Out on my first hunt. No luck so far, but having a blast!

[lostmind]

Hey guys, story time from a guy who's been lurking and rarely posting on this forum for a while now.

So I went and did my core and the eatwild hunter field skills course this year. Just got my ass up to 3-30 with a good buddy, got out of the truck and hoofed it in the woods all day yesterday and this morning. Yesterday we saw a ton of deer - 16 does with fawns. No antlers anywhere tho. Also scared a black bear eating some deer skins and hoofs/heads that another hunter had left just outside a clearing where they had been camped (all does, 3 of them, guess they got LEH tags? I don't know how that works.). Thankfully the bear ran away when it heard us and we really only saw it's ass end as it booked it up the hill.

This morning we split up as my buddy wanted to stake out a spot and I wanted to follow some trails near the ridge. As I'm walking slowly through the brush, stopping every few feet and looking through the bino's, I heard some crashing coming straight at me. So I had my rifle in hand and was standing in the middle of a deer trail when a doe sprang around the corner, landed about 3-4' in front of me, saw me and then sprang about 5-6' to my left. She just stopped and stared at me, close enough I could nearly touch her. Her fawn was following about 20' away and stopped soon as the doe did. The stare down lasted for what seemed like ages - I'm standing there trying to not move a muscle, breathing through my mouth cuz my nose is runny and this doe just calmly walked around the little clearing, stopping to stare at me every few steps and then just took off up the hill, fawn not far behind. Was pretty awesome to be that close for that long.

I would have thought they would have took off soon as they saw me. Had they been legal, I had a half dozen easy shots... is that normal mule deer behaviour?

I also wonder what spooked them into running towards me. I did have the wind blowing in my face lightly, so I guess they didn't smell me.

Later on in the morning I managed to watch 2 more sets of doe & fawn from about 50m away. Once I tried to get closer than that, they saw me or heard me and took off.

Hopefully get to see some antlers soon. I kind of suspect that this area is pretty heavily hunted (I think the weekend will be nuts judging from all the tire tracks up there) and all the stupid bucks are in someone's freezer already. I've no idea how to find the smart ones sadly, but even if I don't get a deer, this trip has been a blast. I do not know why I waited so long to start hunting.

PS - is there some secret hunter code to opening the tailgate on another hunters truck? We came back to our truck to find the tailgate down but nothing taken - and there was shit to take in the bed of the truck. Chainsaw, fiskars axe, spare battery, etc etc. Someone just saying hi? Why bother touching someone else's truck... glad they didn't take anything or let the air out of the tires.

[ian745]

sounds like a great time out hunting, , as for the hunters code of opening a tailgate?. never heard of it myself, i hunt the island , and here you dont touch another guys truck out in the bush, unless you need to leave a note or something on the windshield, thats about it

[835]

maybe it wasnt close all the way? i had a buddy who had a clunker... it dropped the gate all the time....

Sounds like you had fun tho....
Mulies can be a bit.... slo to the uptake.... not un normal at all.... as for why they came at you,,, any number of reasons

[ajr5406]

PS - is there some secret hunter code to opening the tailgate on another hunters truck? We came back to our truck to find the tailgate down but nothing taken - and there was shit to take in the bed of the truck. Chainsaw, fiskars axe, spare battery, etc etc. Someone just saying hi? Why bother touching someone else's truck... glad they didn't take anything or let the air out of the tires.[/QUOTE]


Ummm... Maybe the "let break into this guys truck" code?

[lostmind]

Tailgate was definitely closed all the way and newer-ish truck. Seemed odd to me. But could have been a lot worse, so...

Time to get off the computer and back into the bush. Off in search of those elusive antlers. :)

[HarryToolips]

Ya maybe they had second thoughts on stealing your stuff, glad they didn't...hey you got a great attitude, you just gotta be patient, most people don't get a deer on their first year, or even after for a few years...your havin fun that's number one..and muley does are generally dumb, whereas Whitetail's are way more skiddish..

[caddisguy]

We had a similar experience with a mule doe last year. I accidentally left my rifle mag on the jeep somewhere and drove a little ways before remembering the mag. We were split up looking for the mag and a big muley doe jumped out of the bush within touching distance of caddisgirl and they looked at each other a bit. A few lessons were learned that day:

1) Never put stuff on top of your roof/bumper/tires/whatever, you will eventually forget something and possibly lose it
2) Always have your gun handy, whether you're walking to take a leak, going to take a picture of something or looking around for the mag you lost... that doe could have just as easily been a huge buck or a moody bear.

