NV 171-173 rifle

J

jerkee

Guest
Looking to get some preliminary info on these units for a rifle buck hunt. If anyone could provide some starting points to focus my scouting efforts I'd greatly appreciate it. I'll make a couple of scouting trips between late Summer and the hunt but with gas prices so high I don't waste those trips to NV just trying to orient myself w/ the unit. Thanks in advance!
 
The Arc Dome Wilderness holds some real good bucks as well as the crest of the Toiyabe Range. A lot of bucks in that area hang in the mahogany and the small patches of limber pine. Good luck, it should be a fun hunt!
 
I have hunted this unit before mostly in the Arc Dome wilderness. If you e-mail me I will gladly help you out with what I know. I also drew that unit this year but I drew my first choice one the muzzleloader tags. I will be scouting also maybe we can share info.
 
Its some good bowhunting I bow hunted it a few years back saw alot of bucks and a few great bucks. Hunt high and away from the horse trails. The area I hunted I had to pack 5 gallons of water in with me. Not much water were I was lots of water in the bottoms but it would take all day to hike down and back up again. The Arc dome area is pretty rugged and is real hot during archery season bring sunscreen.
 
Jerkee- I have hunted that area 8 of the last 12 years between my tags and my friends tags. There are deer in just about every canyon. Quality bucks have found their way to safe places off the beaten path. I have used the Eastman method and gotten to know one area real well(patterns,escape routes, cycle of travel etc). Anyway, if you do not have plans on where to start yet check out Crane Canyon, Marysville Canyon, and Arc Dome. Each offers good numbers of you are willing to hike and glass with patience. This time of year they bed early and you have to wait until they get up to stretch and move with the shade. Later(October), they tend to stay up until around 10 a.m. and are back up around 3-4 p.m. Check the shade of every tree and you might be surprised at what you find.
 
These guys gave you some good advice. I would add that you might want to consider paying to get packed in and out on horseback. I had some friends that used to hunt Arc Dome almost every year and they hiked in the first couple of times but as mentioned if you camp high your going to have to make trips for water or if you camp closer to water its a long hike every morning to hunt. It is steep and rugged and that air gets real thin up there even if your in pretty good shape. I think they paid $300 + $100 for any deer that needed packed out. They felt it was well worth the money. This is a large area and there are deer outside the wilderness area as well. If Arc Dome's too tough, try the mountain range to the west (Shoshone?). You can find deer near water sources often in the heavier cover. If your limited on time, hunt the end of the season when bucks become a little more active during hunting hours.
 
maddog,

Go to whoever you want to send them a PM and right next to their name is a few icons. The first one looks like two envelopes, then a single envelope, click on that single envelope and send the person a PM. The double looking icon is for their E-mail.

Brian
 
I muzzy hunted the Arc Dome about 10 years ago. The only advice I can give you is to drop down to a lower elevation if it is cloudy up top. Bacically I backpacked in by myself when it was raining at the trail head. The radio station from Tonophah said the storm was going to blow out that evening and the forecast for the rest of the week was to be clear. Well, up top the clouds never left. I spent 5 days being rained on, snowed on, and hailed on. The whole time visability was between 10 and 50 yards. Talk about feeling claustrophobics. Living in a small one man tent for that length of time and everything I had being wet, drove me nuts. I kept thinking that it would lift the next day. When I packed out the floor of the clouds were about half way down the mountian. I could have hunted if I would have dropped down earlier. Lesson learned. Not much help, but it might help you.

Bill
 
Thanks for all the info guys! I did look into getting packed in on a drop camp but it was a bit too expensive. I'll most likely backpack into the wilderness and go from there. Everyone I've talked to said there are deer in just about every cayon but that finding a bomber buck might be a challenge.
 
Sounds like you've decided on the Arc Dome area. Any idea of which direction you're going to hike in from? I seem to remember my friends saying that hiking in from the east (Twin crk???)was easiest. The one year I hunted there, I hiked toward Arc Dome from Stewart Creek Campground and from Cow Camp numerous times, but I only made it near the top of Arc Dome one time via Stewart Creek. It took from 5 am to 8 pm of constant walking with the only break being the time it took to bone out the deer I shot. It was the toughest hike I have ever been on in my life, but it was very memorable. I stayed the rest of the season trying to get my dad his deer and we mainly hunted lower around cow camp southwest of Arc Dome. The deer down low were primarily does and small bucks, so he ended up eating his tag, but it was still a great hunt. We did see several nice bucks taken by hunters that were going up to the top of the mountains from cow camp on horseback. Anyways, good luck on your hunt and let us know how it turns out even if you decide not to shoot one.
 

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