Post-Mortem Of A Failed Mule Deer Hunt

[Shannaleri]

I've had a week to sit on my failed first hunt of the year, where we went after Mule Deer at about 1850 meters elevation. We arrived on the 9th, glassed down a Cow Moose in the basin, and saw a beauty 4x4 buck on the morning of the 10th... But we were unable to get another glimpse of a deer after that. I expect this is a combination of tactical and execution errors. regardless, here is the story.

The below map shows the orange circle at our original glassing point. We saw the moose at the first marked water source on night one, and the buck at the marked buck location on the 10th around 7am. He poked out for about 5 seconds along the treeline while snacking on young tree growth, then ducked back into the trees.

The red markers are confirmed sign (fresh scat) near small patches of food, the blue markers represent theorized travel corridors (assumptions) and the house symbol indicates where we felt it likely he was bedding, based on lots of brush, good sightlines into the bigger bowl, lots of sign. This may have been inaccurate, and it seems likely in retrospect that it was a walking channel to get along the ridge towards larger patches on food on the south face.

As you can see, there are open channels between the trees along the contour lines. This is where we saw the buck walking/feeding. We initially theorized that these were likely the walking channels used to move around the area.



The initial plan had been to walk the ridges surrounding the bowls and glass into the south facing areas in the mornings and evenings, but when we saw the legal buck (first mule deer we have seen) we felt we should go after him.

Sept 9th,
Evening (3:30 - 8pm):
Spot a Cow Moose walking towards the water sources on our way to the ridge of the bowl we were intending to scout. Decide to watch the basin overlooking the two water sources. Cow moose walks right past us at 10ft without smelling us, but gives us some loud stomps after catching wind of us from behind. Pretty cool. We decide to try the spot again in the morning.

Sept 10th,
Morning (5:30 - 11):
Glassed the basin over the two main water sources, hoping to sight any deer in the treeline. At 7am a buck emerges, allows us a count (minimum 4x4), and returns to the trees.
Day (12:30-3):
We hike the fringe near where we saw him, looking for sign or obvious sources of food. There are plenty of hoofprints, but little scat and no obvious or large feeding areas apparent.
Evening (3:30 - 8pm):
Set up an ambush 100 yards from where we sighted the buck, watching the treeline. Wind blew favourably into our faces, and away from the treeline. Saw nothing.

Sept 11th,
Morning (5:30 - 11):
Set up at same ambush site, watching the treeline. Wind strong, but blowing favourably.
Day (12:30-3):
We walked the channels between trees, looking for obvious food sources. Found some sign, and a recently used, active trail into thick brush by the secondary peak.
Evening (3:30 - 8pm):
Set up to ambush on a section of exposed rock, overlooking the bowl, the broad treeline on the east side of the peak and the trail. Saw nothing.

Sept 12th,
Morning (5:30 - 11):
Set up at the second water source, closer to where we had the initial sighting, but far enough back that we could see the whole treeline. Wind was favourable. Saw nothing.
Day (12:30-3):
Hike the lower channels between trees, see a large amount of fresh sign in a clearing where several of these open passages meet.
Evening (3:30 - 8pm): Set up under a tree where we can watch the open channels where these three tree lines meet. See nothing.

Sept 13th,
Morning (5:30 - 11):
Smoke has rolled in. We set up an ambush at the same clearing as the previous nights attempts. We see plenty of grouse and hear some movement in the trees, but nothing apparently larger. See nothing. Given the smokey conditions and our inability to see beyond 100 yards we head home, a day earlier than planned.


TAKEAWAYS:

1. Stick to the plan. We had intended to seek out an active feeding slope (there were 4 bowls within our area) and approach with a spot and stalk method, ambushing in between bed and feed... We abandoned this plan when we saw a legal buck on opening morning.

2. Beware a false positive. We are both inexperienced, and haven't even seen a deer in our two attempts last year. Seeing a cow moose and a legal buck in our first two scouting sessions gave us the feeling that we were looking in the right zone. We took the time to check some potential feeding areas on our decent; it was apparent there was a lot more deer activity in those areas than where we were looking.

3. Morale is vital. A large part of staying focus is keeping the faith that you could see something at any time. Near the end it was a battle to keep my spirits up during the long glassing and ambush attempts... Snacks were a vital part of staying alert.


All in all, it was a fantastic camping trip, the first buck we have seen and great experience. I'm reading up further on tactics to try to assess what I would do differently next time. Are there any clear errors I made that are apparent to you? Anything you would have done differently, or suggest be done differently? Any books you suggest I try?



Regardless, I am hooked. I'm already itching to be out there yesterday. Time to plan the next big excursion.