New Hunter, overwhelmed with the Possibilities!

[HarryToolips]

Alpine and cutblocks are the main food sources but ungulates browse in the timber throughout the day. Fir and pine ridges, aspen and poplar stands. I would look for places people can’t see from the road and then look for good sign and put some cams in there on the trails and maybe a salt lick of two. Ungulates are habitual somewhat so areas with tons of trail, shit and rubs are a good bet for finding them again in these spots. Road hunting does work though it just about timing. When I hunted cutblocks I would often park well before the end and walk in slowly glassing and hike though the areas that are not visible from the road system. May are deactivated to so lazy people don’t go there.

This..... there are quite a few cutblocks or segments of cutblocks that are deactivated or where there is no vantage from the FSRs: get your boots on the ground, find those areas and find the sign there OP..

[HappyJack]

"find the sign", means look for tracks, rubs, travelled trails and live deer. Use those FSR to get into an area you think looks likely and check it out, and a lot of times closer to home is just as productive as 100 miles in the bush.

[mike31154]

The Hunting & Trapping Synopsis lists Motor Vehicle for Hunting Closed Areas. Have a look at those as even though the roads may not be de-activated you can't use a vehicle to access for hunting. You'll be able to hike those to your heart's content, undisturbed by road hunters. Some of the closures have a brief period where you might be able to drive in to scout.

If not mistaken the farther north you venture the less likely you are to encounter Whitetail. Should be more Muleys up there in the alpine.

[Gianni2507]

So its whitetails. OK. If you are concerned with disturbing an area, try to find a high vantage point and glass. As was pointed out, if you find recent sign or activity in an area, then concentrate there. Some times you just have to walk an area to get a feel for it. The good news is that starting this early will not disturb an area unless you frequent it often. Yes you can install game cams and all that stuff, but realistically I would bet that not many of the deer your after have gone full nocturnal this time of year. if you want success you have to put in the time and effort. There is no easy way to do it, short of feet on the ground. it will be a good learning experience. There are few if any places around where you just drive or walk in and harvest an animal. It takes work and persistance. Just like anything good, hard work pays off. Good luck

If I would want the just walk in and harvest, I would take the Bucks in the Ag Field in front of my House but that's NOT the plan.. Will check as many of the blocks out as I can and see where I can find the most Sign.. thanks a Lot!

[Gianni2507]

The Hunting & Trapping Synopsis lists Motor Vehicle for Hunting Closed Areas. Have a look at those as even though the roads may not be de-activated you can't use a vehicle to access for hunting. You'll be able to hike those to your heart's content, undisturbed by road hunters. Some of the closures have a brief period where you might be able to drive in to scout.

If not mistaken the farther north you venture the less likely you are to encounter Whitetail. Should be more Muleys up there in the alpine.

Unfortunately theres only 2 restricted Roads in my Unit and they're on the other side of the Mountain..

[jan.wi97]

Thanks, and yeah, I should have worded or explained a bit more I guess, but I found it really hard to make a post that's somewhat easy to follow!

Targeted Species is White-tailed Deer, although the plan for later on is maybe to go after Muleys in the higher Altitudes. But for learning I was gonna concentrate on whitetails. I took a bunch of Grouse and Hares with my Bow last Season, as well as a nice 5x5 Buck on Private Land too(with a 30-06), so I think I know the plain basics for the "after the shot part" of the Hunting. What my Goal is here is to understand and learn how to hunt Crown Land, and especially how you guys choose between lots of Possible areas.

Say: I have in about 1 hour driving Time from my Home, access to 20+ logging areas, ranging from logged this year to logged 20 years ago. What are your deciding Factors of which one to choose? I imagine that the 1-2 year old areas are not productive yet as not much grass or browse is coming.

I'm just not sure which areas are worth sitting in or spending time on glassing for hours? Are you guys walking the outside of a logged area to look for Incoming trails/scat? I only have a limited amount of time, so just scouting them all for longer periods of time isnt viable.

As for the Gun, I'm planning to get a rifle chambered in .308, preferably a t3x if I can justify the Money to myself

I am selling my Tikka T3X in 6.5 Creedmoor... if you are interested

[Gianni2507]

Went out the other day, found a nice older logging area that is accessible only by Quad or Foot, which I hope helps shed a few of the competitors out there... took a nice walk with my Girl, about 6 km in I found 2 Rubs within a couple hundred feet, as well as a ton of old (last seasons) droppings of what I assume to be Elk...
The Rubs where up to 6 feet high, so I wasn't sure if it's made by deer of Elk? Because of the Scat I would assume Elk, but I haven't ever heard of Elk having Rubs like this?


Couldn't go 30 feet without standing in a pile of shit like this, assuming it is Elk? There are Deer, Elk and even some Moose in the area...


Would you see these rubs as a good sign for the fall? Worth scouting more or leave it alone until the fall?

[VLD43]

Those rubs are defintely elk or moose. It would take a massively large deer to get that high on a tree. Looks like you have found an elk spot LOL

[HarryToolips]

I agree with VLD... I would setup a couple T cams in the area, and scout more of the surrounding area..

[Gianni2507]

lol I don’t mind finding elk sign at all, gives me a backup when the private land elk doesn’t work out!

Do they get territorial agains bucks? Is it worth looking at it for longer from a whitetail Point of View? Thanks a lot you guys!