California Mule Deer: How do you guys choose areas to scout/hunt?

[Englishjc]

What are the main things you guys look for when you are looking for new areas to hunt/scout mule deer. I am in California and have been going to the same places with my father since I was 12 and now I am looking to do some backcountry hunting getting away from the trail heads and roads. Any thoughts on how I should choose a location to check out?

 

[KHNC]

If you find a good one, dont post it on the internet. Sorry, only tip i know of.

 

[Englishjc]

If you find a good one, dont post it on the internet. Sorry, only tip i know of.

Hahaha, I know that one. I'm just looking for other tips for choosing a spot. Not looking for spots!

 

[Bubblehide]

The first question to answer is, do the mule deer in the area you are interested in migrate or not. If they do not migrate, where are there places with good habitat. If they do migrate, how might the migration affect their location(s) during the season. I could write a lot more, but you would need to provide much more information.

 

[Englishjc]

The first question to answer is, do the mule deer in the area you are interested in migrate or not. If they do not migrate, where are there places with good habitat. If they do migrate, how might the migration affect their location(s) during the season. I could write a lot more, but you would need to provide much more information.

I have two separate areas I am looking at. One area the deer migrate to lower elevations during the first snow storms. I want to archery hunt them early August and it is steep mountain terrain. I know a few basic things such as their needs to be by feed and water nearby. They will most likely bed down toward the tops with some shade/trees. I am not sure if they will bed on northern slopes and such. What are some other factors to look at (are their any other factors that you guys know of or use). During August do they bed in the afternoon by water? Is there a certain elevation they like most during the summer when their is no storm or does it all just depend on where I am.

 

[TheGDog]

On satellite views... if a draw/ravine looks like it has a good amount of larger trees/shrubs running thru it. You ain't gettin' trees unless it occasionally has a decent amount of water/condensation comes thru there. So good chance they at least know about that place and sometimes go thru there for water, or the forage.

One thing is to kinda think about... if you were them... what would you need? and where would you feel safe?

Such as, when you're out scouting and it's cold and windy... which little pockets get you down outta the winds and warmed up again? Conversely when it's hot... which areas do you walk thru where you round the corner and you're like "Ahh... that breeze is nice!" There gonna want all that same kinda stuff just like us. Only difference is they have to think about it a little more tactically (Depending on how easy it is for humans to get there). They want someplace where they will see you, or hear you, or smell you coming way ahead of time. And... that it not be so crazy thick that they can't evade faster than the predator. And for them... lotta times that's them using their athleticism in going uphill or side-hilling.

And if there is some kinda flat spot in the shade upon a slope? And not too crazy thick to get into and out of it, but thick enough you'll for sure hear someone coming? Oh yeah.

Shady spots they can fit into on slopes... but where there might be enough of a flat surface to it that they can actually relax and maybe even snooze without requiring muscles to hold em up at that spot.

And then like.. if on a topo map... you can see two widened-up flattened-out areas... that have a draw/ravine/canyon that can connect them together and that draw/ravine/canyon has large enough brush/trees at the bottom that would let em sneak thru. And also provide something to eat on the way thru?
Those might be good places to check out. Especially if there is no human trail thru there.

Bordering private property that has horses/livestock (i.e. WATER!), and low fences or a spot where the fence is held down by a tree that's long since fallen over. Or the layout makes that one spot easiest to jump over. Especially if not easy to get to that public land bordering it.

When looking at satellite views... look for edges. Where more open flatter areas cut thru areas of thick. Especially if there is some trees/canopy within that opened up flatter area.

 

[Englishjc]

On satellite views... if a draw/ravine looks like it has a good amount of larger trees/shrubs running thru it. You ain't gettin' trees unless it occasionally has a decent amount of water/condensation comes thru there. So good chance they at least know about that place and sometimes go thru there for water, or the forage.

One thing is to kinda think about... if you were them... what would you need? and where would you feel safe?

Such as, when you're out scouting and it's cold and windy... which little pockets get you down outta the winds and warmed up again? Conversely when it's hot... which areas do you walk thru where you round the corner and you're like "Ahh... that breeze is nice!" There gonna want all that same kinda stuff just like us. Only difference is they have to think about it a little more tactically (Depending on how easy it is for humans to get there). They want someplace where they will see you, or hear you, or smell you coming way ahead of time. And... that it not be so crazy thick that they can't evade faster than the predator. And for them... lotta times that's them using their athleticism in going uphill or side-hilling.

And if there is some kinda flat spot in the shade upon a slope? And not too crazy thick to get into and out of it, but thick enough you'll for sure hear someone coming? Oh yeah.

