donniedent

I did my own but it was a partial. Had I known or been paying attention I would have had Cole do mine.

Dang guys I'm chopping at the bit for Jan 1. Ugh... Going a little nuts here.

I'm rooting for all you guys but I can't hunt till January so I'm gonna hope in my mind that the rut slows down till then. Then again the secondary rut can be better than any other time.

Now if you delete your last post, we can pretend it never happened. Sorry man

Flatlander is right, posts deleted. My bad

What will she remember when she is old and gray? Studying or a hunt with her old man? How many finals do you remember? How many special times with your dad do you remember? School is so very important but you have to ask yourself those questions. I wouldn't ever want to give bad advice when it comes to education but I can look back on my life and remember every fishing trip and every dove hunt with my dad and I treasure this times. I can remember every hunt I've gone on but I can't remember what happened at work just last week. Neither of my kids missed a day of school last year but at the beginning of this school year I pulled them out for a week for a trip to Big Lake. Guess what they talk about more. In the end all you have is memories.

Also and this is a big one for me, watch your 6 when you find does. I always always always try and glass into the wind or at least a quartering wind. Well, more than a few times I've had bucks walk up behind me. Not directly but within 60 yds of my right or left. Once it was only 20 yds from me. Bucks use the wind to find does, so the same wind that is in your face, they are using to find those does. Nothing more surprising than to stand up and stretch and see a buck standing within bowrange... and your bow is on the ground. Now I always check the country next to me for movement when I have does in front of me.

Ah glassing. I glass a lot like what deserthntr does. The last few years I haven't had to glass a bunch mid day because I've been pretty lucky about finding bucks and usually at that point I'm on a stalk or in the middle of blowing one. One thing I will do that has worked well for me is stalking does. If I find a group of does in the morning, usually I find them a ways away. When I do, I will watch them until they bed. Once they bed, and if I haven't found any bucks, I stalk into with a 100 to 150 yds of them. More times than not, when I do that I end up either watching a buck come in on them or i find a buck I didn't see. I'm basically playing the odds that there is a buck close by. Doesn't always work and I'm sure I've missed opportunities but I'm pretty proactive during the rut. The other thing I do like I said above is I glass around water... alot. I look at all the avenues leading into water and pay close attention to them. I find more deer moving into or away from water than anywhere else by a long shot. Especially if there are other hunters in the area. More than oncei have watched hunters bust deer or blow a stalk then watched the deer loop around for a quick sip of water. It's because they just got busted and had to run and simply got thirsty.

Amen to that EAS.

Looks great man.

+1 on what DUG said.

I'll take the range finder. Sending pm

Forgot to mention the flats. If you don't like hunting water, there is only one other tried and true method to hunting deer in the flats and that's with at least 2 hunters and radio I know there are other ways people do it but I've never seen any other method be consistent and is truly pure luck. I've heard of guys dragging washes with chainlink then coming back and lokking for tracks. Ive heard of ladders in the back of trucks... here. I'm not saying these methods wont work and I'm sure at times they have but if you want to hunt the flats consistently and effectively you're going to get high, glass a buck up and have someone with a means to guide you into that buck. If you don't want to hunt water or with radios, find the does in the foothills and watch them. A big muley might spend his whole life in the flats but will come out into the foothills to cover the does there. I had a conversation with one of the best desert deer hunters in the West and it was his conclusion that big solitary bucks live in the flats to avoid lions because Lions are sight hunters and sight hunting is useless in the flats. In many areas, there are more Lions in the desert than ever in history which is forcing muleys and solitary bucks especially, into the flats. We are seeing over all deer numbers drop in the desert and I truly believe it is because Lions are forcing muleys into the flats where the fawns are more susceptible to coyote predation. There's the drought as well of course.

