6A Oct Deer

Actionsqueak · Sep 18, 2022

I drew an early rifle mule deer tag for unit 6A and am looking for some suggestions on where to find deer. So far I have scouted apache maid area, pine grove quiet area, cedar flats, and north of 260 where the power lines cross the road. I have seen some sign but nothing too recent. Tons of elk and elk sign all over but the deer are proving difficult to locate. Does anyone have any tactics, areas to look, general information they would be willing to share?

This is my first big game hunt and I'm flying solo, so any help is much appreciated!

huntandfish · Sep 19, 2022

Tactics that I would recommend would be hiring a guide. If you’ve been to that many places in the unit and still can’t find a deer you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’re new to big game hunting you’ve probably also never gutted or quartered a deer! What happens after the shot is the most important and being by yourself and not knowing what you’re doing is how people ruin their meat. This scenario screams for a guide instead of shooting a forky off the road you’ll probably get a mature buck and actually learn how to hunt deer and what to do after.

brushcreek · Sep 19, 2022

huntandfish said:
Tactics that I would recommend would be hiring a guide. If you’ve been to that many places in the unit and still can’t find a deer you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’re new to big game hunting you’ve probably also never gutted or quartered a deer! What happens after the shot is the most important and being by yourself and not knowing what you’re doing is how people ruin their meat. This scenario screams for a guide instead of shooting a forky off the road you’ll probably get a mature buck and actually learn how to hunt deer and what to do after.

Don't you think if he wanted a guide he would have hired one by now?

AZGuy · Sep 19, 2022

That’s a tuff unit for October mule deer. Could likely road hunt around happy jack and whack a small good eating deer

CouesFanatic · Sep 19, 2022

huntandfish said:
Tactics that I would recommend would be hiring a guide. If you’ve been to that many places in the unit and still can’t find a deer you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’re new to big game hunting you’ve probably also never gutted or quartered a deer! What happens after the shot is the most important and being by yourself and not knowing what you’re doing is how people ruin their meat. This scenario screams for a guide instead of shooting a forky off the road you’ll probably get a mature buck and actually learn how to hunt deer and what to do after.

I disagree completely. Theres approx 99 elk for every 1 mule deer in that unit. It can be a tough unit to hunt for mule deer. It's a legitimate question, even for someone who knows how to hunt.

You can either learn the unit really well and expect to spend the majority of your time searching or pick a unit with more deer next time. Paying for a guide for 6a mule deer would be a waste of money.

Houndsman77 · Sep 19, 2022

I would drive the roads look for sign then look for water then look for food and between all that looking if your in sign you will kill one and you will learn a lot just by finding sign best of luck. Stay positive

Actionsqueak · Sep 19, 2022

Thanks for all the helpful replies so far. To correct my original post and in response to the first not so encouraging post, I have seen SOME deer and deer sign. I just haven’t seen nearly as much as elk sign. I saw a group of four bucks near pine grove quiet area and one young buck near happy jack. However, I’m not sure if it makes sense to go chase after the deer in a densely wooded area or sit on a hill further south in the unit to spot and stalk.

To be more specific with my questions for those with more experience deer hunting and specifically in 6A:

- Do you prefer to sit on water or spot and stalk?
- Are there any general characteristics of the landscape to look out for that deer tend to live near (i.e. ridges, burn scars, open fields, dense woods, certain plant species)?
- If you had my tag with only about 5 days to hunt, how would you plan for the hunt to maximize chances of success?

Actionsqueak · Sep 19, 2022

huntandfish said:
Tactics that I would recommend would be hiring a guide. If you’ve been to that many places in the unit and still can’t find a deer you don’t know what you’re doing. If you’re new to big game hunting you’ve probably also never gutted or quartered a deer! What happens after the shot is the most important and being by yourself and not knowing what you’re doing is how people ruin their meat. This scenario screams for a guide instead of shooting a forky off the road you’ll probably get a mature buck and actually learn how to hunt deer and what to do after.

Thank you for your input but this is not helpful. I am looking to learn and can not afford a guide. I plan on studying books and online videos to learn to gut the animal prior to the hunt.

Chump · Sep 20, 2022

Actionsqueak said:
Thank you for your input but this is not helpful. I am looking to learn and can not afford a guide. I plan on studying books and online videos to learn to gut the animal prior to the hunt.

This is a handy clip!