Pathfinder's Idaho Deer Hunt

[Pathfinder101]

Well, after applying for quality controlled hunts since 2001 (in Washington consistently, and on and off for a few years in MT, OR and ID), I have finally drawn a tag.  I put up a thread immediately when I found out and have gotten a few suggestions where to start.  As such, since I am sure most of these guys don't want a lot of specifics out on the Internets I may be a little cryptic about exactly where I am, but this officially begins the start of my 2019 Southern Idaho Mule Deer Hunt.
Little Pathfinder and I are loading the truck as I speak, headed scouting for the next 4-5 days in the Albion Mountains.  Hopefully we come back with some good intel and pictures.

 If anyone has any last minute suggestions... I'm all ears...

[Timberstalker]

Best of luck, Pathfinder. 
Looking forward to see what you find.

[fishngamereaper]

I suggest you at least put a cooler in the truck for some ice cold beer and juice boxes...it's a long drive.

[bowhunterforever]

Good luck

[CoryTDF]

Remember when it was Monday and you still had not updated this thread with your scouting report? Yeah, me too.

[Bigshooter]

Any scouting pics?

[Pathfinder101]

Remember when it was Monday and you still had not updated this thread with your scouting report? Yeah, me too.

Yeah, I had to get to a Dr appointment at the VA in Spokane on Monday, and had to go to Fort Lewis for work on Tuesday.  then Tri Cities, etc.... Blah Blah.... (insert another excuse here).... working on it.... blah...blah....

...gimme a minute, I'll have it up....
 

[Pathfinder101]

Little Pathfinder and I got on the road early in order to make it to our unit in time to hike in for the evening glass.  I had about 4 target areas in mind based on advice I had been PM’d and the Google Earth/OnX Map scouting that I have been glued to every spare minute since I found out that I had been drawn.
Almost immediately, once entering the unit we spotted a deer moving across a sage covered hillside about 500 yards from the road.  I slammed on the brakes and grabbed my binos.  It was a buck.  At that brief glance, I judged him at no less than 140”, but not more than 150”.  Of course I wanted a better look and some photos, but by the time I had yanked out my spotter he had decided that he didn’t like being eyeballed and had lain down in the sage.  I glassed for 10 minutes where he disappeared and couldn’t turn him up.  With the day trickling away we decided to move on.
A few miles further we came around a corner and were treated to a view of a shiras moose feeding in a meadow.  He was kind and patient enough to give us plenty of time to get out the spotter and even let me fiddle with my phone scope long enough to get a few pics.

[Pathfinder101]

We hit our target area in early evening, saddled up and started up the trail.  I had been told that a good place to glass would be about a couple of miles in.  I’m not really a GPS guy (I have one, but rarely pull it out), so I taught Little Pathfinder the “Army” method of keeping a pacecount by counting his steps.  If you have never done it, basically you figure out how many steps it takes you to walk exactly 100 meters (takes me 63 steps, only counting when my left foot hits the ground).  Then you keep count.  Every time you get to 63 steps, you move a bead along a piece of parachute cord.  When you want to check your distance on the map, you just count the beads.  In addition to keeping track of your distance and pace, it has the unintended effect of keeping your mind busy as the trail gets steeper and the pack starts to get heavier.

[Pathfinder101]

Of course, as usually happens, I had a different picture in my head (mostly due to Google Earth’s views) than what I was seeing on the ground.  Couple that with my natural wanderlust and my uncontrollable desire to see if a better view is around the next corner and we overshot our intended glassing/camping area by well over a mile and a half.   It was nearly dark when I admitted defeat (and that I had “overnavigated” ) and we stopped to set up camp.  Cory TDF loaned my his super light Big Agnes tent and a few other backpacking items that were a lot lighter than my stuff.  That was nice as the last mile or so had been pretty steep.

[Pathfinder101]

The next morning we got up in the dark and hoofed it a mile and a half back down the trail to glass.  Unfortunately, in the dark I rolled my ankle, landed on my left knee on the rocky trail and shoved my hand into one of the nice thorn bushes that line the trail.  I hobbled out to the glassing point well before gray light.

[Pathfinder101]

After being treated to a spectacular sunrise, I watched the hills with great anticipation.  Unfortunately, what greeted my Leupold was not hordes of giant mule deer, but more cattle than I can ever remember seeing in a mountain setting.  They were everywhere.  On every hillside, mountain top, gully and draw.  In every opening in the trees you could find at least one cow.  I did finally spot a deep draw that did not contain cattle, but the only thing that wandered through it all morning was a cow moose.  I had now officially seen more moose than deer on this trip.  About an hour after sunrise, I did get visited by a friendly badger.

[Pathfinder101]

As the sun began to climb (revealing no deer, and even more angus beef), I abandoned my spot and hiked back to camp.  After breakfast Little pathfinder and I hiked another mile and a half up to an alpine lake and tried to coax some trout up to dry flies.  We had exactly as much luck with that as we did with the deer and mid afternoon we trudged back to camp more than a little frustrated.  That evening’s glassing session produced even more cattle and still, no deer. 

[Pathfinder101]

Honestly, the habitat looked great.  I know that deer tend to avoid cattle, so I wonder (and anyone who wants to chime in… please feel  free to do so…) if the deer were just laying low or moved over to another drainage until the cattle left.
We moved our camp lower on the trail so we wouldn’t have to hike back and forth to glass in the morning and settled in for the night.

[Pathfinder101]

The next morning produced even less results (not even a moose this time), so we resolved to abandon our perch and move to another area.  As we were packing up camp we chatted with a pair of cowboys on horseback that said they had come to start rounding up cattle.  That makes me think that if we had been scouting this mountain a week later, we might have had better luck.