Unit 271, 272 (Mormon Mountains and the Virgin Mountains)
Nevada Hunting Guide — Mule Deer
Units 271, 272 cover about 1,696 square miles of Clark and Lincoln counties, including the Mormon, East Mormon and Virgin mountains. NDOW's mule deer sheet calls deer sparse throughout, tied closely to springs and guzzlers in the heat, and often deep in the Mormon Mountains wilderness in August and September. Long hikes come with the tag, and the monsoon decides where deer spend late summer.
Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 271, 272
Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Nevada Unit 271, 272 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.
Free accounts get one report a year with the top spot unlocked. ProHunt Pro includes unlimited reports, all three spots, the full camp plan, and GPX/KML downloads for onX and Google Earth. Prefer to see one first? Open the builder and pick any unit.
Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 271, 272
Units 271, 272 cover about 1,696 square miles of Clark and Lincoln counties, including the Mormon, East Mormon and Virgin mountains. NDOW's mule deer sheet calls deer sparse throughout, tied closely to springs and guzzlers in the heat, and often deep in the Mormon Mountains wilderness in August and September. Long hikes come with the tag, and the monsoon decides where deer spend late summer.
Where to Find Mule Deer in Units 271, 272: Mormon Mountains, East Mormons and the Virgin Mountains
The Mormon Mountains and the Virgin Mountains
Deer are low and sparse across this group, and NDOW names the few places that hold most of them. In Unit 271, that's the Mormon Mountains and the East Mormon Mountains. In Unit 272, it's the Virgin Mountains.
During the archery and muzzleloader seasons, deer are at the higher elevations of the Mormon and Virgin mountains, and they stay close to reliable water, natural springs and wildlife guzzlers alike. In the Mormon Mountains, most deer are inside the wilderness area in August and September, so getting to them means walking.
Winter range and the monsoon
As temperatures cool, deer drop to lower ground with enough shrub cover to feed in, and on winter range they keep close to water, especially after a dry stretch. That's the pattern to expect for the November rifle hunt.
The weather year moves deer too. Most of the group's precipitation falls in late fall and winter as rain and snow. Late spring and early summer are dry, with little rain in June. From late July, monsoon storms can bring heavy rain that may last into mid-August, greening up vegetation and shifting where animals are. If the monsoon fails and the summer stays hot and dry, deer lean harder on permanent water: springs and guzzlers.
The ground NDOW draws for this tag
A mule deer tag for this group is good in units 271 and 272, about 1,696 square miles measured on NDOW's own boundary, in Clark County and Lincoln County. The named ranges inside the line are East Mormon Mountains, Hiller Mountains, Mormon Mountains, Indian Hills, Million Hills and South Virgin Mountains. The highest named points are Virgin Peak (8,051 ft), Mormon Peak (7,384 ft) and Moapa Peak (6,422 ft), and the lowest named ground sits near 1,081 feet. We don't print a land-status split for Nevada groups, because the figures we held didn't come from BLM's surface-management data; check BLM's current map for private parcels before you cross a fence or a cattle guard. GNIS names 50 springs inside it, Granite Spring, Cabin Spring, Tule Spring and Summit Spring among them.
Unit 271, 272 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Virgin Peak Ridge (8,051 ft), Virgin Mountains (8,034 ft), Mormon Peak (7,384 ft), Mormon Mountains (7,344 ft)
Holding ground: Whitney Pass (4,861 ft), Cow Canyon (4,664 ft), Pierson Gap (4,594 ft), Gourd Spring, Hen Spring
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Mule Deer in Units 271, 272: Interstate 15, the New Gold Butte Road and Long Hikes
Mule Deer Success Rates
Antlered, any legal weapon: 8 of 16 hunters afield (50%); Antlered, archery: 3 of 10 hunters afield (30%); Antlered, muzzleloader: 2 of 8 hunters afield (25%); Junior, seasonal weapon restriction: 4 of 8 hunters afield (50%). Figures are NDOW's own, from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.
Mule Deer Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — Late Season bull/buck only (resident) | 15 | 169 | 8.9% | — |
| Rifle — Late Season bull/buck only (nonresident) | 2 | 102 | 2.0% | — |
| Rifle — Limited Entry either sex (resident) | 8 | 32 | 25.0% | — |
| Rifle — Limited Entry antlerless (resident) | 10 | 27 | 37.0% | — |
| Rifle — Early Season either sex (resident) | 8 | 19 | 42.1% | — |
| Archery — Early Season bull/buck only (resident) | 10 | 13 | 76.9% | — |
| Archery — Early Season bull/buck only (nonresident) | 1 | 2 | 50.0% | — |
| Muzzleloader — Early Season bull/buck only (resident) | 10 | 12 | 83.3% | — |
| Muzzleloader — Early Season bull/buck only (nonresident) | 1 | 2 | 50.0% | — |
Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.
Open in Draw Odds EngineFrom NDOW's 2025 Big Game Hunt Data. Demand is NDOW's count of tags awarded plus first-choice applicants who did not draw; its draw rate is tags over demand.
- Antlered, any legal weapon — Residents: 169 demand for 15 tags, a 8.9% draw rate; Nonresidents: 102 demand for 2 tags, a 2.0% draw rate.
- Antlered, archery — Residents: 13 demand for 10 tags, a 76.9% draw rate; Nonresidents: 2 demand for 1 tag, a 50.0% draw rate.
- Antlered, muzzleloader — Residents: 12 demand for 10 tags, a 83.3% draw rate.
- Junior, seasonal weapon restriction — Residents: 19 demand for 8 tags, a 42.1% draw rate.
- Guided antlered, any legal weapon — Nonresidents: 4 demand for 1 tag, a 25.0% draw rate.
NDOW's hunt data publishes no points-required figure, so none is given here.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Which units does a Nevada mule deer tag for 271, 272 cover?
What was hunter success for mule deer on units 271, 272 in 2025?
How hard is the mule deer draw for units 271, 272?
Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro
Unlock advanced tactics, the Tag-to-Trail Planner, AI hunt strategy assistant, and personalized camp and trip execution plans.
Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & Verification
Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-25.
- Hunt Information Sheet — Mule deer, 271, 272 — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Access, Recommended hunting areas, Biologist comments · accessed 2026-10-25
- 2025 Nevada Big Game Hunt Data — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Seasons, quotas and tags issued, Demand and draw rate by residency, Hunters afield, successful hunters and hunter success, Days hunted · accessed 2026-10-25
- NDOW Hunt Unit Boundaries — unit groups (ArcGIS) — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Units 271, 272, 1,696 square miles · accessed 2026-10-25
- Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the group — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: East Mormon Mountains, Hiller Mountains, Mormon Mountains, Virgin Peak 8,051 ft, Mormon Peak 7,384 ft · accessed 2026-10-25