Beginner 3rd Rifle Mule Deer - Recap / Questions

[TagSoup_Chef]

Background:

• I got in to big game hunting with whitetails during Covid. I have always been a bird hunter, but jumped in to a new hobby and immediately caught the bug with bow hunting. Unfortunately between work and personal life I have yet to string together a full hunting season (from preseason scouting through the hunting season), and I usually end up having to sporadically pick public spots for the occasional Saturday archery hunt. I have never recovered a deer. I have seen hundreds including bucks, but with a single buck tag I typically “wait it out” for the big one, a poor strategy for someone with limited hunting and scouting time. Took a lesson from Dan Infalt this year who said the best way to get better at killing big bucks is shoot more deer. Shot a basket 8 point this October on KS public. Lost him in a marsh and never recovered from a 3 day search.
• 2024, got married moved to CO while my wife finishes school. Couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get CO tags (not sure how long we will be residents). Drew a 3rd season mule deer and 4th season elk.

• Short version: limited experience, drew CO hunts for 3rd and 4th season

Questions for more experienced folks:

• Where do you find bedded bucks (or bucks in general) during late season in higher country? Unit was ~9k-14k. Seemed like most deer were in dark timber on leeward sides and unglassable, with the exception of a dozen or so does and a spike we spotted bedded.
• Should we focus on more open units/country for the future (less dark timber)?
• Where did we go wrong? Found deer and elk but the shooter bucks were elusive.

Overall lessons learned:

• Glass, glass, glass. What time of day? Where is sun? Look at cuts vertically vs horizontal for more detail
• Review weather, consider what this does to deer. Thermals / wind direction. Wind speed - push them lower? Snow? Etc.
• Deer like the shade and leeward side of mountain, or some object to protect from wind / sun.
• Openings - young aspens groves, glassing knobs, sage, food, how open? How steep?
• Buffer road hunters and access points/trailheads. We saw deer everywhere, but my guess is the good bucks were more accessible away from people.
• Don’t overly delay your approach when you find a good deer. We should’ve been hunting in our day 5 area on day 2.
• Day 7 taught me to slow down and get away from people.

Future plan:

• Pack in at minimum 2-3 miles from a less busy trailhead and set up a base camp with 3 days minimum of food. Glassing points in morning / afternoon overlooking open clearing / basin / drainage that has fresher sign. Midday could cruise dark timber to other glassing points with wind in face.
• Perhaps find a unit in lower country with more open areas to glass. There was a lot of dark timber and we might just not be on that level of hunting yet.

Recap (Day)

1. Snowstorm delayed brother-in-laws arrival. We were late getting out to camp, but drove around and picked a spot. We hiked in to a high glassing knob in the afternoon and spotted 15 deer working the edges of public/private. One small buck was in the group. At last light just below us spotted a shooter 4x4 walked out tending a doe. We planned to go to that same knob and work our way down during day 2.
2. Started on the same knob again, glassed a fork spike and what looked like a 3x3. No sign of the bigger buck, but we still worked down in to the basin. Spotted bedded does on our way down and a bedded spike. We put a stalk on the spike and had him at 70, 100, and 150. Sat at his bed during the evening watching the clearing for the big buck, he never showed. Super long hike back to camp in the snow, no plan for day 3.
3. Took a conservative day working a different angle towards the public/private line. Limited glassing and heavy timber. Still saw over 10 does but a poor day for opportunity.
4. Decided to go to the public / private line from a different angle. Stopped our plan of pushing far when we saw a giant following 5 does at first light in to private. Got above his drainage and glassed all day. Snow flurries one hour before dark cut visibility early.
5. Pushed back in to the public / private. Ran in to a few hunters but finally set up where we had seen heavy activity day 1 from the glassing knob. Brother in law stayed up high and I worked down where we thought they would come out. Saw over 15 does 3 hours before dark. A spike (maybe the same one) worked out towards a group of them.
6. Decided to try a completely different spot. Seeing too many hunters elsewhere. Glassed ~70 elk with 6 bulls and 10 does throughout the day. No bucks. No other hunters but still lots of hunter sign.
7. Brother in law had to leave. Decided to try something new and hike way up in the snow to remote basins. Missed first light (whoops) but kicked up 12 does throughout the day with the wind in my face. Would stop and glass basins / check for sign then move to the next with wind in face. Kicked up a bull elk at 15 yards. 3rd basin had tons of sign so decided to sit on it for the afternoon. 3 does and a spike came out at dark. Long hike back but saw tons of sign working through the center of several clearings/basins.

Totals:

• Does: 40-60 (some probably the same groups)

• Bucks: 8 (maybe the same spike twice, 3 shooters never in range. FYI I decided pre-hunt the only thing I wouldn’t shoot was a spike buck, hence passing on the 3 spike opportunities)

• Elk: 70+ with 7 bulls