High Desert Idaho Hunting Rifle for Muley

[repins05]

I have not hunted in high desert country before. Looking for some expertise. What terrain features should I focus on? How far are deer typically traveling between bedding and feeding areas? How important is it hunting close to known (or marked) water sources?

Also should I spend the majority of the morning 3-4 hours glassing from high points? Or should I hit drainages after a shorter glassing period? Should I focus on glassing midday as well?

Are there any common mistakes I should try to avoid?

Lot of questions. I typically focus on glassing where I hunt but will hit the brush after the morning hunt. Thx in advance.

 

[270Hunter]

To find deer in the high desert I try to find the highest knob or hill that I can. Sometimes it’s several hundred feet in elevation higher than the desert floor, other times it’s only 30-50 feet higher than the desert floor. This is usually in the summer when the deer are more visible. During season I will generally be hunting a specific buck/area and my glassing options are limited to just a few little high rises.

I look for areas with lots of topographical features, bucks in the desert like to get down into little draws and holes so they can’t be seen unless you’re standing on them. Tall brush, draws, rock structures and shade are the features I look for.

Water is kinda farther down on my list, my dad and I have hunted desert country all over, we can’t find water anywhere but we find deer. They know where the water is and that’s all that matters.

I’ve seen bucks feed all morning in a little brushy depression then go 50 yards and bed down in a rock pile. So sometimes they feed far from their bedding areas and sometimes they feed really close to their bedding area. In October a lot of the bigger bucks find a small area that has everything they need, then they don’t leave until the migration or the rut.

Glassing is my number one technique for finding deer, but sometimes it just doesn’t work and you have to go down into where those big bucks live, however when I go in blind the big bucks almost always get away. Maybe I move too fast. If you know a buck is in an area definitely glass midday.

A common mistake I see people make is thinking the high desert is flat, it’s not flat. Work the angles, find the shade and the cover and you will find the deer.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions about hunting the high desert!