NV 114, 115 Research In Progress

utahheadgear · Jun 20, 2007

Drew my tag (Early Rifle) and now the research begins. I have good maps, have ordered some aerial photos, picked out what I think are some potential "Honey Holes", and have at least two scouting trips planned before the hunt. I've never hunted the unit though and I have a few questions. Any help is greatly appreciated.

1. Vegetation and terrain? I'm assuming mostly Pinyons/Juniper and sage, but not sure what the higher elevations might hold??

2. General elevation that deer will be found in Early October. Where I come from in Utah, early October is a transition period with some bucks up top, some low, and some in between. How about this unit?

3. Access? I'm looking at hunting the Moriah wilderness or other off the road areas so I'll be using my boots, but how is the access as far as road quality getting in? 4WD pickup, or should I look at bringing the ATV?

4. Where do most of the deer winter? I figure somewhere between the top and where they winter would be a good place to start looking in October.

5. Which Unit? 114 (north unit) or 115 (south unit)? I'm currently looking at 114 for my concentrated efforts unless my research tells me otherwise.

6. Water? Is there any? Is there alot? How much of a factor will finding water be to finding deer?

7. Any other insight you can add is just a bonus.

Thanks in advance to anyone that may be able to help answer some of my questions.

Send me a PM or email me at [email protected]

Thanks.

viking421a · Jun 20, 2007

I drew the late muzzy 114-115 tag, I am doing the same research.

Have you looked at the hunter information sheets on ndow's website? I think some of your questions are answered there.

http://ndow.org/hunt/resources/infosheets/deer/east/md_114_115.pdf

utahheadgear · Jun 20, 2007

From what I understand the Muzzy hunt is the one to have. You should be in for a treat. Assuming I don't kill the biggest buck on the mountain before you get there that is. I didn't have the patience to wait for that tag.

I actually did check out the info sheets, and you are right they do help some. Thanks for the tip.

Good luck with your research and if you want to compare notes let me know. I'll share what I find.

NVguide · Jun 20, 2007

The unit does hold some good bucks and you can do all the map research and talk to biologists and people that know the area, but unless you spend some time actually in the field scouting you will waste your whole hunt checking spots. An early rifle tag over there, you will need to bring a good pair of hiking boots or a horse and get far away from the roads. There are a few springs in the hig country in 114, and a ton of roads out of the widerness, all can be accessed by truck but the quad makes traveling them much eaiser.

Wyogstew1 · Jun 20, 2007

i got an archery tag in the area and from what i have researched, it seems that hunting the deer as they come off of the farms in 115 is best, at least for the early season. a friend of mine got a muzzy tag in there a few years ago and filled it on a decent 4 point hunting the deer as they came off of the farms. when are you guys planning on heading out to do some scouting? if you want an extra set of eyes let me know.

Happy Hunting

utahheadgear · Jun 21, 2007

NV Guide,

I have some good boots and plan on doing a fair amount of scouting. My concern is that the deer that I scout in the summer will not be in the same area come October. Is this a valid concern or do the stay put?

Anyone?????

NVguide · Jun 21, 2007

Unless we get a lot of weather to get the bucks rutting a little early then the will be within a mile or two of where they summer, as the bucks start to think about the does a little, the will start moving form the high country on the south end of 114 and move to the mogahogany country to the north. I have an archery tag over there for the second year in a row. Took a couple of backpacking trips into the widlerness on the south end last year and saw a lot of bucks but just nothing better than 160, killed my buck on the north end of 115. Last year in the late muzzlelaoader hunt there wasn't many real good bucks killed. Best I know of was 194 gross n/t. If you put in the time scouting you can come out of there with a 180 buck.

bemis · Jun 21, 2007

Thomas,
I sent you a PM did you get it?

utahheadgear · Jun 21, 2007

Okay NVGuide, great info. How about the water situation? Is there enough to keep the deer spread out all over the unit during summer and early fall or are they congregated around water, and if so, do you have any hints on that?

Also, is the wilderness in the south end of 114 all PJ or do you get into mountain shrubbery and aspens and such in the higher elevations?

For some reason I like the looks of 114, although alot of guys are recommending the northern part of 115. It just seems the northern part of 115 is a small portion of the unit and the access seems pretty good, so I'm assuming that it receives the majority of the pressure, although maybe for good reason. How is the hunting pressure over there in your estimation?

Wyogstew1 · Jun 21, 2007

NVguide, you said you have an archery tag in there this year, do you need a hunting partner because i could sure use one. let me know.

Happy Hunting

NVguide · Jun 22, 2007

Water is spread out plenty, by that time of year those bucks will be about half nocturnal. I think that most of the pressure will be on top of Moriah out of the wilderness, but you are not far off base with your guess of a lot on the north end of the park either. The bad part about the park is there is'nt much high country the is out of the park so most of the big bigs stay there untill rut or snow bring them out. best bet is to find a group of buck and figure there living area, and be there opening morning to drop the hammer.