-- A valuable and comprehensive reference.-- Beautiful coffee-table book.

Denning shares his knowledge of mule deer hunting and techniques that have been refined by trial and error, observation, and faithful persistence.

Dan Branagan was raised in Michigan, hunting whitetail from a young age and further honed his deer hunting skills further while living in Iowa. Dan was very experienced hunting whitetails with the muzzleloader, bow, shotgun, and rifle very familiar with all hunting methods. However, when he moved over 25 years ago to Idaho, he found that he was severely humbled when it came to mule deer hunting. While both whitetail and mule deer are obviously deer, their habits, the hunting strategies, and successful hunting techniques are so different that he pretty much had to start over. Dan wrote this book to provide you the reader, the knowledge and understanding gained through many painful lessons while hunting the West. It is exactly the book which he needed to read 25 years ago and it is exactly the book that you need to read now if you have ever wanted to tag a big mature mule deer buck in the Rocky Mountains. Living in Idaho, Dan has gained an intricate knowledge of mule deer from studying them year round and while learning their strengths and weaknesses, he have developed novel successful hunting methods and techniques. Originally from the Midwest, he knows what many of you, who don't live in the West are thinking, based on your experiences hunting whitetail deer and the types of Western hunting stories that you are most undoubtedly reading. Dan know what mistakes that you are likely to make and what changes in your hunting plans are needed in order to be successful in your Western hunt. This book is designed to give you knowledge based understanding so you can train and retrain your most important asset which is your brain. Hunting the West takes specialized gear, time, and planning and is expensive whether you live in the West or are coming from elsewhere. This book will be the cheapest and best investment that you will make on planning and pulling off your Western mule deer hunting dreams!

A fully illustrated manual for hunters seeking to improve their skills for taking the West's most sought-after big-game animal.

Author Jim Heffelfinger presents a wide array of data in a reader-friendly, well-organized way. With a clear mission to make his information not only helpful, but entertaining and attractive as well, each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of understanding deer. The clear, detailed table of contents will help readers flip right to the section they want to investigate. Not just hunters, but anyone who is interested in the deer of West Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, southern California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, northern Mexico, or tribal lands will find this book to be an indispensable resource for understanding these familiar and fascinating animals. “Very few books on the subject of deer in any particular region lend themselves to being complete. Jim Heffelfinger’s book breaks the mold. It is by far the most comprehensive book on mule deer and white-tailed deer in the southwestern part of the United States, including Plains portions of Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico, I’ve ever read. Everything you ever wanted to know about these two deer species can be found in its pages . . . All of this under one cover and written in a style easy enough for the layperson to understand, but scientific enough for the professional biologist . . . Deer of the Southwest is a pleasure to read and should be part of every deer enthusiast’s library.”—Great Plains Research “An important reference for anyone interested in deer in the Southwest—managers and enthusiasts alike. Both enlightening and instructive, Deer of the Southwest is the ultimate source for understanding the history, management, and issues facing this resource. Jim Heffelfinger has solidified his reputation as the premier authority on deer in this region.”—Barry Hale, deer program manager, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

A unique collection of mule-deer hunting stories, biology, management, and hunting how-to's, on North America's top trophy. Get the inside story on where to find bucks on public lands, and why where is just as important as how.