Scouting trip. Why not many deer?

Although I was on one of the worse buck to doe ratio mountains in the state, I only saw 4 does and no bucks. I took my daughter with me and we got a very late start. Didn't get to start glassing until 7:30 a.m. but I should have seen more deer. (???) There were a lot of deer in there last fall. Most likely is a migration route. ( transition zone) I was glassing in the 7,000' to 9,000' range of elevation. The brush is very lush, due to all the recent rains. I think I'll wait til fall to check this spot out again.
2,723
Default Avatar
I think you got that one right. Different seasons they use different places unless it's a farm, then they stay year round if all their needs are met.
Mark
0
MuleyMadness
Could be because of the moisture and lots of rain that they are much more scattered this year?
0
9er
"ridgetop" wrote:A Didn't get to start glassing until 7:30 a.m. but I should have seen more deer.
I was able to get out for a bit also, every deer i saw was bedding down at 7am. even if the sun wasnt hitting them, they were entering the pines!!

9er
0
ridgetop
I've seen days like that. Maybe it was one of those. It really pays to be in the right spot for glassing at first light.
0
johnyutah5
I went out last night and saw a buck out feeding at 6:30 on a west facing slope at about 9000 ft. My last several tripsbefore that I didn't see anything until an hour before dark. On my trail camera they are moving through the pines at all hours of the day. All the vegetation seems to have them spread out.
0
CodeRED
"johnyutah5" wrote:I went out last night and saw a buck out feeding at 6:30 on a west facing slope at about 9000 ft. My last several tripsbefore that I didn't see anything until an hour before dark. On my trail camera they are moving through the pines at all hours of the day. All the vegetation seems to have them spread out.
 I agree with this.. With all the available food for them, theyre not being confined to certain areas to eat.
0
sneekeepete
I have to agree that with all of the moisture it has the wildlife spread out. I beleive this is true for all wildlife. This could be part of the reason for so many bears wandering this year. I know in the past where I normally hunt that the bears were forced into tighter areas with oneanother due to lack of water sources. The new abundance of water probably has everything spread our reaping the benifits of pleantiful feed and water.
0
Default Avatar
"9er" wrote:
ridgetop wrote:A Didn't get to start glassing until 7:30 a.m. but I should have seen more deer.
I was able to get out for a bit also, every deer i saw was bedding down at 7am. even if the sun wasnt hitting them, they were entering the pines!!

9er
 That's how it has been around here, especially now that it's dried out some and started to heat up quick in the am. Saw two does when we hit the trail at 5:30am but by the time I started glassing from up high around 7 most of the deer had bedded already. Around here at least it also seems they are taking their time moving up high with all the extra feed this year. Saw probably 10 bulls though feeding out until 9 or so.
0