First deer hunt! any tips/facts/help would be appreciated

Great to have you here on the site HB23, and welcome to the wonderful world of hunting. There is so much advice one could give but the easiest would be to take some time and scroll through the forums and there you will definitely get great advice to steer you the right way. There are also many great people here who have large amounts of knowledge of the outdoors and wild game as well.

welcome from nh. what timber said and I'd like to add talk to seasoned mule deer hunters in your area. time a field is the best teacher. so get out scouting and practice looking for deer.

congats, good luck & don't forget to let us know how it went
also talk to the fish & game officers in the area I have recieved a lot of help from them

Welcome to the world of Deer hunting and to our club.Like its been said look through the past posts.if you have a specific question please ask away.books have been written on deer hunting so its hard to give ya a quick what to do answer.Onehorse is a veteran western hunter and will be able to give ya some great advice.how about a little more info about yourself so we can give you better answers

hey guys,

thanks for the help i will be sure to ask around.
aslo i believe someone said more info?
well i will be hunting in a well based habitat with trees and all that etc
the hunt is going to be in NM.
i will be using a 50. cal muzzleloader and thats pretty much it

thanks for the help!

HB23

all I can add is practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more, if you're heading high, start getting in shape now, nothing worse than finding that once in a life time buck and find you're breathing so hard you can't steady yourself for the shot.

As mentioned practice til you are comfortable with your rifle and can shoot it well. Since you will be hunting mule deer the difficult part is locating the animals. Buck or doe tag? Mule deer live have a very large home range and change their movement patterns constantly, you will be best to use spot and stalk because of this.
GOOD LUCK!!

Welcome to the club and congrats on drawing the tag. Everyone has chimed in with valuable advice. I'd add by saying have fun, enjoy every aspect of the hunt, and be grateful for the opportunity.
PS
Let us know how you make out.

hello and congrats on drawing your first tag. All the previous advise is great. I haven't hunted NM but I would assume you might encounter some steep terrain so you will want to be confident you can make those type of shots. Hopefully your muzzleloader is scoped and you have worked up a good load/bullet combination for potentially long range shot. I would want the confidence to know I could shoot out to 200 yds for western hunting with a muzzleloader just incase mr. big steps out. Good luck on your hunt!

Oh yeah, another thing about practicing. The more you shoot the better your muzzle loader will perform, the reason is you season the barrel. Also make sure you have loads of cleaning supplies to take with you.

practice,practice,practice,and good luck,hope you have a great time

wow man there is so much that goes in to deer hunting but the best advice i know of has already been said talk to the experience around your specific hunting area talk to the guys at your local hunting and fishing shops alot of people who hunt also spend the summer fishing and other outdoor activities so if you can find a place like that and just strike up conversation alot of time you can grab good advice for your area from alot of people hunters usually are willing to help with there experiences ive never met a hunter thats not willing to sit and tell his own stories. take the good the bad and sort it out later. :w00t: good luck and congrats on the draw.