bighorn national forest

P

pickpick

Guest
I have put in for a draw up around burgess junction. I've been studying the maps and was wondering, do you guys usually glass looking at the southwest slopes from the northeast, or do you glass all directions. I guess what I'm needing to know is do the muleys hang out on the northeast or southwest slopes or are they impartial. I have never been mule deer hunting and I'm just hoping for a great trip and to see some deer, and if I kil one then that is a bonus for the first time out. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
 
Well, first off good luck in the draw. Once you get the chance to hunt muley's in the mountains you'll be a muley fan for life.

Generally you want to concentrate on the north facing slopes. But... don't think for a second that you won't find them other places. Start your mornings off glassing sweet spots in the shade ie... little open spots, clearings in the bottoms of draws, those kind of places. You want to try to catch them out moving early. As your morming goes on you want to start picking apart thicker cover and looking for them to be bedded down. But in the middle of all this glassing, take a few mintues and glass sunny areas or the edge of sunny areas. Sometimes muleys will follow a shade line all the way up to a bedding area. The tough part about hunting muleys is the fact that they really don't have much of a pattern, they really could be anywhere. Now thats not to say that you can't pettern them but I'm guessing you won't have 4 or 5 or even 2 weeks to find a buck and pattern him. If you feel like you're in a good area and you aren't seeing anything, give yourself another half hour to an hour of hard glassing then maybe consider moving on. Just some stuff I've learned and I hope it helps. Remember one thing... don't get frustrated and give up, it takes some mental toughness to hunt big muleys. You may go a week without seeing a good buck, but it only takes once to find a good one and you've got something to write home about.

Donnie
 
The key is to glass, glass, and glass some more. When I'm out there, it always seems like as soon as I'm ready to quit and move on, I find deer. There have very few times when I've sat down to glass and found a buck right off the bat. Of course I'm used to hunting the Arizona desert and those deer are few and far between.

I like to scan an area and check out the good spots first, the ones that look like good deer areas. Then I go back and pick a hillside apart. I like to make a mental grid of an area and move across it with my bino's. I spend about 5 to 8 minutes per section, and I scan the sections looking for movment. After I'm done with that, I go right back over it again only this time, I'm trying to pick out shapes ie... an ear or antler or rump patch. I take alot more time the second go round. It usually takes me half a day to pick a good area apart. Now mind you, I'm not just picking random areas and plopping down, these are areas I've already scouted and that I know for sure hold deer. Also, If I'm on an early rifle hunt and I start seeing alot of doe's, I either glass higher up the ridge or a different area all together. Bucks don't seem to mingle with doe's early in the season, not big bucks anyway. When I find good bucks, they are either alone or with one or two other bucks.

If you guys are hunting out of state and don't have a chance to scout, don't be affraid to take a day or two and scout a little bit. I know this goes against our grain as hunters, we want to get out there and hunt. But, if you take a little time and get to know your area, you'll be amazed how you'll be able to find areas that hold deer. Then you can really concentrate on those one or two good areas where you found deer and really pick them apart.

One last thing, pack your lunch with you. Don't head back to camp for lunch and a nap. When a deer beds down, he won't lay there all day and not move. He'll get up, strech, poop, eat a bit and move 20 yards and bed again and he'll do it right in the middle of the day. Many a deer have met there maker because a ngood die hard hunter stuck with it and caught him streching.

Donnie
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-06-09 AT 07:04PM (MST)[p]i drive over burgess twice a week and have done some bowhunting up there and the one huge problem is everywhere you go there is a road. you get half a mile off the road you will see some dandys.there is a lot of deer up there should have no problem finding one. and is you get a tag try bowhunting, rifle season up there gets a little wild.
 
Thanks for all of the great advice. I have been looking over the google maps and I have noticed all of the roads. I was about half hoping the weather would close some of them and that the lazy hunters wouldn't get as far off of the road as I want to be. I'm glad you said there is a good number of deer, it boosts my outlook on the hunting area. Thanks everybody. Please keep the advice coming.
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom