Hunting the Rut & Migration: Day 4

With day 4 already here, I had hunted most of the immediate area on foot and by glassing from the truck.  I’d seen some good bucks, even one crowding the 180″ mark.

In many areas, it pays to look for other vantage points where you can glass your area from a different angle, even if those vantage points are miles away from your hunting area.  This means you have to leave the immediate area (counter-intuitive to most hunters’ thinking) and find somewhere you can see all the country you intend to hunt.  In this case, I found a small mountain about 3 miles away that allowed me to look at the country I’d been hunting.  By doing this, I was able to glass some more pockets I couldn’t really see from closer and I could look at other deer country farther down the drainage. This technique isn’t just for open country, as you’ll see in the video that I was able to look into some of the heavy cover that was impossible to see into from closer ranges.

In a day of glassing, I determined that the deer are really starting to move out of this area- although plenty remain.  I also learned that I need to expand my reach to get to some country during prime hunting hours where some deer are that I haven’t yet hunted.  This will require a horse so I’m making plans to get mine up here.

In my new book, I wrote an entire chapter on Extreme Long Range Glassing– that is glassing beyond two miles.  Most people do fine under that range but if the conditions are right and you have great optics, you need to look at all the country in that 3-5 mile range.  This will improve your chances of finding a good buck. That is why I use the Vortex 15×56 Kaibab HD Tripod Binoculars along side the big Swarovski ATS 25-50 x 80mm Spotting Scope when possible.

Using this equipment and technique, I’m bound to find even better bucks than what I’ve passed on so far simply because I can cover so much country. Here’s nearly an entire day of glassing compressed into a few minute video, but you’ll get the idea.

Win a Vortex Scope

You can win a gently used Vortex Diamondback 3-12 x 42 with BDC Reticle (1-inch tube.)  

Entry Rules: (click Here and scroll to bottom of page)

Since you never know how long these hunts can go, don’t wait too long to get entered.  Good luck and thanks for following.

Read all about the research, gear, and techniques I use in my new book, Hunting Big Mule Deer, How to Take the Best Buck of Your Life