Mule deer hunting etiquette?

[pontoon]

I'm wondering if there are any mule deer hunting etiquette tips that are kind of well known among experienced hunters. I've never hunted for mule deer out west (just moved here). I'll be doing spot and stalk style hunting with a rifle where I sit down and use optics quite a bit. It'll be backpack hunting in the Sierras. I was thinking about a couple situations where I wouldn't know what is the correct thing to do, and it got me thinking about etiquette in general. I know in golf for instance, there is plenty of etiquette which is more or less well known among players. Is there anything like this for hunting?

 

[wyo_gasman]

I was looking at a nice buck once, trying to decide if I wanted to shoot or not and a guy came up on me and asked what I was looking at. I showed him, he decided he wanted to shoot it, didnt even bother to ask if I wanted it or not.

 

[Brock A]

My biggest pet peeve for mule deer hunting is when guys camp in a basin that there were deer in during the scouting months. I've been in the high country where the a month prior the basin had some nice bucks and bears in it. Come opening day there was guy camped where I had seen animals. It just blows my mind. He ended up being a member on here too. Anyway, we see this every year. It kills me. All that is accomplished when this happens is NOBODY gets a shot.

Camping out of the basins is a big etiquette thing for me.

 

[AlexGraham]

My biggest pet peeve for mule deer hunting is when guys camp in a basin that there were deer in during the scouting months. I've been in the high country where the a month prior the basin had some nice bucks and bears in it. Come opening day there was guy camped where I had seen animals. It just blows my mind. He ended up being a member on here too. Anyway, we see this every year. It kills me. All that is accomplished when this happens is NOBODY gets a shot.

Camping out of the basins is a big etiquette thing for me.

I agree nothing is worse than when people do that.

 

[pontoon]

wyo_gasman, That's actually similar to a situation I thought of. Let's say I'm a long range hunter who is capable of making a clean kill at 800 yards, and I spot a buck at 800 yards. Then I spot a guy who is at about 500 yards heading towards the buck--presumably closing the distance. Do you take the shot? Do you assume the other guy is going after the buck and assume he "saw it first" and therefore is entitled to the first try?

Other things I've wondered about are pitching tents (how close to others), how close can you hunt near other hunters (are they territorial, do they get concerned that you're scaring "their" deer away), if I see someone cleaning a deer should I offer to help?

If you don't camp in the basin where the deer like to live, where do you camp? My instinct would be to camp below the treeline to avoid being at the highest piont and getting struck by lightning.

 

[missjordan]

This season we spotted a small herd of elk from the truck right before daylight. We had another 15 minutes to kill before it was legal shooting hour and a group of guys pulls up with horses loaded in the trailer and eventually spotted the same elk. We were technically at the trailhead first but they had horses and could cover more ground. We took off after the elk while they saddled their horses and tried to beat them to the punch. We got to the elk a lot earlier however they split off into two groups. One group came up right behind us while the other came in from the bottom of the draw and pushed the elk up and over the next ridge. I was disappointed with how the situation turned out because if we would of worked together I'm sure everyone would of had a chance at filling their elk tag instead of hazing them out of the area. I eventually called and turned them in because the elk went onto private and they continued to follow them.

I think when it comes to hunting etiquette I would worry about myself when it comes to harvesting an animal before I help someone else. Pontoon makes a great point about long range shooting, and I am capable like him of pulling of an ethical shot at 800 yards at an animal. If it was me in his situation I would probably take the shot if it felt right. However if I am in an area where I don't have a deer tag and a stranger does, then I would definitely give him a hand if I know there is a big deer somewhere in the district. I wouldn't take him to where I saw the animal but I would give him good directions on how to get there. It's a hard call to make because I have seen it go both ways. Some hunters are extremely appreciative when you help them and others are rude and barely give you a thanks. I think all you can do is feel out what their personality is and make a judgement call from there.

 

[Brock A]

If you don't camp in the basin where the deer like to live, where do you camp? My instinct would be to camp below the treeline to avoid being at the highest piont and getting struck by lightning.

