Mule deer patterns

[bjfoxhoven]

So I I’ve ran 3-4 trail cameras for mule deer in some “wintering/rut county” trying to figure out the mule deer population around an area we hunt. Over those couple years I’ve noticed a couple things with the deer in the area, some obvious and some I was a little surprised at. Could be coincidence since the sample size is only a couple years though. This place is 6.5 hours away so I rely on cameras and scouting a couple times a summer

here is what I noticed:

1. when cows were present, mule deer were not...1)3’ I stopped getting cattle I started getting deer 1-2 weeks after. Side note: some whitetails moved through when cattle were there in areas I don’t see many whitetail (though a mile away they are common).
2. I don’t get pictures of bucks in those spots until the second week of November.
I’ve moves cameras trying to locate summer locationA.
3. Doe groups seem to go through the areas with cameras about every 1-2 weeks. Obviously they aren’t always going through the same transition areas and trails I have them, but the timing seemed to tell me they have a pretty wide range and maybe cycle through different areas.
- this just hammers home the fact that glassing is key to success, even though this country is hard to glass. The odds of sitting in a “high probability area” and getting a shot with my recurve are just so minimal. Outside of cold fronts mid November.
4. Mature buck pictures during day time almost ALWAYS coincided with a cold front. Again this was only two ruts, but dang was it obvious. Almost all decent bucks 3.5 and older were captured within 0-2 days of a cold front. Small bucks were obviously much more active too.
5. bucks tended to use certain trails with specific winds using them to their advange. Now looking at weather underground for historical data only gave me a ballpark wind direction for the area, but I’m assuming the wind in those canyons does certain things with certain wind directions.
6. Bucks are grouped back up again by the end of December.
7. Bucks seem to drop in elevation in the evenings.
Seem to be going lower to find the does.

because of this I know I have increased my odds of shooting one of these bucks dramatically. I also know how my strategies will change according to weather and time of year.

Questions: what observations have you all come up with throughout the years? I get pictures of big bucks during the rut, late season, and right when tbeir antlers are starting to grow....and hardly anything in between that. Should I put cameras up higher? I can only gain maybe another 400’ elevation to timbered area and some big burn out area. Lower and I run into Mountain mahogany covered south slopes and timbered covered northern slopes

 

[Overdrive]

The one thing I've learned about mature Mule Deer is there really is no pattern to them once the rut kicks in, they travel through area's that their nose leads them to. They breed those doe's or come back when they smell the estrus in the air. Early high country Bucks can be patterned but I've yet to see it during the rut, I've hunted area's over day's and not seen a mature buck and then all of a sudden one show's up. I hunted a decent group of doe's one year that were in a secluded pocket that no one else was getting into, well I watch some smaller bucks chase the doe's. Then the last morning I had to hunt I thought I would go back in and find the bigger of the bucks and fill my tag, I set up on a good ridge 400 yards away and watched some small bucks, smaller than I wanted to shoot. When all of a sudden a nice 4x5 walks out, huge body and he knew he was boss, well I turned the turret up to 400 settled in and made the shot and the rest was work. You just never know when they'll show up. My shot pushed a bunch of deer out and more bucks that I hadn't been seeing, so I went back in that evening with my Dad and he filled his tag with a nice 4x4, both of these bucks I had never seen in 3 days of watching this group of doe's.

 

[Block]

Iv definitely noticed less deer in canyons where cattle are present,, My guess is This has something to do with the coyotes bein all over the cattle...

Dec-April the deer will be on the south facing slopes a lot more often than not,,, In some areas they still use these more open south slopes ALOT at night and also when in Velvet

 

[bjfoxhoven]

Two of the bucks nicer bucks (4+ YO) I had repeat both came through around thanksgiving time. I’m assuming they are cruising looking for does after taking care of business for another doe group somewhere else.

Not sure this correlates much to mule deer, butmature whitetail bucks I’ve seen cruse through late November Seeming to be heading back to where they summered to check out the does in the other core area they know pretty well. Then they headed back after spending a week or two away from their main rutting area.

 

[street]

Nice observations.

The big bucks I've got on camera are cruising for does in November. The transition areas are the best from my experience. I have also seen a couple big bucks show up in mid October. But those seem more like anomalies, that I usually chalk up to people or predators bumping them out of their core areas.

 

[Fatcamp]

Did you read Robby's blog post about buck pastures in late summer/early fall? Very interesting. I think for SD it has to do with seclusion and water more than anything. At least the two I have found do.

Look for spots in your general area that are the roughest to get to.

 

[bjfoxhoven]

Did you read Robby's blog post about buck pastures in late summer/early fall? Very interesting. I think for SD it has to do with seclusion and water more than anything. At least the two I have found do.

Look for spots in your general area that are the roughest to get to.

@Fatcamp I’m hunting the hills, one area is some of the roughest nasty country out there, but so thick it is hard to glass. Other areas have a fair amount of water...so I tend to believe the bucks are where they are most secluded. I just haven’t happened into a decent bachelor group yet. Few pairs here and there and that is about it. I should probably just focus on west river mule deer since I’ve had little better luck, but dang I’m drawn to the black hills... always have been.
Yes, I’ve read everything Robby has put out there. Probably twice lol. I’m kinda in the searching faze now for early season. I know the what/where rut and late season for the area we frequent.

 

[bjfoxhoven]

Nice observations.

The big bucks I've got on camera are cruising for does in November. The transition areas are the best from my experience. I have also seen a couple big bucks show up in mid October. But those seem more like anomalies, that I usually chalk up to people or predators bumping them out of their core areas.

I do get a few lions every year and plenty of coyotes and bobcats. So there are enough predators around to bump deer around too. My best rut cameras have been in some transition areas, Essentially the line between flatter sage/mahogany country and higher juniper/pine country.