I have been hunting mule deer for 24 seasons. I have been fortunate enough to harvest some nice bucks, but I am inconsistent at locating and taking truly big bucks (170" plus). My two biggest bucks have come from overlooked areas where somebody bumped them and I got lucky. If you had two tips to give someone who knows they are in an area that has big bucks (a handful of dudes consistently anchor some dandies) but is having trouble consistently locating them what would it be? Keeping in mind I glass until my butt and eyes hurt. I think I am looking too big picture and not looking in tiny enough areas, I am starting to come to the conclusion truly big October bucks hide in very very small areas.
2 tips for mid October bucks.
- Thread starter Gus_284
- Start date
1.spend more time pre season scouting learning what deer are in the area.
2. find lots of Does and there will be bucks in the area
I have my best luck finding mature bucks in remote hanging basins with a south/west exposure that have food,water and cover.
2. find lots of Does and there will be bucks in the area
I have my best luck finding mature bucks in remote hanging basins with a south/west exposure that have food,water and cover.
bigmoose
WKR
Gus... welcome to Rokslide.
#1 If you are hunting a deer herd that just moves to lower elevations for the rut/winter and doesn't migrate long distances, hunt the ends of the biggest/highest ridges before they drop down. Especially near the end of Oct.
#2 To find areas that big bucks are using, you are going have to do some leg work. Glass first and look for small clearings in thick areas. Check for big tracks. Keep looking until you find where a big buck has been living and figure out how to get a look at him and ambush him.
Every situation is different and I would not worry about whether it's a north or south slope. I don't think it makes much difference to them at this time of the year. They're just looking for security and feed.
Moose
#1 If you are hunting a deer herd that just moves to lower elevations for the rut/winter and doesn't migrate long distances, hunt the ends of the biggest/highest ridges before they drop down. Especially near the end of Oct.
#2 To find areas that big bucks are using, you are going have to do some leg work. Glass first and look for small clearings in thick areas. Check for big tracks. Keep looking until you find where a big buck has been living and figure out how to get a look at him and ambush him.
Every situation is different and I would not worry about whether it's a north or south slope. I don't think it makes much difference to them at this time of the year. They're just looking for security and feed.
Moose
- Thread Starter
- #4
I do a fair amount of scouting and I can find them in August/early September, it is that mid October time frame where I have trouble relocating them.
Just stay where you know they are, with time it will happen.
Talk to the biologist and do research on food sources mule deer prefer through the fall. As that changes, the deer will move from one to the next. Try to find spots with the food and water in close proximity, like the head of a gulch choked with mountain mahogany, or laurel.
I always figured that October was about prepping for the rut, and the bucks were about food.
Jeremy
I always figured that October was about prepping for the rut, and the bucks were about food.
Jeremy
If you are not finding deer while spotting then you have to figure out why. Is it a bad spot to glass, poor position? Glass that isn't good enough? Quality glass has more to offer than tou think...
IME, that time of year, bucks are not yet interested in does. They are still loners. They will have between 1 and 3 normal bedding areas and be on a pattern. They may water every 2nd or third day if they have to travel, and may not stay on the same side of the hill during their normal movement without pressure.
Big bucks will not leave their normal living area until one of several things happen, heavy snow, pressure, illness, the rut. If the weather is consistent and nothing has pushed them out, they are there.
I sat on my buck watching a 2 mile long ridge for four days before I finally saw him in a 20 foot opening. I killed him the next day.
IME, that time of year, bucks are not yet interested in does. They are still loners. They will have between 1 and 3 normal bedding areas and be on a pattern. They may water every 2nd or third day if they have to travel, and may not stay on the same side of the hill during their normal movement without pressure.
Big bucks will not leave their normal living area until one of several things happen, heavy snow, pressure, illness, the rut. If the weather is consistent and nothing has pushed them out, they are there.
I sat on my buck watching a 2 mile long ridge for four days before I finally saw him in a 20 foot opening. I killed him the next day.
Some good advice above.
First know your herd, some herds/bucks start to migrate early regardless of weather. If not, they will generally be close to their summer range, just a 1,000 ft. lower, and in the thicker stuff. May take a few mornings or evenings, before you see him, and then a few mornings of evenings of sitting in a closer location where you can get a shot before dark or he heads to the thick stuff. He's most likely living right there though. Most hunters, including me in my early years, don't have the patience to sit and watch a small opening for days when there is so much big country to glass.
First know your herd, some herds/bucks start to migrate early regardless of weather. If not, they will generally be close to their summer range, just a 1,000 ft. lower, and in the thicker stuff. May take a few mornings or evenings, before you see him, and then a few mornings of evenings of sitting in a closer location where you can get a shot before dark or he heads to the thick stuff. He's most likely living right there though. Most hunters, including me in my early years, don't have the patience to sit and watch a small opening for days when there is so much big country to glass.
As these folks stated they are loaners then. Look for solitary deer when glassing.
In our neck of the woods its open country hunting. Look for spots they can bed when it's out of the high winds, where they have shade for the unusually hot days , where the wind currents circulate around them to keep the bugs at bay and where they can get a drink pretty close without exposing themselves.
We glass for feeding bucks first and last light then pick apart likely looking bedding areas via spotting scope and binos.
In our neck of the woods its open country hunting. Look for spots they can bed when it's out of the high winds, where they have shade for the unusually hot days , where the wind currents circulate around them to keep the bugs at bay and where they can get a drink pretty close without exposing themselves.
We glass for feeding bucks first and last light then pick apart likely looking bedding areas via spotting scope and binos.
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