Outdoorsman3830
Lil-Rokslider
I consider myself young in Mule Deer Hunting, mostly since I have not harvested a mature mule deer yet. Over the past decade since I first began hunting mule deer I have noticed some small pockets of country will sometimes hold high concentrations of big bucks. One small area in GMU 52 (Idaho) held 30 plus bucks in a 2 day time span. Of those 30 bucks, about 75% were well over 24 inches wide 4X4 typical's that had solid height to match their very box shaped racks. This particular spot has little to no hunting pressure, while a different spot just a few miles away has higher concentrations of deer with way smaller bucks and far more hunters. My issue is that I have never drew a tag in the unit to actually prove my spot's quality.
Another spot is in GMU 52A (Idaho). I only realized its potential the end of this year. As a few of you may know, 52A is poor to marginal at best, but maybe a couple of you have seen or taken big bucks here. I have seen them in August, September, October, and November. Every good to monster buck I have seen is in a spot less than 1 square mile. I believe this spot is a concentrated transitional range that holds a few bachelor group of bucks in the early season. Like the spot in 52, there is little hunting pressure and the hunters tend to focus on the higher concentrations of deer with young bucks.
Both spots receive little hunting pressure, appear to be transitional ranges, hold lower concentrations of does, and are difficult to glass. There seems to be a trend in every spot I have seen the highest concentrations of big bucks. With that said, my plan is to attack this hot spot in 52A, explore 67, and spend a weekend in 48 hunting mule deer next year from mid to late October. Do you have any advice, maybe have experienced similar trends, or have any other thoughts?
Thank You,
Another spot is in GMU 52A (Idaho). I only realized its potential the end of this year. As a few of you may know, 52A is poor to marginal at best, but maybe a couple of you have seen or taken big bucks here. I have seen them in August, September, October, and November. Every good to monster buck I have seen is in a spot less than 1 square mile. I believe this spot is a concentrated transitional range that holds a few bachelor group of bucks in the early season. Like the spot in 52, there is little hunting pressure and the hunters tend to focus on the higher concentrations of deer with young bucks.
Both spots receive little hunting pressure, appear to be transitional ranges, hold lower concentrations of does, and are difficult to glass. There seems to be a trend in every spot I have seen the highest concentrations of big bucks. With that said, my plan is to attack this hot spot in 52A, explore 67, and spend a weekend in 48 hunting mule deer next year from mid to late October. Do you have any advice, maybe have experienced similar trends, or have any other thoughts?
Thank You,