LAST EDITED ON Oct-28-13 AT 09:36AM (MST)[p]Back from my unit 32 rifle deer hunt. End result is that I'm not sure that I would take the tag next year if it was available on leftovers.
Started out in the sand hills west of Kenna. Thought I had some good looking spots lined up with no roads and some decent terrain. Got there Saturday morning about 30 minutes before shooting light and started hiking in. Kept hiking and kept hiking. Didn't see much sign at all and there had been a rain the night before so I would have been able to see fresh tracks. Finally mid morning saw a doe and 2 fawns. Got back in a little over 3 miles and that was it. Saw their tracks again on the way out. Pretty discouraging.
Ended up driving around a bit and the mix of public and private was a little confusing on what was marked and what wasn't, but basically after about lunch time I decided that there weren't many deer in the sand hills. Did hear some shots up by the rimrock area where the windmills are, but that looked all private.
Relocated to an area Northwest of Roswell with some checkboard BLM and State land after lunch. Tough to get off the highway onto public land, but finally found a spot. Looked pretty deery and spooked up 5 does and fawns right off the bat when I started hiking toward the bottom. Snuck up on a doe and 2 fawns down in the bottom then moved up onto the top on the opposite side. Saw the biggest covey of quail I've ever seen in my life, at least 50 birds. That turned out to be the highlight of the trip probably. Sat back and watched the bottom area as the sunset and 8 does and fawns came working through the bottom but no antlers. Walked back to the truck in the dark and decided to try Bitter Lake in the morning.
Ended up with a tiny bit under 10 miles logged on my boots according to my GPS.
Started out at Bitter Lake Sunday morning. Headed out about 30 minutes before shooting light. Didn't see much in the way of tracks in the bottom so moved over into the hills a little. Heard some coyotes but not much else. Actually glassed a shed antler about 1/2 mile away and headed over there. Chalky white, but a decent find. Still not seeing any recent tracks really. Made a big loop and headed back out. Found another shed antler and saw a few more tracks, but didn't see a single deer. Logged a little over 6 miles on my boots per my GPS.
Decided I would at least go look at the twin buttes road area and headed over there thinking I would try to get back in off the road a ways and see if I could at least see a buck. Wow, I've never seen so many hunters in such a small area in my life! Probably 50 or so hunters in about a 10 square mile area. Campers, trailers, tents, ATVs, a regular city back there. They all looked like they were hanging around camp so I went on in and tried to get off the road. Hiked about a mile and setup overlooking a bottom and within about 15 minutes see 2 hunters coming up through the bottom beating the brush. Literally, one of them way picking up rocks and throwing them into the brush. They spooked about 10 deer out, but all of them were does. After they finished working the bottom I decided I would follow where the does went back farther in. I was going to be sunset soon and I figured they might lead me to a buck. I topped the next ridge over and a pickup was driving up a road that I thought was blocked off down on private. I move over onto the ridge and about when I'm going to sit down 2 other hunters come walking up from the North. I decide to just head back to the truck and as I'm going down the ridge, 2 more hunters are on their way up from the West. I keep heading back to the truck, bump some does and fawns on the way and decide I might as well sit a ridge looking over a bottom as the sun sets. Saw another doe and fawn, another truck drive by, can hear ATVs roaring all around, and am just amazed at the amount of pressure put on the deer in this tiny little area. After sunset I drop down for the last 3/4 of a mile to my truck and bump a doe in the bottom as I go through. If there are any bucks in the area they are going to about have to get stepped on to get them to leave cover. My best decision all week was to head back to the truck before dark as about 1/3rd of a mile away I almost stepped on a great big rattlesnake. I just left him alone and went around. Decided to just drive back to Lubbock and call it a learning experience. Just 4 miles on my boots that evening. There just wasn't any real areas to get very far back in that I could see.
Total for the weekend, 20 miles logged on my boots and didn't see a single buck.
Advice for someone who has a rifle tag next week. I would try the area Northwest of Roswell. Look for some bottom land with some brush that is accessible from a road. You might have a more enjoyable time bringing your shotgun if quail season is open then.
Good luck.
