Glassing the flats?

[longbowpilot]

Question,

 

When mule deer hunting trying to glass the flats there is so much brush/palo verdes and thick cover to try to look through. What are people's opinions on glassing desert flats? Is it better to keep walking slowly through the cover and hope you sneak up on a bedded deer? Or better to glass all day and try to find one in all the cover?

[Xforcebaby]

What unit do you have? Let me know and I will give you tips.

[POB]

I try to gain as much height as I can. I once stood a 10' ladder up in the bed of my truck to gain as much as possible. Saves shoe leather.

[desertbowhunter]

Glass glass and glass some more!

[Pine Donkey]

When you think you are glassing slow enough, slow down more!

[Norteno]

I try to gain as much height as I can. I once stood a 10' ladder up in the bed of my truck to gain as much as possible. Saves shoe leather.

You too? I usually sit atop a 10ft ladder in the back of the truck while my hunting budding drives it up and down the roads. Saw that on an African safari show and it works great!

[Elkaddict]

I try to gain as much height as I can. I once stood a 10' ladder up in the bed of my truck to gain as much as possible. Saves shoe leather.

You too? I usually sit atop a 10ft ladder in the back of the truck while my hunting budding drives it up and down the roads. Saw that on an African safari show and it works great!

Must be on a paved road. LOL

[longbowpilot]

Glass glass and glass some more!

 

Good enough for me! just bought a tripod for the binos, trying to employ Dwight Schuh's (editor of bowhunter magazine) methods.

[desertbowhunter]

Glass glass and glass some more!

Yup! Your glasses mounted on a tripod is a must. Just like pine donkey said take your time and glass slow. Leave your glass in one spot and scan with just your eyes. Go over the same flat numerous times and you will be very surprised with what you find:)

 

Good enough for me! just bought a tripod for the binos, trying to employ Dwight Schuh's (editor of bowhunter magazine) methods.

[JOEDKILLA]

Glassing is best. When the cover is very thick I'll fine tune my focus back and forth to try and peer through the branches. Sometimes the flats are too vast and glassing points nonexistent. In this case I like to visit waterholes and washes in hopes of cutting a fresh track while wearing a scentlock suit and sneaky feet. When I do this I move very slow and keep glassing in the direction the tracks are heading. Patience is key.

[donniedent]

Glassing the flats and actually hunting them is 2 different things. Pretty tough to do by yourself but there are a few guys that do and can actually get it done. You have to get high enough to actually see into the country. The back of a truck even on a ladder isn't nearly high enough. There are so few deer per square mile in the desert flats that it would be pure luck to stumble onto them in a truck. To effectively do it you need at least two guys with hand signals or radios and a good range finder. All that desert looks the same but there are areas the deer like better than others. And... All animals need water.

[donniedent]

Lol, don't mean to sound so discouraging. Imo there is no greater challenge than hunting desert muleys. If you have the sand (no pun intended) to give it a go, good for you. It will get in your blood fast. And when you do fill that tag you will know you accomplished something. Concentrate on water early and late. I like to find a hill top where I can see every avenue into a tank. Once you find a buck you will need help getting on the deer. Once you get down on that flat everything looks different. There usually aren't landmarks you can use for reference once you're down there. If you're hunting alone, you're probably better off sitting well used water.

[billrquimby]

In Sonora, they look for fresh deer tracks in long, sandy washes and follow them until they come upon a buck watching them or in its bed. I've never hunted that way, but I do know several hunters who have taken big mule deer in Sonora and in the flats between Florence and Oracle Junction that way. There aren't many places to glass from there.

 

Bill Quimby

[azslim]

have taken off after big bucks in the flats a few times, never been able to seal the deal, they are up and down all day long chasing shade and browse, they may only move a few yds but if you don't know they moved you will never see them

[JOEDKILLA]

In Sonora, they look for fresh deer tracks in long, sandy washes and follow them until they come upon a buck watching them or in its bed. I've never hunted that way, but I do know several hunters who have taken big mule deer in Sonora and in the flats between Florence and Oracle Junction that way. There aren't many places to glass from there. Bill Quimby

Sonora is where I learned this style of hunting (or maybe I should say keep learning this style). It takes lots of practice and you have to be willing to track for miles & miles. Some hunters will say "well your just stalking blind you don't know what you're following", and there is some truth to this but there is much a track can tell you if you just pay close attention. You can tell gender from the size and length of the track, body weight from the depth and splaying, body size from stride and overstride, (and my favorite) antler size from the way a buck navigates under and around obstacles. There are many subtleties to discern from and I learn new ones every time I go out. One of my favorite quotes is from an old tracker from Sonora who taught me a lot and has since passed, "La huella nunca miente, siempre dice la verdad," translation "The track never lies, it always tells the truth". Jose Lopez