Nevada! Ruby Mountains

[MuleySniper]

My dad and I drew tags for the rubies for Oct.1-14. We know they give out quite a few tags. We already plan on hunting as high as possible to get away from the crowds. I was wondering if anyone from the site has hunted the area, whether archery or modern. I know the early seasons are nothing like the late where the deer are lower in their wintering areas. Kind of looking for advice on where to possibly set up camp, areas that might not be too flooded with people. Google earth is very helpful and were ordering some maps but areas are totally different when you actually get to them. Again, not afraid to hike. Any tips or stories would be great! Prefer in PM format....
Thanks!
MS

[AKBowman]

I went to University of Nevada Reno. My ex girfriends dad drew the Oct tag and I went in with him to help spot and pack. We backpacked 9 miles in. We hunted the very top of two different draws and camped a draw over from the draws we were hunting. Every morning when we crossed up and over into t draws we were hunting we had Goats at our elevation and below us...so yes the deer are high. There are some MONSTERS in there and we saw a TON of great deer. The cool thing about that hunt is that the deer are really really high which congregates them into a smaller area. The hardest thing we had to do every day was manuever through the smaller bucks to get at the shooter buck we spotted.

We hunted two different 5 day stints and never saw another person. He ended up shooting a 192" buck and he more less "settled" for that deer. We saw some amazingly huge mulies in there. The Ruby's are absolutely beautiful that time of year. Like I said hunt high as you can. Look at the highest alpine meadow areas below the cliff bands, the bucks will be bedded up in the cliffs above the meadows then they spend all day in the meadows. Theres lots of quacking aspen in there and theyll bed down in the meadows in the quackies during the day.

We would watch from a good distance on the saddle we used to cross into the basin until we bedded a buck in an area we could get at them. We were careful and were able to hunt the same large group of deer pretty much the whole time.

You drew a PREMIUM mulie tag there, hope you get a good one.

[MuleySniper]

Cool man! Yeah I'm pretty pumped. Getting my mind right for the trip seems to be the biggest obstacle. Everything I have read makes these mountains sound like true giants. People claim it is the steepest country they have ever traveled. Thankfully I have outstanding optics and the will power to climb. If you wouldn't mind I'd love to hear the general area you guys hunted. Its big country, I have some spots in mind and will eventually have to narrow them down since I have one week to hunt planned for this trip. I'm definitely going over my gear list. My dad and I are basically hunting from a main camp and will plan on bivying out part of the time. He's getting up there in age but can still get around better than most. Now I'm in gear mode, going over all my things and finding things I think I need . Regardless, it will be a fun trip. My first time hunting Nevada.
MS

[AKBowman]

I apologize but i cant share any specifics about the area we were in. 9 mile hike to the head of 3 drainages is about all I can share.

You'll do well if you get up to the highest meadows you can find, just below the cliff bands.

[dannysdaddy]

Thats my back yard.  I was born and raised there.

[whacker1]

congrats

[MuleySniper]

I apologize but i cant share any specifics about the area we were in. 9 mile hike to the head of 3 drainages is about all I can share.

You'll do well if you get up to the highest meadows you can find, just below the cliff bands.

 
No worries! I've looked at lots of potential areas on Google Earth, lots.... Its just getting to them
MS

[bucklucky]

Wow man, congrats on the tags !!

[TheHunt]

You will work for you deer but it sure is a great tag to pull.  Congrats on your draw.

[JPhelps]

PM sent

[woodywsu]

Congrats on the tag. Looking forward to following this hunt.

[Elkstuffer]

Great tag! I've been looking at that area for quite a while. I've got 9 points now so I need to cash them in someday . How many did it take to draw the rifle tag?  I plan on hunting archery but haven't decided what area yet. I may go way south east.

[jjhunter]

What ever happened on this hunt?  Never saw anything posted?

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Ya I want to see a 200 pus mule deer from there!

[MuleySniper]

Hunted the far south of the unit (pearl peak area) 80's during the day and CRAWLING with domestic sheep. 2 of the four guys in our party saw bucks they felt worthy of shooting so we stuck it out for the opener and day one. Between my dad and I we saw nothing tag worthy that early in our week long hunt. After going all over hell in the heat we convinced the other two guys to head north. Went to the Angel Lake area. Set up camp then my dad and I packed our packs to spend a couple days way up high. Went back in 6 or so miles ranging from 8000' to 10,500'. Almost all the vegetation was dead or dying. All the rock rose was dead.  Absolutely zero snow pack. Ran into a horse camp with 5 guys, oldest guy was 77. Said he'd been hunting the area for 40 years. Killed some smoker bucks and couldn't believe how down hill it was. No good sign up high and after high winds, heat and tons of time behind glass we headed back down to main camp. There were a handful of bucks running around. Kicked a lot of brush during the day and busted a lot of deer just nothing I wanted to shoot. One guy in our group killed an average 3pt, another guy was along for more of a "getaway" so he didn't hunt too hard and myself and my dad ended up eating our tags. It was a real cool place, put on a ton of miles on my boots and had fun but didn't fill my tag. I'll probably never waste deer points on anything early again but then again it was an abnormally dry and hot year.  By the looks of the Idaho section on MM and your buck JJ Idaho was the state to be in this year That buck you killed is a stud.
MS

[jjhunter]

My hunt was actually tough this year.  I saw and passed a wide 185"ish deer the first night, saw one other 30" 175" buck, and then my buck in 5 days.   Not too hot for one of Idaho's better units.  Two prominent hunters in that unit didn't kill bucks for the first time in a long time this year. 

The general was good because those deer were still in the OTC units when the snow hit late and they were rutting.  Would have been a good year to hunt the LE borders and the migration transition zones.

BTW, I've been on a few of those tough hunts and they wear on you mentally.   I went 5 days without seeing a buck on one hunt and then saw several 180" plus bucks in one day.   

[MuleySniper]

Definitely a strange year weather wise. My dads neighbor had an Area 7 Nevada tag and ended up settling on a 3pt. Its a weather dependent unit and it was still real warm when he went down.  I'll keep putting in for NV since I still have elk and sheep and antelope points. Drew that Rubies tag on my 5th choice but will probably hold out and try to get a late tag this time. We haven't put in for ID for about five years but might start again. Oregon has me in a bind since I have a mess of antelope and descent amount of sheep points but the deer hunting IMO isn't all that great for the money right there now as far as mule deer trophy quality. I pretty much get to pick one out of state hunt a year with a wife and two kids at home so I have to plan wisely:chuckle: