How to adjust tactics when going from Mountains to Breaks?

[Splatter]

I've been hunting the mountainous areas in MT for a while and have developed a good strategy for e scouting an area, finding a camping spot, glassing points, and where I think the deer will likely be. This year, I'll be hunting some more break like areas, like eastern MT and WY, where the terrain is mostly flat with breaks all over the place. The maximum topo difference where we will hunt is probably only 500 feet from the extreme low point to the highest. There are a ton of breaks that meander, bend, cut, and hide throughout the terrain. Some are drainages that are only a hundred yards long and some are miles long with a lot of off shoots. I've hunted the region before and had success but I think I can still hone a few things regarding terrain management to improve our odds at getting some good bucks.

I think I have a good handle on where the bucks like to hang out, I also think that I've got a good idea of areas where they prefer to bed. What I consistently struggle with is how to locate good glassing areas and how to set up and really take in an area during the early morning and late evening when the bucks are up and I want to sit and watch. I find that I'll think I've located a good area, I'll sit for a while and then think that I can't see enough so I'll move, wash rinse repeat. I've had success because like I said, we have a good handle on the area the bucks are in but our success has come mostly from "still hunting" and capitalizing on shot opportunities rather than a more controlled spot and stalk situation.

how do you folks handle terrain like this, where the bucks tend to be in the breaks below you and the terrain is so tight that it's hard to see any appreciable portion of it at once. Granted I can see the flat grassland on top fine but I rarely see bucks cruising these areas, almost all the bucks we've see have been in the cuts.

Thank you.
Splat

 

[AHayes111]

Sounds like you have it figured out. Only thing I would add is if you are hunting with a friend, hunt separate ridges. Bucks that are trying to avoid your buddy might be visible to you and visa versa.

 

[Splatter]

Thanks,
I'd still like to hear how other hunters, especially the ones that have hunted both types of terrain, adapt to the flatter environment. I'd also like to know how people effectively glass and process the break type terrain.

We've done the split up and cover ground on opposite sides of a break before and had success but again, we are trying to find ways that are more controlled instead of bumping lots of deer.

Maybe the tactics I'm hoping to employ simply dont make sense in that type of terrain and there's no way around the, still hunting type of approach. Either way everyone's feedback is greatly appreciated.

Feel free to post pics of the bucks you've killed and the tactics you've used to get them. I'm just trying to hone my skills more.

Thanks,
Splat

 

[AHayes111]

If you are worried about bumping deer, move slowly and stay off the skyline.

 

[ProStaffSteve]

You’re not alone! I am doing October high country deer, then rolling mountain elk & lastly flat eastern MT. My plan is to have meat in the freezer so I’ll be motivated to not shoot until it’s a stomper

 

[Splatter]

Yeah I mean I know the basics like staying of the skyline and moving slowly. I figure with all the knowledge here there's someone who has more advise about the specifics of the questions I'm asking. Like I've said I've found success in still hunting tactics however I'm sure that there are better ways to do it with more control and intention than still hunting. I'm wondering how the flat land pros identify their glassing areas? How do they decide the best point from which to glass? How do they decide how long to stay at a particular point before moving to the next? Those things that I've figured out in the mountains I'm hoping to get advice for regarding the flat breaky ground. Things other than the still hunting tactics I already employ.

For instance, if I were hunting the mountains I'd find a glassing point where I could see a lot of terrain, I'd like to see the open tops where I'm likely to see feeding deer, I'd like to be able to identify their travel corridors from feed to bed and I'd like to have another spot close by where I can glass the timber or rocky outcrops for bedded bucks. I don't want to move much so I don't spread a lot of scent and I want to see as much as I can at all times. I usually do this from a fair distance away.

This doesn't translate much to the breaks as the topography doesn't lend itself to being glassed from a distance. If I want to take a similar approach where I let the deer move naturally, learn their movements over a couple days and then capitalize on a stalk I need to learn how other successful hunters find, observe, and stalk these deer without just sneaking up to the edge and peering over, hopeful there's a deer there.

I was hoping to discuss these points with people who can consistently and predictably harvest good bucks from breaky ground.

Thanks,
Splat

 

[BigLou]

Hey Splat, what season are you hunting? Late enough to have snow on the ground?

Hunting breaks country is a blast, just radically different. If your area is anything like the places I have been hunting lately, glassing up deer from a distance is a no-go. I try to cover more ground with my boots, checking every depression and small drainage very slowly. Love the idea from another post on splitting up with your hunting partner.

If you have snow on the ground, its a whole different story. Tracking is fun in fresh snow..

 

[Splatter]

We will be in eastern Wyoming for the opening week of rifle so no snow around. Thanks for the reply. It seems like I'm trying too hard to make this a glassing hunt since, that's what I want, when I really need to hone my skills still hunting.

We've split up and had success that way before but we will often hunt away from one another and spend the day solo. Is there a time that y'all find is better to be on your feet and a time to sit and watch or is it all just slowly stalking around? Do you get into the breaks and hunt that way or do you walk the rim and look in?

