Mule Deer Migration Data & Hunt Planning

[WSMHNTR]

In my search to figure out the secrets of these grey ghosts Iv found myself looking for migration data and maps to influence hunt planning. I've had very good luck on average bucks with how I've hunted in the past but don't want to get stuck in the rut of doing things the same just because that's how we've always hunted. One interesting piece that is a little puzzling is that all the migration data I have looked over is tracking does. This obviously makes sense on why they only track does from a population perspective but is this data at all useful for hunting purposes?

Lets take a mid to late October season for example. Migration data shows for a particular migration corridor that the average start date is early October with an average end date (when they reach wintering grounds) of the end of the month. I've always noticed doe groups and smaller bucks at lower elevations moving out of typical summer ranges but how relevant is this data to 3+ year old bucks that are more solitary until the rut hits?

My guess would be they are using the same migration corridors just lagging behind 1-2 weeks from the doe groups and staying higher up unless snow or pressure force them into lower more timbered country.

All this to say do you use this data and if so how has it influenced your hunt planning?

 

[robby denning]

In my search to figure out the secrets of these grey ghosts Iv found myself looking for migration data and maps to influence hunt planning. I've had very good luck on average bucks with how I've hunted in the past but don't want to get stuck in the rut of doing things the same just because that's how we've always hunted. One interesting piece that is a little puzzling is that all the migration data I have looked over is tracking does. This obviously makes sense on why they only track does from a population perspective but is this data at all useful for hunting purposes?

Lets take a mid to late October season for example. Migration data shows for a particular migration corridor that the average start date is early October with an average end date (when they reach wintering grounds) of the end of the month. I've always noticed doe groups and smaller bucks at lower elevations moving out of typical summer ranges but how relevant is this data to 3+ year old bucks that are more solitary until the rut hits?

My guess would be they are using the same migration corridors just lagging behind 1-2 weeks from the doe groups and staying higher up unless snow or pressure force them into lower more timbered country.

All this to say do you use this data and if so how has it influenced your hunt planning?

all of the above depending on the area IMO.

I used to think the big bucks lived on the peaks in 10 feet of snow until the rut (lol).

But as I've talked to more hunters way more savvy than me about migratoin, it's not always that way. A reliable guy just last week told me he's documenting some of the bigger bucks showing up first in the early migration before even the does in later October.

Subscribed!

if you wanna hear a podcast on a guy who hunted a migration from Sept 1-Oct 31, look up "192 NET B&C" on the rokcast. His results were more typical but per the title, killed a great buck on dry ground not rutting

 

[WSMHNTR]

all of the above depending on the area IMO.

I used to think the big bucks lived on the peaks in 10 feet of snow until the rut (lol).

But as I've talked to more hunters way more savvy than me about migratoin, it's not always that way. A reliable guy just last week told me he's documenting some of the bigger bucks showing up first in the early migration before even the does in later October.

Subscribed!

if you wanna hear a podcast on a guy who hunted a migration from Sept 1-Oct 31, look up "192 NET B&C" on the rokcast. His results were more typical but per the title, killed a great buck on dry ground not rutting

Thanks Robby I'll check that out! I'm back to reading your books for probably the 4th time. I think it's time for you to write a 3rd to fuel my off season addiction lol.

 

[Tmac]

My perspective, tracking does gives you great info. As you get to mid Oct, bucks are getting “Bucky”, sparring a bit, rubbing, etc. The later you get in Oct the more rutty they get and they will go looking for the ladies soon.

One of our best Oregon bucks in the last 15 years was neck swollen, lined out across the wind looking for ladies, mid morning, on the valley floor in mid-Oct. No idea why, never seen it before or since. No weather or snow. Heard the same from others that season. So for sure where migrations are dominant, bucks will follow. Maybe not mixed in with does yet in mid-Oct, but they seem to start staging nearer does for the rut where we hunted in OR.

My grandson took a mature buck last season on the valley floor in OR, buck had never been seen until that day. 26” 170 class. Mid-Oct, not rutty at all. What was he doing? Lots of does where he was shot. Things that make you go huummmm???

Where migrations are less common, bucks do what ever they want it seems. They know where the does are and join in when the time is right it appears to me. My advice is learn the deers habits in the areas you hunt. Deer are deer, but habits can differ.

 

[Jaden Bales]

This is excellent! Love learning from all these guys' input and the migration stuff you're talking.

I've had the fortune of guiding and hunting a couple of migration hunts in Wyoming these past few years and I've been surprised to see big/old bucks coming through in mid-late October. Of course, weather helps move all deer, but I was under the impression none of the older age class would come through until later but that has not been the case on these long migration routes I've been sitting in Wyoming.

 

[willfrye027]

This is a great topic and keeps me up at night!

I’ve learned a lot from my local migratory herd here in CA. They’ve done some collar studies and I’ve also done my own “research” hunting the winter range in late October, and putting cameras on migration trails I’ve found throughout the years. Plus a lot of deer watching and shed hunting on the winter range.

With the caveat that; every deer herd is different…

I used to think all the big bucks stayed high until the rut (late November to early December would be peak rut here).

This year my buddy killed a heavy horned, mature 4pt down on the winter range at the end of October. We’ve seen and hunted several such bucks in years past. This particular year we had very little snow in the high country and estimated that at most 10% of the deer were actually on the winter range during that hunt. But that big buck was down there, and he was rutting a doe that seemed to be on an early estrus cycle.

I have one camera in high country at about 10k feet on a migration trail. I think I’ve got 4 years of “data” now. Some bucks are coming down with groups of does in late October and early November when snow flies. Some are coming down during the same time period regardless of snow. And some are staying up high until well into the rut, belly deep in the snow!

My conclusion is that it totally depends on the individual deer. Some bucks will leave the high country early, counting on some does being on the winter range and catching the first ones to estrus. Some bucks will find a herd of does up high and stick with them, or nearby, following them down to the winter range. Some years the groups will stay higher in transition range through the rut until snow pushes them down (if at all) and the bucks will just stick around there, even dropping their sheds far from the traditional winter range on a dry year.

There is no hard and fast rule..which keeps things interesting and challenging trying to put yourself in the right position for migratory deer.