Terrain Preferences

[Red Rabbit]

What kind of terrain do you chose to hunt? Deep in the mountains? Steep and lotsa oak? Rolling hills? Ocotillo thickets? Mesquite flats?

Why do you choose it? What do you look for in that area to hold bucks, and how do you hunt that terrain? Any change in area preference from early season to the late?

 

If you have a photo to include and aid with your explanation, that would be great.

 

Doug~RR

[stanley]

Good post Doug!

 

Though I would 'prefer' to hunt the flats (due to my age... ), I generally hunt higher. I like to hunt the transition zones where you have oak & grass on the north facing slopes, and ocotillo, catclaw, and other /^%#@$ on the south sides. I'm a relative coues novice, but this is where I've had my most success in finding deer.

 

As far as how I hunt it; Glass, glass, glass! Again, I'm a bit of a novice on the coues so I'm learning all the time.

 

S.

 

Here's a scouting picture from last September..... Look a little familiar Doug???

 

[mattys281]

I also am very much a novice, but have to second his statement. Glass, glass, glass. Wear out the seats of you pants & your tripod before your boots. That's particularly difficult for me, being impatient as I am, but I think the self restraint will pay big dividends. This last archery season I saw deer in a wide variety of terrain, from wide open slopes dotted w/ rock outcroppings to drainage bottoms that were so thick you'd have no chance of stocking w/in bow range. I think, looking back, that my biggest mistake (& I have to admit it was one that I made over & over) was hiking too much & trying to glass to much country instead of glassing smaller areas more thoroughly. Just find an area that you believe has a good concentration of deer & look everywhere.

 

If I have the choice, though, I prefer more open terrain on south & south-east facing slopes near the tops of ridgelines & the rockier the better (as long as it's not a sheer cliff face). I've had better luck getting close in on those types of hills.

[DesertBull]

 

 

 

That's the exact kind of stuff I like to hunt, except I like to get up high and glass down into that mesquite thicket. That's where the big'ens hang out.

 

I also like the oaks, though the high, tan colored grass in those areas really conceal a Coues deer well.

[elkhunter]

I used to hunt oak/grasslands but it seems like there's more bucks in the desert terrian with Mesquite/Octillios/cactus...this year will be my first year hunting the more desert terrian, so far I like to hike up high and glass the smaller hills below me, hope to kill my first octillo buck this year

[azcouesandelk]

I like to hunt open south facing hills with scatter mesquites and ocotillos and northern facing hills with good number of oaks.

[bowsniper]

I like thick dark forest that is not glassable. It keeps the pesky rifle hunters out!

 

Mark

[standman]

For me, being an archery hunter, I prefer the higher thicker elevations. Pines, spruce trees, douglas fir trees with a few junipers mixed in is what works best for me. Most places I hunt I can't see past 40-50 yards max. I figure if in the thick stuff if I find one he is in range. I don't see as many deer this way as I do glassing open ridges and mountains. However, those open ridges make it extremely difficult to get into archery range of a buck. We have done it before, but it takes too many failures before a success. That is why I choose the higher, thicker areas. Much more success compared to the failures.

 

As for the question of "What do you look for in that area to hold bucks? I don't have to see bucks in an area to know that they are in an area. The sign will tell me that. Rubs, scrapes (new and old), trails etc, etc. When looking for an area to hunt during the rut the number one thing I look for in an area is does. If does are there, the bucks will be there. The areas I hunt, the deer are there whether it is summer or winter, so if I find any area with lots of does, then that will be the number one spot I look at come the rut. I also depend alot on water. Not necessarily to hunt over, but to be in the area of the water. I will study topo maps of the elevations I like to hunt and find the water in that area, then go check that water to see if I want to elimimate that spot or to continue looking in the area.

 

Now to the question of how I will hunt this terrain or area? I will stalk or still hunt the higher ridges, which I think will have the most deer crossing over from bedding to feeding areas and vice verca, being careful to move extremely slow and always have the wind in my favor. I have found in my experience in hunting these thicker areas deer seem to hold very close without running as if they think they are hid and that you will just pass them by. While hunting like this if I find a good saddle or trail that looks like it is getting well used then I may proceed to set up a ground blind on that spot. That worked for me with my Aug. 2005 buck.