Shady spots they can fit into on slopes... but where there might be enough of a flat surface to it that they can actually relax and maybe even snooze without requiring muscles to hold em up at that spot.

And then like.. if on a topo map... you can see two widened-up flattened-out areas... that have a draw/ravine/canyon that can connect them together and that draw/ravine/canyon has large enough brush/trees at the bottom that would let em sneak thru. And also provide something to eat on the way thru?
Those might be good places to check out. Especially if there is no human trail thru there.

Bordering private property that has horses/livestock (i.e. WATER!), and low fences or a spot where the fence is held down by a tree that's long since fallen over. Or the layout makes that one spot easiest to jump over. Especially if not easy to get to that public land bordering it.

When looking at satellite views... look for edges. Where more open flatter areas cut thru areas of thick. Especially if there is some trees/canopy within that opened up flatter area.

That is really helpful. I went to one location a few weeks ago and didn't see any deer. This was in So Cal. It was exactly like you said their was a little ravine with some trees and right when you get down in their you felt a cool breeze and said "ahhhh". But I guess the deer are just not as desperate for that cold breeze now as they will be when it is Beginning of August!

 

[Bubblehide]

In August the bucks are generally alone or in bachelor groups, mostly in groups. You will still fine immature bucks with does though. Obviously the migrating deer are in the Sierra's,, possibly not, but drawing the other migrating tag will not happen often in one's lifetime, so I presume the Sierra's. The Sierra deer in general migrate west to east to winter range. In August they will dispersed but in high areas with grasses and flowers (meadows). I would look for areas with migration routs. Meaning areas bucks with decent antlers can pass through with relative ease which have good habitat.

In August the bucks are more likely to bed from the north facing slopes to the east facing slopes; however, there are always exceptions. Water, I do not really pay much attention to water unless the temps get into the triple digits or very close. I mean, bucks will travel to and from water. Mature bucks will almost always do their traveling to and from water during the dark, leaving little to no window of night travel to and from water. So, for the time of year you plan on hunting, I would be concentrating on bedding areas. As far as elevation, like I said previously, the deer will be dispersed throughout the zone. However there will be areas of concentration, you want to find the concentrated bucks. Lastly, I would not over look the eastern slope. There will be less deer, and fewer bucks, but because it is open country, the bucks that summer there will tend to have wider antlers, due to not having to wield them through dense brush and trees.

 

[Bubblehide]

Gdog makes some very good points.

Keep in mind that is southern Ca, we have vast areas under and utilized by deer. It is simply due to the habitat being fairly impenetrable or a lack of water.

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

I have hunted a good portion of the state and have been successful in almost every unit i have been in. When hunting a new state, unit or area you want to go from big to small.
1.Start out looking for the unit within the state you want to hunt, then once you find the unit use OnX, Google Earth, and F.S. and BLM maps to locate access(trails and roads) and water. You will need water and so will the critters.
2.Once you have looked at that then look at fire history in the area and wilderness areas.
3. Look at where water, good forage(usually in burn areas) and low amounts of hunting pressure(off the road and main trails and in wilderness) all coincide. That will be a good starting place to start looking for critters and sign. If there is no sign then there are few or no animals in that location.
4.Get to a high point and glass the areas with sign during the mornings and evenings from a distance away. Obviously there are a lot of other things to think about that I havent included but were mentioned by others such as migratory vs. Non migratory but that should get you started in the right direction no matter what unit you hunt. Remember that just because it looks good to you doesnt mean deer will like it, 90% of the animals use about 10% of the terrain. So Cal is a tough but rewarding hunt regardless of the unit, those that are consistently successful on public land usually put in a lot more effort than the average weekend warrior. Good Luck.

 

[TheGDog]

Just keep in your mind... is there a REASON they'd be in there? Would going into a certain area do nothing other than burn calories and get them farther away from food and water? If so, they ain't gonna do it. With no observable reward for their efforts? Sometimes the reward might be a safe place to sleep. But yeah, it can't be like reDONKulously strenuous to get in there with no perceivable reward.

And also sometimes you'll find these little pathways they make following along longstanding drain lines / washes that gradually meander along... but... this little wash it makes... which is usually dotted with trees... passes thru some places where it's crazy thick and ain't no way anything with antlers is gonna mess around with trying to bust thru there. So even though perhaps other times of the year it might be possible they do go thru there to try to find acorns that have fallen and are easy pickin's, they certainly aren't going to be able to do it once antlers have come in.

