High Buck Hunts

[hillbillyhunting]

Not really... I have contributed to these converstions before, but I am not going to give away too much hard earned information.  I have been happy to talk about what people should expect as far as weather, gear needed, and so on.  I want people to be safe and have a good experience, but it only takes one person in the high country to ruin your hunt.  We have had it happen 20 miles back in the wilderness. 

[rawhide]

Every year someone always trys to get info on where to go on the High Hunt.  One day our spots will be found!!  By someone giving info on web sites like this one.

[Fowlweather25]

We all had to work for it, why should someone get to ask on the web while sittin in their bvd's?

[Miles]

Every year someone always trys to get info on where to go on the High Hunt.  One day our spots will be found!!  By someone giving info on web sites like this one.

Boy these high hunt threads sure do bring out some of the lurkers.

I think hunting spots go through cycles.   I think some areas are hunted hard by the same groups until they stop producing like they once were.  I think those areas then see a break which allows some deer to rebuild, then the spot is discovered and hunted again by other groups. 

[JPhelps]

Oh the High Hunt threads.  Gotta love them.

Here is my take.  Asking questions about specific spots or areas will not guarantee anything.  The area or spot is a very minuscule part of being successful on this hunt.  I honestly feel the best advice you can give for the high hunt is gear recommendations and strategy.

"YOU CAN NOT CHEAT THE MOUNTAIN/BACKCOUNTRY"

There is no substitute for knowing how to hunt high country muleys.  Which involves time, scouting,  knowing how to "live" in the backcountry and being in shape.

My advice to anyone wanting to take on this hunt:  Get in Shape, pick a couple areas and go scout in the summer (test all your gear), and when season rolls around put one foot in front of the other (straight up off the trail will increase your chance of being successful).

[Blacktail_Fever]

Pretty sure I am going to give it a crack this year. I keep trying to talk my buddies into it. After all the success on here I am pretty sure they are convinced.

[fillthefreezer]

Pretty sure I am going to give it a crack this year. I keep trying to talk my buddies into it. After all the success on here I am pretty sure they are convinced.

ive given up trying to convince my buddies, all my hunting friends are too soft and dont want to go without a walltent and cot and the other friends that are into backpacking dont even own rifles...

iv come to conclude ill just go solo

[boneaddict]

ill just go solo

  You'd be amazed at how many people can't fathom that

[boneaddict]

"YOU CAN NOT CHEAT THE MOUNTAIN/BACKCOUNTRY

You sure can't

[adictd2hunting]

I didn't know this was such a touchy subject  If i would have known that some people would get so mad over a question I never would have asked about the high hunts.  I'm not looking for some ones secret little honey hole I was just trying to find out about maybe some trail heads to start from.  I didn't ask for long and lat to punch into my gps.  The way some guys are acting about it you would think they own the woods.  I wouldn't want to be in the areas they are anyway.  My thread i think got alittle off track with alot of complaining about the high hunt.  So if you dont want to comment on it and dont like that some one was trying to find out alittle info before they just went out blind. Then keep your d#@k strippers off the keyboard and comments to yourself.  You dont own the woods.  Like i said I wasn't looking for Gps coordinates. Thank you for the info that some gave. 

[Skyvalhunter]

Glad to hear you got your answers. Just remember that the success rate isn't very high and don't go into it thinking that you will be getting some 30" buck. Majority of bucks taken are camp meat bucks of just legal 3 pointers.

[JPhelps]

adictd2hunting I know where you are coming from.  When I first started researching and targeting the high buck hunt I wanted the same starting point you are looking for.  I hope you didn't take my last post as offensive.  I also would never discourage someone from wanting to go on the high hunt.  It is awesome country and there is the chance of taking a good mountain muley.

Six years later looking back I now realize that locations of trailheads would not really of helped me out.  You mention not wanting to hunt around other people.  That will be tough to do, but it can happen.  This is how I would approach it now if I was to start over.  Pick your wilderness (all of the states wilderness areas can and will produce good bucks).

1)Start looking at Google earth.  Find areas that are within your capability (both distance and up).
2)I would probably want five or six different spots that I think would hold deer.
3)Start figuring out how to access the areas you have determined might hold an old buck.
4)List them in order from the hardest to access to the easiest.  This is where you will start to separate from the other hunters.  Going straight up will do more for you than going in.
5)Plan a couple scouting trips around July 20th to Aug 20th.  I would target the harder spots first.  While scouting look for other signs of past hunting camps and also scout out water sources.  This time of year if there are bucks in the areas they should be pretty easy to find.
6)Once you find the area you want to hunt maybe scout it one more time to check the patterns of the deer.
7)When season rolls around you will want to be there opening day before some of the patterns change.  Also don't be surprised if there are other hunters in the area you scouted all summer and never saw anyone.

If you have any specific questions feel free to send me a PM and I will do my best to help you out.  As a side note I have a real good network of guys I know that do the high buck and there are big bucks being killed from the Canadian border down to the southern end of the Alpine Lakes.  If I was to zoom out on Google earth and look at all the pins I have showing where a big buck was killed there is absolutely no pattern or concentration in one area.

[bullchaser]

ill just go solo

  You'd be amazed at how many people can't fathom that

Bone... not to sound overly like a girl or anything but that's tuff anyone can get through a day or two then race home, but after multiple days with out seeing game, having bear issues, not sleeping good , being freaked because you keep getting rimmed out , eating crappy food. that takes a lot of mental and physical toughness. i would say less than 5% of the people i know can do that kind of hunt  and come out of it strong.

[adictd2hunting]

Thank you thats the kind of info i was looking for.  I live in eatonville so i was thinking about trying my luck around the areas close to me that way i could cover more ground and scout alittle more in the summer

[JimmyHoffa]

Pretty sure I am going to give it a crack this year. I keep trying to talk my buddies into it. After all the success on here I am pretty sure they are convinced.

ive given up trying to convince my buddies, all my hunting friends are too soft and dont want to go without a walltent and cot and the other friends that are into backpacking dont even own rifles...

iv come to conclude ill just go solo

that's what I do.  Really a good way to go, a little heavier, but if you want to hunt don't be dependent on others!