Mule Deer Hunting Gear

A mule deer hunt breaks into three steps, and the gear supports each one. First comes glassing to find a buck, where a tripod like the Ascent holds optics steady for the long sessions it takes to pick deer out of broken country. Then comes closing the distance, where lightweight carbon gear keeps pack weight down over the miles. Finally comes the shot, where the same tripod or a bipod like the Javelin Pro Hunt Tac provides a stable rest. A common mule deer kit pairs a glassing tripod with a bipod, so one setup carries a hunter from finding the deer to taking the shot.

For open-country mule deer, a tripod does the most work, because it steadies optics for glassing and doubles as a rest for standing or seated shots. A bipod like the Javelin Lite is lighter and faster for prone and low shots once the stalk closes in. Because both run on the same attachment system, most mule deer hunters carry a tripod to find and a bipod to shoot, rather than choosing one over the other.

Steep, broken ground rarely allows a clean prone shot. The compact Hoplite Mini Tripod is built for exactly this, giving a rigid, low rest that plants on uneven or rocky terrain for a stable prone or seated shot. When standing is the only option, the SpringBok Quad Sticks provide a freestanding rest so a good buck does not have to be passed up for lack of a position.

Spartan bipods and tripods use the MagnaSwitch™ system, attaching and detaching in seconds through rare earth magnets. The rifle takes one matching adapter, with options for Picatinny, M-Lok, and KeyMod. For glassing, the Binocular Tripod Adapter mounts optics to the same tripod, so one system carries both. Adapters are sold separately.