large part of bedded bucks during the day? Regardless it was great to get out there!!!

[HuntKaibab]

There are mulies down low year round, I just finished 2 weekends up in 19A and from what we were seeing, the deer (bucks more than does) are bedding down early often before sunrise. Not sure if it was the moon or just the mild weather but they sure weren't moving much during the daylight hours.

[Willyhunts2]

I have noticed expecially with mulies, if there is a full bright moon the deer are up feeding all night. If it's bright enough for us to walk around without a flashlight it's probably like day time for the deer without any hunting pressure. Just what I have noticed on some deer hunts anyways.

[Eagle Eye]

You just gotta be out all day. if you are committed. Eventually they will get up to move beds. the Sun changes and so do they

[gaps]

Thanks for the replies, you all have great points that I agree with. It is good to hear what you have said because it confirms how I felt about the hunt. Being new to this and not seeing muleys and seeing coues you kinda start to doubt your methods but it sounds like we just need to keep doing what we were doing.