Desert country deer hunt help

[T-Rex]

Long time follower first time poster

My kids wanted to hunt antelope in Wyoming this year so I put in for a special deer tag second choice (so I didn’t burn my points) and we all ended up drawing.

My question is, what strategy would you use for deer in early October for mule deer in desert country? I know this isn’t the best time to deer hunt but I have a few different ideas floating around in my head.

• Find a high spot and glass (not a lot of high spots around this area)
• Walk drainages and glass shaded pockets
• Get in behind some ag fields and hope something comes onto public
• Get as far away from roads as possible, 2-3 miles max in this area, and do options 1&2
• Other… this is where you tell me all your secrets

What would your strategy be?

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Adjust as necessary but I've seen this work in the deserts of southern AZ....

Find any type of elevation and be there before first light, stay the entire day, and come out after legal light (if safe to do so).
Option 1) Glass until nightfall. Parts of the day can suck but you'll catch game that most other hunters will never know exist because they left the field. If hunting in a group, always have someone in the glass while the others can take a break.
Option 2) Glass until mid-morning and then start up again mid-afternoon and glass till dark. In the gap...
Option 2.a) Walk south-side of cuts glass/looking into the north side (shaded).
Option 2.b) Walk washes and/or dirt roads looking for fresh tracks. Follow them but they better be fresh. Wipe away all tracks that you find along the way.
Option 2.c) From a distance keep an eye on water sources. Don't be surprised to see other hunters setup on them.
Option 3) Hunt just off ag fields where deer enter and/or exit. Don't be surprised to see other hunters setup on them. Be careful with any shots as a buck could turn around and die on the private property. Am also unsure if there are any laws about errant bullets traversing private property. Do not be shocked to see deer up to first legal light and have them leave immediately; also don't be shocked if they don't show up until last legal light or later. And since they can be buttheads, they may just bed down in the ag fields just to watch you bake in the sun.

Distance from the road doesn't mean much unless your ego demands it. We regularly glass up bucks close to a road; dirt tracks, dirt roads, state highways, etc.

Depending on the age of your kids, spread out a bit when it comes time to glass. Cover more area as well as get different angles.

 

[270Hunter]

If it’s a very dry desert locate where the water is, draw a 3 mile circle around it. There will be deer in that circle.

If it’s a really flat desert you don’t have to get all that high to be able to glass well. A little hill that even gets you 50 feet above the average elevation will be huge. In some deserts while hunting we would have plywood platforms that go over the beds of our pickup and then we would glass from that, and even that slight change would help a lot. Definitely glass first thing in the morning around water. Desert bucks don’t need all that much to hide really well, a little cut with tall sage and you will never see them.

One thing I’ve noticed is that on google earth and OnX, deserts look “flat” but when you get out there there’s so many lava pockets, cuts, little hills, etc… that it’s really anything but flat. Really big bucks like to get into those lava pockets at times because it’s good cover, offers shade and they have so many escape routes.

Another “trick” we would use was to drive the sandy roads and find tracks. That at least gave us a clue as to what animals were in the area.

In early October the bucks will still be in their summer “patterns” and bachelored up still. Generally deer density’s are low in deserts but don’t let that get you down. Good luck, let us know how it goes!

 

[T-Rex]

Thanks fellas - Great advice.

One of the areas I am looking at has ag on the north side a land locked all the way around except for a small section I can get into and hike towards the private. There are a ton of little cuts and drainages between the ag and access point about 4 mile away. It shows several green areas that may hold some water but OnX doesn't tell you when the picture was taken so it's hard to say. I'll double check GE so I can adjust the dates to see whether they are still green in the fall.