Where were they two weeks ago?

[CoffeeGoat]

I had the perfect storm this year of a new job, getting residency late, and some medical stuff that prevented me from scouting, getting into the draw, etc. So I picked up an OTC tag, picked the nearest spot on the map that also had a late season cow hunt and went as soon as I had doctor's permission. It seemed like a pretty reasonable spot, 1000 feet up and over a mile from the road; good feed, water, and cover; national forest land; late October; all good or so I thought. I hiked all over the area and over the course of 2 days I saw <10 does, and zero bucks.

Flash forward two weeks (early November) and I'm in a different spot looking for cows, only 5 miles or so away on BLM land, very similar access, similar weather, similar terrain and I'm drowning in mule deer. Easily over a hundred, several nice bucks, so many deer in fact that they kept getting in the way! Fun to watch, but not super helpful while hunting for elk.

So far, I've identified a few differences and for next year I'm trying to figure out what is the dominants factor why I could find lots of deer in one spot - but very few in another.

1. In the first spot I saw cows, and a fair bit of sheep sign - none in the second spot. I've heard that cows don't push critters out but sheep will, I'm new to sheep so I have no idea if that's true.
2. It was two weeks later and the rut was definitely kicked off, but I was spotting deer all over the place not just rutting.
3. Even though it was the same distance from the road, there was less traffic on the second spot road. Not sure if that translates to hunting pressure.

So based on those differences, what do you folks think - just the wrong spot, I suck at hunting mule deer, or is one of those factors probably the main reason I didn't see much during the season.

 

[Bull_n_heat]

I've seen deer move into an area and loose their mind in a matter of hours in November. If I were a gambling man, I'd say timing. They are also pretty good about knowing when they are being hunted and when they aren't

 

[CoffeeGoat]

I've seen deer move into an area and loose their mind in a matter of hours in November. If I were a gambling man, I'd say timing. They are also pretty good about knowing when they are being hunted and when they aren't

It was unreal, the first spot was quiet as a graveyard and the second felt like a frat party.