This is the second installment in our mule deer hunting series, and today we’re diving into one of the biggest questions our guides get each season:
“Where do I even start when looking for mule deer?”
Whether you’re high above timberline or hunting the sagebrush flats, knowing where to look is critical. And in a place like Wyoming—where mule deer country is vast and varied—a solid strategy can make all the difference.
When it comes to preparing for a Wyoming pronghorn antelope hunt—or any western big game adventure—our guides emphasize two key areas: shooting practice and physical conditioning. In Part 1 of our series, we covered shooting tips. Now, we’ll share our top recommendations to help you get in shape and maximize your experience in the field.
Antelope hunting in Wyoming often means covering vast, open country with rolling hills, sagebrush flats, and uneven terrain. You might spot a buck from a mile away—but getting into shooting range requires speed, agility, and endurance.
For many hunters, a Wyoming pronghorn antelope hunt or any western big game adventure represents a major investment—and often, the opportunity of a lifetime. In this three-part series, we’ll break down the essential steps for preparing for a successful hunt.
Part 1 focuses on one of the most critical elements of hunting success: shooting practice.
This week we’d like to feature one of our specific hunting camps and provide a virtual tour around this beautiful location in northeast Wyoming. Sometimes known as “Camp Envy” for its amenities, it’s also known as Hunt #2 if you refer to our website or the printed brochure. Most importantly, this camp serves as the home base for an outstanding Wyoming combo hunt.
The landscape in north central and northeast Wyoming is a patchwork of sage hills, plateaus studded with ponderosa pines, grassy plains, and shallow canyons lined with junipers. It’s perfect habitat for trophy quality antelope and mule deer bucks.
Our hunting camp sits atop a hill with views overlooking long creeks lined with cottonwoods, vast expanses of sagebrush, and an escarpment of pine-covered hills. The camp itself contains several buildings that include guest quarters, guide rooms, a 24 by 32-foot dining room, a shower building, permanent outhouses and a meat cooler.
The guest rooms are comfortable, sleeping two to four hunters each. Bunk beads are furnished with covered mattresses. Baseboard heat keeps things cozy, no matter what the weather decides to do. A hot shower is a perfect way to start or end each day. And the dining room provides the perfect place to gather for a hot breakfast each morning, and then a home-cooked dinner each night.
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An antelope and mule deer combo hunt is a classic, spot-and-stalk experience. After a hot breakfast, you and your guide will leave camp before daylight. These ranches offer good 4x4 access and the hunt typically begins by glassing these large expanses of open country for a mature buck. In some cases you will be glassing from the vehicle but in other situations, your guide might park and hunt on foot.
After harvesting your mule deer or antelope, your guide will field dress your trophy. Back in camp, it can chill in our meat cooler. Processing and taxidermy is your responsibility. But if you choose to have your meat processed locally, our local meat processor can pick your animal up from camp. This is an easy and hassle-free way to have your meat processed before your departure. We also have a couple of outstanding local taxidermists that we recommend.
With good numbers of antelope and mule deer, the hunting here is action-packed. From this camp, we are fortunate to hunt on private ranches that encompass more than 62,000 acres of big game habitat. We have been carefully managing these ranches for over two decades and the trophy quality is excellent. An antelope and mule deer combo hunt is a classic-spot and stalk experience. This is everything you’d want and expect in a western hunting adventure.
For more information, you can check out Hunt #2 on our website. Or you can request a free copy of our brochure. For details or availability, give us a call at 307-266-4229.
Hunting the mule deer rut is beyond exciting when timed right. Rut hunts are not available in all states and it doesn’t happen on an exact schedule. November is rut season overall with a peak that varies based on the region. Wyoming and Montana are two of the primary states where rut opportunities exist. Many are limited draw or require outfitter access to privately leased ranches. Here’s what to expect on a late season rut hunt.
Prepare for the Weather
You might find yourself sweating in the sun or freezing in the snow. November is a month of major temperature swings and dressing in layers is critical. Pack clothes for the worst and shed them as needed. This is especially important for backcountry trips.
Expect to See Some Nice Bucks
Hunting the rut opens up some great opportunities. You may or may not pull the trigger but you are more likely to see some great animals. Watching them sniffing around, chasing does is exciting. You may see sparring and the bigger bucks that are typically very difficult to locate may cross your field of vision. The trick here is being patient and finding the right opportunity.
