Where do the big bucks go?

[Muleys24Seven]

Hey fellas, I spend most my time in the high country of Idaho, western Wyoming, and Nevada. This season was definitely a humbling year for me (both my Idaho and WY tags went un-punched) and I'm begininng to doubt my approach...thought I'd throw a question out to the MM gang.

Each year while scouting in July/Aug I normally see a few 180+ bucks in the high, open apline basins but once Sept/Oct comes around I rarely see big mature bucks...usually 160's or smaller even in areas with little hunting pressure. I truely love hunting over 9,000ft and being able to glass for miles but I'm thinking about targeting country that is still remote (maybe lower) but has more tree's, chutes, and cover for the bucks to hide.

Do big mature bucks seek heavier cover as they grow older and smarter or do they still live in the open ridges and basins but are nocturnal?

Thanks

 

[hornhunter247]

I've found once they shed their velvet they tend to move into the thicker cover and become more nocturnal. they normally don't move far, just enough.

 

[losthuntr]

The later in the year it gets, the dryer the plants and grass get so the move into the timber or more shaded areas because their food is more moist and palatable atleast thats what I was told once, and from feeling the plants and watching their movement I've come to believe that it's atleast somewhat true

 

[IlikeEmBigAndTall]

hh247 is right on,
the velvet is soft & tender early in the year,
as the first scouters/hunters increase pressure it doesn't take much movement to be in thick cover,
I believe the big boys become very wise or die,
think about it,
6 months of hunting,
what would you do?
too bad I've/We've seen big changes due to over hunting an already suffering herd,
I just hope there are always a few around smart enough to out smart the dwr's piss poor deer herd management or it will be completely over with.

 

[Jazz]

Certainly a good question but not necessarily a new one. Big bucks get that way for a reason, they are experienced and smart. I have seen some outfitters so exceptionally well on private ranches with "velvet" hunts and then kill nothing but average bucks during the hard horned hunts. I'm sure the deer are nocturnal and in heavier cover. Once in awhile they make a mistake but for the most part even on these ranches they disappear and then show later during the rut. Back a few years in SE Idaho we would never see good bucks with the does during the rut if the season was open. They would leave the does at or before daylight and we had to push them out of cover to see them. Smart old bucks are the best but challenging all the time. Good luck by the way I killed a 191 4x4 this year in Nevada with 12 bonus points!

Jazz

 

[HiMtnHntr]

Big bucks definitely get wiser. They may stay in the same general area, but they won't move during daylight much. Big bucks have a way of choosing their hiding spots wisely. In one case I have seen buck bed under a lone cedar 3/4 of the way up a ridge, in full view of people hunting around him. From his vantage point, he could see danger coming, and since he bedded with his back to the wind, he could smell it coming. This buck had all 360 degrees covered. In another case I have seen a spooked buck enter a some hellish blowdown timber on a steep slope. It's thicker than a gorillas back in there and contains a few seeps. My guess is he stayed there for some time after I introduced him to my stench. Going in after him would perhaps have been the toughest deer hunting known to mankind, and probably not very productive. If you can't find em where you have seen them before, just look at all the nasty crap the might have holed up in after they caught some bad wind or heard mr. thundermaker.