Our ML deer season started wed... I've been out every morning and evening and its been incredibly rough! 90 degree high's in the day... leaves still on, grass and brush is dried out and crunchy. Our season lasts 7 days so no matter the conditions, the clock is ticking to get'er done.

Found a handful of does each time out, but bucks are suuuuuuper hard to find. I found a buck yesterday in the spotting scope from across a canyon, watched him go bed down, I formulated a plan of attack, drove a couple miles down the mountain, circled below it and hiked up to his location via landmarks I had noted. Incredibly the plan worked, I jumped the buck at 60 yards but I totally choaked and missed the shot. LOL!

Went to a backup hunting spot that evening and found there was a mini-city set up! They were filming a movie and I couldnt believe the amount of equiptment they drug up the mountain for it. At night they lit up that valley like daytime so they could keep filming. It was remarkable. Pretty much spooked all of the wildlife out of the country.

Took my boy with me in the evenings, but last night I let him bring along a gun and he shot his first ever animal, a Ruffed Grouse. He was beaming and proud! It was really cool to sit back and watch the excitement as he stalked it, playing peek-a-boo with it in the stubby brush. He finally got the chance and made a great shot. The only down side is from there on that evening, he quit looking for deer and was focused totally on finding another grouse! Haha.

Anywho I talked to alot of other smokepole hunters, I've only seen 1 other buck killed, everyone is frustrated with the conditions. I dunno why its so hard to find deer. Even during other normal dry years you could find them. I put over 100 miles on my ATV driving up roads Bushmaster wouldnt dare take his horse up. Half a mile per hour, all 4 wheels spinning over baseball to basket ball sized rocks to get up some of the canyons where I hunt. I should have worn a kidney belt as I have some fairly significant pains from all the jostling.

That said, I hit it again this morning. Deer seemed even more scarce, but after traveling and glassing across several canyons, I finally ran into a small herd with a single buck in it. He wasnt spooked or in any hurry so I was able to sneak up and get in range and drop the hammer on him. Nothing picture worthy, just excellent table fair. Had some fresh tenderloins which was so good.

They are forecasting a change of weather, even potential snow tonight... but with having to go back to work tomorrow and only a couple days left in the season, I'm happy with what I got.

Good luck to the rest of you with your fall hunting seasons!


-DallanC

Congrats on the buck Dallan. He might "only be table fare"...but he's still yours mate.

I take it does aren't on the agenda at the moment...not to worry...any time you spend out hunting, especially with your family members, is time well spent mate. Give the young fella congrats on his first grouse, from me.

Cheers, Vince

DallanC wrote:

I put over 100 miles on my ATV driving up roads Bushmaster wouldnt dare take his horse up. Half a mile per hour, all 4 wheels spinning over baseball to basket ball sized rocks to get up some of the canyons where I hunt. I should have worn a kidney belt as I have some fairly significant pains from all the jostling.

That does sound rough!! Though a 4-wheeler does make it easier. Got only my boots for hunding in the mountains this year. Congrats on the buck!!

Great read Dallan ... Congrats on your buck and to your son on his grouse... Nothin like fresh back straps

Outstanding for the both of you. I know the feeling when your son makes his first score. Congrats.

About me and my horses............

Dallan, sounds like a tough but very successful season to me. Taking your son hunting and seeing him score for the first time is sure a high point! Congrats!

Vince wrote:

Congrats on the buck Dallan. He might "only be table fare"...but he's still yours mate. I take it does aren't on the agenda at the moment...not to worry...any time you spend out hunting, especially with your family members, is time well spent mate. Give the young fella congrats on his first grouse, from me. Cheers, Vince

Sadly out Mule Deer population continues to crash. Only in very few cases are doe tags issued. The F&G announced MAJOR changes to next years seasons, including shutting down huge parts of the state to hunting to try and get the populations up. I honestly dont know if it will help. More deer are killed by cars than hunters, then you figure in the predators like Mt Lions etc, loss of winter range due to development... its going to be rough getting the herds to recover.

Hunting deer tags is issued by yearly lottery. If lucky, you get a single buck tag. Lottery odds are around 1 in 2 to even get a tag. You have to apply for a specific season by weapon type (ie: bow, smokepole or rifle). Success runs in the 50-60% range.

Its kind of depressing, expecially when in the eastern US, whitetail deer breed and thrive so hunters are allowed to use multiple weapons to kill multiple deer.

Personally, I WELCOME whitetails to our state but I am in the vast minority. Others feel they will displace the mule deer causing populations to crash further. In my opinion though, we have a tremendous amount of hunters that just want to hunt, they dont care for which type of deer. For every whitetail buck harvested, that leaves 1 more mule deer buck around for breeding muley does.

/shrug

slimjim wrote:

That does sound rough!! Though a 4-wheeler does make it easier. Got only my boots for hunding in the mountains this year. Congrats on the buck!!

The atv gets you in the area, from there you do the hiking. I couldnt hike from most trailheads to the hunting spots... that would be 8-10 miles and gaining 5000ft of elevation just to *begin* hunting.

bushmaster wrote:

Outstanding for the both of you. I know the feeling when your son makes his first score. Congrats. About me and my horses............

Yep it was really neat to watch.

As for the horse, I've seen enough of your posts to know you really love your pony. I've seen a few guys take horses up a couple of these trails and it isnt pretty. Its miles of large, sharp rocks that skin up the hooves and hocks pretty bad when they slip into holes. Sadly I've seen some lame horses up top, all cut and bleeding... and they still have the return trip back down to make. I'd never take a horse up it.


-DallanC

DallanC wrote:

Sadly out Mule Deer population continues to crash. Only in very few cases are doe tags issued. The F&G announced MAJOR changes to next years seasons, including shutting down huge parts of the state to hunting to try and get the populations up. I honestly dont know if it will help.

Here is where I'm going to get myself in trouble. Limiting the doe harvest useually doesn't increase the herd. Back in NY, they used to issue a few doe tags and mostly hunted bucks. It you have too many does and not enough bucks, not all the does get impregnated. Then the fawnless does eat on the food supplies that the other does need. To maximize the deer herd production, a state needs the right buck to doe ratio. Thus, hunting does can actually increase the population and make for a healthier herd. In Texas, we get more doe tags than bucks. Five total tags, no more than 2 bucks can be bucks. To get a mature buck population, they are now limiting bucks to spikes or at least 13" inside spread. To many bucks shot are only 2 years old and they are not maturing to the point where they are getting normal buck behavior. We also have a special antlerless season for two weeks after the regular season.

Dallan wrote:

Sadly out Mule Deer population continues to crash. Only in very few cases are doe tags issued. The F&G announced MAJOR changes to next years seasons, including shutting down huge parts of the state to hunting to try and get the populations up. I honestly dont know if it will help. More deer are killed by cars than hunters, then you figure in the predators like Mt Lions etc, loss of winter range due to development... its going to be rough getting the herds to recover.

OK...I can see the problems, and the uphill battle, you are facing. This is not a problem we have out here as all deer are feral, and they seem to breed like rabbits. Certainly here in Queensland, we don't need tags and there is no deer season...its simply open slather. Main two deer varieties here are fallow and red, although finding a property to hunt red deer is very hard, and we are not allowed to hunt State Forest.

Keep at it mate...you gotta fill them tags.

Cheers, Vince