Post by: Gutpile on October 02, 2010, 07:38:02 AM
Montana
Wyoming
Colorado
Idaho
Utah
You have one choice. Where and why?
Post by: high country on October 02, 2010, 07:43:57 AM
Post by: Gutpile on October 02, 2010, 07:55:12 AM
Post by: grundy53 on October 02, 2010, 08:03:19 AM
Post by: high country on October 02, 2010, 08:05:55 AM
have friends up in havre, g-falls, plains and down in the rubys too, they all seem to have it figured out.
Post by: Hyde on October 02, 2010, 08:43:14 AM
Post by: couesbitten on October 02, 2010, 09:03:43 AM
Post by: PolarBear on October 02, 2010, 09:04:44 AM
Colorado
Idaho
Utah
Alberta
Washington
Post by: 509er on October 02, 2010, 09:18:30 AM
Saskatchewan
Sonora
Post by: ELKBURGER on October 02, 2010, 12:21:34 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on October 02, 2010, 01:26:54 PM
Post by: alanger on October 02, 2010, 01:37:57 PM
Post by: PacificNWhunter on October 02, 2010, 02:08:33 PM
Muleracks, you need to post some more on that great high hunt buck.
Post by: Gutpile on October 02, 2010, 02:14:09 PM
Post by: alecvg on October 02, 2010, 03:45:19 PM
Post by: haugenna on October 02, 2010, 06:10:20 PM
Response to PacificNWhunter's request for more info about the High Hunt buck photo:Muleracks,
Okay, You get drop camped into almost any spot that has great bucks. Hunt your but off; glass, hike and climb. The big boys don't often walk into camp soooo out climb everybody and check the spots that no one in their right mind would go. Pack your self in and you spend most of your time dealing with horses and you probably wouldn't have enough stock to pack in a comfortable camp.
The Hunt: Get to camp and start glassing, hiking and climbing. Oh Yea, pass up bucks until you see the one you want. :) The buck in the photo above is 28" wide and probably scores in the 180s; tall and good mass.
Most hunters we see just "sit in camp" and have a great time :P They really don't affect our hunt.
I see your email is icicle outfitters. Are you the face behind the rack or the packer?
Post by: Ironhead on October 02, 2010, 06:41:19 PM
Post by: high country on October 02, 2010, 06:51:17 PM
Post by: actionshooter on October 02, 2010, 07:08:08 PM
Response to PacificNWhunter's request for more info about the High Hunt buck photo:Muleracks,
Okay, You get drop camped into almost any spot that has great bucks. Hunt your but off; glass, hike and climb. The big boys don't often walk into camp soooo out climb everybody and check the spots that no one in their right mind would go. Pack your self in and you spend most of your time dealing with horses and you probably wouldn't have enough stock to pack in a comfortable camp.
The Hunt: Get to camp and start glassing, hiking and climbing. Oh Yea, pass up bucks until you see the one you want. :) The buck in the photo above is 28" wide and probably scores in the 180s; tall and good mass.
Most hunters we see just "sit in camp" and have a great time :P They really don't affect our hunt.
I see your email is icicle outfitters. Are you the face behind the rack or the packer?
Kinda sounds like a commercial :chuckle:
Post by: haugenna on October 02, 2010, 08:51:21 PM
Nate, The photo is from one of the drop camp hunters. Packed 8 bucks out of drop camps this year; this is the best one. The photo was sent to us by the hunter. There are still some great bucks in Chelan County.
I got the email you guys send out reporting all the hunts with all the photos. It read 9 of 33. You guys do a lot of emailing of pictures and locations that makes it difficult for us DIY guys. Too many emails saying, these bucks were taken out of "this location" to potential clients. All of that gets forwarded all over the internet and there are 31 people in a drainage the next year because a big buck was taken there last year.
I understand you have to run a business though.
Nice buck. Congrats to the hunter.
