Hi all, I know the season isn't over but I ended up shooting a buck on Saturday and wanted to give a quick recap for anyone following the thread or who draws the tag in the future.
In general, this unit seems to be in decline, and this year especially was difficult because of the dry, hot conditions. Almost all the deer I saw were on or around ag land and on private. Some deer moved to sagebrush areas for bedding, or were living in the sage brush areas right outside of the ag land, but not many traveled to public. Most stayed on private the entire time, and Idaho's vague and ambiguous trespassing/posting law makes hunting these deer quite the challenge. I only saw 2-3 true mature, giant deer on this hunt, and they were firmly on private that is apparently leased by an outfitter in the area. I ended up harvesting the only semi-mature mule deer I saw on public. I am not going to post any specific areas on here since I know certain people/forums frown upon that, but I am happy to share areas/waypoints with anyone who wants to DM me.
My hunt ended when I hiked on some public just south of where I was seeing some deer on private/ag land. I spotted the deer at 230 yards bedded, backed out, and went around through a saddle above him. I thought this would put me about 100-150 yards above him, and where he would feed out. Around 15 minutes before sunset, I still wasn't able to relocate the deer, and he never stood up/fed out of his bed, so I started to think he was spooked. I got up with my muzzy on a tripod about to stalk around the next ridge, thinking maybe I got his location wrong. Right when I stood up, he stood up 40 yards below me. One shot with a Thor 250g, and a blood trail a blind man could follow, my hunt was over. This deer was my first solo quartering/pack out job, and I ended up getting the last load to the truck around 2am.
Thank you all again for all of your help and advice for this hunt! I hope the other hunters that had this tag share their stories as well. I am curious if anyone else had a better experience than me. I hope everyone has a great hunting season!
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