Late Season High Hunting

[acnewman55]

I've hunted higher-elevation wilderness areas during the High Buck Hunt, and regular modern rifle season in October.

I've never spent any time in these areas in the late season though.

I'm curious what changes, besides weather.  Is there a rut is these areas in November or do the deer move towards their winter range before the rut kicks in typically?




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[7mag.]

It can be great if there's no snow, unfortunately, that doesn't happen very often. I've seen some good rutting activity up high when the weather permits.

[cvandervort]

I'm with you...
I'd like to give my HH area a shot, later on in the season. I have been  paranoid about missing the migration though.
This may be the year to try it!

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[savagehunter]

Me and my son got locked out of our high hunt area because of the fires. So we went in opening weekend of regular season. Lots of deer in this area last three years. 4 days this year not a single doe not a marmot or ground squirrel. Maybe because of the fires or maybe too late. Weather was perfect mild Temps and light rain. 32 hours of gassing and and 20 miles of hiking. My dad would have told me I 2asnt holding my mouth right. Still fun though.

[BONEHUNTERNW]

Thats the benefit of the high hunt. Even when you dont get a chance at a buck you still get the beauty of the country up there.

[WA1232]

I don't see an open late hunt for the wilderness units, are you talking about just spending time in the area during this time or actually hunting?

[jackelope]

I don't see an open late hunt for the wilderness units, are you talking about just spending time in the area during this time or actually hunting?

The specific wilderness area is not the GMU. The wilderness areas are within GMU's that are open during the general season.

[7mag.]

I've done this and the weather can get real sketchy, so come prepared.

[grade-creek-rd]

Keep in mind, it's not always the snow that drives the deer down, it's the degradation of the food supply. Once the plants freeze and die off their nutritional value diminishes and the deer seek lower ground for better feed...this is info from Volson himself, which makes sense as it's natures way of having deer migrate down during a low snow year so they still breed the does and the genes all get spread around...

Grade

[Bill W]

I went into my high hunt area the last week of the regular season (early November) one year.    I thought it was going to be full of big bucks that the weather drove down.  Turned out it did and they were way lower than I was.   My normal area held NO deer at all.

[Bushcraft]

Keep in mind, it's not always the snow that drives the deer down, it's the degradation of the food supply. Once the plants freeze and die off their nutritional value diminishes and the deer seek lower ground for better feed...this is info from Volson himself, which makes sense as it's natures way of having deer migrate down during a low snow year so they still breed the does and the genes all get spread around...

Grade

Nailed it.

[Eric M]

This is Idaho, but it's a pretty cool short series.

[boneaddict]

Grade is correct, there are more factors than just snow that bring the deer down.

[DOUBLELUNG]

By late October, migratory mule deer does with fawns are typically within 3-5 miles of their winter ranges.  The average migration in Chelan County is 30+ miles, so they are well off their summer ranges.  By November 1, most of the bucks are within a couple miles of the does, the subdominant bucks are acting all goofy and following the does.  By around November 5, the dominant bucks are active all night checking doe groups for does in estrus, and camped out by day near their best breeding prospect.  It is not common to find many migratory mule deer on summer ranges during the rut, however some adult bucks post-rut will move back up higher to winter in small pockets of suitable winter range.

I've often wondered if the nocturnal activity pattern of dominant bucks during the rut, and the higher elevation wintering of some dominant bucks and bulls, is an adaptation to 100+ years of human pressure, both legal and illegal.