mightyhunter
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There are a couple of posts on the 2017 deer hunt in Region F for nonresidents. I live in deer Area 105 but don't usually hunt it. This year, I hunted for mule deer in 106, 110 and 111. Basically I am hunting mule deer on public land that would best be described as migratory. I call them mountain bucks.
The best words to describe this hunt in 2017 would be weird and different. During the course of the hunt, I spoke to both the warden on the North Fork and the warden in the Sunlight. Both expressed some concern about winter kill from the 2016-2017 winter. I saw little evidence of winter kill in the areas I hunted. I saw lots of does with fawns that looked healthy. Some of the fawns I saw were extremely small in size. I found no deer carcasses in any of the areas I hunted. Because, of the numerous predators in the area, I am not sure how many deer carcasses one would find anyway.
During the course of my sheep hunt, I saw very few mule deer. This was despite the huge snowfall or dump that took place in early September this year. I saw no indication that this snowfall had pushed the mule deer into an early migration.
I hunted a couple of my favorite drainages in the Sunlight Basin heavily after October 13th. In all those drainages, I did not see a single mule deer buck and very few does and fawns. Other than numerous road hunters, I saw very few deer hunters in this area. These drainages have produced some of my nicest bucks over the years. These drainages had lots of ewes and lambs. I also so a lot of elk. They were almost devoid of deer.
Toward the end of the hunt in 106, I moved into the Crandall area to hunt deer. My son and I saw a few mule deer but most were does, fawns and a few dink bucks. I could count all the mature bucks that I saw on 3 fingers. One was moving right at dark and so the look I got was not great. We saw two different bucks running some does. The number of deer that we saw was significantly down from previous years. I also saw a great number of elk and numerous ewes and lambs. During this period of time, the number of mule deer along the Chief Joseph Highway in both 106 and 109 was less than I had ever seen.
My son stayed long enough to hunt one day on the North Fork of the Shoshone. We saw lots of does and fawns and a single mature buck on that first day. The mature buck was hunkered tight in a gully where my son glassed up the tips of his antlers. My son moved in to kick him up and succeeded in doing so. The buck was 23 inch wide and very tall. His mass was average. He was a forky on one side with a kicker and a crab clawed 3 point on the other side. We both passed him up and my son ate his Region F tag.
After that November 1st hunt, I was on my own for the most part. I hunted some favorite spots about every other day. I saw does and fawns and some real small yearling bucks. I saw no evidence of the rut. On November 6th, there was a significant snow storm. Visibility sucked and I attempted to hunt but left early after visibility made spotting deer very hard. I saw very few deer. The next day, I was running into elk almost everywhere. I was also seeing some heavy deer migration. Most of the deer I saw were does and fawns. On the 9th of November, I hit a spot at first light. All I saw was does and fawns for the first hour or so. The area I was really interested in was devoid of deer. This spot usually holds 20-30 deer most years. After some extensive glassing, I spotted a single deer on alert. He was 600+ yards away. He was standing and looking uphill. He didn't move for over 90 minutes. His body size indicated buck but I couldn't see his head. Fortunately for me, 6 elk walked out of a draw just above him. Three of the elk were raghorns and the rest cows. The deer I was looking at seemed to relax when the elk came out. After a few minutes he started walking side hill closer to me and I saw that he had antlers. He walked within 350 yards of me. I was hoping he would come closer but he was extremely cautious. He started to head into a spot where I did not want him to go. At that point, I took the shot and hit him in the heart and he dropped. The shot was right at 350 yards. This buck was a 20 inch 4x4 with dark horns, average mass and no eye guards. I would guess a 3 year old buck.
I spoke to some guides on both the North Fork and in the Sunlight Crandall. The Sunlight Crandall guides told me that the deer hunting had sucked for them that year. That was on October 31st. You can look at some of the Facebook pages of some of the outfits in both areas and make a judgement for yourselves. The guides on the North Fork described the deer hunt over there as weird.
just sayin...mh
The best words to describe this hunt in 2017 would be weird and different. During the course of the hunt, I spoke to both the warden on the North Fork and the warden in the Sunlight. Both expressed some concern about winter kill from the 2016-2017 winter. I saw little evidence of winter kill in the areas I hunted. I saw lots of does with fawns that looked healthy. Some of the fawns I saw were extremely small in size. I found no deer carcasses in any of the areas I hunted. Because, of the numerous predators in the area, I am not sure how many deer carcasses one would find anyway.
During the course of my sheep hunt, I saw very few mule deer. This was despite the huge snowfall or dump that took place in early September this year. I saw no indication that this snowfall had pushed the mule deer into an early migration.
I hunted a couple of my favorite drainages in the Sunlight Basin heavily after October 13th. In all those drainages, I did not see a single mule deer buck and very few does and fawns. Other than numerous road hunters, I saw very few deer hunters in this area. These drainages have produced some of my nicest bucks over the years. These drainages had lots of ewes and lambs. I also so a lot of elk. They were almost devoid of deer.
Toward the end of the hunt in 106, I moved into the Crandall area to hunt deer. My son and I saw a few mule deer but most were does, fawns and a few dink bucks. I could count all the mature bucks that I saw on 3 fingers. One was moving right at dark and so the look I got was not great. We saw two different bucks running some does. The number of deer that we saw was significantly down from previous years. I also saw a great number of elk and numerous ewes and lambs. During this period of time, the number of mule deer along the Chief Joseph Highway in both 106 and 109 was less than I had ever seen.
My son stayed long enough to hunt one day on the North Fork of the Shoshone. We saw lots of does and fawns and a single mature buck on that first day. The mature buck was hunkered tight in a gully where my son glassed up the tips of his antlers. My son moved in to kick him up and succeeded in doing so. The buck was 23 inch wide and very tall. His mass was average. He was a forky on one side with a kicker and a crab clawed 3 point on the other side. We both passed him up and my son ate his Region F tag.
After that November 1st hunt, I was on my own for the most part. I hunted some favorite spots about every other day. I saw does and fawns and some real small yearling bucks. I saw no evidence of the rut. On November 6th, there was a significant snow storm. Visibility sucked and I attempted to hunt but left early after visibility made spotting deer very hard. I saw very few deer. The next day, I was running into elk almost everywhere. I was also seeing some heavy deer migration. Most of the deer I saw were does and fawns. On the 9th of November, I hit a spot at first light. All I saw was does and fawns for the first hour or so. The area I was really interested in was devoid of deer. This spot usually holds 20-30 deer most years. After some extensive glassing, I spotted a single deer on alert. He was 600+ yards away. He was standing and looking uphill. He didn't move for over 90 minutes. His body size indicated buck but I couldn't see his head. Fortunately for me, 6 elk walked out of a draw just above him. Three of the elk were raghorns and the rest cows. The deer I was looking at seemed to relax when the elk came out. After a few minutes he started walking side hill closer to me and I saw that he had antlers. He walked within 350 yards of me. I was hoping he would come closer but he was extremely cautious. He started to head into a spot where I did not want him to go. At that point, I took the shot and hit him in the heart and he dropped. The shot was right at 350 yards. This buck was a 20 inch 4x4 with dark horns, average mass and no eye guards. I would guess a 3 year old buck.
I spoke to some guides on both the North Fork and in the Sunlight Crandall. The Sunlight Crandall guides told me that the deer hunting had sucked for them that year. That was on October 31st. You can look at some of the Facebook pages of some of the outfits in both areas and make a judgement for yourselves. The guides on the North Fork described the deer hunt over there as weird.
just sayin...mh
