Hi everybody, i was wondering if you guys could give me some advice on my upcoming 12A West Deer hunt starting Oct. 21st. I would consider myself a beginner level deer hunter, i've only shot two deer on the Kaibab before and neither of them are worth mentioning. I was up in the Kaibab this past weekend to do some scouting before my upcoming deer hunt. I saw well over 70 plus does and only 4 bucks, and about 30 turkeys. The bucks that i did see were all spikes, and all of the bucks were in a herd of all other does and fawns. I was up before dawn and out until dark to scout, i checked out multiple terrains and multiple elevations. The weather was hanging around 30 degrees before dawn and about 50 at dusk. Let me make this clear i'm not looking for a trophy buck by any means, but i'm looking for something better than a spike. I was unable to locate any deer that were remotely good looking. My question is where do you guys think they would be? I was told by another avid hunter that the mature bucks are higher in elevation, and more at the top of the elevation/terrain. I don't know how true this statement is? Can anyone tell me what they have noticed the habits of the mature bucks are? I would have loved to see atleast one mature buck this past weekend but i didn't. Also the Kaibab suffered a large fire towards the North Rim on the HWY 67, i checked inside the burn area and their was quite a few does in there and only one spike. Whats your opinion on hunting the burned area? Any advice on located the mature bucks would be greatly appreciated. Are the deer staying up high until the snow pushes them off? Or does extremely cold weather push the bucks off the mountains? I believe it was 5 degrees outside during my last opening morning without a drop of snow on the ground. Thanks guys in advice.
