clarkbnd
FNG
I got lucky and drew an early season Mule deer rifle tag. It's in an area that I've never been but I do have experience in backcountry elk hunting in other areas. I've spent countless hours studying maps and I have a list of 10 access points with varying length hikes to areas I'd like to scout for mule deer. I've gotten very familiar with the area by studying maps on several different apps but don't have any experience with game obviously. I've talked my wife into an "Anniversary Trip" out west so I'll get to spend about 5 days scouting in early august, I mean what more could a wife ask for than spending some nights on a mountain in a tent w/ me? haha. We'll see if we are still celebrating anniversaries next year.
The area I'll be hunting is known for high traffic during hunting season. My biggest fear is that everyone else has done the same research as me and I won't be able to get away from the crowd. There won't be many other rifle hunters but there will be archery mule deer and elk hunters the same time. I've tried to look for areas where I think mule deer are then work back to road access. Most of the areas I want to scout (and are accessible to me) are around 3-5 miles from trailheads. There is no way that I'll be able to scout all these locations in a week but I've prioritized my list and will do as much as I can.
Because I've not having had the opportunity to do this before I wanted to see if anybody had any other advise as to how I should maximize scouting? We could cover more area by just riding and glassing but that's not what I'll be doing come September but it may give me a better idea of just general mule deer population in different areas? Any words of wisdom are appreciated. Thanks,
pic of my son last year during elk 1st rifle
![20231016_125828.jpg 20231016_125828.jpg](https://forumdata.rokslide.com/file/forumdata/data/attachments/713/713233-595f125f7e383bf13dc33fca1053ea21.jpg)
The area I'll be hunting is known for high traffic during hunting season. My biggest fear is that everyone else has done the same research as me and I won't be able to get away from the crowd. There won't be many other rifle hunters but there will be archery mule deer and elk hunters the same time. I've tried to look for areas where I think mule deer are then work back to road access. Most of the areas I want to scout (and are accessible to me) are around 3-5 miles from trailheads. There is no way that I'll be able to scout all these locations in a week but I've prioritized my list and will do as much as I can.
Because I've not having had the opportunity to do this before I wanted to see if anybody had any other advise as to how I should maximize scouting? We could cover more area by just riding and glassing but that's not what I'll be doing come September but it may give me a better idea of just general mule deer population in different areas? Any words of wisdom are appreciated. Thanks,
pic of my son last year during elk 1st rifle
![20231016_125828.jpg 20231016_125828.jpg](https://forumdata.rokslide.com/file/forumdata/data/attachments/713/713233-595f125f7e383bf13dc33fca1053ea21.jpg)