e-scounting deer vs elk

[nmassey]

I am new here as well as to DIY hunting out west. I have done some reading and watched some videos on e-scouting for elk, my question is if the same rules apply to mule deer as they do with elk.

I am going on a group hunt this fall in CO and I have a mule deer tag and three others I'm going with have elk tags, third season for me and general elk for them. Do you all advise hunting elk and mule deer differently? I have scouted out some burn areas and some slopes for feeding but I know that elk and deer are different when it comes to feed.

Just looking for some advise or pointed in a direction that has worked for people in the past.

Thanks in advance

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Like anything it depends. Of course they can and do occupy the same habitats concurrently. They also generally "prefer" a different suite of habitat characteristics and can use the same areas in a different way. Without looking at a specific area or landform it'd be pretty tough to give a very specific example, but that's the jist.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Also, even in a honest effort to educate yourself, please don't post a specific area you're interested in on here even if it's devoid of animals because stuff like that makes people do dumb things.

 

[406LIFE]

New research out of WY is showing that while elk and deer are selecting for the same habitat and food, they are still spatially segregating. What that really means is still being studied.

 

[WyoDoug]

Deer are creatures of habit where elk are not so much. Deer like to bed on a hill or in a meadow where they can see everything in front of them and smell everything that might approach from behind. A lot of times with deer is you can spook them up and they might be back in the area a few hours later. With elk, they probably will not show up again for a couple days.

Deer are browsers and elk are grazers. So that being said, deer like to hang in oak brush, sage, areas that conceal their movements. They eat off bushes, oak brush, sage, juniper, whatever food they can find. They prefer forbes, ferns, mushrooms but they also like to eat plants, fruits, acorns, and nuts when they are available. In the fall when these things are more scarce they will switch to eating grass and evergreen plants. In the winder they eat whatever food is available such as fallen leaves, twigs, bushes, and other woody plants. So the habitat while sometimes the same area might be different.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

New research out of WY is showing that while elk and deer are selecting for the same habitat and food, they are still spatially segregating. What that really means is still being studied.

I assume you're referring to the d.e.e.r. research in the red desert? I'm not disagreeing at all but this is fairly habitat specific by design, such that predictive variables can be targeted more realistically. It can't be extrapolated to the Wyoming Range for example.

 

[nmassey]

Also, even in a honest effort to educate yourself, please don't post a specific area you're interested in on here even if it's devoid of animals because stuff like that makes people do dumb things.

Yes thanks for the heads up, I have noticed this, that is why I kept it vague to just the state of CO.

I am trying to figure out since I am hunting in a group and am the only one with a deer tag if I will need to split off and hunt a different area or can hunt generally the same others in the group. Trying to plan logistics on if another vehicle will need to be brought on the trip if hunting on other side of unit from others.

Also thanks for the info from you all.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Given that it sounds like you and your partners will all be figuring it out a bit as you go, if I were you I'd just pick some good places off the beaten path to glass the hell out of the unit in large quantities. That will likely tell you more in a day or two than you could probably learn from anyone on here, given the necessary speaking in generalities. If you're not able to scout to know what area you're planning to focus on, I would want the flexibility of another vehicle. Pretty tough going in blind.

 

[406LIFE]

I assume you're referring to the d.e.e.r. research in the red desert? I'm not disagreeing at all but this is fairly habitat specific by design, such that predictive variables can be targeted more realistically. It can't be extrapolated to the Wyoming Range for example.

Negative. This is out of the Wyoming Range with Monteith. As I said above, its all still preliminary but definitely groundbreaking.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Negative. This is out of the Wyoming Range with Monteith. As I said above, its all still preliminary but definitely groundbreaking.

I am intimately familiar with both.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Deer are creatures of habit where elk are not so much. Deer like to bed on a hill or in a meadow where they can see everything in front of them and smell everything that might approach from behind. A lot of times with deer is you can spook them up and they might be back in the area a few hours later. With elk, they probably will not show up again for a couple days.

Deer are browsers and elk are grazers. So that being said, deer like to hang in oak brush, sage, areas that conceal their movements. They eat off bushes, oak brush, sage, juniper, whatever food they can find. They prefer forbes, ferns, mushrooms but they also like to eat plants, fruits, acorns, and nuts when they are available. In the fall when these things are more scarce they will switch to eating grass and evergreen plants. In the winder they eat whatever food is available such as fallen leaves, twigs, bushes, and other woody plants. So the habitat while sometimes the same area might be different.

Deer are concentrate selectors and elk are intermediate feeders. An example of a bulk roughage grazer would be the bison.