Friday, I headed out to my basin where I’ve been watching 3 very nice deer and some smaller ones all of August. First archery mule deer hunt, and as a local, I’ve been to this spot a lot. Saw no other hunters scouting during my 6 or so trips there, and was trying not to get too optimist to have the whole basin to myself come opener.
Saturday opener comes and I spot the bucks, and work my way to a better vantage point a little closer than the mile plus location I’d been glassing from. Sure enough I hear a “psst” and an other hunter is working his way to a similar glassing spot. Shit! I quickly tell myself this was too good to be true, and let’s see what this guy is up to. We meet up and he tells me his buddy is coming the next day and they’ve been hunting this basin and the deer inside it for several years. We agree to work together. My negative thinking is gone and now I’m excited to learn from more seasoned mule deer hunters. They say the deer here are hard compared to more open terrain.
The deer bed in willows. Not the short ones, this basin has TALL willows. When glassing you sometimes see them and their antlers when they shift. We make a move when the thermals are strong, and slowly make our ways to favorable wind spots near their beds and hope they get up to feed or shift and get a shot through a lane. My spot is on some rocks, a little elevated and downwind from where a nice old deer bedded. Sat all afternoon until the thermals were started to shift ( maybe a little too late) and back out for the evening. We hike out and meet up with the third hunter who just showed up and had been glassing. He said that once the deer caught our scent during the thermal shift they didn’t run, just worked their way away through the willows and disappeared. Day one gone.
Day two comes. Several nice bucks bed across the basin. We decide that I would try for the one farthest down basin the other guys were going to watch and maybe make a play on a larger one farther up. With a favorable thermal and a good wind pushing scent away, I work my way over about 1 hour of rough hiking to about 30 yards diagonal from the tree with the deer. I catch his antlers but he gets up and seems to move away. I cant relocate him. Did he wind me or hear me? Either way, willows too tall to make a shot and no good spots to get closer. I back off and down and glass the tree from about 400 yds. Damn! He’s still there, just in a different spot around the tree. I have a good same stalk to him and decide to go higher to get a shot through an opening. I climb back, wind is parallel to him, and get close. I see his antlers tops, and range him at 25.. No good shot through willows. I have to get over some brush to a better spot, and the hail comes down, giving me cover for movement. This new spot, I clearly see his antlers but still no window for shot through willows. I range him at 18 yards! Almost too close. He knows something is beside him as I can see he’s facing me. I throw a few rocks past him and he moves his head but flips back towards me. Our face off goes on for 30 minutes!!! As I’m out of rocks in my area and I’ve decided to just get him up with rocks before he bolts, I go back a few yards to collect rocks. He hears me, and bolts than stops at maybe 40-60 yards I draw back but have no idea of the range. I hesitate, and he takes off without a shot. Damn that was fun. I go back to the other guys who saw it all and mentioned they’d never seen a deer stay in a spot that close to someone, while knowing something was up. We brainstorm better strategies, agreeing that maybe I was too close, or just more rocks to make him move sooner and set up for when he turns to check things out. Those willows..
Next day, we successfully shut the basin down. All movement is minimal. One of the big boys is spotted by a the other hunter bedded in same area I stalked yesterday. They didn’t want to make the big trip over there and had a few more days to wait for a bigger one to pop out. I hike over, wind is solid and strong. I make good time to his area and set up about 50 yards above and to the right of him. I’m trying to range where he is but the willows all look the same as I’m trying to locate his hole. He is completely covered up with tall willows. As I’m considering my plan, the strong wind does a small shift and I feel the gig is up. Damn wind, so good for so long and let me down. I notch an arrow and wait for him to bolt. He does away from me and he’s gone. Turns out he was at 30 yards. Two close stalks and no shot. I take the long hard slog back to the other guys who had a good time watching and were congratulating me on getting close. We commiserate on hard it is to shoot them.
Happy about the proximity to 2 very nice deer, but as I consider my return trips, I’m still not sure what they play is on these bucks. The other guys have had luck moving on them when they are up and feeding and just trying to anticipate their movement. It’s just a much harder stalk. I thoroughly enjoyed stalking, but the only thing I can come up with is set up at a vantage point downwind and just sling rocks and hope they move into a shooting lane? Then I’d have as much area ranged as possible to take some of the guess work out. This play feels more loose and uncontrolled but so is hunting? Any other strategies you guys have executed in tall cover?
