Hoodie
WKR
I've been thinking a lot lately about common "general rules", strategies, and tactics that don't apply everywhere or that I feel I've debunked (at least in my specific context). Some of these things I picked up from mule deer and whitetail gurus, but for the most part I feel that deer are deer, especially mature bucks. Most of the differences in behavior I think are more attributable to habitat and pressure than to species characteristics.
Here's my list of debunked deer theories:
1) Wind based bedding for bucks
I listened to a bunch of Dan Infalt stuff and went out and checked every leeward point I could find in my huge hunting area. Lo and behold they all had deer beds. Often with buck specific sign around them. Then I found about the same amount of buck bedding on windward ridges. In my area (West Cascades in N. Oregon) the only real trends I see for buck bedding are upper 1/3 of the ridge, STEEP, and with good visibility of the area below. The edge between big timber and thicker stuff is also a plus, but they'll bed in wide open old growth if it's steep.
2) Blacktail bucks have tiny home ranges
Not in big mountains with small, scattered pockets of good feed they don't. I could see this being true in the valley and true-ish in the coast range where there's more clearly defined boundaries between feeding and bedding areas. Where I'm at, bucks can move decent distances even outside the rut. When you do find a homebody buck it's great because they're way more killable than the roamers.
3) High country deer are migratory
This varies based on the specifics of a given mountain/range. In one area I hunt, the deer migrate 3-4 miles as the crow flies and you don't see them on summer range again until July. In most of my areas, many of the bucks will stay as high as they can year round and will move up and down with snow line. They will tolerate way more snow than you'd think. I found three years worth of sheds off my biggest buck the week before I killed him. They were at the top of the mountain (4200ft). That buck was one of the rare homebodies.
What blacktail theories do you feel like your personal experience contradicts?
Here's my list of debunked deer theories:
1) Wind based bedding for bucks
I listened to a bunch of Dan Infalt stuff and went out and checked every leeward point I could find in my huge hunting area. Lo and behold they all had deer beds. Often with buck specific sign around them. Then I found about the same amount of buck bedding on windward ridges. In my area (West Cascades in N. Oregon) the only real trends I see for buck bedding are upper 1/3 of the ridge, STEEP, and with good visibility of the area below. The edge between big timber and thicker stuff is also a plus, but they'll bed in wide open old growth if it's steep.
2) Blacktail bucks have tiny home ranges
Not in big mountains with small, scattered pockets of good feed they don't. I could see this being true in the valley and true-ish in the coast range where there's more clearly defined boundaries between feeding and bedding areas. Where I'm at, bucks can move decent distances even outside the rut. When you do find a homebody buck it's great because they're way more killable than the roamers.
3) High country deer are migratory
This varies based on the specifics of a given mountain/range. In one area I hunt, the deer migrate 3-4 miles as the crow flies and you don't see them on summer range again until July. In most of my areas, many of the bucks will stay as high as they can year round and will move up and down with snow line. They will tolerate way more snow than you'd think. I found three years worth of sheds off my biggest buck the week before I killed him. They were at the top of the mountain (4200ft). That buck was one of the rare homebodies.
What blacktail theories do you feel like your personal experience contradicts?