Also in terms of water... you gotta remember that they are gonna be willing and needing to get it from ANYWHERE!! The safer the better! I say this because in a place I frequent a lot... I go past this seep. The trail line is along this very steep hillside... and at a certain point... this seep crosses the trail. Where it crosses the trail here... it creates a bunch of reed grasses and some standing muddy water that you could imagine them mushing their faces into those grasses to try to suck up water in that muddiness that does have a lil bit of standing water on top of it. (Not to mention eating those reed grasses would also xfer water into them) It also continues on down the scary steep hillside and way down there... meets up with the main creek line that escorts the water back on down outta there. So in that instance... you can see a reason they'd bother with coming by occasionally. And the sign bears this out. And that steepness provides them with an escape route that other critters ain't gonna be able to pull off with their kinda speed and agility.

Another type of thing I've seen is the occasional weird depressions or holes that form cups found on large stones... and what happens is condensation that collects on the stones surface over-night drips on down into these holes/divets and makes a nice little cup of water they can walk right up and drink out of, if they are lucky and know where it's at. Which, ya know, they can smell it, so there ya go. That one was at the top of a mountain so I'm sure it had a high probability of often having condensation on it in the PM. Also because of the large stones getting the condensation... it slides off them and dribbles into the ground nearby them, and you'll see there are more nice flowering plants in this area than most others. So I'm sure they know to hit it up sometimes. Nibbling on flower petals has got to be a nice treat for them in terms of getting water out of their food. Also places like that, with good flowering, you'll often hear the bees farting around in such places before you actually can see and realize there are good flowers there.

 

[kevin11mee]

What are the main things you guys look for when you are looking for new areas to hunt/scout mule deer. I am in California and have been going to the same places with my father since I was 12 and now I am looking to do some backcountry hunting getting away from the trail heads and roads. Any thoughts on how I should choose a location to check out?

What units (zones) are you looking into?

 

[Englishjc]

What units (zones) are you looking into?

D 5,6,11,13

 

[Englishjc]

Just keep in your mind... is there a REASON they'd be in there? Would going into a certain area do nothing other than burn calories and get them farther away from food and water? If so, they ain't gonna do it. With no observable reward for their efforts? Sometimes the reward might be a safe place to sleep. But yeah, it can't be like reDONKulously strenuous to get in there with no perceivable reward.

And also sometimes you'll find these little pathways they make following along longstanding drain lines / washes that gradually meander along... but... this little wash it makes... which is usually dotted with trees... passes thru some places where it's crazy thick and ain't no way anything with antlers is gonna mess around with trying to bust thru there. So even though perhaps other times of the year it might be possible they do go thru there to try to find acorns that have fallen and are easy pickin's, they certainly aren't going to be able to do it once antlers have come in.

Also in terms of water... you gotta remember that they are gonna be willing and needing to get it from ANYWHERE!! The safer the better! I say this because in a place I frequent a lot... I go past this seep. The trail line is along this very steep hillside... and at a certain point... this seep crosses the trail. Where it crosses the trail here... it creates a bunch of reed grasses and some standing muddy water that you could imagine them mushing their faces into those grasses to try to suck up water in that muddiness that does have a lil bit of standing water on top of it. (Not to mention eating those reed grasses would also xfer water into them) It also continues on down the scary steep hillside and way down there... meets up with the main creek line that escorts the water back on down outta there. So in that instance... you can see a reason they'd bother with coming by occasionally. And the sign bears this out. And that steepness provides them with an escape route that other critters ain't gonna be able to pull off with their kinda speed and agility.

Another type of thing I've seen is the occasional weird depressions or holes that form cups found on large stones... and what happens is condensation that collects on the stones surface over-night drips on down into these holes/divets and makes a nice little cup of water they can walk right up and drink out of, if they are lucky and know where it's at. Which, ya know, they can smell it, so there ya go. That one was at the top of a mountain so I'm sure it had a high probability of often having condensation on it in the PM. Also because of the large stones getting the condensation... it slides off them and dribbles into the ground nearby them, and you'll see there are more nice flowering plants in this area than most others. So I'm sure they know to hit it up sometimes. Nibbling on flower petals has got to be a nice treat for them in terms of getting water out of their food. Also places like that, with good flowering, you'll often hear the bees farting around in such places before you actually can see and realize there are good flowers there.

That’s really helpful. I often just think the deer will be in the thickest stuff but they don’t nessasarily like it there.

 

[TheGDog]

D11... if you're trying to go into the main interior of it... like the part Hwy 2 runs thru... don't waste your time at the present moment. It's essentially all closed up until April 2022. West of the 39 you can hunt and there also the Glendora Mtn Road part.. but yeah West of the 39... damn near all that shit is closed up until Mt Wilson Rd. They get way annoying with the closures over there. Even when there's not a fire... if just like the littlest amount of rain maybe happened overnight.. BOOM... right there at Mt Wilson rd they close up Hwy 2. So yeah man.. you can still hunt in D11... but you can kiss the vast majority of it good bye.