Man, archery mule deer hunting is fun!
Saturday opener comes and I spot the bucks, and work my way to a better vantage point a little closer than the mile plus location I’d been glassing from. Sure enough I hear a “psst” and an other hunter is working his way to a similar glassing spot. Shit! I quickly tell myself this was too good to be true, and let’s see what this guy is up to. We meet up and he tells me his buddy is coming the next day and they’ve been hunting this basin and the deer inside it for several years. We agree to work together. My negative thinking is gone and now I’m excited to learn from more seasoned mule deer hunters. They say the deer here are hard compared to more open terrain.
The deer bed in willows. Not the short ones, this basin has TALL willows. When glassing you sometimes see them and their antlers when they shift. We make a move when the thermals are strong, and slowly make our ways to favorable wind spots near their beds and hope they get up to feed or shift and get a shot through a lane. My spot is on some rocks, a little elevated and downwind from where a nice old deer bedded. Sat all afternoon until the thermals were started to shift ( maybe a little too late) and back out for the evening. We hike out and meet up with the third hunter who just showed up and had been glassing. He said that once the deer caught our scent during the thermal shift they didn’t run, just worked their way away through the willows and disappeared. Day one gone.
Day two comes. Several nice bucks bed across the basin. We decide that I would try for the one farthest down basin the other guys were going to watch and maybe make a play on a larger one farther up. With a favorable thermal and a good wind pushing scent away, I work my way over about 1 hour of rough hiking to about 30 yards diagonal from the tree with the deer. I catch his antlers but he gets up and seems to move away. I cant relocate him. Did he wind me or hear me? Either way, willows too tall to make a shot and no good spots to get closer. I back off and down and glass the tree from about 400 yds. Damn! He’s still there, just in a different spot around the tree. I have a good same stalk to him and decide to go higher to get a shot through an opening. I climb back, wind is parallel to him, and get close. I see his antlers tops, and range him at 25.. No good shot through willows. I have to get over some brush to a better spot, and the hail comes down, giving me cover for movement. This new spot, I clearly see his antlers but still no window for shot through willows. I range him at 18 yards! Almost too close. He knows something is beside him as I can see he’s facing me. I throw a few rocks past him and he moves his head but flips back towards me. Our face off goes on for 30 minutes!!! As I’m out of rocks in my area and I’ve decided to just get him up with rocks before he bolts, I go back a few yards to collect rocks. He hears me, and bolts than stops at maybe 40-60 yards I draw back but have no idea of the range. I hesitate, and he takes off without a shot. Damn that was fun. I go back to the other guys who saw it all and mentioned they’d never seen a deer stay in a spot that close to someone, while knowing something was up. We brainstorm better strategies, agreeing that maybe I was too close, or just more rocks to make him move sooner and set up for when he turns to check things out. Those willows..
Next day, we successfully shut the basin down. All movement is minimal. One of the big boys is spotted by a the other hunter bedded in same area I stalked yesterday. They didn’t want to make the big trip over there and had a few more days to wait for a bigger one to pop out. I hike over, wind is solid and strong. I make good time to his area and set up about 50 yards above and to the right of him. I’m trying to range where he is but the willows all look the same as I’m trying to locate his hole. He is completely covered up with tall willows. As I’m considering my plan, the strong wind does a small shift and I feel the gig is up. Damn wind, so good for so long and let me down. I notch an arrow and wait for him to bolt. He does away from me and he’s gone. Turns out he was at 30 yards. Two close stalks and no shot. I take the long hard slog back to the other guys who had a good time watching and were congratulating me on getting close. We commiserate on hard it is to shoot them.
Happy about the proximity to 2 very nice deer, but as I consider my return trips, I’m still not sure what they play is on these bucks. The other guys have had luck moving on them when they are up and feeding and just trying to anticipate their movement. It’s just a much harder stalk. I thoroughly enjoyed stalking, but the only thing I can come up with is set up at a vantage point downwind and just sling rocks and hope they move into a shooting lane? Then I’d have as much area ranged as possible to take some of the guess work out. This play feels more loose and uncontrolled but so is hunting? Any other strategies you guys have executed in tall cover?
Man, archery mule deer hunting is fun!
