09-29-2002, 08:11 PM
I figure no one cares to hear about my deer hunting but maybee some of you could offer some advice if I post my hunting experinces this year. I am a rifle hunter, and the rifle hunt statrs here in utah in late ocotber. I started scouting in august just as the deer were coming into the full development of thier antlers. I was in the high country where there are no roads, and the only way in is on a horse or by walkin with a backpack straped to your back. I saw deer every trip out, and the buck to doe ratio is one that would roll back the mind of any big game hunter. But this is country where it is steep and deep and with no means of game retrieval other than packing it out on your back, you dont just shoot any buck, it has to be a good one. I patterned a great buck. He is a very square framed buck with great hight and a good width. He is only 27-28 inches wide and this year I have seen a couple that are bigger, ( 30 inch range ) but this deer was a good looker and I knew where he was spending his nights, where he would spend his days, and the exact location of the trails he would use to access his feeding and bedding areas. He was also the single most cautious deer i have ever seen. I watched him several times from 3/4 a mile away and he is a very cautious buck. Once a doe got spooked just a bit and he instantly bolted. Normally bucks will key off these does and smaller bucks to locate danger but I have always seen them notice a spooked deer and then look around to locate the danger for themselves. Not this buck, he just clears country. He always stops to scan the terrain before going over a ridge to ensure there is no sign of danger on the other side. I believe he ahs the terrain memorized and if one thing looks out of place he doest continue. I beleieve this because one day I moved in to about six hundred yards to get some real good video footage of him and at dusk when he came around the ridge to his evening area he stopped as usual to check and located me. I was in full camo with the wind at my face tucked up under a low hanging tree with a small hill behind me so I was not silhouetted. There was no movement so he couldnt have known I was there other than that he just knew something wasnt right. The distance should have been enough that he wouldnt have looked for me had he been just any deer. Needless to say, he went back to his hiding hole. I saw him again and got more video footage of him. But a few weeks later, I was back up there just ensuring he was holding true to his pattern and I found grouse hunters riding horses down in his day and evening areas. I saw two sets of grouse hunters on horses, firing shotguns in his living space. As you can guess, with as cautious a buck as he is, we was way gone. Not only cleared country but cleared continent. I am not sure if he is still somewhere in the area and has just gone nocturnal or if he has fled into the nastiest country around. I went back up this last weekend for two days trying to find him but he is a wise old critter and he has outsmarted me two weekends in a row now. I have just a couple more weeks to relocate him before the rifle hunt starts. I will probably not find him and have to shoot another buck. Any one got any high country wise old muley advice?