Archery Hunting CO high country for mulies. Do I HAVE to glass?

[SteveinMN]

So I've been hunting a unit in COs high country for elk for a number of years now and want to try for mule deer this year. It's a draw unit but odds seem pretty high for getting the tag. Already excited for it and have been watching endless youtube videos of folks going after mulies and without exception they're all going high, glassing, then stalking. Is this because it's by far the best way to hunt them, or because it's by far the most interesting way to put together a video?

My preference is to still hunt. I just struggle to sit still doing nothing for hours. I know the area, know the elevation bands and general area where I always see deer when I've been going after elk so I feel like I should be able to pull it off but the lack of mule deer still hunting video narratives has me second guessing myself.

So, that's a lot of words to ask: Is still hunting mule deer a viable way to spend my time? I'll be there for 9 days, hunt all day for 4 of them, work from camp the remaining 5 and only be able to hunt the afternoon/evenings those days.

 

[Justin_Tree]

I think there is more strategy to hunting high and glassing than just providing good video content. IMO, glassing gives you the opportunity to find a buck that doesn’t know you’re there and strategize a plan to get in range using terrain and wind patterns.

I think still hunting would be a viable option but wouldn’t be my first choice tactic. I feel you are more likely to alert the deer of your presence and see them running off through the trees.

 

[sndmn11]

I think you have the last 15% of it down already if you are comfortable at still hunting. That will translate into stalking easily.

You need the first 85% of the hunt, and the most efficient way to do so is with optics on a tripod and your butt on a stool/chair.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I'm going to go against the grain here a bit... if you are hunting an area that you already know mule deer frequent and have had lots of still hunting encounters, you will most likely be hunting a different group of bucks than anyone else. They probably aren't getting as much human pressure. And terrain knowledge/wind calls are super helpful. Will it be "better"? Probably not. But you would be going against prevailing wisdom on this one. That has sometimes led to really cool encounters, both hunting and fishing, for me.

Spot and stalk can quickly be a lot of fun if you're good at the Spot part of the equation. That said, once you're way up high, IF you're in a good area, you might get a good stalk opportunity a day, might be less than that. Dropping and gaining elevation and the patience required to do a stalk right will eat a lot of time. And if you're good at spotting deer you are still most likely only going to get one A+ setup for a stalk in a week long hunt.

 

[Dennis]

Go hunt the way you like. Both methods can and do work. Have fun and enjoy the adventure.

 

[SteveinMN]

So it was an encounter last year that had me questioning glassing. I was stalking a meadow edge and was 50 yards from the biggest damn buck I've seen in the wild. I hunt a lot of whitetail for the freezer and honestly deer don't excite me all that much...this deer was DIFFERENT. Given this was a day I'd spent in camp with a laptop till 3:00 I would have had zero chance of glassing him up.

Also the idea of maybe one opportunity a day is a little off-putting. When I'm hunting elk in this area I generally am seeing multiple deer per day. Some certainly see me first and go hopping away but also see a fair amount that are shootable, but I'm sure the truly big exciting ones are harder to come by this way. I just may do a hybrid, try glassing the days when I have the whole day to hunt, still hunt when I just have the evening.

 

[bascott1]

If you don’t have a tag for them you will see a ton. Get a tag and they will vanish, seems to be the way it works for me anyways. lol.

 

[Hnthrdr]

I would glass far more than I still hunt if it’s for MD. Yes I have bumped giant bucks while elk hunting before but those are random luck/ chance encounters. Being able to spot, pattern, and formulate a stalking plan definitely seems like the way to go for MD archery hunting. Question for you. Are you trying to kill any deer? Or are you trying to hold out for a mature/ large antler type buck? If you aren’t holding out still hunting will probably work, if you are looking for a special specimen get behind glass

 

[LongWayAround]

I have(had) one spot where still hunting was a better strategy than glassing. The meadows were all little pockets, interrupted by strips of timber. There are only a couple of spots with a worthwhile view. The first time I was there, it was hard not to run into bucks.

You need a fairly high density of animals to make still hunting sensible.

