Hi all,
I have a muzzleloader deer tag this year, and because of my lack of luck in other draws, I have been putting my full focus into scouting for the hunt. I got the tag because I am fairly familiar with the unit, and I enjoy spending time above treeline. I am a teacher, so with the summer off, I have spent close to 20 days in the unit exploring all the different basins that seemed likely to hold deer. Although I took a doe in the unit during 2nd rifle last year, it is a pretty low density deer unit. Up until last week, I had only seen one buck (who is unlikely to still be where I saw him) and a few does in the timber. However, while exploring a new area last week, I found the honeyhole. In a small pocket between two alpine lakes, I found 8 bucks and a doe ranging from 2 4x4s, a couple of 3x3s including a deep bladed one who was probably the biggest bodied, a buck with an irregular club on one side, and a few forks. I watched as they made the exact same pattern from bedding in small strip of timber, to feeding uphill into meadows between snow patches three days in a row. I haven't figured out exactly where they bed during the day, as the wind was not right for me to get above them without risking spooking them.
I am curious of you all's opinions of this group of buck's anticipated behavior over the next month and a half. I have done a good bit of reading on the subject, and although it seems likely they will stay in the same general area unless they are bumped, how specific of a location do bucks tend to stick to between August and September? Would this size of a group stay together through mid-September? Obviously I think the biggest wild card would be if someone finds and hunts them in archery season, but there's nothing I can do about that. I will try and go back up once more towards the end of August to see if I can re-find them, but with school starting my schedule is a lot less open. If only I could give virtual lessons via inReach at 11,000 ft... I haven't figured out what kind of time off I can take off for the hunt yet, but hopefully I will be doing a minimum of 4 days. I would also like to figure out a plan B location in the unit that holds deer, but no luck so far there. Thanks in advance for your input, and feel free to share any other words of wisdom for a high country hunt that you think would be helpful!
Thought you might enjoy these photos. I apologize for the crappy quality, my spotting scope was a whopping $75. I especially enjoyed watching the moose calf-buck interaction...
I have a muzzleloader deer tag this year, and because of my lack of luck in other draws, I have been putting my full focus into scouting for the hunt. I got the tag because I am fairly familiar with the unit, and I enjoy spending time above treeline. I am a teacher, so with the summer off, I have spent close to 20 days in the unit exploring all the different basins that seemed likely to hold deer. Although I took a doe in the unit during 2nd rifle last year, it is a pretty low density deer unit. Up until last week, I had only seen one buck (who is unlikely to still be where I saw him) and a few does in the timber. However, while exploring a new area last week, I found the honeyhole. In a small pocket between two alpine lakes, I found 8 bucks and a doe ranging from 2 4x4s, a couple of 3x3s including a deep bladed one who was probably the biggest bodied, a buck with an irregular club on one side, and a few forks. I watched as they made the exact same pattern from bedding in small strip of timber, to feeding uphill into meadows between snow patches three days in a row. I haven't figured out exactly where they bed during the day, as the wind was not right for me to get above them without risking spooking them.
I am curious of you all's opinions of this group of buck's anticipated behavior over the next month and a half. I have done a good bit of reading on the subject, and although it seems likely they will stay in the same general area unless they are bumped, how specific of a location do bucks tend to stick to between August and September? Would this size of a group stay together through mid-September? Obviously I think the biggest wild card would be if someone finds and hunts them in archery season, but there's nothing I can do about that. I will try and go back up once more towards the end of August to see if I can re-find them, but with school starting my schedule is a lot less open. If only I could give virtual lessons via inReach at 11,000 ft... I haven't figured out what kind of time off I can take off for the hunt yet, but hopefully I will be doing a minimum of 4 days. I would also like to figure out a plan B location in the unit that holds deer, but no luck so far there. Thanks in advance for your input, and feel free to share any other words of wisdom for a high country hunt that you think would be helpful!
Thought you might enjoy these photos. I apologize for the crappy quality, my spotting scope was a whopping $75. I especially enjoyed watching the moose calf-buck interaction...
