Mulies and Elk

[sagebuster]

Years ago, probably in the 1980's, I read a book titled 'Bucks, Bows, and Campfires' by Cal Coziah. Cal was from Soda Springs in Eastern Idaho, Robby Denning's country, and old Cal seemed nothing if not a peculiar fellow. In his book Cal detailed numerous hunts, mostly for elk during the prime September and October months. Mostly archery hunts. One thing that always stood out to me was that Cal consistently took big muley bucks close to or in proximity to rutting elk. His claim was that big mule deer bucks were attracted to both the commotion of rutting elk and the scent of cow elk in estrus. He claimed that big muley bucks were as vulnerable then as they were later in the season, when they were in full rut. I've been on the phone a number of times over the years with Fish & Game biologists who pretty much corroborated what Cal had claimed. And I've seen it myself over the years as I've consistently bumped mule deer bucks while stalking my way into mid-September elk rut-fests. I wonder how many of you hardcore muley stalkers out there have witnessed the same? Tell me I'm not just dreaming this up while waiting impatiently for the September archery season to get going.

 

[Outwest]

I am definitely looking forward to some wisdom from those more experienced than myself on this one. I drew a mule deer archery tag in a great unit for elk, and less than great for mule deer.

Scouting this summer has been under-productive up until this past weekend. I found 2 groups of 4 shooter bucks on either side of a bachelor group of bulls that were just starting to spar with one another. Whether or not this was a coincidence, I cant say. But, that was a higher concentration of bucks than I had seen all summer. To further complicate or perhaps strengthen the case for this theory, I would see an average of 15-30 bulls/day in bachelor groups during my earlier summer trips, with no deer anywhere in the vicinity. Again, this could very well be coincidence, as I am not able to go scout every single day, and I may have just been in the right place at the right time.

Thinking back to past years elk hunts, I remember multiple occasions where I found bachelor groups of bucks in close proximity to rutting bulls.