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Thread: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2015
    Location
    Lower Mainland
    Posts
    480

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    Quote Originally Posted by dougan View Post
    It's about paying attention to everything around you . Look for ears antler tips shapes that look out of place , listen to noises around you . Your trying to beat them at there own game and there game is survival . Tromping along you don't have a chance to do any of these things
    That makes a lot of sense. I admit I am guilty of walking fast in the bush lol

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    In the bush near a lake
    Posts
    7,198

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    Quote Originally Posted by gmachine19 View Post
    That makes a lot of sense. I admit I am guilty of walking fast in the bush lol
    You also make less noise and deer key in on movement fast.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Crofton BC
    Posts
    535

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    It's all about compromise. I have three rules about successful hunting that I always keep in mind when i'm picking a place to hunt.
    1. Hunt where there are deer.
    2. Hunt where you can see.
    3. Hunt to the weather conditions (adverse weather conditions let you get away with a lot more).

    There's no point in doing everything right if there are no deer where you hunt.
    10 feet is not enough sight line for successful hunting most of the time (for me). I suspect you are exaggerating with how little you can see but if that's the area you have then learn to hunt it better. I have a place that I hunt in region 8 where it's short site lines but tonnes of deer. We got a deer off the hillside only because it was trying too avoid me and wasn't paying attention my old man. I never could close the gap to less than 100 yards on the buck. You can only see max 50. Good luck out there.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    3,423

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    Quote Originally Posted by dougan View Post
    Op said he was seeing plenty of fresh sight in the snow
    It is a qualification cause hiking 13 km is at times the absolutely right thing to do just as is the opposite. Walking slow where deer ain't is just as wrong as walking too fast...even worse cause at current time bumping a mulie Elmer fudding it should be easy.
    It is well to try and journey ones road and to fight with the air.Man must die! At worst he can die a little sooner." (H Ryder Haggard)

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    reality
    Posts
    3,700

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    If covering lots of ground is your style then keep doing it. If covering little ground is your style then do that. Both styles work . It's knowing when to speed up or slow down. It's called reading the play.
    Just keep plugging away and you will learn what works for you. The best hunting partner I have ever hunted with covered lots of area and saw lots of animals but probably missed a few due to moving to fast.
    Hunting the promised land

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    7-15
    Posts
    135

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    Slow down, 13 km in an area with ample fresh sign is alot of moving....
    this probably played out more than you know, watch until the end

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    North Okanagan
    Posts
    137

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    Ware quiet clothing wool etc. and watch the wind, I like hunting cross wind if possible. Steve!

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Haney,BC and anywhere you can hunt in BC out of the rain !
    Posts
    8,649

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    Where I normally hunt in area 3 the deer love the thick stuff and usually move from there to open fir benches with a southern exposure at last light, I’ve seen what you experienced on many occasions deer hold until you go by and then move, the last decent buck I shot was at dusk and 15 yards away, snowing with about 6 inches of fresh snow on the ground and hunting my way back to the truck.

    I was walking in jack pines and there was an opening in the trees about 20 feet across and I could see what looked like an ear on the right side of the opening sticking out from behind a tree, quick check with the binos yup deer’s ear so I blew and out stepped a Doe,

    She would look at me and to her right, she did this 3 times so I’m glassing hard knowing there’s another deer there, I blew a cpl more times and a buck pokes his head out from the left side of the hole and looks at me and quickly pulls his head back in the trees, I check with scope and all I can see is his face and neck so I shot him in the throat patch, dropped in his tracks.

    Watch your wind, move slowly when your in sign, I walk and then sit or hold quite often glassing and listening, especially at last light as they are on the move, Trouble is in the thick stuff they can feed where they bed and don’t have to move much.

    My Dad always said he seen more deer sitting having a smoke then he ever did walking !

    I only cover a small area on my evening walk, maybe 2k in and then 2 k out, during the rut at times they are not quite as spooky and you can usually get pretty close to them before they bolt.

