I did some scouting on Sunday with a buddy and stumbled on a killer looking lake pretty high up. We walked around the lake looking for sign. aside from a few tracks hear and there we didn't see much. didn't see a solid entry and exit trail, and didn't see any scat. There were a couple fire pits and we found some human shat pile up on a trail. My thoughts are that maybe deer don't frequent the area due to people hanging out there ever so often. it's not exactly easy to get to this place though either. the lake is fed by a small spring. the trees you see to the left in the pic are what separates a clear cut from the lake.

Any ideas on why we didn't find much sign there? especially with the warm weather I figured it would be a gold mine. Maybe due to the slight human presence around the lake I should focus on finding the source of the spring that feeds the lake?

I'm surprised you didn't see more sign. Alpine deer basically ignore humans and often feed next to and thru campsites. I've found tracks almost on top of my sleeping bag upon returning from a day hike.

Does and yearlings will typically hang in basins like you show. Bucks are still up higher even this late in the season. As you probably noticed the temperature inversion is still in effect big time and your little camp was probably amongst to warmest spots in the state so that's a long way of saying the migration down slope has not yet begun.

Gun hunter I met got a 4X4 way above treeline on a scree slope with just a tiny little grass patch under a cliff. He was around 7000' and there where 4 bucks in that little football sized plot. Pretty eye opening!

I took a long scouting drive Sun and saw no deer in a wintering area and lots of deer around 6000' so I think the big boys are still way up above treeline. If it rains this weekend and snows in that 5000-6000' range it could be golden.

Take a big picture look at that area and make sure they are not trapped in there. Best areas have easy access to adjoining basins and multiple escape routes down slope. I've been in wonderful little alpine basins that are totally void of deer, bear etc as they are isolated from adjoining basins. This is one of my main goals in preseason scouting trips.

Don't worry about water. Lots of water and they can get all they need licking the dew in the morning which is pretty cool to watch.

Long story short: There should have been does and yearlings in that area with the bucks still up higher on the ridge tops or above. I wouldn't abandon that basin just yet but after a morning and evening of glassing the ridge tops and adjoining basins from said ridge tops without seeing bucks I'd move to a different area.

Good Luck!

thanks for the good advice. we attempted to get to the saddle you can see to the right of the peak towards the center of the picture but it was some very thick nasty stuff so we backed out on that trip. there was actually frost on the ground where the sun hadnt hit yet. A welcome sight for sure. we were scouting for archery anyway though so I'm thinking that spot may be a little high for the late hunt. or is it not?

Too high for the late hunt

I figured you where taking a gun hunting friend in this weekend.

Everything changes with the first big snow storm

probably wouldn't be bad to scout it a bit harder next summer then.

Got my spot figured out for this weekend