Desert bucks advice

muleyslayerwa

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LAST EDITED ON Aug-27-17 AT 01:58PM (MST)[p]Well I found a bachelor group of 3 bucks in the desert. One of them is wide 170-180 type buck. I bumped them while on my way back to my truck. This desert is very flat and they where bedded in a hole with tall sagebrush. It would be tough to glass them where they were bedded, because the glassing points aren't very high. How would you hunt this buck with a bow? I am very excited because he is the biggest buck I have found all year.
 
If it's a desert , I would concentrate on water. If you can't spot them before they spot you , spot and stalk archery becomes an exercise in futility. Good luck
 
D6 is right. Water is your best chance.

You could also locate this pocket again and others like it, then sneak in from downwind with the assumption there are bucks in them. When you get close enough, hopefully you see something before it sees you...

Given the choice between moving in or waiting for them to come to me, though waiting might be better, I've never had the patience.

"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
This might be last resort sort of option when nothing else works, but what if you were in their bed before they were! The wind is the big problem in that approach, but if you figured out their normal direction and and you got a good wind and they were going into the wind to bed at first light and you were already there waiting on them, it might work.
 
These all good ideas I just have to hope they come back after I bumped them season starts Friday. Thanks for the help guys.
 
My guess is they will be very hard to pattern. They probably have a few of those little pockets they hide in and now that they have been bumped they will probably not be back to that one again for a little while. Or at least the biggest buck probably won't.

Try setting up a trail camera in the area and see if you can figure out some regular schedule.
 
Water is the only chance usually in flat desert cedar country. Google map all water tanks around there and see what you find and put up some cams. I've wasted I don't know how many days of my life walking around aimlessly in the desert/flats trying to find a buck I bumped into and never saw them again. It's usually why they get Big!
 
I guess could set a trail camera where I bumped them during the season. That is what I am afraid of bonecollector, it would definitely be my biggest buck to date if I could seal the deal.
 
Water is the key, as previously stated. Find the water and setup cameras. Bumping them this close to season is not good; you may never see them again. On the other hand, if water is limited, they won't have any choice but to return there. Setting up a blind this close to opening day probably will set off alarm bells also...

I hunt desert bucks frequently. They roam a very large area around here. I've seen the same bucks several miles from where I previously found them; during summer when there is no human pressure...

Good luck!
 

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