Re: newbie question
Your questions are influenced by a lot of factors.....time of the year, the breeding seasons, the weather, and even hunting pressures.
Pre-rut, the males tend to be in bachelor groups and more often then not l have found them at higher elevations then does.
l have seen both mulies and whities at or above tree line. The breeding season will bring everyone together and is probably the best time to see bucks on the move, although pre-scouting and checking out areas may be very successfull in getting a shot at a nice animal, earlier in the season.
Personally l find the rut the most productive time to be out hunting....find good numbers of does and sooner or later the bucks will be around, its just a matter of putting in the time.
Snow in the late season will start animals down to lower elevations where food isn't as hard to dig up, although by that time access to those places are limited for the same reason the deer are on the move.
All being said and done, its all hunting and nothing is written in stone, l have seen animals in places that l would bet money there were none, and other times gone home without a sighting in areas that pre-scouting always turned up bucks.......
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