Rutting Bucks are Still Wary
While you may see more bucks, they are still very difficult to approach and stalk. Does are on the lookout for trouble and traveling in groups. They are quick to alert a buck when you make a wrong move. Make a game plan and look for more isolated does and small groupings. Fewer eyes increase your odds of making the stalk. While the bucks are motivated to breed, they will slip away for good if your presence is known.
Simple Tactics
Hunting mule deer can mean hours of glassing, following tracks in the snow and sitting on groups of does until a buck presents himself. Rattling is also effective when working through timbered areas that don’t have an open view. Horses are a major advantage for accessing high basins and hiring an outfitter means having comfortable camps on cold nights. Getting into the high country puts you in places where hunting pressure is low, especially during the later seasons.
SNS Outfitter and Guides offers some incredible opportunities for hunting trophy deer during the rut in Wyoming and in Montana. We lease hundreds of thousands of acres of beautiful ranches and we’ve been carefully managing these properties for decades. You can explore our Mule Deer Hunting opportunities. For details, you can call us at 307-266-4229 or send us a message.
We’ve had a fun fall bear season here in western Wyoming! If you’ve ever visited the Wyoming high country in September, you know exactly why this is one of our favorite hunts of the year. Rocky Mountain weather in September is typically sunny, with warm days and crisp nights, and the leaves are starting to change. Most importantly, the bears are getting very active!
During early September, black bears enter a period of hyperphagia, which is their fall feeding frenzy. They begin a constant foraging, looking to put on calories before the winter hibernation.
Unlike the summertime when bears are mostly nocturnal, black bears begin feeding all throughout the day during this hyperphagia period. It is a great time to target trophy black bears in Wyoming. Boars are big and fat, and their coats are typically in great condition.
Our fall black bear hunters have had a wonderful time this season, staying in the comfortable Box Y Lodge along the Greys River. The Greys River valley runs south of Jackson, Wyoming and is home to the largest concentration of black bears in Wyoming. This area produces mostly color phase bears with outstanding hides.
Here are a few photos from the fall black bear hunts this year:
From the SNS staff and the staff at the Box Y Lodge, we’d like to thank our hunters who joined us on a Wyoming black bear hunt this fall! It was a pleasure hunting with each of you.
If you’d like more information about Wyoming black bear hunts with SNS Outfitter and Guides, please visit our Black Bear Hunting Page or refer to Hunt number 9 in our Brochure. You can also call us for specifics and availability at 307-266-4229.
A guided hunt is an awesome experience. It often means seeing a new area for the first time, and sometimes hunting a new species for the first time. One of the most common questions we receive from our guided hunters is what they are responsible to bring.
We send a checklist to each of our hunters before their trip. The needs of a hunter on an antelope hunt from town are of course much different than hunting elk or mule deer from a remote mountain camp.
While packing lists can vary considerably, there are some general things to think about on any guided hunting trip in the west. Here are a few tips to consider:
Don’t Overload Your Daypack
Ask most hunting guides, and they’ll tell you that hunters’ daypacks are always heaviest on the first morning of the hunt. Excited and sometimes not sure what to bring, hunters tend to over pack the first day. But after carrying a heavy backpack through rough western country, those items quickly get paired down. A few days into the hunt, most hunters are carrying only the essentials.
On a big game hunt, shouldering a heavy backpack can take a toll. Be very careful about how much you intend to carry in your daypack.
Listen to Your Guide’s Advice
Every guided hunt is different. But in most situations, the guide will be carrying essential items, like field dressing equipment. If your guide has those things covered, there may be no reason to carry duplicates – especially bulky items like game bags. Most importantly, pay attention to your guide’s advice. If he says you don’t need it, don’t put it in your pack.
Invest in Lightweight Hunting Gear
If your gear is heavy to begin with, you’ll have trouble keeping the weight down on your daypack. Items like rain gear can be one of the biggest culprits. Rain gear can spend a lot of time in your pack, but you don’t want to be caught without it.
Wherever possible, invest in lightweight hunting gear. There is a higher price for gear that is both highly functional and also light weight. But on a tough, multi-day western hunt, it can be well worth the investment.
Boots are one of the most important things that you’ll purchase for any western hunt. Unlike items that can be borrowed from your buddies like a jacket or optics, boots are a personalized item that’s going to fit everyone differently.
Here are 3 tips to finding the best boots for your next western hunt:
1. Find Boots that Fit You
The very best brand of boots is the one that fits you best. A Kenetrek will fit your food different than a Danner, and a Lowa won’t feel the same as a Zamberlan. There are a lot of great boots out there to fit many different shapes and sizes of feet. We recommend trying on a number of different brands of boots until you find one that fits your particular feet best.
