Sorry if this is long...looking for advice.
Two weeks ago I was scouting in the heavy drizzle/light rain. I found a decent buck print that appeared only hours old near a saddle of a ridge. That seemed promising so I went back last sunday (also in light drizzle) and glassed the saddle from grey light until about 8 am. I'm not the world's best glasser, but I didn't see anything. I got up and hiked to the saddle. Found the old print from 2 weeks ago, but there were only 2 new sets of prints (doe and fawn) there.
I followed the doe/fawn tracks along the ridge for about a mile, until the trail ended in another saddle. This one has some blow downs and some standing trees. Most of the brush is low from recent fire. There were deer beds everywhere in this second saddle. And many had poop that I guess was only hours old (swollen, light brown, glossy - though the moisture in the air might have fooled me). I didn't spot a deer highway on the south facing slope coming up to the saddle. The north facing slope had a deep drainage cut out full of green trees and brush, and heads down to a creek bed.
I hiked up one of the adjacent hills tops and found a downwind spot with a commanding view of the whole thing. I am trying to understand these deer's behavior. I GUESS they go up and down the deep cut out on the north facing slope, to the water down below. And I GUESS they were bedded there around sunrise? So my plan was to set up on that hill and glass the beds at sunrise, but I'm looking for advice. Am I on the right track? Do I have a solid plan?
Thanks for reading.
Two weeks ago I was scouting in the heavy drizzle/light rain. I found a decent buck print that appeared only hours old near a saddle of a ridge. That seemed promising so I went back last sunday (also in light drizzle) and glassed the saddle from grey light until about 8 am. I'm not the world's best glasser, but I didn't see anything. I got up and hiked to the saddle. Found the old print from 2 weeks ago, but there were only 2 new sets of prints (doe and fawn) there.
I followed the doe/fawn tracks along the ridge for about a mile, until the trail ended in another saddle. This one has some blow downs and some standing trees. Most of the brush is low from recent fire. There were deer beds everywhere in this second saddle. And many had poop that I guess was only hours old (swollen, light brown, glossy - though the moisture in the air might have fooled me). I didn't spot a deer highway on the south facing slope coming up to the saddle. The north facing slope had a deep drainage cut out full of green trees and brush, and heads down to a creek bed.
I hiked up one of the adjacent hills tops and found a downwind spot with a commanding view of the whole thing. I am trying to understand these deer's behavior. I GUESS they go up and down the deep cut out on the north facing slope, to the water down below. And I GUESS they were bedded there around sunrise? So my plan was to set up on that hill and glass the beds at sunrise, but I'm looking for advice. Am I on the right track? Do I have a solid plan?
Thanks for reading.