Post by: muleracks on October 02, 2010, 09:02:00 PM
Post by: 257 Wby Mag on October 02, 2010, 09:39:16 PM
Post by: Earshot on October 04, 2010, 02:01:08 PM
WASHINGTON'S NORTH CENTRAL CASCADES :yike:
Stay close to home and hunt the big boys.
I've pass on many small legal bucks on the high country hunts looking for that one. but only pull the trigger once but that's a long story.
Post by: Tony 270 on October 04, 2010, 02:11:19 PM
Post by: WDFW-SUX on October 04, 2010, 02:17:22 PM
Post by: BlackRidge on October 04, 2010, 02:19:19 PM
Alberta, they can grow some big bucks up there.
Yup, that gets my vote :tup:
Post by: bushmaster on October 04, 2010, 02:22:49 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 04, 2010, 02:46:10 PM
Post by: Gutpile on October 04, 2010, 03:00:54 PM
western North Dakota. I have seen 3 deer from ND, 2mule and 1 white. They were straight fat ass pigs!!!
Didn't even think of the Dakotas. that'd be interesting.
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 04, 2010, 03:47:39 PM
To get a chance at a really good muley, you have to either:
1. Know someone with good land (I don't)
2. Get lucky (not much of a track record there)
3. Draw a "good" tag
That pretty much leaves me with the "drawing a good tag" option.
ID doesn't do "points", so it's a straight up lottery every year and their prices went waaay up the year before last (that puts me back in the "lucky" category, which I mentioned before, is not my strong suit)
OR does points, but their prices also went waaaay up this year (I put in this year, and didn't get drawn. Was expensive. Don't know if I can swing it again next year)
MT only allows you to build points AFTER you draw the deer tag (which statistically only happens every 4-5 years), and for their best big muley units, the odds for Non-resdients are atrocious (2 to 3%)
CO wants the $ up front, and it's a looooong drive, and there are a lot of guys with max points in the pool
NM also started wanting their $$ for the tag up front, which made for better draw odds this year, but I hadn't budgeted for it
Havent looked into AZ or UT
WY however allows you to buy "points" ($40 for deer), meaning that if you don't want your name to go into the draw for this year, you can just buy the "point" that you would have gained by putting in and not being drawn. Plus, WY's point system is only 4 years old, so if I start buying now, in a few years I will have enough points to draw a "good" hunt.
So, for now, I am going to hunt Washington, Montana, maybe Idaho next year and cross my fingers and hope to get lucky, but I am banking on having a real good hunt in WY in a few years....
Post by: BlackRidge on October 04, 2010, 03:52:43 PM
Hey Gutpile, here is my line of thinking...
To get a chance at a really good muley, you have to either:
1. Know someone with good land (I don't)
2. Get lucky (not much of a track record there)
3. Draw a "good" tag
That pretty much leaves me with the "drawing a good tag" option.
ID doesn't do "points", so it's a straight up lottery every year and their prices went waaay up the year before last (that puts me back in the "lucky" category, which I mentioned before, is not my strong suit)
OR does points, but their prices also went waaaay up this year (I put in this year, and didn't get drawn. Was expensive. Don't know if I can swing it again next year)
MT only allows you to build points AFTER you draw the deer tag (which statistically only happens every 4-5 years), and for their best big muley units, the odds for Non-resdients are atrocious (2 to 3%)
CO wants the $ up front, and it's a looooong drive, and there are a lot of guys with max points in the pool
NM also started wanting their $$ for the tag up front, which made for better draw odds this year, but I hadn't budgeted for it
Havent looked into AZ or UT
WY however allows you to buy "points" ($40 for deer), meaning that if you don't want your name to go into the draw for this year, you can just buy the "point" that you would have gained by putting in and not being drawn. Plus, WY's point system is only 4 years old, so if I start buying now, in a few years I will have enough points to draw a "good" hunt.
