Wanted to introduce myself as a new member here, and a rookie hunter. I understand that it is convention for new members to open with a joke so I will fire out an old, but (I think) good one, that also just happens to be extremely relevant to my questions...
<<<<The joke concerns twin boys of five or six. Worried that the boys had developed extreme personalities – one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist – their parents took them to a psychiatrist. First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears. 'What's the matter?' the psychiatrist asked, baffled. 'Don't you want to play with any of the toys?' 'Yes,' the little boy bawled, 'but if I did I'd only break them.' Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his out look, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted just the yelp of delight the psychiatrist had been hoping to hear from his brother, the pessimist. Then he clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. 'What do you think you're doing?' the psychiatrist asked, just as baffled by the optimist as he had been by the pessimist. 'With all this manure,' the little boy replied, beaming, 'there must be a pony in here somewhere!'”>>>>
Taking the advice of others on this forum (a million thanks on behalf of all us lurking rookies), I have been spending a good bit of time learning a specific area this year. E-scouting, scouting a bit pre-season then spending time hiking-with-gun since deer season has opened in the hope of connecting. The area is in the rough vicinity of Kamloops and I have been concentrating on a good sized pocket about 3500-4000 feet in elevation which is a bit off the beaten track and requires some effort and sweat to get there. The area is varied terrain, everything from thick gullies to beautiful rocky open ridges etc. It is crisscrossed with deer trails and I have found lots of deer/moose tracks, multiple bedding areas and tonnes of fresh poop. I have hiked it, still hunted it and posted up quietly and just watched likely areas – but in spite of all the extremely encouraging signs so far have seen minimal actual deer. But the significant amount of sign keeps me coming back (there has to be a pony in here somewhere!!!!). Yesterday, I think I cracked part of the puzzle (for me at least)… Working my way through a very thick gully section to access a ridge where I know there are well used trails and beds I blew out several deer. It was too thick to see if they were bucks or does, or get a shot off –but saw enough to know for sure that several large mulies were hiding down in this area of extremely thick scrub.
So I would love some advice on the following questions from anyone with experience are willing to help:
Firstly, what strategies would people suggest where an area clearly has a significant population of deer actively moving around open areas and ridges, but they seem to disappear, potentially into “unhuntable” areas during the daylight hours? Or is this really a case of putting in your time, improving your still hunting skills and eventually finding one in the open?
Secondly, thinking perhaps that the bucks may have been higher early season, and now may be hiding out in the thick stuff in preparation for the rut, would this sort of area have potential for hunting during the rut or later season? My hope would be that the rut brings them out of hiding, but at the 3500-4000’ level I wonder if I would be better advised to drop down and look at adjacent lower elevation areas come November? I have seen a few does moving in the area around the 3000’ level and wonder if I am better advised to start heading downhill in the coming weeks.
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