Compared to its cousin, the white-tailed deer, mule deer are larger in size, and have a black-tipped white tail and white patch on the rump. This pathetic excuse for sportsmanship is evident in a good number of deer harvested each year. Field-CrossingsMany people call field-crossing sites “swales.” If you think bucks love to use saddles when they are located in the woods, you should see the way they use them in an open field. Hopefully, somewhere in the midst of the following truisms, you will discover the key to help you do just that. Think of all the options a mature whitetail has when traveling during the rut or on opening day of the firearms season. It is also a top reason the majority of deer hunters stay “close to the road”. Some creeks don’t meander, making it much harder to find crossings without actually walking the banks of the creek to look for cross-trails. On the other hand, “uphill” is going to make you work like you’ve never worked before. The sides of the goat’s toes consist of the same hard keratin found on the hoof of a horse or deer. This section isn’t about promotion. Try that in the East and you will be 30 feet off the ground on one side of the tree and 15 on the other. Kurten also stated that Navahoceros resembled ibex (Capra ibex) based on short metapodials which made him label the Navahoceros as a mountain deer with an Alpine climbing mode of locomotion (like ibex), but without providing data on ibex. It took a long time, but one hunter finally decided to build his strategies around the one universal truth regarding whitetail bucks….the desire to breed. Yet there is hope, as there is one aspect of a mature buck’s travel patterns that is somewhat predictable: How bucks typically use the terrain. Eventually, he sought to turn that dream into reality. Bedding RidgesI don’t hunt bedding areas early or late in the season because the risk of spooking deer is too high; however, during the rut, the reward is worth the risk. Make no mistake, the mountains are tough, the hunting is tough, the animals are tough, and getting there and back is tough; but that’s not the hardest part. Rebecca Harrington. I once hunted a single ridge stand 14 mornings during a 16-day stretch. Buck rub lines, while informative in their own way, have yielded mostly the same results. “Good” means a pattern that’s effective when viewed from a variety of angles; not just straight up. Unlike most parts of the country, you won’t have the luxury of long-range observations. Deer Mountain sits 10 miles east of the Continental Divide in the far eastern portion of Rocky Mountain National Park. When life knocks me around a bit, I can easily feel: unsteady, lacking proper footing, bulky. Only during the chasing phase will they be somewhat more visible outside of the dreadful places they normally call home. Oak trees don’t produce acorns year after year, and deciphering which heavy thicket is being used on the day you plan to hunt can be a nightmare; to say the least. Naturally, when you here someone say “just hunt the wind”, you have to laugh because they have no idea what its like to do that in the Eastern mountains. Mountain goats can powerfully scale up the most precipitous slopes with the grace of hooved ballerinas. Deer are usually shy creatures, and it would be pretty reckless for a deer to climb a tree, considering the way their bodies are and also their brains. When you take the “topography” approach remember this, start by eliminating areas the deer are least likely to travel through. CLIMB THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN. Ditches are less obvious from the map study, but equally easy to find with your feet on the ground. The very idea of it consumed him and he often fantasized about loosing himself in some remote corner of a lonely forest. Things are more chaotic and the deer don’t notice my coming and going as readily. The ravines extend into the open ridge from the opposite slopes of the ridge, pointing at each other like huge, brushy fingers. That situation virtually eliminates half of your shooting area, so forget about setting your treestand a certain height. The first two crossings are easy to find from a map study, but you have to walk the ground to find the third type. .30-06 Springfield: Is it Still the Best All-Around Big-Game Hunting Cartridge? The bodies of mountain goats are machines built to climb. Creeks are not as easy to navigate when they are carrying a lot of water, but when they are low they also represent the perfect access route. These crossings are generally evident by two brushy ravines on an aerial photo. You see in hill country, the locations that hold steady wind currents are usually flat, easy to get to…..and beset with bowhunters. E-mail your comments/questions about this site to: EmediaHunter@nrahq.org, For questions/comments about American Hunter magazine, please e-mail:Publications@nrahq.org, You can contact the NRA via phone at: NRA Member Programs1-800-672-3888, To advertise on American Hunter, visit nramediakit.com for more information. As mentioned earlier, if a buck notices you, he will likely be looking downhill or at you from the side. Share this on Facebook (opens in new window), Share this on Twitter (opens in new window). This means … I bet ditches and creeks have played a role in at least a third of the bucks I have shot in my life. That means that for a saddle to appear on the topographic map, it has to be 20 feet deep. Mule deer are very common throughout the western United States. “Luckily, that was about the same time that Robinson Outdoors introduced a new item that promised to hide your scent from the nose of wary whitetails. Thus by analogy, the mountains are “islands” surrounded by … Due to their long legs with strong muscles, deer can travel at speeds up to 30 MPH. You see, in the places mountaineers hunt, there are no well defined bedding or feeding areas. That can be tough, mentally, for the aspiring big-woods bowhunter. I have hunted some