2. Wear Your Boots Before the Hunt
A quality pair of boots shouldn’t require any break-in period. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wear them before your hunt. Get into your boots and put some miles on them before your hunt to make sure there aren’t any issues. If there’s a problem with blisters or a bad fit, you don’t want to discover it when you’re on your hunt.
3. Don’t Forget Quality Socks
The best boots in the world won’t perform properly if you’re wearing your old cotton gym socks. Give your boots a sock they deserve and buy a few pairs of high quality merino wool socks. A merino sock will help keep your feet in good condition on a western hunt. They move moisture away from your skin to help avoid blisters and they resist odors even after days of use.
Before your next hunt, be sure to settle any boot questions well in advance. A bad issue with your feet is something that can ruin an otherwise memorable hunt.
For information on hunts with SNS Outfitter and Guides, please explore the rest of our website at HuntWyo.com. You can also give us a call at 307-266-4229 or request a free brochure that includes details on our Wyoming and Montana hunts.
Having the right gear can make or break your Wyoming hunt, and this is especially true of your boots. Boots could possibly be your most important investment after your firearm or bow. You will wear them every day in the field, and they must perform well. If you are cold, wet, or get blisters on your feet, it’s not going to be a fun experience. You may not be able to spend the necessary time in the field, and you may not be able to hike to the locations necessary to get a shot opportunity. This would obviously be a huge disappointment.
General Considerations for Boots
When considering boots for a big game hunt, there are a few common features that hunters should always look for. First, a quality boot should have a waterproof membrane like Gore-Tex. It should also have an aggressive outsole like Vibram. And a quality boot should be relatively lightweight. Ideally, a pair of boots should weigh no more than 5 lbs. In many cases, particularly for the early seasons, there are many boots that weigh much less.
The height of the boot is also a key consideration. In general, we recommend a boot that’s no less that seven or eight inches. This will give you the necessary ankle support for walking in rough country. Height also provides protection when traveling through snow or crossing streams. But we also recommend that hunters also pack a pair of gaiters for those situations. Gaiters keep water or snow from getting into your boots and will keep the bottom of your pants dry.
Perhaps the most important consideration for boots is the fit. Each brand fits slightly differently and some may be wider or narrower than others. Therefore, it is important to try on a few different brands of boots before purchasing. After you make a purchase, it is equally important that you put some miles on them before your hunt. You must be confident that your boots fit well and will keep you blister free.
If you purchase a quality pair of boots that fit your feet correctly, they should perform well right out of the box with no break-in period and no blisters. The reason that we recommend putting some miles in your boots before your hunt is to be sure that they fit you well and won’t cause problems in the field.
Boots For Archery and Early Seasons
Let’s now take a closer look at selecting boots for the early season. September in Wyoming brings big temperature swings. Mornings may be in the 20s or low 30s and midday temperatures may approach the 60s or warmer.
Therefore, insulated boots are not a requirement. We like to steer clients to a lightweight boot that’s 2.5 to 3.5 lbs.
A minimum height of seven to eight inches is recommended. Remember, with today’s technology in materials, lightweight doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice support. There are many good choices that provide excellent support in a lightweight package and they don’t have to be hunting specific. General hiking boots can make a great choice for an archery hunt.
Boots For the Late Seasons
During the October hunts, big temperature swings may occur with chilly mornings as low as the high teens. By midday it can be as warm as the low 50s. As we get into late October, the weather can turn to winter conditions quickly with lows in the single digits and sometimes below zero.
Snow can be a real possibility throughout the entire season, but especially late in October. Needless to say, insulation is a core requirement. We recommend a boot with about 400 grams of insulation. When snow is on the ground, an insulated rubber bottom pac boot like those made by Schnee’s or Kenetrek are hard to beat.
Ideally, we recommend that hunters bring two pairs of boots to camp. First, a good pair of insulated Gore-Tex, hiking style hunting boots that are a minimum of nine inches, and a second pair of boots like pac boots as a backup or for very cold and wet weather.
It’s easy to make the case that after your weapon, a couple pair of good boots is the highest priority for your Wyoming hunting trip in terms of gear. If your feet aren’t warm, dry and comfortable, it will be difficult to enjoy yourself in the field. Trade-offs can be made with lower quality gear in many areas of clothing. But boots and good quality rain gear is where you want to buy the best you can afford.
We’ve received a great deal of questions recently about a giant crack in the earth that recently appeared on a ranch where we operate in the southern foothills of the Bighorn Mountains. Thinking it was interesting, but not knowing that it would get so much attention, we posted a photo on our Facebook page. After being shared more than 7,000 times, we started receiving a flood of questions and comments.
