I have one question about the deer being higher up in the mountains. Do they come down to winterin bigger or smaller groups? Also when does the rut start or when do they start the chase phase? Why can'tyou go up and get them or at least try to get farther up and head some of them offon the transition down to the foot hills?
It takes alot of snow to move the deer, hunting pressure will move them more than the weather. While flying,I have seen deer above 9,000 feet, belly deep in snow, in December. When they move, it can be quite a site in some areas, you will see long trails in the snow, if you glass the track down, you can some times find the deer. The area you are hunting is huge, and as of today it got dumped on with snow, we had almost an inch of rain in this part of the basin, more rainthan we have had 4 months combined, and still raining.If your tag says any deer, that is what it means, any deer, doe, fawn, buck, muley or Wt. G&F would prefer you shoot a whitetail. There are starting to be a few WT way up on the Big Horns, I have seen them in the summer as high as Meadowlark lake.
THe best method I have used on MD is, patience, and use your glass. Glass until you think your eyeballs are going to bug out! Then glass some more. Any time of day, mid day, a buck will get up and move a few feet and stretch, then lay right back down. I have glassed and trailed the same buck all day, sun up to almost dark before I got a shot. That buck would lay down most of the day in the sage brush, up in a long canyon, he would lay his head flatlike a dog, on the ground. If I hadn't been following him I would never known he was there.
