Bow season is something that I look forward to literally every single day of the year. I fell in love with archery hunting many years ago and it was for several reasons. Some of them are the sheer difficulty involved, intimate encounters with animals, and honestly just the act of shooting a bow and arrow. Along the way to each bow season, there is an immense amount of preparation. This is what I want to share with you. The Road to Bow Season if you will.
Exo Mountain Gear is no stranger to big miles and heavy poundage. They’ve been producing backpacks for backcountry hunting since 2014 and have become a fan favorite among dedicated backpack hunters like myself. Exo was started by dedicated backcountry hunters with the goal to produce the best backcountry hunting packs on the market, and they’ve been focused on that goal since the beginning. Their new K4 Backpack is a shining example of that.
Method Archery is offering the next generation of hunting arrows. Built to your specs and delivered to your door.
In all honesty, I’m not a guy that shops around too much for hunting arrows. For one, when I find something I like and that works, I stick with it. There are way too many things to go wrong in bowhunting to leave even more chances to arrows that I am not well acquainted with. With that being said, I’m also a busy guy and always looking for ways to become more efficient. This is where Method Archery caught my attention.
Down here in the southwest desert that I call home, glassing efficiently is the key to success. It’s a wide-open landscape that will eat through its fair share of boots in a hurry. Not to mention animals tend to be more spread out, due to the overall vastness of the landscape. So, in terms of efficiency sitting high on a vantage point and surveying the surrounding country with high-powered optics on a tripod is about as good as it gets.
In doing so, there can be a lot of switching between binoculars and spotting scopes. I prefer to glass with a smaller more general magnification like a 10×42 binocular. When I do find something I want a closer look at, I’ll pop those off and mount up a 65mm spotting scope. It sounds much easier than it is, and I’m mainly referring to target acquisition when switching between the two. There’s a trick to it that will save you time and time is money.
Another year and another Fall hunting season has passed us by. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been doing some serious e-scouting for next year, crushing workouts, and making sure you’re proficient with your weapon. Maybe you’ve even got out on some after-season scouting trips. It’s pre-season prep time for next Fall and I love this just as much as I love hunting season. I don’t know if it’s because of the anticipation it holds, being proactive in the process, or if it just helps make hunting season not seem as far away as it is. Whatever it is, it plays a vital role in consistent success in the field. Pre-season preparation leads to a positive mindset and a positive mindset leads to filling tags. There are a few things I like to stay conscious of as I go through this process each year.
It’s no secret that backpack hunting is physically demanding. From carrying camp on your back and traversing merciless terrain day in and day out to just going through the motions of the whole thing. And that doesn’t even touch on when an animal lay at your feet accompanied by the effort it takes to handle that situation. The bottom line is everything is harder out there and it should be in your best interest to have backcountry hunting prep on your mind.
You’re excited. With a loaded-down backpack, a desolate trail ahead, and a big game tag in your pocket, adventure is no doubt on the horizon. Each step you take is one closer to a cozy backcountry camp and endless opportunities. Along the way though, you’re greeted by an uninvited guest. A muscle cramp proceeds to begin “cramping your style.” Now with each step you take, all that’s on your mind is “why me, and how the heck do I get this cramping in the backcountry to go away?”
You’ve been lacing bullseye after bullseye most of the year with your bow. Confidence levels are at an all-time high as is the anticipation of the coming archery hunting season. In light of that, you finally pick up those broadheads and give em a whirl downrange. Suddenly, the confidence that once stood tall is squashed into the very ground you stand upon. While your field-tipped arrows rest in the bullseye they’ve grown to know so well, your broadhead-tipped arrow does not. It is the outlier in a suddenly uneasy situation. The reality of broadhead tuning is now present.
There really isn’t anything like it. Being out in the desert during the month of January, bowhunting coues deer. While the rest of the country is hibernating and huddled by a fire, the lucky ones are glassing for coues deer, laying their wits on the table. And hopefully at the end some coues venison on the table as well.
Spot and stalking coues deer with a bow is no easy feat though. In all honesty, they are one of the hardest animals in North America to consistently stalk successfully. Their switched-on nature puts them on high alert at all times and the country they live in is as loud as you’d never want it to be.
With all of that said, and with the month of January fast approaching, I’m going to lay out a sort of blueprint that will no doubt up your spot and stalk success on these little deer. I’ll go into where I’ve found success, where I haven’t, and how I’ve found success bowhunting rutting coues deer.
This past Fall hunting season was no doubt an incredible one. From trekking high into the alpine to calling for black bears in the dense timber. My time spent living in the dirt and out of my backpack was time well spent. One hunt in particular though really stole my heart. And that was hunting mule deer bucks during October in the Idaho Backcountry.
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