Desert Muley - 4 days

[Mike1187]

D) Get down in there, look for their pathways between bedding and food, find a really good ambush spot between the two along that route (especially at an entrance, if you can find one that looks consistently high-traffic), and be there from before sun up until after sundown the next day.

That crossed my mind but worried I’d blow them out and not be able to locate again. With only 4 days, I guess being more aggressive is probably necessary.

 

[RockAndSage]

That crossed my mind but worried I’d blow them out and not be able to locate again. With only 4 days, I guess being more aggressive is probably necessary.

Muleys in general will come back within a day or two if you bust them out, with the bigger ones sometimes taking a little more time. But they come back - they're there for a reason, which is almost entirely about security and food access. They go to a backup spot, but it's also a backup spot for a reason - it's not as good as the primary spot.

So, yes, you might bust them out when first locating their entrance/exit spots into a treeline/brushy arroyo, etc, but you can also just hunt for their likely pathways between the arroyo and any given food plot you've seen them browsing through, and never go near their bedroom. Find their commute pathway.

The biggest thing will be the wind though - if you can find an ambush spot where the wind is in your face, you're gold. But if the wind shifts while you're there and takes your smell to them, you're done. So, ensure studying the prevailing wind morning, midday, and evening is part of your site selection.

 

[willfrye027]

Bringing this back up after putting some boots on the ground in the area.

The majority of the WMA is a dry valley, with mountains on the west and east. Morning glassing sessions from the eastern mountains (sun to my back) turned up several bucks, at lower elevation. Deer fed at low elevation along heavy covered arroyos then disappeared back in for bed time. Could not find them once they returned to the arroyos. It was low 90’s mid-day, deer did not start moving until just before dark.

Scenario:
You’re solo, locate a buck in the morning, watch him until he disappears into an arroyo and you never see him come out again. The brush is thick along these and hard to know exactly where he bedded and near impossible to find another angle that allows glassing:
A)Do you still hunt near where he entered, hoping he exits in the same area?
B)Do you make a move, walking along the arroyo to see if you can locate him inside the cover?
C)Do you still hunt the morning feeding area he came from hoping he returns for the evening?

Good question and one of the reasons sticking a desert buck is tough.

1) reconsider if you are at the highest, best glassing knob. Even a hundred feet of higher elevation will help you see down into the washes better and increase the chance that you can see what bush he lays under. Consider a different knob that allows you to see down and into the washes, instead of looking across/over the top of it.

I will stalk a deer even if I’m not 100% sure the bush they bedded under. I’d try to pinpoint as much as possible, and then get into range of that area. Every scenario is different of course. You can try to spot them bedded and just be super super slow and patient on the stalk. I leave for a stalk and plan that I’ll be down there all day. The deer is not going to be laying in one spot all day; they will get up and move around a little bit throughout the day even if they don’t come out of the wash. Get yourself into the game with good wind and you might get lucky (he feeds towards you or gets up in a good spot for a shot) or unlucky. This is part of the reason 4 days is a challenge—you can do everything right and it might still take a few stalks.

This was the 3rd time I relocated and stalked this buck. The final time he and his does got up from their beds (which I could not see) and fed down the wash right to me for a 22 yard shot.

 

[Mike1187]

This is why I like this site and it’s nice when guys can point you in a direction you weren’t evening considering. I appreciate everyone’s different approaches and tips from past successful experiences.