Unlike bull elk, mature mule deer bucks don’t round up a harem of does. Instead, they wander, contantly searching for a herd with a doe in estrus. (Shutterstock photo)
October 17, 2025
By Mark Kayser
Does and fawns had begun their post-bedding afternoon snack. I crawled to the lip of a sagebrush chasm that gave me an ideal vantage to catch sight of the buck I’d spied dive into this depression on a chunk of public land. Although the rut was still several weeks away, this October buck thought a pre-rut test run through the herd was warranted.
As the sun dipped, a noticeable anxiety spread through the feeding does and they moved away from the head of the draw. Antler tips confirmed why. The buck was up and eager to get back on the move, not wasting time to socialize with the ladies. As he revealed himself above the sagebrush, he lingered just long enough for me to send a Hornady SST bullet on its way for a hard-earned trophy.
Mule deer before the main rut, particularly in the disarray of October, present a glut of challenges. Testosterone levels surge, the deer’s nutrition needs transition, hunting pressure ramps up and the nomadic lifestyle of a mature buck all come together to test your hunting skills. Consider these pathways to pre-rut success whether hunting with bow, firearm or muzzleloader this month.
GOOD AND BAD BEHAVIOR October signals the end of the mule deer bachelor party. From winter through early fall, mule deer bucks segregate into all-male groups. Young bucks may still hang with herds of does during that period, but, for the most part, older bucks shun social interaction with the ladies. Bachelor behavior is increasingly evident during the summer and early fall, but October brings a surge of testosterone in mule deer bucks. Mother Nature knows best and prepares males of most species with at least a 2-week heads-up that the breeding season is approaching. By early November, bucks have a full tank of testosterone in anticipation of the rut, which will begin later in the month.
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Bachelor groups of six or more bucks now dwindle to two or one. Mature bucks cast off on their own throughout the month, though they may gather to feed on preferred browse. These occasional meetings allow them to set the pecking order as to who will reign over herds when females come into heat. Younger bucks realize their place and mature bucks assert their dominance throughout the month. Despite summer friendships, the social aspect of buck behavior decreases as Halloween nears. Feeding patterns become haphazard, and the odds of catching a mature buck in a pattern become slimmer come November.
While mature bucks may begin to alter their behavior, herds of does and fawns, cemented by a summer and early fall of living together, maintain feeding patterns on palatable food sources. The large herds of winter have long since disbanded, leaving smaller family groups and cliques spread across ideal habitats. Female-led herd behavior may change due to hunting pressure and the fluctuating flavor of food sources, particularly those affected by frost or, in some areas, harvest. Regardless, the consistency of female herds at this time is typically more reliable when compared to the patterns of mature bucks (or the lack thereof). Remember that for a tactic we’ll outline later.
And, just to clear up any myths, mule deer bucks do not command a harem in the same manner as bull elk. They do rule herds with authority when females are in estrus, but if a herd does not have a female in estrus, they abandon ship and wander in search of the next band of does holding a female in heat.
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NO SHORTAGE OF HIDEOUTS Although mule deer require niche habitat for survival, comprising elements not found east of the Mississippi River, they do have an abundance of available sanctuaries to duck into when pressure mounts. Several factors direct them to a variety of habitats. Weather variations, predation intensity, human activities and focused hunting pressure are just a few elements that mule deer take into consideration when evaluating habitat use.
As you face the disbanding of bachelor groups and a more dispersed population of male deer in October, think food first. Although the testosterone clock is ticking toward bucks ignoring food, they still feed voraciously in October, knowing that breeding and the winter ahead will strip approximately 20 percent of their beer belly away.
Food may be as easy to locate as finding a lowland hayfield, mid-mountain meadow or succulent browse along a mesa. If you stumble in finding the preferred food, reach out to a local biologist and ask him or her what deer in a particular unit prefer for nutrition. Be especially aware of wildland fire history. A fire just weeks prior could move deer to greener pastures. A fire that received recent rains or is a year or more old could be a winning ticket. As long as the fire was not too hot to sterilize the soil, deer will race to nibble on new, succulent browse species.
After spending most of the year in large bachelor groups, mule deer bucks disband in October. Younger bucks form smaller groups while mature bucks typically set out on their own. (Mark Kayser) After identifying desired food sources, widen your search, whether in person or on a hunting app, to locate escape cover. Mule deer sanctuary habitat can vary from a lodgepole pine forest to a valley of desert cholla plants providing the only shade for miles. A biologist could direct you to mule deer hideouts, but solid detective work will likely reveal those escape areas. Always think secluded, rugged, high and providing shelter from the worst of weather. In desert regions, consider shade as the temperature could easily exceed 80 degrees on an October mule deer hunt in the Southwest. You may find roadblocks to hunting deer in dense stands of timber, but waiting near openings for deer to emerge for browse offers hope.
