School me on central wa mule deer tactic's

[wt]

Ok here is the scenario: this weekend I'm going to an area within a 25 mile radius of Bridgeport. I will be hunting draws above agriculture. What is the best location to be at sunrise, what is the best location for sun set and what is the best thing to do during middle of the day? I am a blacktail guy with limited time spent chasing mulies, so I would love to get some pointers. I assume; morning, post up on the top 25% of the draw let the deer come up and be pushed up by others, night, the bottom 25% of the draw, and glass mid day bedding areas (sunny spot's?). Where am I right? What do I have backwards? Wt

[boneaddict]

Most are in all out hide mode now.  Especially in that country.  Unless you have private that has had zero pressure most activity occurs after dark.   The rut is popping early, so that might lure out a buck.   

[AKBowman]

Does that mean I'll have our BT spot all to myself this weekend?! 

[MtnMuley]

Remember there is a huge portion of your 25 mile radius from Bridgeport that is CCT reservation and off limits to non members for big game.

[JLS]

My personal preference is to get high and glass at first light and then go from there.  If there is a lot of pressure, find an escape route and sit on it.  If there isn't go slow and glass a lot, looking for deer in little hidey holes.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I agree with Boneaddict and JLS.  It would be most helpful to have truly excellent binoculars and spotting scope.  Watch for deer activity at first light, then spend as much time as you can stand the rest of the day picking apart shadows under bluffs, sagebrush patches and any other vegetation that can hide a bedded buck.  Look for anything a little out of place, because odds are you won't see a whole deer, you are looking for a horizontal leg, an ear, a piece of antler.  It is rare to see an entire legal buck during daylight in open country after the first morning. 

[JLS]

Good call on the spotting scope.  I can't tell you how often I use mine during deer season.  It sure is nice, even at 200 yards, to put up the Leopold and KNOW that there are three points on the deer.  Not to mention how invaluable they are for glassing country AFTER you've hit it with your binos.

[theleo]

Like the guys have said, get high and glass. During the middle of the day spend your time glassing the likely bedding areas and pick them apart. I've found a lot of deer during the middle of the day but it's almost always from finding an odd shaped sage brush branch. Open country mule deer hunting is an extremely optics oriented challenge.

[yakimarcher]

Most are in all out hide mode now.  Especially in that country.  Unless you have private that has had zero pressure most activity occurs after dark.   The rut is popping early, so that might lure out a buck.   

With the rut starting early, do you think that using a doe decoy and doe in estrus scent or rattling would be productive on public land?

[boneaddict]

Do not use a doe decoy during modern in that neck of the woods.  It will get you killed or will be shot. 

[boneaddict]

I don't use estrous.  I do rattle, but not during general modern for muledeer.

[yakimarcher]

thanks bone!

[Henrydog]

If we ever get a calm day get to the highest point in the morning and glass.  As the sun gets higher the surface starts heating the warmer air rises.  If you are midslope or lower your scent in now all over above you.  Opposite is true in the evening (cold air sinks) so keep that in mind.

[Reidus]

Just get a tag and your favorite pair of tennis shoes. Don't need a gun.  First 1 to the deer tags it. 

[PastorJoel]

The "all out hide mode" applies primarily to bucks, not does.  Right?  I have seen at least 30 doe and only two bucks (one was bones, another was a spike) between last night and today.

[pashok23]

Just get a tag and your favorite pair of tennis shoes. Don't need a gun.  First 1 to the deer tags it. 

LMAO

[wt]

Also, yes the BT is yours this Saturday and Sunday lol.
Thanks you to the other members for the in put. Any recommendations for spotting scope worth owning under $500?

[Reidus]

What size spotter? Compact?

[wt]

I'm not sure on the size, I'm new to the whole thing. I will have it in the pack, however it wouldn't be for a high hunt with weight restrictions. but I also don't want it to be silly heavy like something on the observation deck. $500 is not a firm ceiling. Just trying to not get caught up in 1,2,3,4K$ recommendations.

[PastorJoel]

Also, consider locating other hunters and sit and wait a mile or so away.  Any deer they push will come your way.

[JLS]

http://cameralandny.com/

Look up the Minos MD 62 demo.  I tried to link it but I'm an iPhone idiot.


I've used these, and they are a great scope for the money.  An eyepiece will run you about three Benjamin's

[Reidus]

I'd go as big as your willing to carry and get the best you can within your budget. You may be able to find a used vortex razor under $1k. I havent looked at the viper or diamondback vortex lines. I see used gold ring leupolds in the $600- $700 range fairly often. I think they would be a good choice. 

[JLS]

I have an older Leupold Gold Ring that is a 25x50mm.  These are pretty good scopes for the money, very compact and lightweight.  Relative to the Minox I don't think they have/had as good a quality of glass. 

Edited for Autocorrect gibberish

[wt]

Thank you jls,reidus,pastor Joe and others. I appreciate the pointers.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I don't keep up with the optics market, but Nikon Monarch used to be a good one for the budget-minded hunter. 

[wt]

I went for the Vortex razor hd 65. More than I was going to spend but I wanted to make sure I didn't pay good money for something that didn't do what I hoped. It has good feed back and a killer warranty/ support I believe. Keep the tactic recommendations coming! And if you want to share some spotting scope user advice to a novice that would be great as well.

[Reidus]

Some guys like to use a patch over one when using a spotter very long. I have yet to try it. I just know I get fatigued from squinting if I look through a spotter for very long. It's supposed to help.

[vandeman17]

Some guys like to use a patch over one when using a spotter very long. I have yet to try it. I just know I get fatigued from squinting if I look through a spotter for very long. It's supposed to help.

I tried it this early season and like it. Arrrrgghhh 

[dscubame]

Also, consider locating other hunters and sit and wait a mile or so away.  Any deer they push will come your way.

One of my favorite techniques hunting public land.

[Cylvertip]

Some guys like to use a patch over one when using a spotter very long. I have yet to try it. I just know I get fatigued from squinting if I look through a spotter for very long. It's supposed to help.

I tried it this early season and like it. Arrrrgghhh 

One of the Beyond Belief videos talked about doing a lot of glassing.  They would use binos until they thought they found something and then switch to the spotter.  Doing that helped them handle the long sessions on the glass.  I don't have much experience myself, but the bucks those guys where taggin adds validity to it.

[Reidus]

Having a tripod adapter for your binos is awesome! I'd like to try some 15x56 binos on a tripod. I think that may be my next glass.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I recommend switching between naked eye, binos and spotter for eye strain relief.  Having good quality glass does wonders for your ability to glass for long periods.

Do a naked eye scan and use the spotter to look at anything that looks interesting - a high grade approach.  Then, use a grid approach and look over everything in your view, don't skip anything.  This will go much faster with practice than it will initially.  You will be amazed at what you see gridding it out that you miss otherwise.