How far off of the road?

[Rembrant]

Recurveman,

You are on the right track - in my opinion. You will be adding quality to your experience if you can get away from the crowd. I usually cross a canyon or top off a mountain and then hunt. This separates the men from the boys. To get the most milage out of this, do it with a backpack so you don't have to be walking in and out during prime time or in the dark. This will increase your glassing time, and if you kill, your task is getting the animal back to base camp, and not all the way back to your vehicle just yet.

I have spent many a Nov. or Dec. morning at O'dark thirty climbing up and away from my base camp with a flashlight, and stopping to watch the headlights of the quad squad moving about the available roads like ants. Realizing that these guys, if they are able to get off their quads, won't even reach my base camp before a lot of daylight is burnt and they gotta think about gettin their butts back out. I'm not a big M.C. Hammer fan, bit in this situation I usually start hummin, "You Can't Touch This."

I thank God for my health and will continue to hunt this way as long as I am able.

For you guys that don't backpack because you hunt with your aging dads, may God bless you, and I hope y'all kill bigger deer than I do.

Mike

[recurveman]

I'm not the biggest fan of the backpack thing. I think overnight would be fine but 3-4 days would probably get to me. I won't have a problem doing a little more walking but I like the comfort of a nice meal and a soft warm bed.

 

I do plan on being where I need to be at day break. I think that is a must. If that means I get up a ton earlier and hike in the dark then I'm OK with that. I just don't know if I would be a big fan of a small camp 5 miles back in. I've done it before when I was bear hunting but I'm not as excited about it now that I've done it a few times.

 

Later,

 

recurveman

[Mr Stealth]

Rembrant,

Suppose you get your deer and take it to your camp. How do you keep the coyotes away from the fresh meat? Just curious.

[ridgerunner]

I'll tell you how I do it- It's called 130 grains of hot lead! If I am more than a mile back in, I am not going to shoot a small buck, so if I've got a dead deer, chances are it's going to be nice, and on a Nov or Oct hunt, you need to get it out pretty quick, so the dogs usually wouldn't have time to find it anyway. Besides, there will be a big steaming gut pile just waiting for them to clean up!

[Rembrant]

Mr Stealth,

I have good bags that I re-use for this purpose, but any breathable bag will work.

When I backpack I always dress the deer the no-gut method and end up with a semi-boned animal that will fit in one or two bags.

Hang the bags high in a tree. In the shade.

Never had a predator/scavanger raid my camp.

Coyotes won't bother you. It's the bears that concern me, though it hasn't happened yet. I sometimes hang the meat where, if disturbed, will be a comfortable distance from my tent, and in line with the opening of my tent just in case a problem developes and I need to shoot from my tent in self defense. But like I said, that ain't happened yet.

Back packing is a royal pain, BUT, If you wanna get back in where the masses don't go, the only other alternative is to hike in every morning and out every evening. It is actually easier to bust your butt - once - and then sleep in every morning and just mosey out to your glassing spot at first light, or take a short, or longer walk from base camp to a different spot. The biggest thing I have learned over the years, is when you know where you will be backpacking, pre-hike a ton of water up there pre-season. Hang the water in trees for the same reasons. I have had bears get my precious water!

The solitude and quality that a backpack trek will offer a hunt is priceless.

Mike

[Rembrant]

Ridgerunner makes a good point.

Busting my butt by backpacking has forced me to be a trophy hunter. A full pack AND a deer is way too much for a 2-point.

If you have a Dec hunt (or Nov hunt with cool weather) and have a partner who also has a tag, the meat will keep just fine for as many days as needed.

Mike

[muledeerarea33?]

every year I hunt I always walk atleast 2 miles off the road. and every year that i kill it is always (or mostly) when I am like 1/4 mile from the road. So I make an attempt to bust my butt every year to get to the spots I scouted but usually dont kill anything way out??

[daryl_s]

This year in the October hunt in 36B I watched a doe and her fawn bed down about 75 yards from a very heavily traveled dirt road. A truck parked right between her and the road and even when 5 hunters jumped out of the truck she never moved. Almost all the deer I saw on opening day(all does) kicked up within 50 yards of me when I was walking.

 

Also in the 36B hunt about 7 years ago my dad jumped a 100"+ buck less a 1/4 mile from our camp. The buck didn't kick up until my dad was just a few steps away from him. He was able to make a succesfull shot in time.

 

I think that the deer don't really move farther out in most cases. I think that they mostly just hold tighter. Even so I still like to get away from the other hunters. I get pretty frustrated when I see hunters all over the place even when I know that there are deer in the area.

[Redman]

Ridgerunner makes a good point.

Busting my butt by backpacking has forced me to be a trophy hunter. A full pack AND a deer is way too much for a 2-point.

If you have a Dec hunt (or Nov hunt with cool weather) and have a partner who also has a tag, the meat will keep just fine for as many days as needed.

Mike

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

How do you keep your beer cold?? No seriously, this Oct, my nephew and I backpacked in, ate MRE's and had a good experience. After 3 nights I was ready to get back. I would say one night backpacking in the future to get across that rough canyon would be good.

 

Redman

[Rembrant]

To each his own.

Big Coues bucks are not stupid. They will hunker down and shun the light of day when there is a lot of human activity in the area. Also a lot of older bucks will have places of solitude where they go when the pressure is on.

I prefer to hunt deer that are relaxed and living their normal undisturbed lives.

I need every advantage I can get.

Highways are not bad - they are a normal part of a lot of deers lives. I believe there are a lot of 'sleeper' areas next to highways. It's all the other human activity that big bucks and I like to stay away from.

Mike

[coues addict]

recurveman

 

With a name like recurveman, I am sure you are no stranger to hard work. Rembrandt and I must be on the same exact page. I absolutely love to backpack in, if for nothing else than the total sollitude and the adventure! The distance is probably not as critical as the roughness of the terrain. Two miles may be a lot in extremely rough country. I once tracked and killed a desert mule deer 12 miles from my vehicle on a day hunt on relatively flat ground. Talk about killing youself! That was totally ridiculous! The things we do to kill deer! I think if you try backpack hunting and get setup with the right equipment you may find you too will love it. It is not for everyone, but for the serious trophy hunter it is totally awesome! I have never had coyotes bother my meat either, but I worry about Bears and Lions at times. I figure if they get it they get it. If I am sleeping and don`t hear them then thats the way it goes! If you can find a buddy that has similiar wants and desires then its nice to have a friend along to share the expierience with! One thing for sure there are no guarantees, but, if you hunt where there are no other hunters you are going to find totally undisturbed deer and maybe the " Big One'' that you have been dreaming about. Thats what keeps me going. Try the backpack gig and see if you like it, Like my dad always says '' nothing ventured nothing gained'' just my 2 dollars worth ! Coues Addict

[coozfever]

Well its 10:00 pm and i'm still at work, in 2 more hours i'll be off and heading home to sleep for maybe an hour(why bother huh). Picking a buddy up at 2:30 am to head into the catalinas, we should be hiking around 4:30 am with our packs loaded for 3 days. Hopefully this backpack trip will pay off and we'll have some pictures to post. Good luck to the rest of you tag holders!

 

Michael