And sorry about the tailgate thing... thought it was my truck j/k ... could something on four legs have opened the tailgate?

[russm]

Where abouts in 3-330 are you, if you're there for the weekend it'll be pretty damn busy up there.

[scotty30-06]

Could be a warning not to leave shit in your truck.....my buddy an I had that happen.....turned out to be a bad tailgate and a black bear trying to climb in watched the whole thing happen....bear climbs up tailgate dropped scaring the crap out of the bear and he took off running

[russm]

Could be a warning not to leave shit in your truck.....my buddy an I had that happen.....turned out to be a bad tailgate and a black bear trying to climb in watched the whole thing happen....bear climbs up tailgate dropped scaring the crap out of the bear and he took off running

I've got a locking tailgate and a vinyl tonneau cover, I'm waiting to come back to the truck and see that someone sliced through the cover to see what's inside.

[epicZERO74]

Sounds like a great time! Keep hunting, and the deer will come!

[lostmind]

Ya maybe they had second thoughts on stealing your stuff, glad they didn't...hey you got a great attitude, you just gotta be patient, most people don't get a deer on their first year, or even after for a few years...your havin fun that's number one..and muley does are generally dumb, whereas Whitetail's are way more skiddish..


There is a dash cam setup, we think maybe that was a deterrent. Who knows.


Still having fun, even after an evening hunt of seeing nothing. Found some area we thought would be good in google earth, but it was so dry it was like walking on crispy bubblewrap. No chance to see deer with that. Oh well!



We had a similar experience with a mule doe last year. I accidentally left my rifle mag on the jeep somewhere and drove a little ways before remembering the mag. We were split up looking for the mag and a big muley doe jumped out of the bush within touching distance of caddisgirl and they looked at each other a bit. A few lessons were learned that day:


1) Never put stuff on top of your roof/bumper/tires/whatever, you will eventually forget something and possibly lose it
2) Always have your gun handy, whether you're walking to take a leak, going to take a picture of something or looking around for the mag you lost... that doe could have just as easily been a huge buck or a moody bear.


And sorry about the tailgate thing... thought it was my truck j/k ... could something on four legs have opened the tailgate?


1) Hah, my buddy is notorious for losing everything. I'm constantly reminding him to take his keys off his seat etc. ;)


2) Makes sense to me!


And nah, there's a hand print on the latch that works the tailgate, which is covered in mud and dust. Someone opened it. From the looks of things, they didn't even open the tarp...



Where abouts in 3-330 are you, if you're there for the weekend it'll be pretty damn busy up there.


Well, spending the night in Clinton and going down to the mountain/hill southeast of it. Think it's called hart ridge? I just overlayed the mule deer population map from the ministry on google earth and picked some spots that were densely populated and fairly easy access.


Hopefully by next year I'll be setup to get into some rougher area with a wall tent and stuff.


Seen 2 other trucks in 2 days, but I expect tomorrow to be much busier.



Could be a warning not to leave shit in your truck.....my buddy an I had that happen.....turned out to be a bad tailgate and a black bear trying to climb in watched the whole thing happen....bear climbs up tailgate dropped scaring the crap out of the bear and he took off running


That's hilarious. But yah, pretty sure there's a handprint on the tailgate latch.



I've got a locking tailgate and a vinyl tonneau cover, I'm waiting to come back to the truck and see that someone sliced through the cover to see what's inside.


You know, every person I've met in the bush (been camping and fishing in some offroad areas for years) have been amazing people. So I always give everyone the benefit of the doubt when I meet them. But then you always see shit like shot up toilets and hot water tanks and thousands of shells and garbage everywhere in the bush and hear about peoples shit getting robbed and so on and you wonder, wtf is wrong with people?



Sounds like a great time! Keep hunting, and the deer will come!


It is and I hope you are right! Trying to get another tripped planned already, see if whitetail hunting during the rut is fun. :)

[4 point]

Warm right now deer have been hard to find the last few days. I don't go out on weekends in reg 3 to many guys driving around,usually at breakneck speed. Was seeing many deer an some bucks. Keep at it early or late in day. Good luck.

[Glenny]

Warm right now deer have been hard to find the last few days. I don't go out on weekends in reg 3 to many guys driving around,usually at breakneck speed. Was seeing many deer an some bucks. Keep at it early or late in day. Good luck.

Good lettem keep driven around. I head up to my spots well before shooting lite and in I go.

