Book excerpt: 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!