I've spent a bunch of time hiking through cut blocks, timber, blow downs, lake sides this year. Even had my 7 year old boy out and he did his first 5 hour rounder (we camped in the snow down to -7 and during other weekends). He loved finding all the droppings, trails and learning how to route find back to the suv. I've hunted with him and alone. I love both. I have a great pair of boots now and don't fall every 30 steps so learning the lay of the land by hiking it is such a thrill.

I've seen some pretty great stuff. A huge bear bed, 8 foot in diameter in the wide open timber, 20 yards in from a lodgepole pine cut block. Cow vertebrae and a deer jawbone nearby. Deer and moose beds, trails full of droppings, a good sense of how they're moving from higher up down to the lakes and back through the day. Even had some luck with the young dog on a leash giving me heads up on an incoming doe/fawn. I've found beds in the wide open on top of the tallest hills or on top of blowdown saddles.

As thrilled as I am to be out there hiking around, exploring, I'm coming up dry most days on even seeing animals. I'm in the timber moving slow, in the blow downs making tonnes of noise, camped out still for hours, glassing, always aware of the wind. I'm moving real slow at times through 5-7ft tall blocks and somewhat dense though navigable live pine timber. I'm moving fast and loud at other times when I'm looking to cover ground and explore an area.

I was camped next to a group with a slew of quads. They saw lots through 100's of km but didn't get a shot on anything except 20-30 grouse between them. I didn't see one grouse despite packing two guns (rifle and broken down over under). I'm a fat *******, 340lbs but love being in the bush, though maybe not so nimble. I can't help but be jealous of the perceived success of the guys on quads. I'd prefer to keep hiking as long as I can.

How do I at least find grouse hiking around? It's supposed to be an up year and I haven't seen one bird. I would love to get my son into some bird success or hares for that matter. I am learning each time I'm out regarding big game but even still am discouraged there too.

Please give me tips what I ought to consider when I head back in November. I'm hunting lodgepole pine mostly, blocks and standing timber with some varying thicknesses of blow down and spruce groves in the wetter areas. There's a bit of douglas fir around but I didn't notice much. Also, there's not a lot of water except for a few lakes/dry marshes and there's about a 150m elevation change between the lakes and the high country about 1-2km away. I am targeting dawn/dusk +/- a few hours for peak activity on all targets but am in the field for all of daylight (12 hours+).

I started talking to the wife about getting a quad but also just bought a deer drag harness. I'd appreciate any suggestions you can lend me. I'm not in a position to buy a quad yet but is that really the way to go? I'd prefer right now to continue learning this spot where there's lots of the game I'm after.

Ok so this is such a weirdly phrased post. Being in the bush, if just for 1.5 days a weekend, it's all I look forward to through the week. That's why I'm on here and not working. Hah! I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.