[two-feet]

Sounds to me like you are going to get a buck

[lostmind]

Well, another day done. Up at 5:30, in the field by 6:30... Saw two sets of deer this morning, a doe by herself and a doe/fawn pair. 3 in total.

Called it quits around 12:30, went to town and had lunch. Back to the trailer to plan out some evening hunting. Went up the backside of the mountain and saw nothing (well a bunny and some birds, plus tons of squirrels). At 6:30 called it quits and headed back to the truck. Of course, on the way to the truck see 5 deer, but no bucks. Too dark to shoot at any of them even if they were bucks though. Seems like they come out at sunset!

So far, seen tons of deer, but no antlers. Oh well! Two more weeks left in october. Hopefully I can convince the wife to let me sneak out for another few days soon.

[Whonnock Boy]

I've never heard of this dear population map. First question I have is, what are they basing the info on? Flyovers? If it is, that would be winter ranges, and as of right now, not much of the winter range is being utilized.



I just overlayed the mule deer population map from the ministry on google earth and picked some spots that were densely populated and fairly easy access.

[lostmind]

I've never heard of this dear population map. First question I have is, what are they basing the info on? Flyovers? If it is, that would be winter ranges, and as of right now, not much of the winter range is being utilized.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/muledeer.pdf

http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/efauna/Atlas/expanded_maps.aspx?filename=../Images/Maps/mammal/big/Odocoileus%20hemionus%20map.png&CommonName=Mule%20Deer

Are the two I used I believe (on my laptop in the trailer not my home pc)...

[lostmind]

Well, back home from hunting. No bucks. Did locate a herd of 9 does & fawns (I didn't realise they ran in groups) and I suspect there must be a buck nearby, but never saw him. Unfortunately, the trip was too short I think as I was just getting the layout of the mountain in my head and finding some more promising locations to sit down and look out over.

Hopefully can squeeze in a few more trips!

[brian]

If there are does there are bucks around. They are mostly nocturnal until the rut. Mule deer does tend to form the largest herds of our local deer species. Blacktail does tend to form the smallest groups. I remember once being surrounded by them while I was sitting on a small hill eating lunch. It was a cool experience. It also demonstrated to me how bad their detail vision is. Which helps explain your earlier close range encounter with the doe. We are practically invisible to them if we are stationary or moving very slowly. They have to try and figure out what we are even at close range. It is actually dangerous for them to run, it really reduces their senses for predator detection. The one place they can't see is directly behind them. Their vision is all based on motion detection and isn't as effective if they are moving fast. They can't hear as well if they are making a lot of noise and can't smell well unless they have the wind in their face. So you can see why she would stare you down and try to establish threat rather than simply bolt for the hills!

[jeff341]

If there are does there are bucks around. They are mostly nocturnal until the rut. Mule deer does tend to form the largest herds of our local deer species. Blacktail does tend to form the smallest groups. I remember once being surrounded by them while I was sitting on a small hill eating lunch. It was a cool experience. It also demonstrated to me how bad their detail vision is. Which helps explain your earlier close range encounter with the doe. We are practically invisible to them if we are stationary or moving very slowly. They have to try and figure out what we are even at close range. It is actually dangerous for them to run, it really reduces their senses for predator detection. The one place they can't see is directly behind them. Their vision is all based on motion detection and isn't as effective if they are moving fast. They can't hear as well if they are making a lot of noise and can't smell well unless they have the wind in their face. So you can see why she would stare you down and try to establish threat rather than simply bolt for the hills!



This is really helpful. Thanks. Good is advice is always appreciated

[walks with deer]

Motion is what spooks deer with noise. The 2 go hand and hand

[lostmind]

"If there are does there are bucks around."

That's what I kept telling myself. :)

I figure that I just needed a few more days at this place to figure out the good spots to find the bucks. Oh well, next trip!

[GotaGun]

You said 3 doe heads left behind at a camp in 3-30??
antlerless LEH is Nov1-Nov30 in that area.:confused:

[hare_assassin]

You said 3 doe heads left behind at a camp in 3-30??
antlerless LEH is Nov1-Nov30 in that area.:confused:


If the camp is near the border, they could have been 5-1 youth does. We hunted 5-1 a few weeks ago and camped right off N. Bonaparte Rd in 3-30. I would not have been surprised to find doe heads in camp.

[lostmind]

Youth does? Makes sense. I've no idea how all that works yet, first season hunting, too old to be a youth so haven't even looked at those.

[CaribooBC]

Whitetail does????

[604Stalker]

..hope there's one left out there :wink: one more week.

[lostmind]

No, mules.