Thanks again,
Splat

 

[Muleys32]

Is the entire area without good glassing knobs? I’ve hunted badlands and breaks quite a bit and have felt it was relatively easy to find good glassing knobs using onx and google earth. It seems like you are well aware of this method though?

Now there are some micro areas without them but even with those I’ve been able to sit back from a long range and still glass whatever I can see. Even seeing only flat tops and a half or less of the cuts it seems I can often times find moving deer in that scenario. Once I see bucks go in a pocket and not come out and it feels like bedtime, I’ll make a big loop around and try and refind them bedded. Then make my stalk in once I know where they are at.

 

[AHayes111]

I think you are over thinking this. There will be plenty of glassing spots, just maybe not the ones were you can see miles. I have taken more than my share of big deer hunting just the way you hunt. Often I would walk more in the dark getting to the first glassing spot than I did the rest of the day.

 

[wytx]

We will be in eastern Wyoming for the opening week of rifle so no snow around. Thanks for the reply. It seems like I'm trying too hard to make this a glassing hunt since, that's what I want, when I really need to hone my skills still hunting.

We've split up and had success that way before but we will often hunt away from one another and spend the day solo. Is there a time that y'all find is better to be on your feet and a time to sit and watch or is it all just slowly stalking around? Do you get into the breaks and hunt that way or do you walk the rim and look in?

Thanks again,
Splat

You may well have snow opening week in Eastern Wyo, don't discount that happening.

pm sent

 

[Splatter]

Is the entire area without good glassing knobs? I’ve hunted badlands and breaks quite a bit and have felt it was relatively easy to find good glassing knobs using onx and google earth. It seems like you are well aware of this method though?

There are knobs. There's even a river bottom. I've found though that the best bucks tend to be in the breaks away from the river and aren't visible from these knobs. It doesn't resemble the Missouri breaks, it's a much smaller scale if you're familiar with that type of terrain.

I think you are over thinking this. There will be plenty of glassing spots, just maybe not the ones were you can see miles. I have taken more than my share of big deer hunting just the way you hunt. Often I would walk more in the dark getting to the first glassing spot than I did the rest of the day.

Maybe...
Like I mentioned I'm trying to get to what I would say is the next level. It's not that I've not had success it's that I'd like to be more consistent on bigger deer. For me that takes a lot of effort but others may have it more figured out. I really appreciate the insights that you've given me though.

Thanks again
Splat

 

[Splatter]

Here's our deer from last year. A glimpse of the terrain as well.

 

[Macintosh]

Have you considered that one reason the deer may be away from the river and in the tighter breaks, is BECAUSE theyre harder to see by hunters? If you know they are in a small % of the terrain, you dont need to see as much of the terrain, and its likely you’ll have less competition for those deer there as well, for precisely that reason.

Nothing really to add, maybe just a different perspective.

 

[AHayes111]

Maybe...
Like I mentioned I'm trying to get to what I would say is the next level. It's not that I've not had success it's that I'd like to be more consistent on bigger deer. For me that takes a lot of effort but others may have it more figured out. I really appreciate the insights that you've given me though.

Thanks again
Splat

I don't know what else to tell you, I have taken 6 bucks better than 185 in the type of terrain you are describing. breaks off of river bottoms, just rougher and more timber than what is in the picture.
first. Dad and I glassed him up across the canyon from about 800 yards. Made a long looping stock and shot him from 250 yards. It was our second attempt, as we spotted him four days earlier in almost the same spot and muffed that stock.
second; glassed him up from 600 yards and made a stock to within 150 yards and waited for an hour for him to move into an opening in the timber.
Third. Was still hunting along a bench 100 yards below the top. buck stood up 200 yards below me.
Fourth; Spotted him from the truck in a hay field. He was chasing a doe. By the time I caught up with him he was a mile back in the hills. Luck happens when you are hunting the rut.
Fifth: Archery buck in my avatar. I had him well scouted. He would be feeding on the ridge behind my head in the morning and bed down in the timber on the back side of the ridge. Got to the top of the ridge before daylight and picked the right trail.
Sixth. Shot him just like you would a whitetail, by setting on the edge of a hay field and shot him when he stepped out of the brush he was bedded in. Likely the reason he was acting like a whitetail was because he got tired of busting me back in the hills half of archery season.

 

[wind gypsy]

The topic makes me think of a lot of badlands type area in the western dakotas where you're just not going to see into a lot of places unless you're nearly in them or are glassing at them from a ton of different angles. No advice worth sharing or listening to from me, just seems to be the nature of the beast with that terrain.

 

[Muleys32]

There are knobs. There's even a river bottom. I've found though that the best bucks tend to be in the breaks away from the river and aren't visible from these knobs. It doesn't resemble the Missouri breaks, it's a much smaller scale if you're familiar with that type of terrain.

That makes sense. I’m sure there can be some more in depth answers, and I’m still on the upward journey roughly 10 years in. I’ve found time in the field and learning big buck areas has helped me find future big bucks in those areas. Glassing and scouting as much as possible from different knobs

 

[Splatter]

Thanks for all the replies so far. One thing I'll need to put more effort in, it looks like, is still hunting.