2009 Scouting Report
10/12 - second hunt has came and gone. We had rain and temps in the 30's and 40's most of the time. That along with a few neighboring cattle getting out, a buffalo invasion from the park and the full moon made deer movement tough. We ended up taking 1 mule deer and getting close on a few others but didn't close the deal. We ended the week with a whitetail hunt and we passed on some pretty nice bucks. We had the double beamer in at about 50 yards, but he turned away and didn't make the mistake that would leave us trailing him. So, he still roams the woods. I think the comment was "Pictures do not do that deer justice".
Here are some pictures of the last week of September into October.. 
9/10 - First trip of the year is behind us. We delt with a full moon and heat in the 90's and over 100 in one day! The whitetails were moving late and although some good bucks made the mistake of moving before dark, they ended up winning out. We were successful however in filming a good mule deer video and took a good 4x3 scoring 150 in full velvet. It was a great buck.
I cannot stress enough HOW many deer I'm seeing- and just how many are 'still' yet to walk by the stands and cameras. I'm seeing some really really good jumps from deer that we passed last year and excited to start seeing the rest. I wouldn't be surprised if we broke the ranch 'biggest' records this year!
Below are some trail photos from the last 6-7 days. Until next time!
8/31 - Returning from yet another trip before the 09 season begins. I'm seeing a LOT of mule deer bucks running around, probably 25-35 in an evening/morning. I have seen some really good bucks and some 'on the fence' bucks. I'm very very excited for this season. The bucks have been REALLY close to me, or REALLY far away- to close, I cannot stop or get the camera on them without them running. To far, and it's hard to zoom in far enough to see the deer and get good light in the spotting scope. I have 'just' got my camera situation fixed, so I should have some good trail pics of mulies by next week- stay tuned! Here is a good young buck that was watching me off the driveway- not quite a shooter, but so close that the flash lit him up. 
And, of course a buffalo!
Now for the whitetails. It's been tough spotting these critters through the scope and I've felt helpless with the cameras on the fritz- but I finally got it figured out this past Saturday.. so all the below pics are from ONE NIGHT- ONLY one night- NOT all shooters, but keep in mind- not bad for ONE NIGHT of pics. I just wanted to show just 'how' many bucks are running around- and 'this'.... is just the tip of the iceberg..! 
Until Next Week- Happy Hunting!!
I'm just getting back from 2 consecutive scouting trips. The first trip we had high temps over 100 and the deer movement was held to a minimum. The majority of deer movement was in the morning when it was cool- but the deer would be moving off of the fields and back to bed right at day break, so it was hard to get lighting for pictures.
The 2nd trip was much more productive. The temps were not as hot, in fact in the 70's and 80's and cooling down to the low 40's at night. The first night I wasn't expecting to see to many deer but I was wrong. Right off the bat I saw 2 good mule deer bucks that would score around 140. I then crept over to a notorious bedding area and began to glass. I saw a mulie buck walking at me in which I've named 'pitchfork', for the 3rd fork on his left G1. This deer has great fork depts and nice height on his rack. He is a 5x6 and I would guess him to be between 175 - 180 inches. I've also included a picture of pitchfork- as I said, the lighting is fairly low, so may not be the best quality.
I was glassing another bachelor group of mulies that were feeding in one of the cut hay fields that were there quite regularly. There are 7 bucks in the group, ranging from 1.5 year olds to 2 deer that will be in the mid 140's.
I then switched over to see what the whitetail world was doing as the first trip I was only able to see one mature buck. The first night, I glassed 2 nice whitetail bucks from a distance of about 3/4 of a mile, so it was hard to tell 'exactly' what, or 'who' they were. As time went on in the trip I was seeing more and more whitetail movement. Getting closer to dark, I picked out a bachelor group of 4 bucks headed to the alfalfa. 2 of those deer were definite shooters and the other 2 were good 2.5 year old deer. I was having some trouble with my multrie cameras this summer, in fact my last scouting trip, 3 of my cameras had failed me. After some disappointing communication with multrie management and the returning of 9 of their units, I have decided to stray away from them and explore other units. Stay tuned for their reviews as well.
Just when I'm thinking 'ahh, deer are beginning to get back into the swing of things', I'm driving out the driveway to go home, mind you that the driveway is 7 miles long, I stop to check out a group of mule deer bucks on a hillside and off next to some brush is where I saw 'the pig'. I was able to get the bino's up on this deer and after about 5 "one mississippi's", he bolted into the coolie. The other bucks didn't pay much attention to me, but this mature boy didn't want any part of it. He was only a 4x3, so may not score 'great', but anyone in their right mind would not pass on this deer. His antlers towered over anything I've seen so far this year, he was tall and probably 28 inches wide. His right 4x side had deep forks, just what one would picture a perfect mulie. His left G1 did not fork, but would likely push at 20 inches. I sure hope this 'big 4x3' shows himself during the season. I'd really like to see him up close and personal.
Also on the way out, I ran into 'cutters' - an antelope with some wild cutters.
Until next time- Try to focus on your day job's, hunting season is here in one month & one day!
Jeff
