Wilderness vs front country

[justinspicher]

I don’t do backcountry hunts much anymore because I don’t feel like competing with outfitters. I also like coming home every night. So far it hasn’t really affected my success, but living close to where I hunt allows me scout/keep tabs on critters all year.

 

[Wiley coyote]

Cemeteries is where it's at. Every cemetery in buck country holds the biggest moss back buck. They are not dumb. They know where they're safe.

 

[Koda_]

Front country will consistently hold more game in places where private lands restrict public access and hunting, if you cant get a golden ticket to access find small pockets of public land adjacent to private and you should see increased odds, especially with deer that live there year round. Typically agriculture and private timber lands.

Backcountry and wilderness areas will be more dependent on seasonal hardships like good summer forage and light winters vs drought and hard winter years.

 

[Mojave]

If you look at New Mexico as an an example. The wilderness units aren't really any better or worse than the best units.

As the entire state is on a draw. Any tag in New Mexico is a TOL.

 

[Beendare]

Many of our Wilderness Areas (Montana) open early for rifle (mid-September)- that's the main reason I hunt them. My success rate is far lower in the wilderness, vs other areas I hunt during our regular rifle season.

But every once in awhile I do get lucky AND by hunting those early areas, I'm definitely in far better shape come general season. Oh yeah and it's darn pretty country too

Do you think there are less animals in country like that?

I've hunted stuff like that a lot and it seems to me I see less critters.

 

[mtwarden]

Do you think there are less animals in country like that?

I've hunted stuff like that a lot and it seems to me I see less critters.

Yeah definitely less critters. True with just about everywhere I hunt mule deer, but the flip side is while densities are less—there are a significant number of bucks that die of old age

 

[Bachto]

I would rather hunt less pressure and less deer than more pressure and more deer.

OP, I am also from Washington and I hunted a wilderness area this year and saw deer every day and I ended up killing a small 4 pt. A bunch of people were complaining on the Washington Hunting facebook page (that thing is a shit show) about how the area I was hunting had no deer anymore and it's too dry. Yeah it was a dry year and that might be why I saw so many deer up high, I am not entirely sure. Though I didn't see another person where I was.

I do agree though that sometimes the foothills/front ranges has more animals. The front range and foothills of the blues has WAY more deer than the Wenaha wilderness and other areas of the blues (not where I hunted this year but have in the past). That is probably true for other mountain ranges as well.

 

[Customweld]

I would rather hunt less pressure and less deer than more pressure and more deer.

OP, I am also from Washington and I hunted a wilderness area this year and saw deer every day and I ended up killing a small 4 pt. A bunch of people were complaining on the Washington Hunting facebook page (that thing is a shit show) about how the area I was hunting had no deer anymore and it's too dry. Yeah it was a dry year and that might be why I saw so many deer up high, I am not entirely sure. Though I didn't see another person where I was.

I do agree though that sometimes the foothills/front ranges has more animals. The front range and foothills of the blues has WAY more deer than the Wenaha wilderness and other areas of the blues (not where I hunted this year but have in the past). That is probably true for other mountain ranges as well.

It certainly holds true in most of the Idaho Wilderness areas.

 

[MulemanMT]

I like wilderness hunting if you can pack in far enough.