Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
Well, okay, some deer. Texas hill country, on west into southwest Texas. I ain't all that up on the Panhandle or the eastern piney woods...
And not all deer have read my book. There ain't no Always.
Bigger bucks tend to bed down near a saddle in a ridgeline. Sorta around the "military crest" on the downwind side. That way, if something's coming from behind, they can smell who's approaching, or hear. From below, they can see. And if they gotta do the bugout boogie, they'll sneak or run through that thicker brush that grows in the saddle, running upwind.
Bigger bucks, if you catch one on the flat or lower down on the mountain side, will run upwind as the first choice, and uphill as possible. If he first takes off downwind or downhill, he's gonna circle. It might be a half-mile circle, but he's gonna try to exit any sort of valley through an upwind saddle. So, don't despair; cut him off. He's not gonna run for long; he'll slow down and go to sneaking. Cut across the circle.
Little bucks and does, they'll sorta run any old direction and then get hidden and look. No real telling which way they'll go.
The main difference when desert mule deer are the goal is that they don't move around as much as the whitetail. They are plumb professional at resting and not being real curious. Since the population density is low, you gotta cover a lot of country. It helps to have a feel for where Ol' Bucky is gonna be bedded down. Saddles/ridges/downwind crest. And mulies will stick tighter. Sometimes you have to step on the darned critter before it'll move. Of course, when he (or a doe) does erupt, it's much more nerve-wracking than a covey of bobwhites exploding.
But it's real easy to do ten or more miles of walking when hunting mulies.
So, hunting that country, the deal is to start at one end of a ridge and ease along. Kick Bucky out of bed, look him over, and if you want him, shoot him. Like my Dad always said, "Ya gotta be quick."
It's a fun deal for two or three people to work together. One on the center of the ridge, one a bit below the crest, and one along Bucky's level. The upwind guy is most likely to get a shot.
If you have a group, you can work out a valley. The guys in the lower areas might as well not worry about shots, most of the time. The guys up higher, on the wings, might get a chance. They oughta be fifty or so yards ahead of the "beaters". Work uphill; dunno why, but that seems to work better.
Of course, if a little old nubbin buck jumps and runs, holler, "Shoot 'im! Shoot 'im!" to see if you can sucker somebody into shooting a buck he didn't really want. If he does shoot and kill the pitiful thing, you ask, "Why'n'ell did you wanna shoot that little ol' nuthin' buck?"
Never forget that when you're three miles from the nearest jeep trail, it's just as much hassle to haul out a mediocre buck as El Muy Grande. Be picky.
Art
And not all deer have read my book. There ain't no Always.
Bigger bucks tend to bed down near a saddle in a ridgeline. Sorta around the "military crest" on the downwind side. That way, if something's coming from behind, they can smell who's approaching, or hear. From below, they can see. And if they gotta do the bugout boogie, they'll sneak or run through that thicker brush that grows in the saddle, running upwind.
Bigger bucks, if you catch one on the flat or lower down on the mountain side, will run upwind as the first choice, and uphill as possible. If he first takes off downwind or downhill, he's gonna circle. It might be a half-mile circle, but he's gonna try to exit any sort of valley through an upwind saddle. So, don't despair; cut him off. He's not gonna run for long; he'll slow down and go to sneaking. Cut across the circle.
Little bucks and does, they'll sorta run any old direction and then get hidden and look. No real telling which way they'll go.
The main difference when desert mule deer are the goal is that they don't move around as much as the whitetail. They are plumb professional at resting and not being real curious. Since the population density is low, you gotta cover a lot of country. It helps to have a feel for where Ol' Bucky is gonna be bedded down. Saddles/ridges/downwind crest. And mulies will stick tighter. Sometimes you have to step on the darned critter before it'll move. Of course, when he (or a doe) does erupt, it's much more nerve-wracking than a covey of bobwhites exploding.
But it's real easy to do ten or more miles of walking when hunting mulies.So, hunting that country, the deal is to start at one end of a ridge and ease along. Kick Bucky out of bed, look him over, and if you want him, shoot him. Like my Dad always said, "Ya gotta be quick."
It's a fun deal for two or three people to work together. One on the center of the ridge, one a bit below the crest, and one along Bucky's level. The upwind guy is most likely to get a shot.
If you have a group, you can work out a valley. The guys in the lower areas might as well not worry about shots, most of the time. The guys up higher, on the wings, might get a chance. They oughta be fifty or so yards ahead of the "beaters". Work uphill; dunno why, but that seems to work better.
Of course, if a little old nubbin buck jumps and runs, holler, "Shoot 'im! Shoot 'im!" to see if you can sucker somebody into shooting a buck he didn't really want.
If he does shoot and kill the pitiful thing, you ask, "Why'n'ell did you wanna shoot that little ol' nuthin' buck?"Never forget that when you're three miles from the nearest jeep trail, it's just as much hassle to haul out a mediocre buck as El Muy Grande. Be picky.
Art