October sees muley bucks sorting out the dominance pecking order in anticipation of the approaching rut. (Shutterstock photo) A lesson I learned while working as a guide in Montana, and through years of observation since, is that unless deer live in a gated, nonhunting area, they travel extensively away from food for safety. How far they travel depends on terrain and hunting pressure, but before and after nocturnal feeding you can catch deer at dusk and dawn advancing to and from food. On average, mature bucks, sometimes followed by immature bucks, travel approximately a mile from food. In my experience, when a particularly tempting hillside choked with cedars was their destination, they would easily travel more than a mile to reach that secure daytime cover.
HONING YOUR ATTACK Dialing in a strategy becomes trying as a buck’s pattern transitions throughout the month of October. Early in the month you should focus on food sources. Bachelor groups will still be in some semblance of structure, and you could uncover a pattern offering a week’s worth of reliability as you refine your plan of attack.
When bucks begin disbanding, widen your attack. Mature bucks may break off and bed solitarily but still maintain a pattern they used throughout the early fall. The sight of several immature deer together on a food source could be a clue that an older buck may join them later. On a hunt just a few seasons ago, I targeted a nontypical buck that I watched in September with a bachelor group. After hunting season opened in mid-October, he favored time alone or with another mature buck, but still used the same hayfield to feed. I ambushed him as he left the field, on his own, to escape into a deep canyon for daytime refuge.
Finally, after the mid-month mark, begin to monitor all doe herds in your hunting area. Despite breeding being a month away, the surging testosterone stockpile prods bucks to visit these herds. It’s not uncommon for bucks to make a pass through a herd or even spend feeding time with the ladies, only to retire alone after the visit. During any scouting missions, log the location of all doe and fawn herds. They may also adjust as nutrition changes during the fall, but the herd locations become imperative to hunting success as November approaches.
Although breeding won’t occur until November, mature bucks will visit doe herds regularly now, sometimes feeding with females before retiring alone. (Shutterstock photo) One fall I watched a buck linger at daybreak with a group of does on a lush hillside, but as morning visibility improved, the buck broke away and started a march toward cedar-covered hills. I ducked into a ravine and jogged to intercept him at an anticipated hilltop before his Houdini act could take place. My rush bumped him, but I grunted and he paused in classic mule deer fashion for a second look through a gap in the cedars. I lost him in the smoke of my CVA muzzleloader and paused for a moment before tiptoeing down the hillside for any clues. The white rump of the muley buck peeking out of a clump of sagebrush was the only clue I needed to confirm that you can find October mule deer success before the rut.
HIT ’EM HARD Big game loads that drop muleys in their tracks. BARNES HARVEST Photo courtesy of Barnes Bullets Barnes Bullets recently released a line of big game hunting ammunition called the Harvest Collection, ideal for your mule deer crusade. It’s tipped with Sierra’s novel Tipped GameKing bullet for optimal accuracy. That accuracy is followed up by expansion to put your mule deer down for the count. The Harvest Collection includes nine calibers starting with the .223 Rem. and extending to the 7mm Rem. Mag., with most popular calibers represented in between.
HORNADY OUTFITTER Photo courtesy of Hornady Though not brand new, Hornady’s weatherproof Outfitter lineup of ammunition has expanded since its launch in 2020 and the addition of the CX bullet in 2022. Whether you require California-compliant bullets or copper is just your thing, Hornady has the answer in its Outfitter Ammunition line, comprising 21 loads for 19 calibers. The heart of the system is the CX bullet, designed using elements of the revolutionary ELD-X bullet to create a copper-alloy expanding bullet led by the Heat Shield Tip for maximum accuracy. Bullet expansion occurs at any distance. I have shot three bull elk and a half-dozen deer using this ammunition.
NOSLER WHITETAIL COUNTRY Photo courtesy of Nosler Don’t be thrown off by the name. Mule deer have the same internal engine as a whitetail, and Nosler’s new Whitetail Country ammunition line performs. Six popular deer calibers feature Nosler’s Solid Base, a jacketed-soft-point, lead-alloy-core bullet, in varying weights. Calibers begin with the acclaimed 6.5 Creedmoor and extend out to the .30-30 Win. Two in the lineup—the .350 Legend and .45-70 Government—feature Nosler’s jacketed, lead-core Straight-Wall bullets.
This article was featured in the October 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe .
Mark Kayser
Mark Kayser has been writing, photographing and filming about the outdoors with a career spanning three decades. He contributes hunting content to most major hunting publications in America. Today his career also includes co-hosting popular hunting shows such as Deer & Deer Hunting TV on the Pursuit Network and Online. He also blogs and is busy posting his hunting life on social media.
Mark grew up in South Dakota in a family that did not have a hunting background. Despite the lack of hunting guidance, Mark self-taught himself how to pursue whitetails in the Midwest cornfields and across the Great Plains. His passion for elk hunting was curtailed by the ability to draw tags while living in South Dakota, but a love of the West spurred him to move with his family to Wyoming where he launches DIY, public-land elk hunts annually, most with a solo attack in the backcountry.
Mark enjoys hunting all big game, coyotes and wild turkeys, plus he has a shed hunting addiction. When he is not in pursuit of hunting adventures, Mark retreats to his small ranch nestled at the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming to spend time with his wife and faithful border collie Sully.
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