The 1 Thing You Learned- MULE DEER

OP
Oregon Hunter

Oregon Hunter

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
856
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
#5 -> YES!!! If you've ever been in the field... and then way the hell over there you've seen hikers on the PCT... you know about how blaring the shine off trekking poles is. I make it a point to throw some electrical tape, or black marker over anything that's too shiny of a surface on equipment. Any little thing like sticks out like a sore thumb. Vortex used to be dumb about that with those laser-etched reflective branding parts on their binos. Always cut lil pieces of dull electrical tape to cover em up. Very little in nature is "shiny". Just leaves/vegetation, water, rock surfaces, and stuff on critters.
So true! The shiny finish Remington used on their 700 bdl rifles could be seen reflecting from across a ridge.
 
OP
Oregon Hunter

Oregon Hunter

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
856
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
All archery lessons for me:

1. Socks on scree don't work.
2. Cover a basin from all angles.
3. Glassing at night does not mean a basin has been scouted.
4. Sometimes the best mule deer killers are too cautious.
5. Shiny things are evil.
6. Too close is a thing.
7. Too far is a thing.
#4 Sounds interesting. Could you elaborate more on what you mean?
 
OP
Oregon Hunter

Oregon Hunter

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
856
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
Here’s one I’ve learned the hard way many times - however you hike into an area, hike that way back out in the dark. Don’t look on your OnX and think ‘well this way out must be faster’. I’ve ended up in downed timber and thick shit one too many times thinking I had come up with a better route, when I would have been much better off going out the same way I came in.
Similar to this is when you are hiking out in the dark you should always stay high even if you have to gain elevation at the start. There is nothing worse then being in the dark and being down in a creek bottom or in thick timber. Gain elevation early, and hike above the timber line so you aren’t in the thick shit in the dark.
This is a terrific tip, and something I had never really thought about doing intentionally!
 

Laramie

WKR
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
2,616
Not all good bucks live miles from a road. Two of the best bucks I ever put a stalk on lived within archery range of a main road. A guy out antelope hunting told me about them as he had seen them several times head into some willows to bed, right next to the road on public land. I was a pretty inexperienced hunter at the time so messed up on them two consecutive days. I ended up killing a different buck there a few years later. I have no idea why deer like that spot but I have found many other similar spots through the years within a few hundred yards of main roads.
 
Joined
Nov 6, 2017
Messages
540
Location
WA
Not all good bucks live miles from a road.

Came to say this same thing, the two best bucks I've killed (and the best buck I've missed) lived in the same stand of trees with roads on either side of their little knob.

Hell of a hike up said knob, but as the crow flies it wasn't more than 800 yards from either road.
 
OP
Oregon Hunter

Oregon Hunter

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
856
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
Not all good bucks live miles from a road. Two of the best bucks I ever put a stalk on lived within archery range of a main road. A guy out antelope hunting told me about them as he had seen them several times head into some willows to bed, right next to the road on public land. I was a pretty inexperienced hunter at the time so messed up on them two consecutive days. I ended up killing a different buck there a few years later. I have no idea why deer like that spot but I have found many other similar spots through the years within a few hundred yards of main roads.
So true! My biggest buck came less than a 100 yd from a major highway
 
OP
Oregon Hunter

Oregon Hunter

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
856
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
Came to say this same thing, the two best bucks I've killed (and the best buck I've missed) lived in the same stand of trees with roads on either side of their little knob.

Hell of a hike up said knob, but as the crow flies it wasn't more than 800 yards from either road.
I enjoy seeing big bucks close to the road, but it's also frustrating because you find out they have been living right under your nose the whole time hahaha
 

Vegas03A3

FNG
Joined
Jan 2, 2021
Messages
19
Location
LV, NV
Most will know this, but newcomers may not. If you blow one out, stay calm and get ready to shoot. Odds are better than even money, he's gonna stop a ways out and turn to look back. You'll typically get 5-15 seconds at him before he moves out.
I think my instincts would foul this situation up when it happens. Thanks for pointing it out.
I’m SUPER new, so blow one out is to accidentally reveal yourself via scent, right?
 
OP
Oregon Hunter

Oregon Hunter

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
856
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
I think my instincts would foul this situation up when it happens. Thanks for pointing it out.
I’m SUPER new, so blow one out is to accidentally reveal yourself via scent, right?
Glad to have you on the forum, you're in the right place! Blowing an area out can be done with sent, sound, sky lining yourself, trampling around the area. It's basically referring to scaring all the game away. I'm an expert at it lol
 

Sportsman247

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 30, 2019
Messages
212
Most will know this, but newcomers may not. If you blow one out, stay calm and get ready to shoot. Odds are better than even money, he's gonna stop a ways out and turn to look back. You'll typically get 5-15 seconds at him before he moves out.
100% true. Was hiking in w my Buddy who had the tag and a very nice buck jumped up at 50 yards. He shot and missed(with a $7000 custom rig...LOL), the buck went down in a canyon and came up on the other side and stopped to look back. I guess my Buddy got his nerves under control and crushed him at 200 yards.
 
OP
Oregon Hunter

Oregon Hunter

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
856
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
100% true. Was hiking in w my Buddy who had the tag and a very nice buck jumped up at 50 yards. He shot and missed(with a $7000 custom rig...LOL), the buck went down in a canyon and came up on the other side and stopped to look back. I guess my Buddy got his nerves under control and crushed him at 200 yards.
I hope you teased your friend about missing an easy shot with an expensive rifle. Just kidding though, we've all done that
 

Wassid82

WKR
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
Messages
491
check rock outcropping every time. And use them to conceal your outline when spotting. Rocks have been key for me when hunting big bucks
 
Top