    Keep at it and good luck
    WF
    Last edited by Weatherby Fan; 11-15-2017 at 10:48 AM.
    7mm PRC soon to be the most popular cartridge in North America

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    8,515

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    yup, walking fast will let you see a lot more deer....unfortunately, all you get to see of them is elbows and ass****s.
    I walk an area that I know has deer, and I know many of their favourite/more routine spots to hang out in on and
    around a hill/small mountain.
    Saying that, I do not always know where they are going to be up there....
    sometimes they move very little all day, and hang in a small pocket, and other times they do wander around a lot.
    If a buck finds a hot doe, and that doe doesn't move around much, neither will he.
    If he is searching, he can move all over that hill searching...but they have that ability to know where the does are at
    any given time....amazing really.
    With having snow, if you can find the freshest tracks, that were made that morning, and especially where you see lots of tracks in a "pocket", you have a good chance to know where they are that particular day.
    I don't waste to much time tracking a single track of 1 deer, unless I know it is from a buck, and it's snowing, and the track has no snow in it.....then I know I am close to him...but hey, he is walking, and I am stalking, so he is moving
    way faster then I am.
    So, I could speed up, but then he may have stopped only a hundred yards up, and here I come at full speed trying to
    run him down....well he is going to spot me...hear me etc.
    But, if he has found a doe in heat, and he is hassling her, and she is trying to give him the run around, and obviously
    he has his head up her rear, then yup, you can't walk right in, and they don't even know.
    Am I sounding confusing...yup...because the sceneriaos at any given time are different and always changing.
    I walk slow, pause often...some will even say, take 3 steps, and use your binos, even looking at 30 yards in front of you.
    It does work and it works well.
    The hard part is, you don't cover much ground, and if you are walking in an area that is devoid of tracks, it is easy to
    give that tactic up....funny thing is, that sometimes is when you bump something, because you thought that "pocket" was dead....and many time they are.
    If your knew to an are, don't know it's ins and outs, its openings and where deer tend to hang more often then not,
    then go at a slow walk to get to learn the area.....hopefully you have plenty of days lined up, over several weeks to
    go back etc.
    But, that is the only way to get to know the are you want to hunt...use a gps...mark areas that you feel you want to hit.
    One you know the place....then go to the 3 step rule...it works the best in tight areas.....
    But then, find an area, and sit there for 30 minutes...see what happens, as this is the best way to see a deer and
    "have the chance to get a shot off"!.
    If you can come into the "pocket of sign" that is fresh, find a spot that gives you the best vantage point, as well as keeping the wind going away from where you think you may see the deer coming from etc.
    I smoke, and see plenty of deer....I just make sure the wind is in my favour.
    What does it matter, my boots smell of grease, my rifle smell of oil/solvents....my gear smell like camp fire or
    cooking.....at least I know where the wind is going.
    But yes, slow walking, a few steps at a time, then pause to glass (you will be surprised at how close you can get to a deer that way, and not even realize it is "right there").
    If you break a branch, or trip up......take a much longer pause...2 minutes, and don't move at all...eyes will be staring.
    Then, in the right areas, take a rest, stay quiet, and watch and listen.
    But...do get to know the area.....
    Best is to check out the terrain in the summer......but, it doesn't mean there will be much deer sign...as the deer could move in there only in late October etc.
    So, yes, sometimes walking is necessary, before you can "stalk".
    In that case, walk....if you come across a "hot spot"...then just sit.
    Hunting is not just a "one shoe fits all scenario"....
    Listening can be great too...sometimes you get lucky and can hear some bucks duking it out.
    Hopefully I covered a few scenario's.
    L

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Courtenay
    Posts
    1,389

    Re: Hunting mule deer in heavy brush

    too slow me down when a kid my job was to roll smokes for my dad and grandpa . sit look and roll a few then look around then move not to far same drill all day

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