Hi, everyone. I humbly come to you in the need of some help.
I have been hunting for the last 6 or 7 years but have started really trying to up my game this year. Over the years I have bagged a couple of black bears, some small game, and numerous ducks and geese but have yet to bag a deer, elk, or moose, etc. I still consider myself a total newbie, but I'm trying to learn as much as I can. My goal is to drop my first mulie buck. I didn't grow up with any hunters in my family, so I've been trying to learn as much as I can on my own. I try to get out as much as I can, but it can be hard as I live in the dreaded Lower Mainland. I would love to live somewhere in the interior in a log house in quiet place where I could hunt every day, but I was born and raised here and have a career that keeps me here. Trust me, I'd love to get out of Vancouver; it's become a complete gong show down here.
I'm also limited by the fact that my truck is only a two wheel drive, but I'll be buying a quad soon to give me access to more areas especially when the weather gets snowy. Look for the feed . North facing slopes and draws deer are transitioning to winter feed now.
I started out doing a lot of road hunting because that is how a friend of mine hunted when he first took me out hunting, but recently I've been trying to get out of the truck and get out on foot as I keep hearing that it will up my chances of seeing more animals. Plus, I much prefer enjoying nature on foot instead of just sitting in my truck.
I've recently been spending a lot of time in and around the Tulameen FSR area and just last week spent a few days in the FSR's around Tunkwa and Leighton Lakes. But, I'm always looking forward to trying new places.
My question is: how should I be choosing which types areas to hike? Should I just park the truck and head out into the heavy timber? Should I be looking for decommissioned logging roads? Should I be looking for clearings to hike to? I use Google Earth a lot to check out new areas before I go check them out and would love to know what type of features I should be looking for that would be worthy of hiking. How do you choose an area to hike?
Any help would be very much appreciated. I would like to feel confident that I am spending my time out there as productively as possible.
Thanks.