Great thread, I'm learning. Thanks everyone.
I'm no expert muley hunter. I've had 4 muley tags in my life. The biggest I took was on a guided hunt and I'll probably never top him. It was a great hunt with great people, but I'm proudest of the one I got DIY last year on public ground.
Here are a few tips I put in my personal tips list built from what I read and the journals of my past hunts:
Always look at what other hunters are doing if there are others around. Look at what type of terrain they hunt, they may know something you don't. Also keep an eye on what country they DON'T hunt. You may find something everyone else is overlooking. The more pressure there is the more this matters. My best buck came from a remote corner of the ranch I was on where nobody hunted much. It was some of the poorest deer country on the ranch but it had enough of everything to keep a buck alive and nobody bothered him there. My best whitetail taught me this lesson 10 years earlier, works for both.
Deer avoid pressure. If you are a rifle hunter learn how much bow hunting pressure the area has seen before your season starts. Think about where you'd go to avoid pressure if you were a deer who'd had bow hunters after him for a month.
Use maps before scouting trips to find areas you are interested in. Then scout and cover ground with feet, wheels, or glass. During the middle of the day I like to spend a lot of time learning country and eliminating areas. Keep notes, mark maps, put stuff in the GPS, do whatever system of record keeping works for you. I like to drive and glass first, walk and glass second just to see more country and use my time as wisely as possible if the area allows it.
Take a rangefinder with angle compensation. Use said rangefinder. I bought rangefinding binos and they are the best hunting purchase I've ever made.
Take a GPS with land ownership marked on it, or a cell phone with ONX Maps in addition to paper maps. Combined they will do as much as it is possible to do to keep you on the right property. Hunters who wing it will give everyone a bad name. I once ended up deep into private property on my first CO elk hunt. I'd talked to the warden for the area and he said there was a fence around the private so it was easy to stay off. I found the fence on my walk back out, it was up for a few hundred yards and then gone for a few hundred. I'd never seen a post or wire on my way in. Technology today can prevent mistakes like this. Carry extra batteries or a charger pack too! I like to have lithium AA batteries in my headlamp, GPS, and camera so I can rob one to make another work.
This is one I've read from Mike Eastman and other great muley hunters. Find places where you can hunt mule deer. If you save points for years to go on one special hunt but have no idea how to hunt muleys once you get there it likely will fail to live up to expectations. I'd much rather find units I can hunt somewhat regularly and learn the country. I feel I have a better chance to take a great buck in decent country I know than in great country I don't. If I do draw that special tag someday I'll have a better idea of how to utilize it best by being more experienced at hunting muleys.
Put in as many hours as you can if you are trophy hunting. That means both scouting and hunting. Look at ways to make yourself more efficient in your use of time. Trophy muley hunting means being in your hunting spot really early and staying late. Getting to and from these areas takes time and being inefficient costs you time. Getting to and from spots, food, planning, all these things take time and if you aren't careful you start cutting into sleep hours getting everything else done. Without sleep you get fatigued and sloppy and these things can absolutely cost you a buck because you cut corners. Don't push so hard it isn't fun but at the same time don't go home wishing you'd tried harder. Resting and hunting can be combined successfully at times. One of the best muley books I read says most of the giant muleys shot today are killed as they slip away from hunters. Their focus is on one hunter and may offer another hunter an opportunity.
