Nothing opening day, what to do next week?

[charlie brown]

Well, today was opening day for mule deer here in Nevada. I was only able to hunt this morning because I have to be back to work early in the morning. I will, however, be able to get out next Friday and Saturday. Between Friday and today, I saw about 25 does and fawns, with only one of those, MAYBE being a small buck, just wasn't interested in dropping 300 feet elevation and the climbing it again to find out!! Other than that, I didn't see any bucks. I was hunting in high mountain country which includes aspen, various brush species, mountain mohagany, white pine, limber pine, sagebrush, and several different grasses. The moutains are about as steep as they get, with a lot of broken terrain including rock outcroppings, cliffs, etc. There is good water in the area, and today, I was the ONLY hunter in this drainage. I only put a doe and two fawns in any form of alert, and they were calmed down a while later. The weather this morning, was cool, about 50 or so degrees, and it was raining when I left the mountain. The past week or so has seen rain and thunderstorms and at the very tops (10,000 feet) some snow (I was hunting about 6500-8500 feet or so).

Do I hunt this area again next week or move to another area. The sign is there, including some old tracks that show some big bucks may call the area home. Just not sure if it will be worth my time, and the weather should stay pretty cool until then.

Any suggestions on what to do would be ok, the area that I can hunt is large, so going somewhere else is not a problem. BTW the season ends the 22nd, and I will have 7 more days after this next weekend to hunt also. Thanks guys!!

[BareBack Jack]

I would hunt above the vegitation,maybe go up another 600-1000 ft,just cause there are no trees dose not mean there are no deer,somtimes a old buck will lay up against shale cliffs and use no cover to help protect him,by being able to see down on any aproching danger.I always try to hunt within rifle shot above or below timber line.Until the rut kicks in,I would dout any big bucks hanging with does.Just my thoughts.
BBJ