Ep. 489: How to Find and Kill Giant Mule Deer on Public Land w/ Dioni Amuchastegui
MAY 5, 2026112 MIN
Ep. 489: How to Find and Kill Giant Mule Deer on Public Land w/ Dioni Amuchastegui
MAY 5, 2026112 MIN
Description
Beau Martonik sits down with Dioni Amuchastegui, one of the most respected public land mule deer hunters in the country, to break down what it actually takes to consistently find and kill giant bucks in the West.
They cover how Dioni approaches scouting from the macro level down, why most hunters are picking spots before they understand the area, how to efficiently cover country to find where deer actually are, and what changes in buck behavior through the season that most hunters misread. Dioni also explains why deer seem to disappear after velvet drop — and why it has less to do with hormones than most people assume.
He tells the full story of his buck from last year — finding him on the last day of his last scouting trip, waiting for the exact right weather window, making the stock, missing twice, and putting him down on the third shot.
Dioni also breaks down Deadfall Design, his company making a bino harness holster attachment built for backcountry hunters who carry a sidearm.
Topics:
00:00:00 — Intro
00:04:30 – Who Is Dioni and How He Got Started
00:09:38 – Killing a 195-Inch Buck on His First Serious Season
00:20:06 – What He Does Differently Than Most Mule Deer Hunters
00:28:39 – How to Read Country and Know When to Move On
00:36:16 – Balancing Family, Work, and the Scouting Grind
00:41:51 – Dry Firing on Deer Before the Shot
00:53:56 – Where Big Bucks Bed and Why
01:00:06 – Empty Pockets — Why Winter Kill Creates Hollow Country
01:06:02 – Why Deer Seem to Disappear After Velvet Drop
01:09:09 – Finding the Buck and the Competition That Followed
01:18:28 – The Stalk, Two Missed Arrows, and the Kill
01:31:01 – Staying Focused on One Species
01:34:36 – Deadfall Design — How It Started and What It Does
01:49:02 – Closing
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