Mulies in timbered mountainous areas

[peterk123]

What features are you guys looking for in the mountains that are heavily wooded? Is it water, junipers, hardwood, drainages? Something completely different? Whitetails in the woods I get. But mulies in the woods are a mystery to me.

Thx

Pete

 

[RockAndSage]

Breaks in the treeline, burns, cuts, and similar breaks in the dense forest.

The thing about dense forest is that it's not very good for growing deer food underneath all that shade. So, walk along tree-lines to find the game trails, and cut buck sign on those trails - which are their commuter lanes between food and bed. Investigate the food-source side of that equation during pre-season scouting, and locate some spots for ambush-hunting along those trails.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Yep....mule deer don't eat trees.

 

[wytx]

Mule deer absolutely eat tree leaves, they love elm leaves and alder.
Go read the "every species a mule deer hunters should know" up top of this forum.
Look for that brush and various brushy species for their preferred forage.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Most of the forests here in Colorado are conifers. They definately don't eat their leaves.

 

[TaperPin]

It’s hard to make specific recommendations that apply 100% of the time since mulies in different topography learn slightly different behaviors. Still, many mulies are pre programmed to like being up higher rather than lower, having a big view below and to the sides even if it’s just more open tree cover, and having multiple escape routes over fewer.

When scouting an unfamiliar area I will glass and walk the upper elevations looking for old beds and tracks large enough to put a long cartridge into to let me know I’m at least looking in the right places. Does don’t get large enough for that and often bed down lower.

 

[peterk123]

Thank you everyone. All helpful info. I see the does all over the place, but it seems so random. I know the bucks are somewhere nearby.

 

[longrangelead]

whether naturally open or burned off, food on the south side and timber on the north side and water within about a mile, maybe two.