Ashnola Mule Deer 8-3

[ff89]

I went up here last year and had a great solo hunting experience, sneaking up on a bachelor group, picking a buck and bringing it home. I'd like to do something similar this upcoming week and I was wondering a few basic mule deer questions to help narrow down my search. I really want to go at this trip with a confirmed game plan not just my new hunter ideas on deer behaviour.
Deer are where you find them, but is it safe to say most bucks where I'm looking at are still going to be up high? Really high subalpine stuff or not so much? Heavy timbered North slopes or more open south slopes?
South aspects in the mornings trying to catch some sun?
Where do these guys bed down during the day? Will a bachelor group bed down together or split up?
If the wind switches and blows my scent in an unintended direction, should I just give up at that spot?
Does rattling work for mule deer? Is it too early to use a can call?
When should I sit still and observe and when should I get up and go? I dont do enough sitting and observing perhaps because of my youthful impatience. The thought of "well there might be deer just over the next hill" is too overpowering. Should I grow up, ditch this mentality buy some binos and glass more? Should I focus on cutblocks? I'll do a slow drive by if I have a good feeling about it but I see hunters glassing barren wastelands, am I missing something?
My hunting strategy has been basically drive around till I find what looks like good habitat and get out and walk slow, rattle a bit if I'm gonna walk through some noisy stuff and keep the wind at my face. 99% of the time I dont see anything by doing this but when I do it has worked for me, 100% of the time its been within 2 hours after first light and it feels like 100% luck and 0% skill right now. Never seen anything this way in the evenings. I'm looking to get more deer sightings and have a better idea if what I'm doing makes sense.

[todbartell]

buy binoculars

[Billybird]

Get up high and glass

[bacon_overlord]

buy binoculars

X2.
Also read this article.

https://www.gohunt.com/read/best-time-for-mule-deer

Many other good ones on that site.
This time of year is very hard to find them, they are mostly nocturnal and very spooky. Likely times are glassing dusk and Dawn when bucks snack before bedding. Alternatively trying to push bedding areas.

[hoochie]

Last weekend around 15:30.. was driving down a road just checking out and area I hadn't been in before. Noticed what I thought was a doe at the edge of the tree line, at the high end of a cut. I grabbed binos and saw that she was a HE.
He was looking back into the tree line that was beside him. I watched and waited a few more minutes, and out came 2 more bucks. I watched them for a ew minutes nd carried on. Later, around 18:00 it began to snow. Deer stood out so much easier.
There was one point I was driving up to a cut block, and as I slowed to make the corner, 2 Does just stood there. I tried to get a good pic of them, but they would look at me in the truck and go back to eating. I couldn't get them to put their heads up. I even whistled. not much of a reaction from them.
The deer I came across were not spooky at all, to the point of it being rather strange.
I was thinking the ban on quads may have reduced the numbers of people in the back country, and maybe the deer have been more relaxed??
The following day I took a WT buck at last light.
Every time I take a deer in the evening, I think to myself "I wish it was first light" lol.
good luck this year.. keep it up. It will come together for you.

[Ohwildwon]

I believe that area (cathedral provincial park) is still partially closed?

I was down the Pasayten, (west side) a couple weeks ago, that fire was raging around Table Top Mountain and heading east...

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parks/docs/order-cathedral-mod_20170921.pdf?v=1506823844412

[Crackshot007]

Make sure you pay attention to the signs up there, there is a lot of No Motorized Vehicle Access now.