A weekend in 3-13

[adriaticum]

A month ago I went out and scouted some areas in 3-13 for deer and saw some does. One doe even posed for a photo op.
So buddy and I, both newbies, decided to get out and try for deer in this area.

I was pretty pumped when Friday rolled around.
We arrived on location by 9-ish at night and the weather was windy as hell and I was hoping it wouldn't rain.
It was pitch dark so we found a nice spot and setup the tent and then we went for a drive to the cut block where I saw deer before.
As we came up onto the cut block at night we saw a pair of eyes looking at us from the darkness.
Things looked good and I was excited.
I did not sleep the first night. Maybe I was excited, maybe the howling winds kept me awake, who knows.
The plan for next morning was to walk to the spot in darkness and find cover and wait for morning to come.
So we did, we setup before in a spot we could monitor a good potion of the cut block. Lots of new growth.
But we saw no deer in a couple of hours.
My immediate though was maybe I stink so much they could smell me from miles away , but the wind was in our face.
Not to spend all the time in one spot we went for a drive and visited all the areas we though might have deer.
But there were no deer in sight.
We met one other fellow hunter and chatted for a bit. He didn't see anything either. He hunted on a bike with his dog.
I forgot to invite him for Polish sausage bbq and some sljivovica around the camp fire.
Sunday saw us driving to some new areas we discovered and saw some grouse.
We got to at least pluck some feathers.



We cris-crossed the mountain several times in the 2 days and saw no deer or bear.
The closest we got to seing sings of life was this:

And I have no clue what it is but it looks a couple of days old and it might be bear or coyote/wolf.
Right in the middle of the road.
All in all I was a little dissapointed that all the mule deer left.
I guess they must be hibernating
Better luck next time!

[monasheemountainman]

Keep trying. They are there.

[adriaticum]

I will go back again this week

[Sofa King]

i'm not too familiar with wolf shat, but it does look like larger yodel poop.

[Tytalus]

Keep trying. They are there.

I was the hunting buddy and it was a deeply frustrating experience. Most of the time the wind was in our favor, and it seemed like I could feel that there was deer around... But just couldn't see them at all. I wonder if we were too high up or not. Ah well.

[monasheemountainman]

that's why its hunting and not killing, if you saw sign, they are there. a lot of factors play in to hunting, the more time you spend in the bush the more animals you will see. try different elevations and tactics you will get them! good luck boys!

[Cyrus]

yep too windy out there right now...nothing on the move.

[betteroffishing]

actually , i have found the exact opposite to be true , durring high winds is the perfect time for the road hunter to get out of his car into a piece of forrest with trails crisscrossing and sit and wait 50 - 70 yards in to treeline. durring high winds they wont be found as much on the roads , but they will be more active within the cover durring the day . i figure the ruckus created by the wind banging the trees together and the such , the deer cannot rely on their sence of hearing as well and therefore try to keep on moving to use their speed and sight to their advantage. just my observation.

[adriaticum]

actually , i have found the exact opposite to be true , durring high winds is the perfect time for the road hunter to get out of his car into a piece of forrest with trails crisscrossing and sit and wait 50 - 70 yards in to treeline. durring high winds they wont be found as much on the roads , but they will be more active within the cover durring the day . i figure the ruckus created by the wind banging the trees together and the such , the deer cannot rely on their sence of hearing as well and therefore try to keep on moving to use their speed and sight to their advantage. just my observation.

Sounds logical.

[Cyrus]

hmmm...When I'm "hiking" I have found they are staying in the thick stuff bedded down, next to no sign and zip for pics on the 13 trail cams I have in the area. I guess I could go right through the thick bush to find them but will more than likely just spook them more..Last week with the 3 days with no wind there was a ton everywhere.....starting to get very frustrated with the weather pattern right now...