Here’s what we know so far: we have two outfitted camps on this ranch. We hunt here every year and have been doing so for decades. Our guides first noticed the giant fissure in early October. We couldn’t tell what had caused so much earth to suddenly move, but it certainly had not been there long.
A couple of weeks later, an engineer from Riverton, WY joined us to take a closer look. We walked the perimeter and took estimates on size using a rangefinder. We estimated the crevasse to be about 750 yards long and about 50 yards wide.
According to the engineer, there was a cap rock being lubricated by a spring. Additionally there was a spring running across east to west, which then caused the entire thing to slide north. The engineer estimated about 15 to 20 million yards of movement. According to the USGS, there has been no seismic activity, so we have no other possible explanations at this time.
Since posting the photo on Facebook, we’ve received countless offers from geologists, scientists and reporters from all over the world to come and take a look at this fascinating event. It truly is incredible to look at, a canyon that formed almost overnight – a mountainside that seems to have suddenly collapsed.
As we speak with experts and learn more about it, we will share updates here and on our Facebook page.
SNS Outfitter and Guides is Wyoming’s top outfitter and the largest pronghorn antelope outfitter in North America. With more than 700,000 acres of private land and prime wildlife habitat, we offer more hunting opportunities that anyone else in the state. If you’d like to find out more about our hunts, please visit our website at HuntWyo.com. For availability and specifics, please contact us online to request a free brochure.
One of the most exciting things about hunting in Wyoming is the widely varying range of opportunities. From the plains to the peaks, this is a state that offers everything. Some of our favorite hunts each year are the mule deer and antelope Combo hunts.
These combo hunts offer everything you could want in a classic, western hunt. There’s nothing like being able to spot and stalk trophy Wyoming mule deer and then go after North America’s fastest animal and one of its most beautiful, the pronghorn antelope.
We conduct these mule deer and antelope combo hunts on nearly 200,000 private acres of incredible big game habitat. This is a unique opportunity to pursue two iconic western trophies.
These hunts take place from early October to late October, depending on the location. The terrain on these ranches varies from plains to rolling hills, to steep canyons, and pine-covered foothills. Perhaps the only things better than pursuing these great big game animals is the incredible Wyoming scenery and the fun hunting camp experience.
We offer three different camps for these combo hunts. On our website or in our brochure, you can refer to Hunt 2, Hunt 5 or Hunt 10 for details. Whether you prefer to hunt from camp or from town, we can help plan a hunt that’s perfect for you or your group. For more information, give us a call at 307-266-4229.
We hope to see you here at SNS Outfitter and Guides soon on this incredible western combo hunt!
Whether it’s open country antelope hunting, a high country mule deer hunt or archery elk, we spend a great deal of time each season looking through the glass. When hunting in Wyoming’s vast landscapes, having quality binoculars provides a clear advantage. Here are three of our tips on selecting binoculars for a western hunt.
1. Consider Quality
Binoculars can be a confusing item to shop for. Everyone has a different opinion and you’ll find options that range from a couple hundred dollars to thousands. However, don’t let it make your head spin. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
Higher quality glass allows more light, which is particularly noticeable at dawn and dusk and can extend your glassing time at both ends of the day. High quality glass will also improve upon sharpness, distortion and color, reducing eye fatigue on hunts that require a great deal of glassing.
You don’t have to purchase an ultra high-end bino to find good quality. But there is a difference in quality at different price ranges. Like anything, you get what you pay for. When looking at binoculars, decide on the best budget you can afford and use that as your starting point.
2. Consider Size and Power
When selecting optics for western hunting, you want binos that are going to be versatile enough for any type of adventure. You also need a balance between lightweight portability and sufficient power. We typically recommend something in the 8x30 to 10x40 range.
If you were to ask 10 different guides, you’d get a variety of different answers on the pros and cons between 8x and 10x binos. But most will probably agree that either will work just fine. Both will give you enough power and field of view in a lightweight and compact package that’s easy to carry around on a mountain hunt.
3. Consider Durability and Warranty
Finally, your binos are going to get jostled, rained on, shoved in backpacks and generally abused. So durability is also critical. Be sure and select quality binoculars that are waterproof and tough. Alongside durability, make sure you ask about the warranty. When all other things seem equal, sometimes it’s the warranty that will tip your decision one way or another.
For more information on hunting in Wyoming with SNS Outfitter & Guides, please call us anytime at 307-266-4229 or send us a message.
See past blog posts on the SNS Blog.
