Hunting help for 2 new hunters

[TheTwelve]

Hello all.

so I have had my hunting license for nearly 5 years and I am just starting to get out and hunt I went 2 times last year in November but had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I went out with a friend who just got his license a few weekend before we went out. My girlfriend just got her license 2 months ago and we just finished a trip up in Haida Gwaii. We only got 2 deer, 2 we didn’t take the shot ( one I didn’t have my rifle and it was 10 yards from me :/ and another I had lined up in my sights at 60 yards for a good 40 seconds but I wanted my girlfriend to take the shot, but she was unable to see it and it walked off into the bush.) we saw total of 8 deer the other 4 we were unable to track as the bush was just to thick.

the days we didn’t see anything I had a lot to think about how we were hunting. Were we making to much noise? Moving to fast? Am I calling correctly? Can they smell the coffee we had before we got ready? Do they smell my cloths?

we really tried to transverse the bush but it was extremely thick, I would have to cut a lot of trees to get through we mostly stayed along the roads and glasses the clear cuts. I think We did pretty well with the wind to have it blowing towards us.. is this correct?

I want ant to start hitting up the main land, we don’t have much times besides the weekends and those are kinda rare. We are from the chilliwack area and plan to head around 2-17,18,19. And maybe up the coq.

how would you know if it’s a good area to spend the day in?

I feel like it’s my lack of experience with him hunting, but I won’t want to pick up bad habits and think I’m doing everything correctly when I’m only making them worse.

any help would be greatly appreciated

[Salty]

You've got the right attitude and you've connected on a couple deer so you're doing well for not being out a lot. I'd recommend looking in to some books even magazine articles to try and learn as much as you can about deer. Its common for new hunters to question themselves if things are slow, bottom line most of the day deer aren't moving at all so you can be doing everything right and not see anything. Think what they're up to more than what you're doing. Yes they can hear and smell really well so you need to do your best to not get busted, hunting in to the wind moving as quiet as possible etc all need to be payed attention to of course.

All kinds of things can alter deer's behaviour weather, moon phase, hunting pressure, predator pressure are some. Read up on this and keep hunting and having experiences you'll slowly solve little pieces of the puzzle and start to form a picture, now your odds go up. Search for sign then try to guess why they were there, how long ago, and if its likely they'll be back. Work on the puzzle. But always find sign first there's lots of country with no deer, they're often in pockets. No sign you're wasting time. Good luck..

[ActionJackson017]

Salty is sound with his advice as usual. I consider myself a new hunter too having only been at it for 7 years. I've only connected with two deer in that time and ilI bet that is pretty normal for not having an experienced mentor show me and my hunting partner the ropes.

I would add that once you find an area with sign, stick with it. I have two areas that i've hunted over the seven years and I know them both very well. I know where to camp, and several good spots to hunt at both locations. We have hit this area hard both in summer and in fall for several years and figured out through observation, that we usually see the most game in a couple key areas.

We were rewarded this year with a buck. Several days we wouldn't see anything but we just kept trying. Good luck and keep positive.

[two-feet]

It seems 90% of the game is on 10% of the land. So put in the time to find the areas that hold animals. Read everything you can get your hands on to start a strategy, but the real learning will be trial and error. In my expirience being patient and slow is almost always the correct answer.

[TheTwelve]

Thanks for the help, I know I am moving wayyyyyy to fast then hahah, I’ll have to work on working it slowly

[Salty]

While you're moving stop often for a few minutes too and really analyse the area. You might just spot a buck that you may have walked by or spooked, you'll tend to be quieter and if you're heard you'll sound more like an ungulate walking and feeding stopping often instead of a predator booking it looking for supper. I read this last bit somewhere a long time ago and I believe it to be true and a strategy that works sometimes.