General Hunting Advice: Beginner heading to 8-15 Granby Provincial Park

[loyle]

Hey!

New hunter here. My brother and I are slowly getting into hunting. We went out last year and got our first MD near Merritt. Probably mostly luck. This year we wanted to do something more remote/alpine like. Everything I read says get away from roads and get away from people. Obviously a tough thing to do in most parts of the southern interior but we were thinking about heading out to Granby Provincial Park. We are planning to hike in for a couple nights and tent it.

I am mainly wondering :

1. For that area what are the best tags to purchase? We thought about getting a Black Bear, Mule Deer, Whitetail and Elk. Figured that way we were pretty well covered for whatever we saw.

2. Any tips for that Region? Tell me about your honey holes Joking.

3. I am trying to better understand a deers seasonal movement patterns. This seems like a pretty tough question to answer. Really what I am saying is that we don't really know where to even start. I have read that you should find places with good food/water/shelter. I feel like in the mountains in BC that is pretty abundant almost everywhere. I have also read Mule Deer tend to prefer higher ground where whitetails end up in the valley bottoms. Our plan is to just get up high and do a ton of glassing. I guess if I am just looking for someone to either confirm or deny our thought process here.

4. Lastly what sort of changes would we expect to see in the deers behaviour/locations and how would our strategy change if we went out for a week on Tuesday, October 13th - Tuesday October 20th. And then again for a week in November. Obviously I would expect the rut to be in full swing in November but what does that mean for our hunting strategy?

Thanks!

[goatdancer]

Lots of grizz up there.

[Sharpish]

Go for it and good luck. That’s hunting.

[Redthies]

Loyle, welcome to HBC. I’d get a tag for anything that is open in the area you will be in. You never know what you will see. I’m not an expert, but if you are going in for a week, set up camp and start looking for fresh sign. If you can sit and glass for a while, that should give you an idea if anything is around. Now that the weather has cooled off from last week, things should be a bit more active.

You can scout all day on the web, but putting your boots on the ground is the only way to really learn an area. As you said, habitat is everywhere. You just need to figure out the spot you are in. Good luck out there!

[backstrap]

Bring all those tags, get to a vantage and glass, get in the parts you can’t glass, hike around with the wind in your face and soon enough you’ll know if what you’re looking for is there.... as stated above watch for grizz in that area!

[mike31154]

Be prepared for winter conditions, the higher you go......

[loyle]

Thanks Everyone.
its not very often you ask a question on a forum and then have every response be valuable with zero condescending undertones. Definitely a sign of a good community.

[Five]

Thanks Everyone.
its not very often you ask a question on a forum and then have every response be valuable with zero condescending undertones. Definitely a sign of a good community.

You get that sometimes too!

[albravo2]

You get that sometimes too!

That is what I was thinking!

Loyle, my best advice is to just do it. You will learn more in a week in the bush than in years on the forums and you will start to learn what you really need to learn.

My next best advice is always be hunting. From the moment you leave the truck until you return and put your gun away move slowly, move quietly and look like you've never looked before. Just when you let your guard down and laugh or call to your buddy you'll realize you were just about to bump a critter.

[quadrakid]

If you find an area that has sign and animals focus on that area and get to know it. Boots on the ground is much better than driving around looking for critters.Learn patience,it is important.
Most of all enjoy your time in the bush,success is inevitable.