Mule Deer and Water (E-Scouting)

[NealS02]

This is my first post and just want to thank everyone in advance. I have learned a lot from Rokslide and am a relatively new hunter out west with lots of Midwest whitetail experience. My search on here didn’t really give direct answers to my questions. If there is a thread with answers please feel free to just redirect me.

Quick background: I have hunted mule deer before and have always tried to be near water. A tag I have this fall, on my e-scouting shows areas with high spring/lake density and other parts of the unit with good cover and feed but no real water source within 2-3 miles. I will be hunting mid-October in northern mountain west.

1.) Should I be keying on areas with higher water density knowing that bucks that time of year won’t be moving much and less likely to go miles for water?
2.) Is there a middle ground distance from water (ex: not 100 yards but less than a mile) that should be an e-scouting consideration?

Thanks!

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Being within at least a mile of a good water source is what I would shoot for, and the closer the better. Two or three miles is a bit far and even though you might see deer that far away from a water source (especially if they are migrating) you'll only increase your odds of encounters being closer to water.

 

[Jimss]

There are a lot of factors. Date of hunt, weather conditions, hunting pressure, elevation, type of terrain, food sources, etc. It's hard to say much without knowing more about the details.

 

[RockAndSage]

Don't bother with water unless you're putting out trail cams for months just to see what bucks might be in the region. Even then, unless you're in an utterly arid region where it might be a dozen miles or more between any kind of water (ie, mudhole, even), don't bother trying to hunt over water - for a number of reasons, including being that that is where they will be most alert for any kind of predators.

Mule deer go for days without watering, and have no problem travelling miles for it when they do. But they need to feed every day in the race against oncoming winter.

Focus on finding food sources and bedding, and scouting up those areas on the ground for confirmation by finding buck tracks to and from bedding/food. The bigger and blockier the better. Then you can choose to either ambush hunt along those trails at dawn and dusk, or you can hunt their beds during the day by glassing intensely for the slightest ear or antler tip.

 

[NealS02]

Thanks so much for the responses. Just to clarify, I did not mean hunting over water or even employing an ambush style associated with water. I glass and spot and stalk predominately. I’m just trying to go through the process of determining where deer are less likely to be vs more likely so I can eliminate low probability areas. Thanks again!

 

[RockAndSage]

Thanks so much for the responses. Just to clarify, I did not mean hunting over water or even employing an ambush style associated with water. I glass and spot and stalk predominately. I’m just trying to go through the process of determining where deer are less likely to be vs more likely so I can eliminate low probability areas. Thanks again!

Good clarification. They'll be much, much closer to food sources than water, bedded down in a place that provides good security from a deer's perspective. Find where they're bedded, that's where they'll be, all day.

If you're hunting a forested area, they'll be bedded down inside the timber, but they don't eat there for the most part - there's not enough sun hitting the forest floor for good forage to grow, so they go out into meadows, cuts, and burns to forage. You've really got to be excellent to get in their forest beds and kill them there during the day - it's far easier to ambush hunt in that context, catching them on the move around dawn and dusk. It comes down to where they eat - you'll find where they are when you find where they're eating.

They're easier to glass in their beds in desert areas. But still, start with their food, which is also easier to find patches of in the desert. Look for the green in the folds of the landscape that catch the surface and sub-surface flows of the water. Get boots into those areas and examine the tracks, trace that back to where they're bedded. Doing this scouting well-before you hunt allows you to not worry about bumping them, and simply focus on finding out where they're bedding down. That's their premium territory, they're not going to just vacate it forever anytime some predator walks through. They'll be back in a 1-3 days, generally. And that's where they are, all day.

Get up into that spot well before daybreak, and you can catch them moving back to their beds after a night of feeding. You can expect them to bed down for "first bed" as the sun comes up, and then head to "second bed" at around 10am-ish. Then you'll likely get another glimpse of one for 30 seconds to 2-3 minutes after noon as the sun moves across the sky and changes where the patches of shade are. They stand to get out of the sun and into the shade again.

In the desert, when you're glassing...hunt the shade.

 

[Travis Hobbs]

If you are hunting a very dry, arid environment with very, very limited water resources, no monsoonal moisture, it might pay to consider focusing around water.

Otherwise, I’d completely ignore it. Mule deer in higher elevation, mountain environments can go a very long time without water (week +) and they are not scared to walk along way (miles) for it when/if they do water.

They will also drink out of puddles, rocks, you name it after storms.

I think a lot of mule deer hunters waste a lot of time thinking about water, it’s something I generally don’t even consider or think about.

 

[Dioni A]

I was going to write a response but Travis said it perfectly.

 

[nphunter]

Listen to Travis. I run cams year round on water troughs and ponds for elk. I get probably 10K elk pictures for every deer picture and I can count on 1 hand the amount of mature bucks I’ve got on my cams over water.

Good feed is another story, I’ll throw out some bait during the summer to see what’s around and deer show up like crazy even big mature bucks, they just can’t resist a free snack!! I don’t deer hunt in the area but my wife and kids do some years so it’s nice to see what’s around.

You can tell by this guys guy that he’s not passing in a free snack!! This is the only time I’ve ever seen this buck. He was there every day until my pile was gone. Put some more snacks out and he was right back. This area isn’t known for big deer and even the rifle tag can be drawn every year or two and archery tags never sell out. I haven’t deer hunted in this unit for 20+ years.



Everyone loves snacks!! It brings the community together.



That’s enough Bambi you’ll get a belly ache!

 

[NealS02]

Thanks again to everyone who responded! Your direction has been tremendously helpful.