Sounds like you've got the right partner. Up in the high country, you're looking for pockets of deer. That is, certain drainages that some small groups of deer seem to favor. Your hunting buddy seems to found some of these favored "pockets".
Watching a buck bed down and then working a stalk on that bed can make for a fun, challenging morning.

I've made a similar campaign off and on for a number years in the peaks N. of the Twisp River. I love it!