Below treeline would be good. Chances are you will not get struck by lightning so the ridge top is a good option. It just comes down to common sense really. If you are in a bucky looking area, seeing sign, seeing deer, probably shouldn't camp there.

 

[pontoon]

Pontoon makes a great point about long range shooting, and I am capable like him of pulling of an ethical shot at 800 yards at an animal.

Just to be clear, I am NOT capable of ethically making 800 yard shots. I'm just imagining a situation where that might occur. Someday I hope to be skilled enough to make a reliable 800 yard shot.

 

[tttoadman]

Ethics is all internal. If you think something is a dick move, it likely is. Our passion for the hunt and "success" can push the limits of our moral compass.

Lightning freaks me out, but i think the odds are less than getting hit by a blow down. I will camp as high as possible as long as I am not skylining.

Helping people can be rewarding for both parties. I want to be selfish and not waste my valuable time, but if you can see that people are in genuine risk of wasting animals, getting hurt, or just plain in over their head, then I would definitely offer to help. The people that are in over their head have usually realized it by then, and are very appreciative.

RE: Shooting 800 yds over someones head....
The only time I would ever do that would be if somebody was completely oblivious to their surroundings in the bottom of a canyon. If their was a chance they had seen those deer, and were making a move on them, I consider it their move. In my opinion, the smart thing to do would be to try to position yourself in an escape route. If they bump em out, its fair game. This scenario is one of those tough decisions that causes animosity between people that can(or will) shoot long and those who won't. Neither side is really right or wrong.

 

[elkguide]

Agreed tttoad. I'm not going to let my standards of decency down but at the same time if they want to "brush monkey" for me and drive the deer to me, I'll let them.

 

[pontoon]

BTW in that 800 yard shot I'm assuming it's a safe shot in the sense that the other person is not in line with the shot. Example they might be coming from the west and you're south of the deer.

 

[missjordan]

Just to be clear, I am NOT capable of ethically making 800 yard shots. I'm just imagining a situation where that might occur. Someday I hope to be skilled enough to make a reliable 800 yard shot.

I apologize I assumed when you stated on making a clean kill, that you were relaying it was ethical. There are tons if variables when it comes to making long range shots and conditions have to be perfect. No way should any hunter endanger another person to make a shot at any distance. I have had more rude encounters with trying to help other hunters in the field that I try not to anymore when it comes down to finding animals unless I don't have a tag. Especially with me being a girl people some aren't very nice for whatever reason

 

[airlocksniffer]

Pretty simple in my mind-would you be pissed if somebody did the same thing to you? If yes, don't do it.

 

[pontoon]

I apologize I assumed when you stated on making a clean kill, that you were relaying it was ethical. There are tons if variables when it comes to making long range shots and conditions have to be perfect. No way should any hunter endanger another person to make a shot at any distance. I have had more rude encounters with trying to help other hunters in the field that I try not to anymore when it comes down to finding animals unless I don't have a tag. Especially with me being a girl people some aren't very nice for whatever reason

I'm a little confused now but basically I was trying to pose a hypothetical situation where I was capable of making a safe shot on the animal at 800 yards and it would be an ethical shot in the sense that the bullet energy and velocity are sufficient for a clean kill and I have a proven track record of being accurate on the first shot at that range.

I guess I'm not too surprised that hunters might not be super friendly to strangers. Competition does that to people. Golfers can be the same way actually. Once I was having a bad round and moving slower than normal and these guys took their shots onto green as I was leaving. I heard the ball whizz by my head. It's not safe to do that. Next hole there was lots of swearing between my Dad and them.

 

[pontoon]

Pretty simple in my mind-would you be pissed if somebody did the same thing to you? If yes, don't do it.

I would be disappointed if someone shot a deer from 800 yards if I had iron sights and had to get real close. At the same time I would know going into it that the iron sights give me an advantage in lightweight but a disadvantage at long range and I'd just chalk it up as being part of the game. However I could see someone else getting really upset about that.

