Scouting for High Country Mule Deer
By Zach Bowhay
With many pronghorn seasons in full swing and the archery elk season fast approaching, it’s easy to be distracted right now finishing up your summer to-do list before the big game. However, if a big mule deer buck in the high country is at the top of your list for this fall, the time is now to be out scouting. By now, all the bucks have made it back to the high country and can be found, for the most part, close to where they will spend their fall. Many bucks right now are within a half-mile, or often times within a few hundred yards, of where they will be when the fall rifle seasons begin. If you spend the time now finding a buck that fits what you are after, you will be further ahead than just hopping around from basin to basin in hopes of stumbling on the buck of your dreams.
Want to do some scouting with trail cams too? Learn where to place them in the high country here.
Like bachelor herds of bull elk, most bucks will be in some hidden basin that holds everything they need without having to travel too far. Often times a buck won’t travel more than a couple hundred yards throughout its day due to the fact that he has everything he needs from food to water, to good bedding areas that give him a good view of his surroundings and a well thought out escape route in the event that he is spooked. With everything so close, a buck can get up and browse throughout the day. Without moving around excessively, he can often do so without being spotted in most circumstances.
Best Hunting Apps
With all of the technology we have at our fingertips any more, I rarely ever go to a place without doing my online research beforehand. For years now, hunters have been scouring Google earth and finding “bucky” looking areas. Nowadays with new apps, it just got that much easier. Lately, I have been playing around with the BaseMap app (www.basemap.com). Here you can look at areas and see who owns the area, be it the forest service, BLM or farmer John. BaseMap also has a multitude of other layers with everything from roads and trails, to current forest fires or past forest fires, clear down to showing limited entry units, over the counter units, and the mule deer range within those units. By going through these filters, you can find an area you can hunt then search for pockets you want to scout within the areas known to hold deer. This type of info can put you way ahead of the game before you ever step foot into the area you are interested in hunting.
How to Find Buck Deer
Buck deer and especially mature buck deer don’t like and will not tolerate much traffic from animals of the two-legged variety. If they keep seeing, hearing or smelling humans on a regular basis, you can rest assured that it won’t take long before they take up residence in a different area. High country bucks are not like the bucks around town that are used to people. It’s just not typical for them to encounter people often throughout the summer. So, if they keep bumping into people, they get nervous. They might not blow right out of there, but with a lot of human activity, they will likely pack up and head for greener pastures. Because of this fact, finding secluded basins that don’t have main trails through them, or areas of high human traffic is often the best bet for finding bucks that will stay put.
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Best Time of Day to Scout Deer
As I previously mentioned, they will at times get up and move throughout the day, but if you want to substantially up your buck sightings, you need to be there at first light and last light. And, I don’t mean before the sun comes up and after it goes down for a bit either. I mean you need to be glassing when you can barely see anything. This is the reason when I am scouting mule deer, that I often times camp on the mountain where I am glassing, so I can glass until it’s too dark to see, then I am back at it well before the sun comes up the next morning.
What Type of Binoculars are Best for Scouting Deer?
We have all heard the old adage, “buy the best optics you can afford.” In buck hunting, this is a very accurate statement. When scouting for deer, I try to never disturb the area where the bucks I intend to be hunting are living for reasons I have already mentioned. So, that means, I usually glass these spots from far enough away that I don’t chance spooking them. First, I recommend a quality pair of 10x or 12x binoculars and make an investment in an adapter where you can mount them to your tripod. Once you do this, you will be amazed at the advantage this gives you and you will wonder how you ever got by without them. Putting your binoculars, with their large field of view, on a stationary tripod, you pick out much more movement than you ever do hand holding your binoculars and scanning the landscape. Next, I recommend a good spotting scope with a large objective. Yes, smaller objective scopes are a little easier to pack, but having a scope with a larger objective like an 85mm really aids in judging bucks, especially in the low light when you are most likely to see them.
Want more info on binoculars? Read our blog on how to choose binoculars here.
Of course, there is more to it, but these few tips can get you well on your way to finding a great buck to hunt this fall. It may take a while, but eventually, you can find what you are looking for. Once you find a buck that interests you, it’s a good idea to check back on him periodically. The biggest take away from finding a buck you would like to target before the season is just purely knowing he is actually there. It’s a heck of a lot easier to spend that extra few hours glassing when you know for a fact that what you are after is out there somewhere.