Summer scouting

[idahohikker]

I may have posted this before but I'm planning a high country mule deer hunt in the next year or two and I keep coming back to this question. Guys that hunt in mid September and later, does the July and August summer scouting help and how much?

Deer move around and break from their routines when they shed their velvet in early Septmeberish timeframe. I know guys that scout G and then find bucks in the same general area on the rifle hunt starting September 15. But I also have experiences where the deer are not where they were during the summer. Deer like to move down into timber in this mid September time frame.

I know it's not exact but if you find a buck in July or August, how likely do you think it is that he's in the same basin in mid September? How about in late September or October?

My hunch is that most deer stay within a couple miles or their summer location but especially after the 3rd week of September the deer move around a bit and aren't on the high open sage patches where they're easier to spot and pattern in the summer.

The G bucks don't all drop in deep timber but they use patches of high elevation timber and stay close to cover during the season.

I'd love your thoughts. Thanks much.

 

[idahohikker]

@Tayler Wayne what's been your experience?

 

[Tayler Wayne]

This off season I’ve spent some time reading Mike Eastman’s and @Robbydenning’s books to up my mule deer hunting game. I’m still the student but the OP’s 9/15 date of leaving high basins for the lower cover is probably pretty close. Maybe some stay a little longer if not too pressured.


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[UglyArcher]

I may have posted this before but I'm planning a high country mule deer hunt in the next year or two and I keep coming back to this question. Guys that hunt in mid September and later, does the July and August summer scouting help and how much?

Deer move around and break from their routines when they shed their velvet in early Septmeberish timeframe. I know guys that scout G and then find bucks in the same general area on the rifle hunt starting September 15. But I also have experiences where the deer are not where they were during the summer. Deer like to move down into timber in this mid September time frame.

I know it's not exact but if you find a buck in July or August, how likely do you think it is that he's in the same basin in mid September? How about in late September or October?

My hunch is that most deer stay within a couple miles or their summer location but especially after the 3rd week of September the deer move around a bit and aren't on the high open sage patches where they're easier to spot and pattern in the summer.

The G bucks don't all drop in deep timber but they use patches of high elevation timber and stay close to cover during the season.

I'd love your thoughts. Thanks much.

I find they stay pretty tight till mid October,the bigger bucks anyway.

 

[PathFinder]

I think it depends a lot on the location. Over the last few years, in several different units in two states, I've found that they move very little. They may not be out in the absolute wide open, upper parts of a basin anymore but they won't move far. In some places that means a few hundred foot drop into more timbered terrain and that's it. Sometimes they'll also move laterally down the mountain (ie down a ridge to another pocket) but never far. I've hunted deer rutting in late November under a mile from their summer range at around 9k.

 

[sneaky]

Big bucks don't get that way by hanging out in the open. They know they don't have to travel far to be hidden. It's nice to watch bucks above timberline, but the big ones know when rifle season starts and that it's suicide to hang out in the open.

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[Pistolpete28]

It all depends on the weather/ rut/ location of winter range. In the area you mentioned with my experience July and August scouting will help, but you wont be hunting above timberline after opening day. The bucks will be close but I would look for them in the timber about mid slope.