I personally believe that desert muleys will exhaust every option ie... pothole, seep... before they will come into a dirt tank. If you get into wet weather they will scatter. Cool temps? They still need water no matter how cool it gets. Desertbowhunter is right on the money. let me add that it isnt hunting over water per se. What I'm talking about is getting a high vantage point where you can watch water from afar. Preferably 2 or more water sources. Once deer are located you can then plan accordingly. Like desertbowhunter said, find the does. Last year I concentrated on one group of does. I spent 4 solid days concentrating on those does and in those 4 days I saw 4 different bucks with them. All shooters ranging from 150"-180". For different stalks and still went home empty handed. Find does and watch them!!!! Muleys have no rhyme or reason as to what they do, especially bucks this time of year. Bucks will travel 25 miles away from their little home areas to rut. Does stay put but still have large areas they move around in. One last tidbit. You may find country that looks absolutely perfect but not see any deer. If you don't find deer move on. Just because country looks like perfect deer country doesn't mean they are there. Muleys are where you find them. Many many times I have found deer in country that looked like less than good deer country when a mile away there's absolutely perfect country with not a deer in sight. Pick a general area and scour every nook and cranny and dont pass over country that doesnt look good to your eyes.

I know, I reread what he was saying. I thought I deleted my post but I guess it didn't take.

Well I know you treasure that area Bruce and I'm sorry to see it happen. Seems like we're always trying to find a new area to get away from the crowds or development. Just sucks

The only consistent thing about desert muleys is water. That's it and that's all. You can generally find good feed by finding green up areas but that could be as large as a couple square miles. Now I do have a small hill in an area I hunt that always has deer on it in the morning but they use it for cover as they approach... You guessed it, water. The best thing you can do is find a series of water sources or at least a couple water sources that you can see from one glassing spot. Get high early and watch them. A big desert buck is in my opinion one of the hardest animals to hunt.

Edit cuz I can't read. lol

I just bought a .257 wbm myself. Go to ballisticstudies.com and look up the info on the 257. The guy that writes all the info is from NZ. Those boys down there know there stuff when it comes to hunting ballistics. I read a ton about the .257 before I picked mine up. Mine is a Vangaurd. Getting ready to float, pillar bed and glass the action. Then I'm also going to pick up a Blackhawk Axiom stock to switch between for the kids.

Sounds like that park will be centered around the northern part of the vultures. The area Bruce is talking about is a good piece from there. It's all bound to be absorbed into the county Park system eventually. Then they will also try and shut us out at some point too.

Did that more than a few times when I was starting out. Hurts like a sombuck

May I also add. There's a way to make your point without name calling and stepping on a guys huevos. Show each other a little respect. We're all grown ups here. You can have a different opinion without being a jerk. 99% of the crap talking wouldn't go on if people were face to face. Don't ruin a good discussion and a great website by being an a$$h0le. edit. Directed at the overall tone, not anyone in particular.

I remember a trip my buddies and I took to Baggs Wyoming for a deer/antelope hunt. We spent hours looking at maps and Google Earth trying to find hunting and camp spots. We made the 17 hour drive up the day before the opener. When we got up to where we wanted to camp there were literally hundreds of empty campers in every nook and cranny of the area we looked at. We ended up making a 35 mile trek back down into the desert before we found a spot. Frustrating to day the least but... we didn't get there soon enough. Though dookie! When the federal government steps in, we all lose. I would much rather have to hunt for a camp spot than have my rig towed if I'm not in it for 72 hours. I do understand the frustration but... I'd rather be frustrated than controlled.

I'm dumber than I was 45 seconds ago.

the desert and the deer that live there will get in your blood. Its probably not a hunt your going to tag out on every year especially with archery equipment but you will fall in love with it. I hunted coues deer this year and while it was a blast, Jan archery muley is still my favorite hunt. There a fairly small group of guys that hunt those deer year in and year out and I've never met better people. Either that or that's just where all the booby hatch rejects like to hang out. I are one for sure. You might get some advice on places to go but I would strongly suggest striking out on your own and going with your gut. 99% of the spots guys will point you to are hunted to death. Be a pathfinder and you will find little honey holes people drive past. Good luck to you on your new adventure and keep us posted. Theres a wealth of knowledge to be found in the heads of a few of the guys that have posted and you might pick up a tid bit or 2.