Steeliedrew
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- May 18, 2014
- Messages
- 238
Hey all. WA hunter here. Typically bowhunt but in the last couple of years have dabbled into rifle hunting. This year in particular I purchased a WA rifle deer tag as I was intrigued by the opportunity of our OTC High Buck September rifle hunt we have here. The last few years of of Hunting early archery high country Muleys here I haven’t had an issue at least locating bucks. Getting into bow range has been another story! So I figured hey, if I can find them with a bow in hand in September I can surely find them while holding a rifle and now be able to reach out and touch one.
Long story short and fast forward to two hard weekend warrior wilderness hunts for high buck, and one weekend of general rifle season so far and I haven’t even put eyes on a buck! I’m sorta embarrassed actually to say that. 1,200 miles of driving, and 6 days on the mountain over 3 trips and no bucks!
I’ll admit that i’ve not put much effort over the years to actually learn the ins and outs Mule deer behavior but my goal this year going forward is to change that! Currently reading Robby’s book as well as Schuh’s open country Muley book. AND...I’m open to any and all suggestions as to other books that are must haves for the library.
Onto some questions:
1.) Should I be focusing on hillsides or basins that face a certain direction based on time of day and time of year?
2.) Can bucks still be found bedding on at least partially open, glassable hillsides during October as they can be found throughout the summer and into September? Or are they in the timber from here on out once they sense the added pressure in the area and start hearing shots? Possibly thick, north facing slopes?
3.) Should I be concerned with my proximity to water in terms of where I’m hunting?
4.) is there a certain degree of steepness of a slope that Mule deer prefer?
5.) What types of feed are they keyed into this time of year and does that food source grow on certain directional faces, or elevations? i.e. Bitter Brush?
6.) Are they bedding partially down from a ridge at night to be able to catch downhill thermals and then heading back up to the ridge tops in the morning? Or do they drop way into the bottoms at night and come all the way up in the mornings?
I appreciate any insight you might be able to send my way that would help me piece together the puzzle of the high country mule deer up here in the Cascades of WA.
Thank you,
Drew
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Long story short and fast forward to two hard weekend warrior wilderness hunts for high buck, and one weekend of general rifle season so far and I haven’t even put eyes on a buck! I’m sorta embarrassed actually to say that. 1,200 miles of driving, and 6 days on the mountain over 3 trips and no bucks!
I’ll admit that i’ve not put much effort over the years to actually learn the ins and outs Mule deer behavior but my goal this year going forward is to change that! Currently reading Robby’s book as well as Schuh’s open country Muley book. AND...I’m open to any and all suggestions as to other books that are must haves for the library.
Onto some questions:
1.) Should I be focusing on hillsides or basins that face a certain direction based on time of day and time of year?
2.) Can bucks still be found bedding on at least partially open, glassable hillsides during October as they can be found throughout the summer and into September? Or are they in the timber from here on out once they sense the added pressure in the area and start hearing shots? Possibly thick, north facing slopes?
3.) Should I be concerned with my proximity to water in terms of where I’m hunting?
4.) is there a certain degree of steepness of a slope that Mule deer prefer?
5.) What types of feed are they keyed into this time of year and does that food source grow on certain directional faces, or elevations? i.e. Bitter Brush?
6.) Are they bedding partially down from a ridge at night to be able to catch downhill thermals and then heading back up to the ridge tops in the morning? Or do they drop way into the bottoms at night and come all the way up in the mornings?
I appreciate any insight you might be able to send my way that would help me piece together the puzzle of the high country mule deer up here in the Cascades of WA.
Thank you,
Drew
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
