open country advice needed

[onebuck]

First time poster, long time lurker here. So let's get the introduction out of the way, I'm a mid-westerner living in the city that is famous for cheese curds and the team that Aaron Rodgers plays for. I have two boys 2 and 4, my wife stays home with these crazies, so she's obviously a saint but I can tell you she isn't keen on handing out kitchen passes 6 times a year. Been hunting in Wisconsin since I was a kid and have killed dozens of Whitetails and a hand full of turkeys. My preference is bow hunting, and I hunt mainly public land and I love the challenge finding the places where I won't see another hunter. I learned that heading to the nastiest, thickest or hardest to reach spots will usually yield in less dude sightings and more deer sightings.

I come to Rokslide as much for an escape as a learning tool, I love learning about gear and tactics but I also just love reading the trip reports and pic threads.

So a few years ago I bow hunted muleys in western North Dakota, in the badlands in some beautiful country. We were unsuccessful but it was a learning year and actually we got really close to punching tags. Then last year I hunted them solo in the sandhills of west central Nebraska, unsuccessful again but got real close. I will be heading back there in mid September to have another try. This is extremely open country, kind of rolling prairie type terrain. not much in the way of water, though there are windmills and I have the option of hunting near the rivers, though I feel like what you'd see there is mainly whitetails and that's not what I'm after.

I was on deer last year, but seemed like I found a lot of little bucks. Any of you guys, go advice on locating bigger deer in this rolling country? What I have done is get away from the road by 1/2 to a mile and glass, glass, glass, walk, glass....you get the picture. Just not sure if there are terrain features that I should be focusing on? or If I should be further from the road.

 

[robby denning]

Hi, welcome to Rokslide.
To kill big mule deer, just a few ideas:

1) keep going back to the places you know IF you've been seeing bucks there and your research indicates that older age class bucks live there (can't hunt areas that get lots of rifle pressure as few bucks can survive that). I realize you're hunting archery, but rifle pressure determines a unit's buck numbers.
2) Look for the rougher country that for what ever reason few people are accessing. Distance from road helps but isn't always the case as big smart bucks can hole up fairly close to roads if it isn't hammered by hunters AND it is deer habitat. You can get too far from a road and actually leave the deer country, so know what type of habitat the deer like (different everywhere). That is why bucks typically choose the roughest country around as they can more easily evade all predators there.
3) If the area lacks water, say get's less than 10" a year and there are few open water sources, then use T-cams if you can, even during the hunt. They have to drink and in dry areas, the water picks up everything within a mile or so.
4) Hunt carefully. You say walk/glass, walk/glass, but you could be spooking deer if you're not careful doing both. That's why hunting very early and very late are key as you can let the bucks do the moving and not pollute your area with scent and noise. Big bucks pay attention to the rhythm of the country and detect changes (noise, spooked deer) and react to it much more than the rest of the herd. If you're seeing small bucks and there isn't too much rifle pressure in the area each year, some of those little bucks are getting older and changing their habits to the average hunter doesn't see them.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[onebuck]

Thanks for the reply Robby, the area receives around 13" of rain a year and there are wells fairly plentiful (I would guess at least 1 per sq/mile). So while I do feel like water would draw them in during a hot hunt, but I don't exactly know how to key in on what sources they are using at what time as there are many to choose from. Cameras during the hunt is an interesting idea, it's something we'll definately have to put in the truck.

I also have some general questions about mule deer habits during early September....

- Expecting to see bachelor groups and few singles, not sure how this affects locating deer if they are grouped up.

- During early September bucks are stripping horns or have already shed velvet. In areas there are few trees are they seeking out trees to do this? Just wondering if this affects where to find deer in open country.

- The area I will be in has very, very few trees, and most are short junipers. But does have some small (10-20 acre) tracts of hand planted pines. I found deer bedding in the open hillsides, in a shaded area high up in relation to the hill. Like upper 20% of hill. In mid day or very sunny they would huddle near a juniper clump in the shade. I am wondering if hunting near these patches of planted pines would be beneficial at all. I know Muleys are different than Whitetails, which would bed in the pines and use their noses and ears to detect predators.

- I'm guessing does may be hanging out with smaller bucks, but larger deer are either grouped together or solo but not hanging around does at this time of the year.

- In open country are deer using the same beds day after day or moving to different beds on different days?

 

[freebird134]

To each his own, but my advice to a Wisconsinite that's never killed a mulie is to focus on stalking experience before you worry about finding all those big bucks. It sounds like you've never successfully stalked within bow range of a buck. I'd encourage you to look for as many stalking opportunities as you can. All those little bucks you saw sound like great experience to be had before you find Mr. Big and stumble after him.

Go Pack!

 

[MUDDYCRICK]

I'm from Nebraska and chase mule deer every year with bow and rifle in the Sandhills. Your not going to find that "monster" mule deer people post on here from Colorado and Wyoming, especially on public ground. Also whitetail deer are taking over our sandhills (EHD helped out a little, but not enough). For example, my brother harvested a 130 class whitetail a couple years ago and there wasn't even a tree for miles! It wasn't natural. With all that being said I was lucky enough to harvest a wall hanger mule deer last year on public ground (170ish), but it was 5 miles from any road and in the middle of a blizzard. Sometimes you just have to be a little bit crazy and have a whole lot of luck.