So, for now, I am going to hunt Washington, Montana, maybe Idaho next year and cross my fingers and hope to get lucky, but I am banking on having a real good hunt in WY in a few years....
Geeeeez, sobering points there Pathfinder...
Makes Iowa/Kentucky look even better
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 04, 2010, 03:54:38 PM
Hey Gutpile, here is my line of thinking...
To get a chance at a really good muley, you have to either:
1. Know someone with good land (I don't)
2. Get lucky (not much of a track record there)
3. Draw a "good" tag
That pretty much leaves me with the "drawing a good tag" option.
ID doesn't do "points", so it's a straight up lottery every year and their prices went waaay up the year before last (that puts me back in the "lucky" category, which I mentioned before, is not my strong suit)
OR does points, but their prices also went waaaay up this year (I put in this year, and didn't get drawn. Was expensive. Don't know if I can swing it again next year)
MT only allows you to build points AFTER you draw the deer tag (which statistically only happens every 4-5 years), and for their best big muley units, the odds for Non-resdients are atrocious (2 to 3%)
CO wants the $ up front, and it's a looooong drive, and there are a lot of guys with max points in the pool
NM also started wanting their $$ for the tag up front, which made for better draw odds this year, but I hadn't budgeted for it
Havent looked into AZ or UT
WY however allows you to buy "points" ($40 for deer), meaning that if you don't want your name to go into the draw for this year, you can just buy the "point" that you would have gained by putting in and not being drawn. Plus, WY's point system is only 4 years old, so if I start buying now, in a few years I will have enough points to draw a "good" hunt.
So, for now, I am going to hunt Washington, Montana, maybe Idaho next year and cross my fingers and hope to get lucky, but I am banking on having a real good hunt in WY in a few years....
Geeeeez, sobering points there Pathfinder...
Makes Iowa/Kentucky look even better
Not for mule deer.. ;)
Post by: BlackRidge on October 04, 2010, 03:56:09 PM
Hey Gutpile, here is my line of thinking...
To get a chance at a really good muley, you have to either:
1. Know someone with good land (I don't)
2. Get lucky (not much of a track record there)
3. Draw a "good" tag
That pretty much leaves me with the "drawing a good tag" option.
ID doesn't do "points", so it's a straight up lottery every year and their prices went waaay up the year before last (that puts me back in the "lucky" category, which I mentioned before, is not my strong suit)
OR does points, but their prices also went waaaay up this year (I put in this year, and didn't get drawn. Was expensive. Don't know if I can swing it again next year)
MT only allows you to build points AFTER you draw the deer tag (which statistically only happens every 4-5 years), and for their best big muley units, the odds for Non-resdients are atrocious (2 to 3%)
CO wants the $ up front, and it's a looooong drive, and there are a lot of guys with max points in the pool
NM also started wanting their $$ for the tag up front, which made for better draw odds this year, but I hadn't budgeted for it
Havent looked into AZ or UT
WY however allows you to buy "points" ($40 for deer), meaning that if you don't want your name to go into the draw for this year, you can just buy the "point" that you would have gained by putting in and not being drawn. Plus, WY's point system is only 4 years old, so if I start buying now, in a few years I will have enough points to draw a "good" hunt.
So, for now, I am going to hunt Washington, Montana, maybe Idaho next year and cross my fingers and hope to get lucky, but I am banking on having a real good hunt in WY in a few years....
Geeeeez, sobering points there Pathfinder...
Makes Iowa/Kentucky look even better
Not for mule deer.. ;)
Ah, wasn't thinking :o - Back to Canada then :chuckle:
Post by: high country on October 04, 2010, 07:36:18 PM
Post by: firedog on October 04, 2010, 07:48:36 PM
That said Colorado has great bucks as do most of the other locations you listed. I think right now for Big uns Sonora is one of the best. someone mentioned Oregon, I would avoid Oregon because of the cost and draw odds for Non-residents are terrible.