Colorado above timberline

pete p · May 16, 2010, 10:54:00 AM

time? what time are you talking about?? you spook a mature whitetail (5 yr or older) you just SPENT your time. not going to hijak this thread but a mature pressured whitetail that has survival skills honed to an edge from thousands of hunters, wolves and cyotes chasing him is as tough to hunt as anything on earth. period.

Smallwood · May 16, 2010, 12:06:00 PM

duckbutt's recommendation of dwight schuh's book is right on the money.
Also, when you look at Scott's picture above, if you'll notice the brush that is behind him (I call it willow) that is what deer will bed down in and around. Spot and stalk, oh yea!

steadman · May 16, 2010, 04:53:00 PM

I'm pretty sure Scott is refering to the time to hunt. Having hunted both, I believe it's comparing apples to oranges. Your right, the whitetail will leave, but so will a big mulie. Mulies have had the same predators chasing them as the whitetails, add in the lion in the west. The time thing is most whitetails, and I mean most, are hunted from stands relatively close to houses, farms, roads. The buck's Scott is refering to live several if not dozens of miles away from roads. Just getting there takes time, let alone the limited time to hunt them. They are both great animals to hunt and if whitetails lived above timberline, we would no doubt think the were just as cagey. But they don't, and that was what this thread is about, high country bucks.
So good luck jmh, you shouldn't have to worry about longer shots, as long as you use a lot of patience and keep the wind in your favor, and have a little luck on your side

. But be careful, those big mulies and the high country gets in your blood, and you'll want to go back!!

K. Mogensen · May 16, 2010, 10:35:00 PM

Schuh's book is worth the cash.

SpencerL · May 16, 2010, 11:05:00 PM

I've ready Schuh's book "Hunting Open-Country Mule Deer" about 1/2 a dozen times. It perfectly describes what I'm after.

Smallwood · May 17, 2010, 10:52:00 AM

Larry d. jones has some dvds out that covers hunting open country mule deer.
It is using dwight schuh's method, as he and larry are like best friends.

Duckbutt · May 17, 2010, 11:50:00 AM

I read Schuh's book and made my first trip to the high country. Everything he said proved to be true, I just had to learn some of the lessons the hard way. Hard to put everything you read into practice the first time. It is a great foundation to build from, though. I will go back.

twitchstick · May 17, 2010, 01:34:00 PM

High country bucks are fun to hunt. The best way to get good at hunting them is to just do it. Everyone has differant ways to hunt them find your style and go for it. I like to glass and ambush,or stalk them while they feed. Alot of people like to glass from a vantage piont in the mornings and stalk them on there beds in the afternoon. Bucks like to bed with a good advantage piont(most can see a whole canyon) with the wind at their back which can make stalking tough. For me I've done better moving in on them once they start to feed moving in behind them with the wind in my face. I just keep behind the ears,eyes and rump changing my direction as the do. Even better is to watch them and know where they are going and set up a ambush spot. Schuh's book is great! Mike Eastman also has a good book on high country bucks but is geared more for the trophy hunter.

wapiti792 · May 17, 2010, 02:41:00 PM

I am gonna chime in on this wonderful subject...I have hunted and killed both whitetails and mulies. Here in IL it is an ambush/bottleneck thing for whitetails although I have stalked/killed a couple of nice bucks that were locked up with does. The mule deer hunting I did found me very unprepared for the glassing, stalking, and heartbreak involved with those timberline ghosts. My third year at hunting those animals found me taking a slam dunk shot with wheels at 20 yards. I loved the animal and he has a spot in my den but I regretted not killing him with my recurve. I had just taken up trad bowhunting then...This year it has been 4 years since my first big mulie buck, and since I have no wheels it will be with a traditional bow. I will be elk hunting with a mulie tag in my pocket and if the stars are lined up, the wind right, and I don't screw it up I will put a stalk on a mulie!