 

[SteveinMN]

I would glass far more than I still hunt if it’s for MD. Yes I have bumped giant bucks while elk hunting before but those are random luck/ chance encounters. Being able to spot, pattern, and formulate a stalking plan definitely seems like the way to go for MD archery hunting. Question for you. Are you trying to kill any deer? Or are you trying to hold out for a mature/ large antler type buck? If you aren’t holding out still hunting will probably work, if you are looking for a special specimen get behind glass

In my mind I'd love to have a giant buck, but having grown up as a meat hunter I might have a hard time not shooting the first mature doe that crosses my path. I guess I've spent too much time white tail hunting a farm where the landowner wants at least one doe on the ground before you take a buck?

 

[Hnthrdr]

In my mind I'd love to have a giant buck, but having grown up as a meat hunter I might have a hard time not shooting the first mature doe that crosses my path. I guess I've spent too much time white tail hunting a farm where the landowner wants at least one doe on the ground before you take a buck?

Gotcha, well if you would shoot any old deer can probably be accomplished by still hunting, good luck!

 

[philson208]

The title of this thread sounds like my kids on a late night "do we have to brush our teeth?" No but it helps.
jokes aside I shot my biggest muley still hunting my way back to the truck after chasing elk on a slow day. The first time I glassed him up was @ 100 yds after I put my first arrow through him. He was with a bachelor group that was in this unique small basin that is almost impossible to glass into. I would have never found this buck if I hadn't blindly stumbled into him @56 yds.

 

[morgan1h]

I would hardly consider the activity of glassing during peak am or pm movement periods (and even midday, though the pace will be slower) to only be an activity of sitting still and doing nothing. Imo, once one progresses past the fresh novice stages of chasing deer, glassing will become a very active, not passive, activity. I am FAR from the best glasser I know, but still, my mind is always engaged in drawing from what I know of the area and deer behavior to inform decision making about precisely where, when, and why I'm looking where I am. Sure, sometimes its a matter of simply getting lucky and happening to be looking at the right place at the right time or from making simple grid patterns, but having a mindset of doing things (looking/observing) with purpose is much more effective and efficient imo.

In a peak movement glassing session, time always seems to be a real limiting factor because I can only look at any one spot at any given moment, and inevitably some deer movement will have happened where/when I'm not looking and I probably don't even realize what I missed. Short of being a master tracker, I don't know of any way to observe and learn more about deer behavior or about how they are using a specific area (which translates into successful hunts) than to spend a whole day from sunup to sundown not moving from one commanding glassing peak or staying tightly focused onto a high use timbered or interspersed timber type of bedding area watching for small movements. Obviously the type of terrain you're hunting and how it presents is a primary variable for you to consider when thinking about all this. And sometimes the intel you gain from glassing will tell you to go still hunt a patch of timber. And really not sure why I typed this, because I'd prefer if other deer hunters don't enjoy thorough glassing.

 

[CMF]

How high are you hunting? Are they bedding in timber or is it more open?
You sound like more of an opportunity hunter. I would get the elk tag too, still hunt and go after the first thing you see or hear.
I hunted CO this past season with deer, elk, and bear tag in my pocket. I thought bugles would be slow so I started opening morning on a ridge to still hunt for Muleys. I heard a bugle and made a play on an elk, got busted and went looking for muleys again. Found some smaller bull elk that I decide to go for to try and tag out early so I can focus on a good mule deer. Started stalking and a bigger 6x comes bugling in and I'm tagged out by 9am opening day. Fast forward to muzzy season and while trying to get the wife on an elk I rush up to a ridge at daylight to glass. I spot a good muley a few hundred yards away, put my pack down, take off my boots and get my muley with a bow. Also missed a bear that I spotted and stalked while helping a buddy with archery elk.

 

[GunsAreFun]

I have killed 0 mule deer nor have I attempted to so my opinion is probably useless but I’ll give it anyway.

