I’m heading to CO for my first archery mule deer hunt in Sept. and I am pouring over any map I can find and it appears to be a lot of thick stuff with not much above tree line so the tried and true get on a glassing knob and look will be difficult. I’m a whitetail guy and have a tree saddle. Would it be worth throwing in the truck as another option? I had heard before that elk basically don’t look up, do mule deer? It’s not really what I had in mind but I am trying to be adaptable to the situation.
Tree saddle??
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elkassassin
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There is not much above treeline. Mostly timber looks like. Above would be ideal but that just cut out 95% of the unit.
I am too! Just thinking about what I have available and alternative hunt styles. I feel like I will likely have to do some still hunting and maybe ambush. I know whitetail have learned to look up but not sure about mulies. I can for sure pack in my platform and climbing sticks much easier than my ground blind and get 15-20 ft in the air pretty easy…not my first choice by any means but given my lack of experience I figure any tool in the tool belt is better than none.
HntHrdr
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Seems like an interesting exercise in futility… but maybe if you found water that you knew bucks were hitting then maybe it would work? Honestly still hunting the timber would probably produce more. Hunting dark timber bucks in sept, is very hard. Then again I have bumped into some monster while elk hunting and often they stand and give me what would be a shot opportunity, best bet is maybe find them early or late feeding out into openings and make a plan? Or cross drainage glassing
littlebull209338
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I suggest you watch Nate Simmons on "The Western Hunter". Nate is a very good archery hunter and keeps his videos real. His basic formula is : Glass, wait until animal beds, very patient with conditions and don't force the conditions. Good luck and get a big one and bring lots of money ! Ha
fullthrottle
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For guys that know what they are doing a treestand/treesaddle can be a very effective way to hunt muleys and elk. And they rarely look up and pick you off in a tree. Even if they do look up at you, most the time they think nothing of it. Most critters out west have never seen a human in a tree. They will react nothing like a whitetail would.
The majority of hunters hunting out of a treestand in the west don't have a clue. Many of them don't get more than 10' to 12' off the ground, pay no attention to the access or wind. Basic things the whitetail guys are very good at doing. I think a guy who is experienced with that style of hunting could do very well out of a tree.
The majority of hunters hunting out of a treestand in the west don't have a clue. Many of them don't get more than 10' to 12' off the ground, pay no attention to the access or wind. Basic things the whitetail guys are very good at doing. I think a guy who is experienced with that style of hunting could do very well out of a tree.
desperatehills
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The bull in my avatar and my best archery mule deer were both killed from tree stands over water. The trouble with were you are going is I suspect there is a small running creek in the bottom of most drainages. It is hard to know where they will hit the creek. My success has been on small isolated seeps or tanks/ponds.
littlebull209338
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If you search Waynes Carlton of Montrose CO videos you will find episodes of him hunting out of tree stands in the West.
