I was fortunate enough to draw a Mule Deer in Idaho. We used to hunt
this unit several years back (10+) and we always saw several bucks and
were fortunate enough to take a few.

The odd thing about this area is that the buck to doe ratio was always (or it
seemed to be) about 2-3 does per buck.

Now that our elk hunt is ended, I decided to make quick one day hunt yesterday.
We spent the first morning just driving around and covering a lot of area and
doing a lot of glassing. I say we as my wife was the only one I could convince
to go with me.

Friday morning we saw probably 50 does without one buck. I realize that the bucks
and does can be separated at this time but usually you can see a few smaller does
with the bucks. If it was a general unit I would not be surprised but a LE unit I
am surprised.

I decided to get of the roads for the evening hunt and hiked in about 3 miles and
hunted some remote areas of the unit. I saw a grand total of three does!

I was able to go to the are the previous week (another day hunt) and only saw does as well!

I am heading back there soon to spend 4 days hunting. I am going to try some new areas
and try our old areas again.

Maybe I need to quit deer hunting and take up fishing!

OR join the meat hunters and kill a few
does now and then and forget the horns.

George

One or two days doesn't really tell one much.

I seen dozens of does while mule deer hunting in Montana with no bucks.

Then all of a sudden there were bucks all over the place.

Keep at they are there you just haven't seen them yet.

I'm seeing nothing for whitetail bucks in SW Missouri. It happens. End of the month and early November will get them out and about...

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
One or two days doesn't really tell one much.

I seen dozens of does while mule deer hunting in Montana with no bucks.

Then all of a sudden there were bucks all over the place.


Keep at they are there you just haven't seen them yet.

Well, that’s what I’m hoping. The weather is
changing and I’m looking forward to hitting it again, in a week.

I still have 4-5 hunting days that I’ll take advantage of and I’ll post the results.

hope you ain't coming around here.
the conga line has formed up and the roads are shit.
don't worry about getting stuck though someone will be by in 40-50 seconds to get you out of their way.

I've been out every day so far [plus about 8 days before the hunt] and couldn't even count the number of Does I have seen.
200-250 maybe would be close just during the hunt.
one spike, and one 2 point down behind the 'P.P. go away' sign are the antler count so far.

Lamar:

I am a few hundred miles away from you. Over here where I live (by Bear Lake),
the weather has been rough and I am sure its similar to where you are at.


I am hoping that the weather gets things moving.

Bear lake is 30-35 miles away from me, I can get there on a 4 wheeler.

that storm got things moving just fine [down to the hay fields]
but they are settling down and staying back in the heavy cover now, and even the does are real truck shy at this point.

quote:

but they are settling down and staying back in the heavy cover now, and even the does are real truck shy at this point.

Doesn't sound like it is your problem.

I talked with many hunters who say they have not seen a thing from their trucks.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
Bear lake is 30-35 miles away from me, I can get there on a 4 wheeler.

that storm got things moving just fine [down to the hay fields]
but they are settling down and staying back in the heavy cover now, and even the does are real truck shy at this point.

Fortunately, I am in a draw unit and have only one other hunter so far. I still believe things will be
improved for next week. I do plan on covering a lot of new areas of the unit.

I am up your way a few times a year. My son has wrestling tournaments in Grace and in Marsh Valley. I really like the area....

let me know when your coming up for a match we can grab a soda or a burger or whatever.
Grace is like 15 miles, and marsh valley is only about 40 minutes away if I dawdle.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
let me know when your coming up for a match we can grab a soda or a burger or whatever.
Grace is like 15 miles, and marsh valley is only about 40 minutes away if I dawdle.

I will certainly give you a call and food sounds good! ha ha.

There is a lot of down time and it will be good to get away for a bit.

I will be in Grace on December 7th and at Marsh Valley December 13th-14th.

You didn't say what unit your talking about..I always try for Unit 54 behind my house and its been the premeiur unit for deer over the last 40 years, but the elk herd has exploded and seeing 40 to 100 elk a day, and so far 3 400 point bulls came out of there this year, and not seeing many deer??? Southern Idaho is the premier elk state these days, and you don't need a guide..Its about time too..

south eastern Idaho is over run with hunters.
come over on about the 20th Ray and we can join the conga line of trucks each afternoon and I will show you what I mean.

the one canyon which has been particularly hard hit by the last few winters has finally had the campers from out of state catch on and move to greener pastures but the numbers are down so much over there, seeing a few does in the hay at the bottom is worth getting out the binoculars and looking at them.

Well, I returned a few days back from hunting the last week of the hunt.
We probably saw 15 bucks with 2 of them being being (in my own opinion "shooters")

We were actually driving up to a new area that we had not hunted. It was the middle of the
day and we were on a section of BLM ground that was surrounded by private. I looked up and there
was a buck standing 150 yards broadside. We got out of our vehicle and I ranged it and decided
to pass on it. It was border line for me as we still had three more days of hunting. When it turned
its head, I knew I had made a mistake as it was larger than I had thought. By this time it was on the
move and soon gone.

I am estimating it was about 26" wide. I really regret not taking this buck but I have nobody to blame
but myself! We did get a cold snap and saw some smaller bucks chasing some does around. Overall, I expected
to see bigger bucks. However, we have had some rough winters and its understandable that the numbers are down.

I did enjoy the hunt as it was great to spend so much time without cell phone reception!