 

[Muledeerfanatic]

no such thing

 

[Eagle]

My biggest pet peeve for mule deer hunting is when guys camp in a basin that there were deer in during the scouting months. I've been in the high country where the a month prior the basin had some nice bucks and bears in it. Come opening day there was guy camped where I had seen animals. It just blows my mind. He ended up being a member on here too. Anyway, we see this every year. It kills me. All that is accomplished when this happens is NOBODY gets a shot.

Camping out of the basins is a big etiquette thing for me.

THIS, SO MUCH THIS!

It blew my mind during my first western hunt this last September when I looked up on the ridge I had just spent the morning glassing from, to see two guys with 5 llamas making their way into that basin to camp. I had glassed and turned up several deer in that basin and knew there would be a shooter in there if I took my time to find him, but they camped right on the main water source for that basin.

Then the next day, 4 guys with several goats did the same thing. They seemed to think that because they had been doing it for 17 years, it was ok, but they ruined what I would guess was the best basin habitat wise in a 5 square mile area! If I ever go back to that area, I'll be archery hunting that basin, the rifle pressure was just too much.

 

[Bubblehide]

If I see anyone hunting a specific area, I try to not spoil their hunt, interfere with their hunt... If I do see someone, I either try to sneak past them, usually way around them. If I can't I make sure they see me, because if I do happen to spook them, I want them to have the advantage of knowing that I am there, and could spook game. From there, I get out of their hunting area usually continuing my hunts original plan. With that said, if someone comes across me, and I know of bucks that I passed on, I will turn them on to those bucks if they come up and talk to me. The areas I hunt are not crowded and I usually see the same people hunting in these places most every year. So, over time, we have all talked to each other, shared some information... In one place i hunt, I once shot a decent buck, and a father and son I've seen hunting the area for over 20 years walked up to me as I was heading down to the dead buck. They wanted to see it. I told them there was another buck with the one I shot. We get down to my buck and I point them in the right direction, and I begin to skin... I turn around and see the father and son about 100 yards away, I also see the buck. It's clear to me that they haven't seen it yet. I sneak up to them and a minute later they were headed to their harvested buck. That experience changed their perception of our relationship from a competitive one to a much friendlier one.

Like others have said, I camp just outside the area deer utilize, so I am not over pressuring the area and pushing deer out.

 

[bbrown]

Pretty simple in my mind-would you be pissed if somebody did the same thing to you? If yes, don't do it.

Way too much common sense here... I agree 100%!

 

[chindits]

Pretty simple in my mind-would you be pissed if somebody did the same thing to you? If yes, don't do it.

And yet we have to realize we all have different expectations. I like to bow hunt and only rifle hunt when I have to. This fall, I am a little miffed to find 3 guys walking out of an area I am hunting during bow season all in camo and carrying calls. The thing that got me was I learned they aren't hunting and they were just calling elk the last 2 days. My buddy rifle hunts and he goes out and has no internal issues with calling elk even when he isn't hunting and other people are. We just don't see eye to eye.

The last muley hunt I was on, I camped adjacent to an avalanche chute in the side timber about 3/4 of the way to the top of the mountain ridge. There is a trickle of water coming down every avae chute in that country and I don't carry water more than a few hundred yards when I camp. I know there is a narrow 4x4 and a couple other bucks in the top of that same avae chute I am camping adjacent to and cross every day. I don't think anything of it because I'm targeting some huge bucks a few chutes over near a saddle. I don't have an issue with that, but I bet those hunters with headlamps walking up that drainage every a.m. before sunrise would not of been happy if they knew I was camped 1500 feet above them right by some bucks.

I was forced into a rifle hunt this year in NM. I was winding down the day and sitting on a meadow a bit after legal hunting light just to see what was in the area. A hunter came out of the woods walking down the middle of the meadow smoking a cigarette, rifle over his shoulder and with a dog that was running the adjacent tree line. He didn't see me leaning up against that tree 50 yards away and I didn't say a damn thing to him. When I relayed that story to my rifle hunt'n buddy he thought that was not out of the norm for NM and he didn't understand why I thought that was noteworthy even for a high demand trophy unit.

I guess I just try to stay out of sight and out of mind during the hunt because of we all have different expectations, values, and ethics.