Fellow Deer hunters,
First let me thank you for reading and hopefully responding to this e-mail. I understand that everyone’s time is valuable, and I sincerely appreciate any help/suggestions that you can give me.
I wanted to keep this short for you, but felt I should give you some background/setting information in case it influences the decision. Sorry for the length...
I have been watching, well, got lucky enough to see, a young mule deer buck grow up into what I consider a wall hanger for the past three years. This summer I saw him only once just before dark and he is the biggest buck I have ever seen on the hoof. I got so excited that I put up a trail camera and set a mineral rock in the immediate vicinity of where I last saw him, and plan to retrieve the film during midday the day before muzzle loading season starts.
I hunt the Cascade Mountains above Yakima, Washington. Season is October 7-13. Elevation for this particular stand site is 3600 ft. Location is a fairly steep clear cut burn area (4 years old) that is growing back with a lot of feed and a spring on the top of the ridge at 4000 ft. It measures approximately 2000 yards long by 200-500 yards wide depending on where you are with four distinct changes in inclination from near flat to too steep to drag a deer up, with the middle rise probably qualifying as a small ridge. The edge of the clear cut is heavily forested and almost immediately begins to drop severely to the river bottom at 2190 ft. I plan to set my new tree stand just below the middle rise a few feet back in the forest. Somewhere over that edge is where he beds I assume, I have not walked the area in fear of spooking him and alerting him that he’s being watched.
I have done a ton of reading on how to hunt this buck, and with the wife’s blessing have spent $$$ trying to improve my odds (the mineral rock and trail camera were gifts from her). I recently purchased mule deer estrous scent, mule deer buck urine and a scent dragging setup that I am supposed to put one or both of these scents on, walk around or at least from my vehicle to my new tree stand (which I plan on putting up when I get the film), and entice the big boy out at the crack of dawn. I have also purchased scent away bar soap to shower with, and a scent blocking spray with carbon scent eliminator, an adjustable grunt call (fawn, doe, buck, and dominant buck) and a bleat call. Some say that mule deer do not react to scents and calls like whitetails do, and some say it is too early to use the scents, others say it’s not?
Here is my dilemma. A LOT of the reading I have been doing talks about being so careful not to disturb any animals that may be in the area on the way to my stand…walking a mile around to get there quietly or downwind, leaving no trace of human scent, not walking through the clearing edge I plan to watch, etc. How can I get the scent out to attract him without spooking him? I don’t think I should walk through the clearing, or even down the edge of it in fear of spooking any deer that may be feeding, etc. If I put the scent out when I get the film, might I miss him at night if he comes to explore and lose my one and only chance? Or it may not be working well enough or at all by the time morning comes around?
Any thoughts, ideas, recommendations are very much appreciated!
------------- Buck...400 yards...can't tell if it's a 3-pt...gotta get closer...let's go chase after it!
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