Idaho Mule Deer. First trip!

[ShaneWey]

Hey guys, thanks to everyone who helps out with info for us new guys. The information has helped us feel very prepared! My buddy and I just wrapped up our first mule deer hunt in Idaho. Didn't punch a tag but we both considered it a very successful first DIY Backcountry spike camp hunt.

We got in to sign almost immediately but didn't see any deer (or other big game for that matter) until the 5th morning. We had a close encounter but ultimately bumped a forky buck.

I know this may be broad but what do you guys think of our glassing area in general? We kept going back and forth about trying to determine what a good feeding area would actually look like, balancing open country (good for us) and think timber (good for deer), etc. We both think we were right on track but does anything stand out to you guys from the photos?

Again, I know it's broad but I don't want to get too specific because there are several rabbit holes you can go down. Any comments or observations are appreciated!

 

[ShaneWey]

Also, ranges were 270-1,000yds to the far finger ridge. The far peak (large facing ridge in the back) was ~1.5miles out so it was not our focal point.

 

[Brock A]

Looks like good country but I would have moved after day 2 if I wasn’t seeing deer. Especially if it was my first trip out west (or Idaho). Different story if you had scouted a big buck in there. Ya never know though


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[Juancho]

I'll be heading out there for the first time next week! I keep reading the 'Move if you don't see anything in two days.' advice... so I'm going to try to stick to that. Looks like a great place to go camping at least ha

 

[ShaneWey]

Looks like good country but I would have moved after day 2 if I wasn’t seeing deer. Especially if it was my first trip out west (or Idaho). Different story if you had scouted a big buck in there. Ya never know though


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So will you move away from fresh deer sign if you are unable to actually locate a buck?

We discussed that but kept telling ourselves, don't leave deer to find deer. We just have to locate them because we know they are here. We may have been doing something wrong and there is a lot more to it, I know.

Thanks for the reply tho! We will probably try that next time out. Give it 2 days and if we aren't putting deer in our glass, move on.

 

[Brock A]

So will you move away from fresh deer sign if you are unable to actually locate a buck?

We discussed that but kept telling ourselves, don't leave deer to find deer. We just have to locate them because we know they are here. We may have been doing something wrong and there is a lot more to it, I know.

Thanks for the reply tho! We will probably try that next time out. Give it 2 days and if we aren't putting deer in our glass, move on.

Depends on the location and time of year. But In your case where you’re in a new area, haven’t seen a target buck, I’m assuming not too picky on what you kill....yeah I would have been covering ground looking for deer. Hot and dry weather makes that tough though because the deer are going to be out in the dark.


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[ShaneWey]

Depends on the location and time of year. But In your case where you’re in a new area, haven’t seen a target buck, I’m assuming not too picky on what you kill....yeah I would have been covering ground looking for deer. Hot and dry weather makes that tough though because the deer are going to be out in the dark.


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Awesome, thanks man! That actually explains a lot because when we finally did locate the buck on the 5th morning (which we would have been happy to take) we were hiking in the dark up to our glassing spot. All we saw were glowing eyes and couldn't tell if we were seeing doe or buck. We were surprised to see deer out that early! It was at least half an hour still before any light.

They kept moving, when there was enough light we tried to reposition ourselves to relocate the deer and that's when we bumped him. Saw the buck running away in to thick timber up the slope.

 

[ShaneWey]

I'll be heading out there for the first time next week! I keep reading the 'Move if you don't see anything in two days.' advice... so I'm going to try to stick to that. Looks like a great place to go camping at least ha

We had an absolute blast! Can't wait to go again! Good luck on your hunt

 

[Justin_Tree]

So will you move away from fresh deer sign if you are unable to actually locate a buck?

We discussed that but kept telling ourselves, don't leave deer to find deer. We just have to locate them because we know they are here. We may have been doing something wrong and there is a lot more to it, I know.

Thanks for the reply tho! We will probably try that next time out. Give it 2 days and if we aren't putting deer in our glass, move on.

I would agree with others on moving after a day or two of not seeing any deer. IMO, finding sign is different then seeing deer. Good luck on your next outing!

 

[ShaneWey]

I would agree with others on moving after a day or two of not seeing any deer. IMO, finding sign is different then seeing deer. Good luck on your next outing!

