Failed/Discouraged Hunters Seeking Help

[PressurePoint]

This is where living in the LMD can be difficult and hunting as a hobby becomes time consuming. 3 hours from the lmd? Would you consider driving 13 hours from the LMD? Now you’re getting into country that holds a plethora of game. More game, more chances. I live on the island and I go up north several times a year and driving 13 hours is the cost of doing business. But every year I get my moose (not anymore I guess) and other ungulates. White tail, muley etc.

driving 3 hours out of the lmd may seem far but it really isn’t. All said in done, in the long run, you’ll send more
Time driving around getting skunked than if you spent the extra time driving further north. Head to Prince George (which from the lmd is only like 8 hours) get up around Mackenzie and the world is your oyster

[huntingfamily]

Fuel costs for driving are really going to impact a lot of us this year...

[Merino]

Wow I'm blown away by all the responses from everyone, thanks everyone for taking the time to share.


@caddisguy
Would you recommend sticking with R2 for spring bear? Are bear numbers pretty high this close to the city? Typically only one of us in the group has a tag so we do need to stick together which is why we opt to sit and glass instead of trying to bush-whack as a group. Thanks for the advice on feeding locations, that seems relevant regardless of where you hunt.

So I have a few questions for you. How often are you hunting in a season? How far from home are the hunting grounds? How often do you get out to scout these areas? Do your areas see a lot of hunting pressure during the season? There are more questions, but this is a good place to start.

Typically 1-2 trips in both the spring and fall. 3+ hours away from home (lower mainland). No pre-scouting (not enough vacation time for this unfortunately). Very little pressure during spring bear season, fairly moderate pressure during the fall.

Always hunt the wind. Know the daily thermals. Change your plans to match the wind. Don’t be lazy about he wind. Deer never stop testing it.

This is super tricky for us and something I forgot to mention in my post. We constantly use wind checkers but the wind never seems to be consistent. We start a hike in with it blowing in our face but walk for 5 minutes and re-check and now it's changed and at our back. How are you supposed to manage it when it changes in a seemingly unpredictable way?

Have you tried to send PM to Jelvis for advice?

No I have not, but I have read a lot of his advice across many posts on here.


@PressurePoint
Interesting point. We didn't want to commit to locations even further away as we felt we'd just get skunked while spending more on fuel. In our mind, higher animal numbers don't necessarily translate to higher success rates if we don't have the skill/experience to find them.


In general, for muleys it sounds like a lot of you still hunt/opt to hunt in the timber. Is our strategy of glassing open areas/cut blocks not really effective in the habitats around BC?

[Bugle M In]

Yes, it is all about location and timing, as you need both.
Being from the LM my whole life, and not really having any friends from the interior to get intel from, I totally understand the OP’s difficulties.
It can be hard to get the time to travel further, when the travel eats up a big chunk of time in itself, and you only have a weekend.
And you throw in the costs, and it is no where like back in the 80’s.
Game numbers not being like they used to, and it gets tough.
I still am amazed when I hear someone saying they just came back from Princeton, as I hear that all the time, but, I understand it fully as I mentioned previously.
If I could, remove the costs and have the extra time to travel, I most likely would be looking at R5.
Taking in account the 10 day closure on MD, but I think it is the best bet.
Having said that, I haven’t been up there in years!!!!
So, even I wouldn’t know where to really start?
And again, that extra time and money makes it hard to go back repeatedly snd often enough to learn an area!
Spmetimes you stumble on it, other times you can flounder repeatedly.
R3 is a gong show during the R5 closure now, and I have seen it’s affects first hand with decades of experience on a particular area.
So I can certainly say, an area that see a lot of traffic, regardless of if it’s a hot spot for deer, will see declines and less sightings and success.
But I get how hard it can be for a newb from the LM.
Even those that have plenty of deer hunting how to knowledge, can really struggle finding a new and productive area without either local intel, it tons of time and money.
Never forget that, don’t beat yourself up on that, and find the beauty in the nature you find yourself in while hunting.