Hunt how you’re comfortable and skilled, within reason. If you can’t sit still to glass, you’re not going to have fun and you’re likely not going to watch for detail enough to really find anything besides the obvious deer. Maybe try it and see how you do but don’t bank on it.

We have stumbled upon shooter mule deer within bow range while elk hunting EVERY SINGLE YEAR multiple times. I’ve even knocked and drawn an arrow just to see if they’d spook and they didn’t. I may end up with a mule deer tag this year and no elk tag. If that happens, I’m literally just going to pretend I’m elk hunting…I.e. sounding like elk when I walk through the forest and be well practiced and scanning regularly and knocking an arrow as stealthy as possible.

 

[OKHunter84]

Yes... You need to glass. You don't have to. You could crawl around and creep through the woods like Rambo. You'd most likely have better luck trying to pattern deer or find a bedded buck and then make a move.

 

[Dirtscoots]

We glass find a deer in a killable place then make a stock. If they aren’t in a place you can efficiently make a stock it isn’t worth blowing them out unless you are in a high pressure area. With that being said last year I was trying to get closer to a deer I spotted first thing and I stumbled on a different buck by happening to see velvet antler tips in the timber as I was sneaking down the ridge. It can work.

 

[Dos Perros]

On an elk hunt in CO a couple years ago we glassed a lot of alpine country (for elk) and only turned up a few does deer wise. Once we dropped lower into the timber we started bumping quite a few velvet bucks. Probably could have killed a 160 class buck if I had a tag. I've been told in that unit the deer tend to be lower than alpine even in early September. I was researching an early alpine rifle hunt in another unit and the biologist said most of the big bucks get killed from trucks right around the elevation or wilderness line (can't remember which it was). I think my conclusion is you have to hunt the deer where they are, and tailor your tactics to the country they are in--whether that's glassing or still hunting or something else.

 

[SteveinMN]

How high are you hunting? Are they bedding in timber or is it more open?
You sound like more of an opportunity hunter. I would get the elk tag too, still hunt and go after the first thing you see or hear.
I hunted CO this past season with deer, elk, and bear tag in my pocket. I thought bugles would be slow so I started opening morning on a ridge to still hunt for Muleys. I heard a bugle and made a play on an elk, got busted and went looking for muleys again. Found some smaller bull elk that I decide to go for to try and tag out early so I can focus on a good mule deer. Started stalking and a bigger 6x comes bugling in and I'm tagged out by 9am opening day. Fast forward to muzzy season and while trying to get the wife on an elk I rush up to a ridge at daylight to glass. I spot a good muley a few hundred yards away, put my pack down, take off my boots and get my muley with a bow. Also missed a bear that I spotted and stalked while helping a buddy with archery elk.

The area we hunt generally ranges from 10,500-13,000 so terrain ranges from well above tree line to dark timber. A few real sizable meadows but a lot of smaller meadows. They seem to bed right on the edges, sometimes edges of the large meadows, sometimes the very small ones. I'd love to have both tags but god damn is it expensive for an out of state guy to do that!

 

[TaperPin]

If you’re still hunting slow enough to find undisturbed bedded deer, you’ll need to weigh the time commitment to this style of hunting, vs finding the deer with binoculars then stalking an individual deer. Either way will find deer, but many of us find more deer glassing. However, about 10% of the largest deer I’ve seen were found still hunting ridges that can’t be glassed from another vantage spot.

Once you get a good feel for deer beds, you’ll see more deer - the deer beds are well worn because they’ve been used for centuries. They make good videos because they do bed in relatively open areas - that is litterally where most mature mulies bed down.

Not all bedding areas can be glassed, but you still need that same feel for where the bedded deer are likely to be. I’ve seen some old deer by searching maps for little hard to get to spots near the top of a ridge that can’t be easily glassed by others and spending 2 hours to get in position just to peak at it - I suppose that’s kind of what you’re talking about. The oldest deer (well past his prime) I’ve seen was right below timber line on a small semi open ridge impossible to see from a distance - if a deer was anywhere around there I figured it would be here, but there wasn’t any fresh sign to speak of. I sat down and had lunch 50 yards from the old guy.