Glassing advice for Mule Deer country

Ageewhy · Oct 3, 2017

Hi folks, Iv'e posted a few times on this forum and found it very helpful. I am headed out for my first Mule Deer hunt next week to SE Idaho (unit 75/76) and have a question on glassing:

While doing some virtual scouting, it seems that generally speaking the North and East facing slopes are heavily timbered/covered. And the South and West facing slopes are generally open or sparse.

Should I be glassing into the thick cover (North/East slopes) or should I be sitting in the thick cover and glassing the open facing South and west slopes? Does this change in morning or evening?

(I realize this is a total newbie question!)

I have a 20-60x80 spotting scope I'm planning on using...thanks in advance!

WestNDMuleys · Oct 3, 2017

No experience in that country but if possible I would use your binocs on your tripod as well. Makes a huge difference! You will spot game with an ear flick because your binocs are rock solid whereas you'd never see it while free handing it.

dirtygrass · Oct 3, 2017

In my experience it all depends on the weather. I hunt pretty open country for deer and have found the deer don't like the hot sun when its hot, but they hate the wind more. When it is hot I hunt all day glassing bedding areas, in my area the deer bed by big rocks that provide shade. If the wind is blowing the move to the bottom of the canyons and bed in the open but out of the wind. When its cold they bed in the sun light out in the open. If the wind is blowing from the south I hunt the north side of the mountain down low. My last 5 deer have been shot in their beds. One thing I can't figure out is why once a buck beds in a certain spot, no matter how good it is, different deer never use that bed. I found a big buck five years ago in a great place to bed, never seen another deer bed there. The beds I shoot deer out of don't get occupied again.

trophymuley · Oct 3, 2017

If you have the patience sit and pick apart the thick stuff. The open hillsides are really easy to see if deer are on so you won't need to spend much time checking them. Majority of your time should be spent looking for any sign in the thick. Look it over hard and start over again.

littlebighorn · Oct 3, 2017

It's pretty tough to do virtual scouting without actually knowing vegetation types, etc. Glassing pine hillsides is almost impossible, but quakie patches are good places to look. What is ideal is finding spots to look from where you can see lots of country. That will give you a better chance to actually locate deer so you know where they are hanging out. I often get as high as I can and look at miles of country in detail before moving on.

Another critical factor is being in a glassing spot at first light and also as it is getting dark. Too many guys start glassing after the big bucks have already headed to bed...or they leave to head back to camp just as the big bucks start getting on their feet.

Best of luck with your hunt.

Gator · Oct 4, 2017

When I first start glassing a hillside I follow out each trail quickly as I can(have found a lot of animals already moving up or down them)
I use a scroll method when topping a rise 2 steps scroll right to left then back left to right.

long distance very thing is on a tripod even a 10-42 on tripod will find more deer then freehand.
Big spotter to pick apart hillside is the best just a slight change of a few feet will give you a different view sometimes and you will see things different.
Good luck

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groundhog999 · Oct 12, 2017

Dusk and dawn are small windows of time to glass so most of your time is glassing bedded buck's. What I have found where we live in Saskatchewan is mulies don't pick treed or grass hillside based on the vegetation but more on the weather conditions to where they bed.
normally here they are getting winter coats already so unless its well below freezing they will bed in the shade.
Wind, slope and shelter have a direct correlation to each other, A buck is safest when he beds so he can look down hill and have the wind at his back with shelter behind him (cliff, trees, shrubs) that way he can easily detect danger from any direction.

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