Most importantly, don’t forget to have as many laughs as you can with either your friends or family!!!!
Those moments go way beyond the hunt/kill and are what you truly remember as you age.
Best of luck and I hope you get a few pm’s to help you get into a better hunting zone.

[cameron0518]

There is a ridiculous amount of posts on here asking for help but I must say that yours was actually very thought out and well written. That is probably why there have been better and more responses, so good on you. My opinion is that if you are seeing bear scat that is even a week old, you are doing just fine in looking for an area. Bears are not hard to find overall. Glassing cut blocks is my preferred method. As for deer, if you are seeing does, there will be bucks. Be patient, wait, pay attention to what info the does might let slip with their body language. As for time of year to get your first buck, IMO is an easy one, get out there when the season first opens. Good luck

[twoSevenO]

There is a ridiculous amount of posts on here asking for help but I must say that yours was actually very thought out and well written. That is probably why there have been better and more responses, so good on you. My opinion is that if you are seeing bear scat that is even a week old, you are doing just fine in looking for an area. Bears are not hard to find overall. Glassing cut blocks is my preferred method. As for deer, if you are seeing does, there will be bucks. Be patient, wait, pay attention to what info the does might let slip with their body language. As for time of year to get your first buck, IMO is an easy one, get out there when the season first opens. Good luck

Not nearly as many as back in 2008/9/10

I stopped using this site for a while because of it. People would literally just have this in a post "Plz guys HELP! October is almost over and freezer is empty and my kids need to eat!! Help!"
I would be embarassed to post that kind of stuff.

[HappyJack]

@PressurePoint
Interesting point. We didn't want to commit to locations even further away as we felt we'd just get skunked while spending more on fuel. In our mind, higher animal numbers don't necessarily translate to higher success rates if we don't have the skill/experience to find them.


In general, for muleys it sounds like a lot of you still hunt/opt to hunt in the timber. Is our strategy of glassing open areas/cut blocks not really effective in the habitats around BC?


The more game around the more likely you are to connect. We always hunt the sign, if there is no sign the game isn't there, they all leave tracks. As for mule deer we usually hunt them from ground blinds in places we know they like to move. In R5 the deer along the Fraser River will be going uphill in the mornings and downhill in the evenings. In R7 we hunt the first 10 days of October in a spot they migrate through [35+ years in the same campsite] the deer there are almost all headed southeast.

What I find with most new hunters is they don't watch the wind....and they run all over the place moving from spot to spot chasing unicorns. My advice is watch the wind and slow down, big game will spot you moving before you spot them 99 times out of 100. With changing wind conditions we found hunting from ladder stands helps, if you are high enough up most of the time your scent won't reach them even if they are right downwind from you.

[Bugle M In]

It’s amazing how well deer use the wind and also their hearing.
I have watched deee be bedded, and I will be watching them for 1/2 hour.
Then suddenly, they all look one direction, looking alerted, and the at some point, get up and rush away.
15 minutes later, here comes a hunter.
Talk ti them, ask how they are making out, and they say they haven’t seen anything yet.
And when they do, all they see is a flicker of ass or leg taking off more times than not.
It takes a lot of constant all day discipline to move quietly or admit you can’t, and stop and pause for 10 of 15 minutes to calm the area down.

[wideopenthrottle]

I often mention it here but a trick I use is to count my paces (every 2nd step) and set a limit based on the prospects of the area.....my absolute limit is 30 if there is enough light to shoot even if walking on a road or trying to cover ground....8 or 10 is generally what I set but of course it gets down to 1 step at a time in some places...you are hard pressed to spot movement when you are moving...generally, I want to be able to see movement farther than any noise I make can be heard to be able to successfully still hunt...I don't have patience enough to sit in a blind all day so I have learned to move as quietly as possible

[Mudsey]

Why would only one in your group have a bear tag?