Simple Hunter

First of all - I am not an expert glasser - but what has worked for me is focusing on the sunny hills in the AM and once I am sure I have scoured the sunny hills, I may glass the shady side of hills if it has warmed up enough to where the bucks need to find some shade...or if it is windy out, I will glass the thicker stuff (shady or sunny) to try to find the deer holed up. Depending on the hunt, I will try to determine when the bed down time is by watching what the does do. If the does are starting to bed, the bucks will probably follow or may already be bedded. ...But most importantly - when I have scoured the hills side multiple times and see nothing - I always fit in a 15 minute power nap. When I get back to glassing, my eyes are refreshed and sometimes I'll pick up a deer that may have just stood up for a second to stretch its legs before quickly bedding back down. Nothing like a power nap in the sun on a cold day.

Thanks for all the comments! By the way I forgot to mention that this buck was chasing the does. Not just hanging out with them, he was chasing them in and out of an oak thicket with the sneak pose that bucks do during the rut. I am guessing the cold morning got him a little frisky but...in all my years of hunting I have not seen rutting activity that early.

Pretty soon there will be a world record mine there too - with world record jobs - and a world record economic boom to the economy. God Bless the USA and capitalism while it still lasts. Would you rather China come in and mine it for us? Pretty soon China will call our debt due and take it back with all the resources we refuse to mine, drill, and log. Find another unit - the deer already heard about the mine and all went west into the 36 units.

+1

He looks like he has some pretty good mass - what are the circumference measurements?

Nice tine length. A shooter for sure. Way to go.

Everyone vote yes on 109 - Lord knows these women will vote against it. A traumatic experience like this is enough for them to turn to the environmental extreme side and start a drive to ban hunting. These ignorant women probably believe that deer was the last token deer of the forest and that they are endangered because we are encroaching on their habitat - at least that's what the media/Animal Planet spew all the time. You did everything right. Just some bad luck.

Scott you'll be fine. The only suggestion I have is that if you camp down there, camp on a ranch near ranch buildings. I did the same in a border unit with my son. I felt perfectly fine 7 miles from the border. I slept with my .357 magnum right next to me. Especially when the ranch dog lets you know of any intruders, two legged or four legged. If you see them in the daylight, most likely you'll be stationary and they'll be moving. If you can, call them in to BP. You aren't going alone are you?

Holy main beams!

Nice buck! Those yellow flowers on the hills behind look very familiar I don't blame you for not passing - especially on a leftover tag

Dark patch on the forehead between the antlers - more typical on a mulie.

Nice! I hope you packed it down and not up that hill

If that link didn't work - try this one. http://video.yahoo.com/watch/8462595/22602384

Solid buck! Way to go.

+ 1

The first day, Oct 22, I glassed up 15 hunters within a mile radius and only two does. I even saw one hunter walk left to right about midway up the ridge all the way along about 2 miles. The following day we shot our buck at the same spot that guy was walking along. I think we had our deer back to camp before most of the yahoo hunters had even started out.

Nice job Ryan. Stick around those Payne brothers - they have Coues whitetail magnets

Congrats on your turkey, pup, and blacktail!

Nice buck in that last pic...looks like a 3x4. Too bad the G1s and G2s aren't as big as the G3s...I'd still shoot in a hearbeat.

Sounds like Bellotabucks does know how to use the PM tool...too bad he didn't just utilize that from the beginning to give his specific hunt area advice. Maybe he learned something in all this...

I shot a buck in 34B He's huge... Are you ready for this? MONSTERRRRR! WT_Buck.bmp The Biggest bucks in 34B are across the road in 34A

Bellota, you can do whatever you want - but the PM tool has been almost exclusively used for instances like your willingness to advise on locations. No one is criticizing your willingness to help others be successful - we are all for it. But you obviously are not paying attention to how many e-scouters come on here looking for tips because they don't want to do the work. Look at the bottom of the screen and you can see from time to time that there are guests who are reading this post who are not registered and they are just skimming for tips on where to go. Amanda could probably give us some stats on how many skimmers come onto the forum. If they don't take the time to scout - they probably don't take the time to know the rules - they probably don't take the time to be courteous to other hunters - they probably don't take the time to practice shooting and they are probably not the kind or type of hunter I want slinging bullets in my area. That said...it is a free country.

144 lbs

That pose is soooo realistic. I mean the muscle structure even appears to be straining in the right places for him to be balancing and reaching - your taxi did some good research into what the muscle confirmation of a lion should look like.

I've looked at that third pic zoomed in several times and I think there are 2 bears there - its the only thing that makes sense. The bear in the back is headed left and you can only see its head. The bear in front is headed right and has it's head down or something - maybe with its paw over it's face??? Weird...or it could be a mutant bear with multiple back legs?