 

This is getting long winded so I will stop. I hope some of this is related to the subject at hand and not to far off topic. These are some of the things we use to be successful. Still learning though, there is always a curveball somewhere.

 

Brian

[CouesFanatic]

I love to sit on a huge hill where I can see all directions but peferably the south-west facing slopes. Anything with Ocotillo, Ocotillo, Ocotillo. I love Ocotillo because Coues do. I like the more open low desert stuff.

[WFGinNM]

I haven't had much of a choice here in NM, where I've been hunting coues it's usually thick steep and rocky. Pinyon, juniper, and oak with deep grass. Most of the deer I've seen have been around 9:00 in the morning in the sun or just above the shade line in the afternoon. makes me wonder about how many I've overlooked.

 

Like mattys281 said, I have found myself trying to cover too much country instead of being more thorough glassing smaller pockets.

 

--Bill

[hunt4horns]

Lately i have found more good buck around 3000 to 4000 feet eating on barrel cactus fruits. Hiding in scrub oak and holding tight. Almost to the point where someone can walk right by them. In fact i seen it happen. And I always looked for shade pockets typically North facing slopes however I think they like the sun a little too depending on the moon they had the night before. If they stay out late playing and feasting their gonna hit the sack very early and get up early and move around kinda getting a little antsy.

[mattys281]

I spotted a little forky buck this last season that was bedded down under a low-hanging juniper. The only reason I saw him was because I came up on a ridgeline that I was planning on setting up to glass from & he was right there in front of me at about 150 yds. I saw him from the side, profiled, as he was on the same face as I was. If I had been glassing from the opposing hill side (looking head on) I know I wouldn't have seen him at all. That juniper grew right down to the ground on the front side making a perfect blind for him to sleep behind. A week later I spotted a doe & her fawn feeding in a saddle & the made their way up a hill side & bedded down right under another juniper. They had to push through the branches to get inside where it was open! I knew where they were & the only way I could make them out was that once in a while I'd see her flick her ear through the branches. When motionless, it was darn near impossible for me to pick them out of the branches & that was at less than 200 yards w/ 10x bincoculars. It was a hard learned lesson this season, but one I learned well. These deer are nearly impossible to see when bedded, especially if you don't have the patience for slow glassing, and as I said before, that's not a real strong point of mine. I love to hike & see what's over the next ridge to much & I don't even want to think about how many deer a must have missed because I couldn't keep still.

After these experiences, my plan for Dec/Jan is 1.) higher powered optics (12-15x range) & 2.) instead of covering ground, I'm going to focus on two glassing points per day. If I glass all morning & don't find anything then I'll try another spot after lunch.

[azpackhorse]

This is what I like to hunt

 

 

[Red Rabbit]

Here's some pics of a couple spots I have hunted. I like to hunt at around 5000' elevation, below where it is too thick, and above the muley flats. I like to see oaks on the north slopes, for bedding in shade and food/mast.

 

This first pic is looking nortwest, so it is of the southern face. There is another peak to the right not seen that forms a good saddle with this peak. Deer feed on the south slope and move back around to the north side to bed. There point in the middle of the 700 yard wide saddle that makes a good spot to be for glassing and within shooting range before daylight and before dusk as the deer come back around to feed in the evening. THere is a tank right below where the pic is taken.

On the right side of the peak, you can see a point that allows one to glass below and to the northwest to another saddle. Deer have come around from the north side on both ends of this peak. Some have been spotted bedding in the cuts seen in the middle of the south face. One can also glass to the south and across to the oak covered north side of the ridge the pic was taken from.

Being at the picture taking spot will give a good view of the south slope and the saddle. THere are enough draws that a stalk could be made up one and hope the deer have not moved. I would prefer to be near the saddle before daylight, though.

 

This pic is looking southeast. In this area, I look to see deer feeding on the open ridges and bedding in the trees in the cuts. There is a tank below and to the right of this ridge.

 

Doug~RR

 

 

 

Stan,

Right in the middle of your pic, there appears to be a small hill that would allow you to glass the ridge further behind, and also below to the flats in front. Looks like a good spot to spend a day and let the eyeballs hike around. The ridge to the far-left edge in the pic looks nasty-covered in catclaw.

 

Doug