gaps Report post Posted December 4, 2012 I'm on my first rifle deer hunt for coues and I'm looking for a little advice. If you guys are kind enough to help I really appreciate it, since I am new to this. If you feel like I am stepping on toes and asking for too much info, i guess I can understand that too. But what I want to know is do you prefer to hunt and glass from the road or do you like to hike or pack in away from the road and crowds? Also, if you find a group of does but can't find any bucks do you stay on the doe and just wait it out until a buck shows up or do you move to a new spot in search of bucks? I hunted Friday moring through Sunday night and spotted groups of does from 300-1000 yards plus. However we could only spot one button buck and a little forky. This glassing has been from or close to the road and I am really thinking about hiking in a mile or two off the roads. I feel like this would be better for seeing bucks but I am hesitant to leave the does that are closer to the road. What do you guys do and what do you recommend? Thanks for any help you guys can provide, I'm just a rookie looking for some help! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antmo23 Report post Posted December 4, 2012 Get off the roads and you should find more bucks. A lot of hunters do exactly what you're doing and stick close to the roads. This late in the season, any bucks that were close to the roads are dead or small, ie the button and small forky you glassed up. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gaps Report post Posted December 4, 2012 that's what I was thinking, thanks for the advice! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redman Report post Posted December 5, 2012 Glassing is the key... I have found in the early morning to glass the entire area, then as the morning draws on... glass the shaddy side of the hill. Big bucks are by the road... they may get pushed there during hunting season or live there year around ( I have seen two B&C Bucks killed within a half mile of a road...)they are there. I personally prefer to get a mile or so from a road and glass. then work an area glassing from different angles. The key is to be patient and glass all day... you will turn something up. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gaps Report post Posted December 5, 2012 Thanks redman, I appreciate the advice. This is pretty much what I thought. There are no absolutes, but I feel the further away from everyone the better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redman Report post Posted December 5, 2012 Your welcome, I feel more comfortable not hearing vehicles so the further the better... make sure you know the area..on a couple of occasion I have hiked in the dark for a long way, sit down and say wow this is a great spot... then soon after sunrise I hear the putter of a quad...roads from the backside of the mountain!! darn!! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SunDevil Report post Posted December 5, 2012 it is important to remember that it is not a guarantee that the bigger bucks will be out at dawn or dusk. they get old by being smart. it is important to glass the thick nasty stuff even at first and last light. when they are out, the bigger bucks will be the first ones to bed in the morning and the last to get up from their beds in the afternoon. make sure you are checking the hunt/fish times on your GPS. it is pretty accurate. not a good idea to be taking a nap or back at camp when the deer are up for a mid-day stretch and to feed. good luck. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
THE RIFLEMAN Report post Posted December 5, 2012 Try walking the ridges and fingers, use a sling/slingshot to fling rocks into the canyons below! I spit on the rocks to get some scent into the bottoms! This gets the deer moving and makes them easier to see! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Antmo23 Report post Posted December 5, 2012 Try walking the ridges and fingers, use a sling/slingshot to fling rocks into the canyons below! I spit on the rocks to get some scent into the bottoms! This gets the deer moving and makes them easier to see! Ive never heard about spitting on rocks and using a slingshot, but I do roll rocks down canyons. After I've glassed a canyon for as long as my patience will allow, I start rolling rocks, we call it bowling for bucks, lol. It worked this year a few times, mostly does, but one was a 100 in 3x4 that my cousin whacked. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
arizonaelitefreak Report post Posted December 7, 2012 i hike back in 3 to 6 miles and this opening weekend we saw an average of 9 to 11 bucks a day and that was just friday and saturday and not one was smaller that a 2 point, my cousins son took a spike and he was right off the road but the big boys were a ways back in and all by themselves except one big ole buck running 5 does hard. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowfishAZ Report post Posted December 7, 2012 If you have the time pre season scouting is the only way to hunt!! Find the buck you want to kill and learn him!! He will be somewhere in the area when the hunt rolls around. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Coach Report post Posted December 7, 2012 May not be the most popular response, but learning maps is a key component when learning how to hunt. You have to learn topography, water, habits to finally look at the high level and make a plan. There's no shortage of people out there doing predictable and random things. The way most hunts are structured these days, you won't see many deer out on the move unless you're hunting late December or early January. Mature bucks in November don't have to travel more than a few yards for food, maybe not more than a couple hundred yards for water, which they'll usually wait until dark for. You first have to learn to think like deer. They have everything they need within steps, and they are too smart to go acting like we want them to. When it's hot, they are bedded on Northern/NE slopes and they'll stay there most of the day in the shadows. They'll get up for about 15 minutes around noon, but won't make big moves toward water until after dark. The really big ones like to hang up in a canyon where they can establish a routine. The minute they are found, and realize they are found, they move out at dark and start the whole process over again. IMO, 90% of the guys that kill 100 plus inch bucks get really lucky. That's not to take away from the 10% that outsmart those bucks. They exist, and year-after-year you see them with firends and clients, but the majority of hunters in this state, whether it's coues deer, mule deer, elk , javis...are depending on dumb luck, and whatever store-bought goodies they can take afield. Sadly, it seems less and less people focus their attention on what their own instincts tell them when they are out hunting or fishing. The want to rely on someone else to tell them what they don't know. I realize this is a condidtioned response... 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SunDevil Report post Posted December 7, 2012 I have posted this before. A lot of people say at first light they want the sun at their back and the wind in their face. DO NOT overlook glassing into the shade in the morning, even at first light and as the sun rises. Just because it is morning does not mean deer will not be in the shade. especially the wise old bucks. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elkster9 Report post Posted December 7, 2012 I've observed that bucks and doe's will follow the sun/shade line first thing in the morning. Glass those areas right along the fringe line of both. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BirdDog20 Report post Posted December 15, 2012 We start hiking about 2 to 2.5 hours before the sun comes up and look to be sitting 30 minutes before it rises to let things settle back down. Not only does it allow you to get into good territory without spooking them out, but if you set up in the right spot, you can utilize hunting pressure patterns to your advantage as the other hunters leave their camps / atv's. We sit and glass all morning. My dad will stay in one spot ... but that may be more due to age (75). Lol. I like to get up and still hunt to cover more area. I don't rely on jumping the deer. I still like to see them before they see me. Move slow, glass new angles and territory before going through it. Before I top a ridge, I glass as much as I can before exposing my silhouette then crossing over for a more thorough glassing. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