Thanks man. That's definitely good intel moving forward

 

[Wacko]

So will you move away from fresh deer sign if you are unable to actually locate a buck?

We discussed that but kept telling ourselves, don't leave deer to find deer. We just have to locate them because we know they are here. We may have been doing something wrong and there is a lot more to it, I know.

Thanks for the reply tho! We will probably try that next time out. Give it 2 days and if we aren't putting deer in our glass, move on.

One thing to consider is moisture. By that I mean in the dry west what looks like "fresh deer sign" can be a week or more old. If there has been no rain or snow the tracks will look "almost frozen in time". It takes a good bit to be able to tell if they are actually fresh.

So like everyone else has said....if you don't see them, move. Sure they may come back in a few days or weeks.....

 

[ShaneWey]

One thing to consider is moisture. By that I mean in the dry west what looks like "fresh deer sign" can be a week or more old. If there has been no rain or snow the tracks will look "almost frozen in time". It takes a good bit to be able to tell if they are actually fresh.

So like everyone else has said....if you don't see them, move. Sure they may come back in a few days or weeks.....

That's a good point. It was very dry and we had a tough time reading the tracks coming from Texas white tail. We started seeing some very fresh scat which was the thing that tilted us toward staying.

Next time, we will definitely move on tho. Thanks for the input! We weren't sure if we were being greedy for being surprised at not putting eyes on deer.

 

[zacattack]

Looks like fun. I’m supposed to be headed out there for rifle at the end of the month, but not sure if I will be able to at the moment.

 

[Fatcamp]

Awesome, thanks man! That actually explains a lot because when we finally did locate the buck on the 5th morning (which we would have been happy to take) we were hiking in the dark up to our glassing spot. All we saw were glowing eyes and couldn't tell if we were seeing doe or buck. We were surprised to see deer out that early! It was at least half an hour still before any light.

They kept moving, when there was enough light we tried to reposition ourselves to relocate the deer and that's when we bumped him. Saw the buck running away in to thick timber up the slope.

Deer feed all night.

 

[Wassid82]

So will you move away from fresh deer sign if you are unable to actually locate a buck?

We discussed that but kept telling ourselves, don't leave deer to find deer. We just have to locate them because we know they are here. We may have been doing something wrong and there is a lot more to it, I know.

Thanks for the reply tho! We will probably try that next time out. Give it 2 days and if we aren't putting deer in our glass, move on.

I think its an interesting argument but inherently false. You state "don't leave deer to find deer". If I read it correctly you hadn't found any bucks. If you had a tag for any deer and you had found deer and wanted to kill any deer then your argument would be correct. But if you could only shoot a buck and you hadn't found a worthy buck yet then......moving on to new territory isn't exactly "leaving deer to find deer". I would have moved on and stayed close to that ridge you were on just keep hoping drainage to drainage until you found what you were looking for. It looked like good country to me.

 

[Rizzy]

The Does and Forkys you guys found indicate there is at least a family of Deer living in the area. In those Idaho Batholith types of areas there are usually only 2-3 bucks in that whole few square miles of area your hunting and it can take 3 days or more to find them. Those units are time consuming to hunt, it’s good your enjoying the experience.

 

[BiggMc]

Fortunately they have the resources to provide not only diverse general seasons that allow hunters to harvest a buck each year.

 

[ShaneWey]

Awesome info guys! Greatly appreciated. I didn't realize deer fed all night. Not really something I have noticed or would notice hunting white tails in Texas.

We have read countless stories about guys and gals getting in to areas and seeing no sign at all. Our thought about "leaving deer to find deer" is we knew there were deer very near us, we just had to locate them. We weren't sure if we were looking in the wrong spots, wrong time, not being patient enough (another major criticism of rookie guys like us), or bad tactics overall.

I'm glad to hear that it's typical one family of deer occupies a few square miles in that area. That means we were either very lucky or our countless hours of e-scouting and planning and research worked (to some degree). Probably somewhere in the middle.

In any case, I know we were close and I can't wait to give it another go!

P.S. Mule deer are huge! That was very exciting to see haha!

 

[IdahoAngler85]

New mule deer hunter myself, thanks for sharing.