How would you hunt this?

ID_Paul · Oct 26, 2004

I'd appreciate some input from some of you about the area I will be hunting next month. Here are 3 photos of the area that are fairly descriptive of the entire unit.

The unit ranges from 5000 - 7500 feet elevation, these photos were taken around 7000 feet. My hunt dates cover mid-November. The unit is laced with roads, my map browsing has not yet found a large area to get away from them. The good news is there are very few tags during my time.

This is a typical ridge. Thick thigh-high buckbrush, aspen scrub and aspen trees. Some exposed rocks, sage in the flats.

View from inside the aspen stand on the ridge.

Not many conifers in the area, but this seems to be typical of the ones that are there.

It seems attempting to walk through the ridge cover would be a disaster, so am assuming the best method will be to sit back and let my eyes do the hunting and hope to locate them as they exit the cover to feed.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.
Paul

Chef · Oct 26, 2004

I say to try and find game trails and any patterns to whatever you are hunting might be doing. Then, get as high as you can and glass. Then stalk.

Will be different if you get snow.

Chef
"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

bullwidgeon · Oct 26, 2004

From where the first picture was taken, sit down and put your binos on a tripod all day. Eventually something will get up and start to move. Get in front of it or cut it off from behind with that thick cover in there and then shoot it. Good luck.

Bret M.

idhunters · Oct 27, 2004

First, my guess is they are using that tall sagebrush as much or more than the aspen stands. Hard to tell from the photos, but it seems there is alot of brush.

Second, as said above glass, glass glass. Look for the does (find them now, they will still be there barring weather that would push them out of the country) and the bucks will be close.

Third, don't let those roads scare you, especially in a limited tag area. This year my dad and I were hunting some sage country. We had driven down a road, looked at the country and turned around and went back to where we started. I then decided to go for a walk and less than 200 yard from the road (which we had driven twice)I jumped a decent buck. Also, you could use those road to drive and spot (not road hunting). In the big open country it is a good way to see game. Find them, and then stalk 'em!

Mind sharing what unit?

IDHunters

190MuleyHunter · Oct 27, 2004

Did you say you'll be hunting mid November? What are you worried about? Those muleys will be ruting at that time if you're out there anywhere close to Thanksgiving. Especially with all the moisture we've been getting. If this keeps up, you'll have snow to deal with and at the elevation you're hunting in, the deer will likely still be there.

If you are going to be spending consecutive days out there, I'd find their water source and see what kind of tracks have been showing up. If there is snow, you may even be able to track fresh tracks back to their beds.

Do as the others have said, glass. But still be mindful of your scope of your vision. Don't get too caught up in the binos. You always see movement better with your perriferal vison.

Good luck. Thats a great time of year to hunt!

ridgerunner · Oct 27, 2004

Park it, glass, glass, glass and enjoy it, hunting muleys in the rut is awesome!

Papershredder · Oct 27, 2004

No doubt; Spot 'n' Stalk.

Lucky · Oct 27, 2004

Is that Unit 45?

Like everyone else said - glass and stalk. In my experience most of the deer there are in the sagebrush near the tops of the ridges, not so much in the thick stuff.

Obviously when it is dry they stick pretty close to the water.

Good Luck!

ID_Paul · Oct 29, 2004

Thank you for the input. I had assumed spot & stalk would be best. I asked though, because I am still trying to learn to hunt muleys. No one else in my family hunts, and most of the people I've hunted with don't know much either. The deer have been my main teachers and they've been stingy about handing out knowledge

Chef - The chance of snow is fairly good. How would that change things?

idhunters - At this time, I'll just say the unit is in south-central Idaho. I haven't seen any of what I would consider "tall" sage. The highest I've seen is only knee- to thigh-high. I was hoping to find a big grove of the 6-foot stuff.

190MuleyHunter - I'm worried about my lack of hunting skill.

Chef · Oct 29, 2004

Anytime you get light fresh snow, it gives you a nice, easy to follow, daily report on the goings on. Fresh tracks and recently used game trails show you that the animals have traveled the area since the last snow fall. You can then concentrate more on where they are headed and where they came from and aproximately guess the time of day they pass through that particular area.

If it snows heavy, they might go to lower elevations or into thicker stuff to get away from it. Then you make a plan accordingly. You can glass for fresh sign to and from water in the thick snow. They still need to drink but if it starts to melt, there will be water everywhere and they will stay put where they feel comfortable and safe, close to any food supply. In dire straits, they will eat the bitter sage brush.

As you can see, snow does change things quite a bit, depending on the degree of snowfall and the melting ratio afterwards. Snow will usually put things in your favor though, as far as sign. Not so much if the top layer freezes and you get that CRUNCH everytime you take a step...so walk slower and more cautiously, like still hunting. If you think you are walking too fast, you probably are.

While glassing, look for any part of the animal. Glass over the tops of the sage, no matter how shallow the fields are. They can be laying right there. Look for antlers. When glassing into timber and shadows, concentrate and look for what might be hiding in the shade or away from the wind. Look for lines and colors that don't seem "natural" and sort of stick out no matter how subtle they are. Before you know it, you are finding and looking at many animals, not always deer, but animals that were always there and you never saw.

Hope this helps. I wish you the best of luck.

Regards,
Chef

"I Love Animals...They're Delicious!"

SMELLYBUCK · Nov 1, 2004

You've been given some good advice but I have one other consideration if the walking is frozen and loud. Looks like there is a big rock in the middle and at the top of the first picture. There is a patch of quakies that leads up to it. That would be a good place to sit at dawn.