BIG BUCKS IN DRY COUNTRY

Although much of the West was graced with snow in the mountains last winter, spring rains did not come when we expected them. April was dry and so was much of May, which meant water holes in the high desert and the Great Basin began to recede a lot earlier than usual. This hunting season, in a dry West, the key to finding a big mule deer might largely turn on your ability to understand how bucks are using the sparse water available to them.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

With a dry hunting season ahead, you’ll need to look for certain types of deer habitat and have the discipline to ignore other spots that in normal years would offer good hunting.

By October, mule deer are likely to be focused around the remaining water holes. Some deer will adapt and go to water in the night, sometimes traveling a mile or more from their