Mule deer opportunity?

[Oak]

Still waiting for this hi jack @Oak.

Yeah, I never received the info I requested. That's what I get for being nice and doing it the informal way. I've re-upped my request, however, this thread has turned into the 437th "what MT really needs to do" thread, so I'll probably bow out for the 437th time.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Yeah, I never received the info I requested. That's what I get for being nice and doing it the informal way. I've re-upped my request, however, this thread has turned into the 437th "what MT really needs to do" thread, so I'll probably bow out for the 437th time.

Better ways to waste your time?

 

[TheTone]

I just spent a week over there and remembered what you said about bucks preferring to be on public before the rut.

Out of the 35-40 bucks we saw that week exactly 0 were on private hayfields. I was kind of shocked that it was that stark early season compared to how it will be over the next few weeks.

And some guys are looking at Idaho for a model of seasons? I don’t think there is a single general mule deer hunt here where you’re going to see that many bucks in a week

 

[It’s Bucky]

I just spent a week over there and remembered what you said about bucks preferring to be on public before the rut.

Out of the 35-40 bucks we saw that week exactly 0 were on private hayfields. I was kind of shocked that it was that stark early season compared to how it will be over the next few weeks.

Keep shouting it from the mountain tops Gerald!

 

[cgasner1]

Better ways to waste your time?

Pretty much

 

[rogerthat]

And some guys are looking at Idaho for a model of seasons? I don’t think there is a single general mule deer hunt here where you’re going to see that many bucks in a week

Just curious. Would you with later Montana later type seasons?

 

[antlerradar]

For $ome reason.

Likely the reason FWP indicated LE was non starter.

 

[antlerradar]

Leave the season structures as they are. Get rid of the general deer tag and make it whitetail and mule deer specific. Make people choose when buying. And then convince commission to only allow mule deer hunting with rifles for 2-3 weeks.

This would get rid of the rut slaughter everyone wants to see go. And is focused on what is struggling… mule deer. Not elk, not whitetail, not archery, not antelope.

I think there is a lot of merit here. I would still want to move mule deer more into Oct for access reasons though.

 

[Gerald Martin]

And some guys are looking at Idaho for a model of seasons? I don’t think there is a single general mule deer hunt here where you’re going to see that many bucks in a week

Only four those bucks were 3 1/2 years old. None were older. Two of those estimated 3 year olds were less than 120” deer. One might have grossed 135 and one was potentially 150+ but less than 160.

Give half of those 21/2 and 31/2 year olds bucks another year and you have a huntable population that is interesting.

I’m not what I would consider a trophy hunter but I can’t get excited about shooting one and two year olds bucks year after year.

What would that buck population look like with an early November closure? There were multiple instances where I watched bucks get up and move over ridge tops to put distance between them and an ATV that was coming up a nearby road. Many of the other bucks I saw were not within rifle shot or visible from a drivable road. That all changes when their neck swells and they’re putting on the miles looking for does. Folks who don’t want to hike and want to road hunt will have just as good a chance at killing those deer during the rut as the guys that put in serious effort. Most of those folks hunting the road are going to be willing shoot a young buck and won’t be willing to hike in search of any older deer.

Most of the guys willing to hike aren’t going to kill a 2 1/2 year old forked horn in any situation.

In an October season there’s only so many bucks that will get shot by road hunters before pressure moves them back a ridge or two. Lazy hunters aren’t going back there and hunters who will aren’t going to kill as many of those younger bucks.



If Idaho had a 5 week OTC rifle hunt that encompassed the rut what would those units look like that you say don’t compare with what I saw in MT? My guess is it would e far worse than it is now.

The comparison that should be being made in MT is between how it is now, how it was historically and how it could be in the future with changes.

Pointing out that other states in the west have moved away from allowing long general rut hunts for mule deer is just pointing out that those states have figured out that kind of season structure wasn’t compatible with what their mule deer could sustain and adjusted accordingly in order to still be able to provide some general hunting opportunities.

 

[TheTone]

If we had a mule deer season in Idaho that went until thanksgiving on general tags I’m not sure a buck would be left over 1 1/2 except in areas with really heavy timber or wilderness areas. It would probably help our northern whitetails as less southern Idaho hunters would be coming up here in November

I’ve never had or helped with a good controlled hunt that went into mid-late November. I have helped with a couple that ended on November 3rd and both times the amount of rutting deer in the last couple days was impressive