Trail-Cam-in-saddle-July-2014-004.jpg

 Trail-Cam-in-saddle-July-2014-004.jpg

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4:20 AM, I gave Jalepeno 4 days off- that outta be enough, shouldn’t it?  Seriously, I figured I’d better give him a try before getting on the road to Colorado.  I’m heading up the mountain for a long hike in about 15 minutes.  Plan is to hunt where I saw him Saturday and see if I can cut him off before he beds or I lose him in the cover.  For those of you that followed last year’s hunt, it was a day like today that I almost killed him.  Just went in for a morning hunt and before I knew it, had him at 18 yards.  Was seconds from drawing my bow when the friggin’ wind changed.

Stay close.  I should know shortly if he’s around.  

No matter what happens, let’s remember those who died to keep us free and avenge the blood of those we lost this fateful day 13 years ago.. 

0650; here glassing. See deer moving. 

0737;  spotted his 4-pt buddy. Hard horned now

0814:   4 bucks below me. All hard horn. NoJalepeno. Not in his core area today. I chek others. 

0945: Well, no sign of him this morning.  I pretty sure he didn’t get by me moving from feed to bed as I saw several groups of deer make that trek, including his running buddy from last week, but he wasn’t with them.  All the bucks I saw are rubbed so I’d imagine Jalapeno is too or getting close.  

For whatever reason, they get a little different when they rub and sometimes aren’t in their core area for whatever reason.  This has happened before and I’ve leaned to just keep hunting, they usually show up.  (My main motivation now is that Tanya Avery said I could be the lead photo on her FB- in my invisible shirt- if I get Jalapeno)

Those 4 bucks I mentioned in that 0814 post were coincidentally some of the same ones in the lead pic of this post.  I needed a pic to get you guys going at 4:20 am, so I chose one from my trail camera file this summer, then I see some of the same bucks!  Not that surprising as the bucks were within 500 yards of where that pic was taken back in July.  If you’re not spooking them, they are homebodies for the most part.  This was in one of the areas I was checking outside of Jalepenos core area.  I’ve never seen him there (I think there’s not enough cover) but not many years ago I saw a real toad there, so I know big deer go there.  I’ll check on Jalepeno when I get back from Colorado.  Speaking of Colorado, here I go!  See you there…and thanks for all the well wishes.

Here’s a short recap of today:

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Robby Denning
Robby Denning
Robby Denning started hunting mule deer in the late 1970’s, only missing one season in 35 years. At 25, he gave up the pursuit of all other big-game to focus on taking the best bucks possible. He began hunting the West on a DIY budget hunting an average of 30 days a year for mule deer. Robby loves the hunt as much as the kill and the entire process from research to scouting to hunting. He’s killed four bucks over 200 inches in the last 15 seasons, mostly on easily-obtained tags. He owns a public-land scouting service and runs a private-land outfitting business helping other hunters in their pursuit of deer and elk. Robby has scouted and hunted literally thousands of square miles of mule deer country and brings a wealth of knowledge about these experiences with him. To him, the weapon of choice is just a means-to-an-end and will hunt with bow, rifle, or muzzleloader – whatever it takes to create an opportunity to take a great mule deer. He is also the author of "Hunting Big Mule Deer" available on Amazon. Robby believes all of creation is from God for man to manage, respect, and through which to know its Creator

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12 COMMENTS

  9. Robby, Been fun and educational following this hunt. Curious about your experience with this concept. In my experience this is either the last week that big bucks stay in their summer routine or the week they start the move to their pre-rut area. For Idaho deer, high country deer especially, this usually means they move to higher elevations where they get rid of some of the pressure and can feel more comfortable in the rough country of their high elevation hangouts. Do you agree with this and if so how does it apply over other states and/or elevations? Thanks for all you do on this site!

  10. Hi Scott,
    My experience has been that at all elevations bucks inhabit- high country to desert- they start using more cover once they rub. Whether that is higher or lower, depends on the area. Big bucks are always closest to the roughest country in their area that still has feed, cover, and water. It’s just that once they rub, they don’t spend as much time in the open. At least that’s what I’ve seen.

  11. Makes sense. I have a couple real nice “after rub” buck spots in my elk hunting area. I have seen the same buck move into this area from a lower elevation 2 years in a row. This is year 3 and he is in his lower haunt so hoping to put it all together this year! Thanks for the info!

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