impressive trails through saddles up in the mountains when hunting elk, but here we will focus on whitetails. Sure, you can easily hunt atop the main ridges where the wind is constant; but many have played that game. One hunter reflects upon his own experiences. Malibu Canyon, Las Flores Canyon Rd, Tuna Canyon Rd and Topango Canyon Rd. Some deer hunters used to think that the encounters were simply a result of haphazard bedding and feeding locations. You have to walk the ridge tops. It’s true that any particular buck isn’t any more predictable than a particular person. Some deer have long, sharp hooves in front, which they can use as weapons. Several different studies on daily deer movement show that during the fall deer are most active at night around dawn and dusk, and from 12:00 – 2:00 AM. Forget what the rules of the mid-west say. Saddles are at their best during the rut when bucks are actively cruising, looking for does in estrus. The only problem was that many of techniques people read about were written by guys that had never hunted in a mountain setting. The guide will familiarize you with the mountain and help you on your climb. In fact, the very deer you’re after could pass by as little as 50 yards away and you would be none the wiser. He wanted to stand in that lonely forest for real, and watch his arrow as it zipped ominously through the cool autumn air. 1,213 ft. Altitude start. His antlers unlike anything the young hunter had ever beheld; dark, heavy, wide and tall. Bucks come through these areas looking for does all morning long. If you spend the summer months in the front lawn, standing upright in your flip-flops and shorts preparing for this type of shooting situation, you are going to have problems hitting what you aim at. There is nothing simple about taking a shot at a whitetail in mountain country. Most hunters drop deer from less than 12 feet off the ground. Bucks don’t generally flow right through the bottom like water, so you have to pick a side. In climbing, the deer can place her back feet exactly where her front feet were, thus needing only two sturdy footrests instead of four. However, due to the easy access of these areas they typically don’t make for very good hunting locations. You will see that higher is usually not better due to fluctuations in the terrain. To find saddles you need a topographic map. As mentioned, bluff stands are among my favorites because they offer incredible advantages and a very straightforward hunting plan. For the most part, the majority of big-woods sign plays a very small role in the overall scheme of things. Steve Flores is a passionate hunter who enjoys chasing mountain whitetails in his native southern WV. I love setups like that. The bends of the “S” are generally holes with high banks on the outside, while the straight portion between the bends is generally shallower with a lower bank. And those who have, well, you understand that as hard as initial success is to come by, the real challenge is finding a way to achieve it again, and again. In most parts of whitetail country, a ridge narrows because a draw or ravine runs up from the valley below to end at this point along the ridgeline. My friend, Chad Schearer of Belt, Montana, TV host , former owner of Central Montana Outfitters and PR Manager for BPI Outdoors put everything in perspective. 2015-11-02T21:11:43Z The letter F. An envelope. Scouting in the post-season will allow you to gather the most pertinent information regarding treestand placement. It is easier to show you what a saddle looks like on a topographic map than to try to describe it, so I have included a map image for that purpose. When you see contour lines that are close together, you are looking at a bluff. Saddles can also be very good on opening day of the firearm season when other hunters keep the bucks moving. You can sometimes see bluffs when studying an aerial photo, but they are much easier to see on a topographic map. Mature bucks typically slink around like ghosts; they are around but not really visible. Not to mention clawing your way up and down thicket-choked hillsides for days on end. Creeks scream at you from topographic maps, are obvious on aerial photos and you literally stumble over them (or into them) when walking the property. The bottom line is this. The rear feet of the hind step in precisely the same spot where the front feet have just been. She can scamper across what … You might as well throw a dart at the map and hang a stand where it hits. Some of the mountains rise more than 6,000 feet above the surrounding desert floor making the lowlands and high peaks drastically different. When it comes to bowhunting, you probably understand that if you’re not confident in your bow, no matter what brand you choose, it can greatly influence you’re ability to perform at your best. Old deer track climb takes you to the top of "Drop and Slide" Old deer track climb takes you to the top of [Skip to Content] Mountain Bike . This is the definition of the perfect entry and exit route. I messed up on one of the biggest 8-pointers I have ever seen in my life from that stand, but that is another story. Your email address will not be published. For example, since a buck can look up at you, down at you, and side-hill at you, try to choose a color-tone that blends well with all of those situations. Once there, he would partake in the ultimate chess-match with a wise-old, big-timber buck. Determine where the deer are likely feeding and then enter the ridge stand from the opposite direction. More importantly, the overall color scheme must match a multitude of conditions. Also leap or swim to avoid danger will focus on whitetails Fusion ” deer don t... T seeing much action do you stay or do you go I love ditches and creeks have played a in. That one isn ’ t generally flow right through the years that were only 5 10... Looking back over the years that were only 5 to 10 feet.. 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