Hunting: philosophical approach on hunt area(s)

[wideopenthrottle]

thanks TreeStandMan...it has worked for me alot over the years (as in forcing my self to stop and look when i was tired or in a hurry and didnt have an urge to do it)....i have seen many deer staring at me when doing my 360 that i would likely not have seen or heard while moving..."look more, move less" is a benefit of being familiar with an area i think

[boxhitch]

That's some good advice right there!

Yup, good stuff for sure. Make a point of stopping the truck at least every couple hundred meteres once the area looks good, sometimes its only a death crawl for a long time. Let those others drive past and pay no attention. They won't scare the game and sometimes movement is spotted easily by the second vehicle and missed by the first. Besides driving slow and stopping often keeps the cab cleaner.
Don't worry so much about wind, but keep in mind the direction of travel to keep the glare off the windshield as much as possible. And remember to top up the washer fluid

[Weatherby Fan]

Depends what Im hunting and what time of year Im hunting, early season(Sept) alpine hunting for Mule deer regions 3 or 8, Elk hunting mid Oct area 4, late season Mule Deer hunting Area 3, but yeh we frequent the same places every year around the same time if possible.

[VFX_man]

many animals have been scared up by peeps intent on getting to a spot or in a hurry to return ....my trick is i am always counting my paces (every second step) even when going to and from spots i set a limit on how many paces i am allowed before i must stop and do a full 360 degree search...20-30 paces is max even on a road....as i look ahead i am always adjusting the max number of paces i will take based on my gut feeling of the terrain...sometimes i get down to stopping every step...

I have been "building" ground stands and waiting for the deer to come to me. Maybe that is my issue, I need to walk. Deer stands worked in the more "compact" Ozark mountains with it's thick brush, but maybe it's too limiting in BC?

My first year, I missed a broadside 4x4 buck at 100 yards using a borrowed gun/scope [that I stupidly didn't test shoot] as I slowly walked up the edge of a new growth cut. All others I've seen have been exiting the road or found from glassing a cut.

This is definitely different country, and my "old" technique is seemingly not working for me.

Thanks for any guidance.

[Bugle M In]

Yup, hunting mule deer from one spot can work....but, someone once told me to just "go in there and hunt them",
and that seemed to work a lot better...and yes, a few steps, look 360 w/binos, then repeat is great advice.

You will be surprised how many deer are there just standing looking at you, but remember, they like to stand behind stuff...and binos really help, even at close range.

[frankthedog]

"Find a spot with lots of deer, and spend all your time there" - That is a Blacktail hunting saying. It seems to be true though, even if all you see is does, there is a buck or two around.

[brian]

"Find a spot with lots of deer, and spend all your time there"

Can't disagree there. I prefer to get to know one area really really well. Then use down time to expand what I know and scout new areas. Its really nice having more intimate knowledge of a mountain. Its way easier to set up stands and decide on areas to focus on when you know where the animals like to hang out.

A couple of days ago I went out mid day in the heat. I used the opportunity to hike with a gun and cover a ton of ground to get a feel for how the animals were doing on the mountain. It is a great experience to just go out there and see animals where you expect to see animals.

[Bugle M In]

One thing I have found, but it requires snow on the ground, is to look for areas where you see sign coming and going,
and crossing in all different directions etc, and hunt around there (even 1km around that area in all directions).
I never waste my time in an area where you just see the odd single track going this way or that way, as I find those deer
are heading somewhere else to go hang around in.
And thats the big factor, finding an area where they like to hang in, and that can be quite a large area/perimeter that
you have to hike and hunt.
So snow helps to learn or should I say see where some of those locations are, and then on future hunts, you don't need the snow any longer for that area.
So getting out on snow covered days to drive around and find "new areas" is definitely a way to maximize your time and further your knowledge of an area....so don't pass those days up to get out there.
Same goes for elk, if you can find an area with lots of fresh sign, then that is where you spend your time, and a lot of it.

[Darksith]

You have to learn the habits of the animals. Some stay in an area all year, others migrate. I hunt mainly 3 areas. 1 is a great early mid season mule deer location that holds whitetail deer as well all year around. The other has mule deer all year and the third holds a few early season mule deer but is mainly a wintering/late seson area to hunt. I know where the deer go from the first season I mentioned, but I don't hunt it because it gets a lot of pressure already.

This being said, I know these areas intimately. I know every small creek, I know where I will usually see animals, I know how to hunt each area with different wind directions. I also know how when I have a vistor that wants to hunt how to get them onto a deer pretty consistently in these spots. It makes for a lot of fun. These areas are also where I have my trail cameras. I have yet to see a very big deer in these areas, the monster continues to allude me but I know it is probably just a matter of timing and luck rather than the lack of a big buck. The eternal desire to find a really big buck does push me to explore new areas, but I mainly hunt these 3 spots. If I want a deer I rarely go without mainly because I know these spots so well...sometimes my freezer is full enough that I can hold out for a monster and thus sometimes I almost regret letting pretty good deer walk once the season is over.

The only way to really know an area is to get out of the truck...also having spots like this saves me a bunch of fuel