Oh... and the northern half of D11 in between the 5 and the 14... Pssh... that HUGE amount of land? yeah.. road access is a joke. Now with that latest fire all along the top of Mt Liebere is closed off now too! I got a dman TrailCam trapped up there.

 

[kevin11mee]

That's funny, I was just out shooting in D11 and I've never hunted it even though I live like 30 min away; always hunted up north. Was just thinking there is sure a lot of land there, I know the success rate isn't great but I think hunting from a backpack could get you away from crowds. Just archery?

 

[kevin11mee]

D11... if you're trying to go into the main interior of it... like the part Hwy 2 runs thru... don't waste your time at the present moment. It's essentially all closed up until April 2022. West of the 39 you can hunt and there also the Glendora Mtn Road part.. but yeah East of the 39... damn near all that shit is closed up until Mt Wilson Rd. They get way annoying with the closures over there. Even when there's not a fire... if just like the littlest amount of rain maybe happened overnight.. BOOM... right there at Mt Wilson rd they close up Hwy 2. So yeah man.. you can still hunt in D11... but you can kiss the vast majority of it good bye.

Oh... and the northern half of D11 in between the 5 and the 14... Pssh... that HUGE amount of land? yeah.. road access is a joke. Now with that latest fire all along the top of Mt Liebere is closed off now too! I got a dman TrailCam trapped up there.

Why is it closed until 2022?

 

[Englishjc]

D11... if you're trying to go into the main interior of it... like the part Hwy 2 runs thru... don't waste your time at the present moment. It's essentially all closed up until April 2022. West of the 39 you can hunt and there also the Glendora Mtn Road part.. but yeah East of the 39... damn near all that shit is closed up until Mt Wilson Rd. They get way annoying with the closures over there. Even when there's not a fire... if just like the littlest amount of rain maybe happened overnight.. BOOM... right there at Mt Wilson rd they close up Hwy 2. So yeah man.. you can still hunt in D11... but you can kiss the vast majority of it good bye.

Oh... and the northern half of D11 in between the 5 and the 14... Pssh... that HUGE amount of land? yeah.. road access is a joke. Now with that latest fire all along the top of Mt Liebere is closed off now too! I got a dman TrailCam trapped up there.

I think these closures make it perfect to backpack into. That’s the kind of hunting I’m aiming to do!

 

[Englishjc]

That's funny, I was just out shooting in D11 and I've never hunted it even though I live like 30 min away; always hunted up north. Was just thinking there is sure a lot of land there, I know the success rate isn't great but I think hunting from a backpack could get you away from crowds. Just archery?

Yes just archery this next year and if I find a spot with a good number of deer then I’ll get a rifle tag the following year

 

[TheGDog]

The region of D11 I described... It's closed to ALL usage. Because of the Bobcat fire.

You mentioned shooting in D11. If you're not talking about at the range in Burro Canyon or Lyttle Creek... then don't talk about it on a forum. You are not supposed to be using a firearm in Natl Forrest lands for anything other than lawful hunting purposes and defense. That's it. Though I know some places it's obvious that people do drag into there all manner of trashy stuff and shoot at it. But doing so is definitely NOT legal. Hasn't been for a LONG time.

EDIT: Also there are Archery-Only areas in there too. And... for dumb reasons... Mt Wilson...even though it's smack dab in the middle of gun-allowed zone... they have signs all along Mt Wilson Rd that explicitly say "Use of Firearms Prohibited" or something to that affect. I'm sure it's in consideration of their multi-million dollar antenna arrays... but still... in short order upon following one of several trail there... you're rapidly down enough on the mountain-side where there's a showballs chance in Hell of you accidentally hitting any of that equipment on top.

I will say this though... I have great respect for the workers up there... not long after I barely started hunting in 2014... I went deep down the mountain and ran out of water with a looooong way to go back up. A nice couple who lived in the on-site housing up on top, I heard their toddler child and yelled out for help.. graciously they answered my cry for help and offered me water and kindly gave my severely dehydrated self a lift the remaining like 800yds to my truck. Might as well have been miles as out of it as I was. Tongue bone-dry as far back as you can reach... sopping wet under my clothing from sweat... heart racing with palpitations from my body taking moisture from my bloodstream. I had to do a lot of micro-rests on the way up. Go slow, take my time. Was really concerned about giving myself a heart attack with those palpitations. The Rim Trail is endless goat-trail switch-backs on the way back up.