How do YOU hunt?

[Lugg]

Hello all,

New member here looking for advice for my son (11yrs) and I. I've recently aquired my R/Pal and both my son and I have passed our CORE. So clearly we are ready to hunt. (last line is sarcasam)

We are curious about how each of you hunt and why you make that choice.

Are you the type that drives down a fsr and looks for your tag fulfillment?

Do you setup camp somewhere and then hike out of camp for the day? How far do hike in? How long do you stay?

Do you do something else?

Thanks!

[luger]

I drive lots to scout locations, then hike in to areas for day hikes .

[dougan]

Not very good!

[warnniklz]

Deer - I'll drive to a spot. Park before daylight and start layin boots to the ground.

Bears - pretty much strictly road hunt. Cover lots of ground.

Moose - combination of the first two

Mountain Critters - climb

[Weatherby Fan]

I scouted/hunted a lot of areas in areas 2/3/4/5, now I know enough areas that I go to spots I know and enjoy hunting at specific times of the year, I do a bit of road hunting but mostly drive to a spot and walk in for a day hunt, our family makes a 10 day trip to area 4 most every year, next years plan is 2 weeks in area 7.

So in your situation imho you should find a nice spot in the alpine in areas 3 or 8 and take advantage of the Sept 1st youth season for your son, weathers usually pretty good and a few deer around.

[Mulehahn]

All of the above.

Probably not what you want to hear, but I have participated in all of the above. When I lived up North I would often go for a drive after work. Hardly found it effective though, just a nice way to unwind. In general though, since I was old enough to hunt alone I have been booking the last week of October and will hunt the whole week, this is mostly be birthday present to myself. I will get up in the dark, drive to the area I want to hunt and hike several kilometers in through the dark. I will then hunt back to the truck very slowly, having breakfast ready for when I arrive. But that being said, this is in areas I know well. If I didn't see any sign I will often then go and explore new areas after. It is amazing what you can find even just a couple of kilometers away.

The only variable is the LEH. There are a few I always apply for, the real long shots that if I get great but if not oh well. But for moose, grizzly bears, etc I apply to a various areas every year. I love to travel this province, so I will do research and decide where I feel like going a particular year.

[Rayne]

Still hunt get in the bush walk listen. Go slowly!!!

[Boner]

I think it's good to road hunt for a couple of hunting seasons and really get to know your way around and see some countryside. Then concentrate on a few favourite areas.

Unless you work in the forest and know your way around already. That's my situation, and it works great for me.

[Wentrot]

I can't handle road hunting. I enjoy finding random areas via Google Earth or a vision quest and hiking in. Always exciting.

Keep in mind I can't seem to shoot a critter though lol

[two-feet]

Start driving, when you find animals or sign hop out and start creeping. Bears are the easiest animal to harvest i think. Probably deer in the south of the province as well.

Learn the LEH game, lots of hunters base their yearly hunting plans around this.

Mainly just get out there. Get a backroads map book and just pick an area to explore. Anything can happen once you are in the bush.

[Lugg]

Start driving, when you find animals or sign hop out and start creeping. Bears are the easiest animal to harvest i think. Probably deer in the south of the province as well.

Learn the LEH game, lots of hunters base their yearly hunting plans around this.

Mainly just get out there. Get a backroads map book and just pick an area to explore. Anything can happen once you are in the bush.

How or why do they base their yearly hunting trips around LEH?

Does it mean some places will be more or less populated?

[caddisguy]

I'm a Region 2 valley bottom hunter and hunt old growth timber, focusing on less than half (two sides and 1/2 way up) one mountain. It has taken me years (well over 150 days/nights spent) to learn how to work the ridges, bowls, predict the thermals and start to understand how the deer utilize the terrain. I still haven't been able to outsmart a BT to save my life but they are there and recently so many pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place. I can hunt the terrain like an efficient predator. My area is about to become the gift that keeps on giving.

For bears, I just find a pocket of grass (in the spring) surrounded in otherwise thick stuff. If there's lots of scat I just sit and wait for the bear to show up. It's a game of patience but even if the bear can smell me, if it doesn't hear me moving about, he will gamble as to whether or not I'm really still in his kitchen or if it's my leftover scent. Two years in a row I have used this method and had bears walk right up from down wind with no clue I was sitting there.

[Boner]

How or why do they base their yearly hunting trips around LEH?


Excellent question. Lots of people ask where the hunting spots are.

[Keta1969]

I drive and then hike but sometimes not that far. Lots of guys rip by small pockets that hold deer. You won't see them driving and the areas are so small most don't think it's worthwhile.

[Drillbit]

How or why do they base their yearly hunting trips around LEH?


Well, for me, if I don't get an LEH, I don't hunt in BC Sept,Oct.

A lot of people hope to get an LEH in an area that they know from the past. If they don't get a draw, they either have to go somewhere else, or don't go.

[hoochie]

find an area that looks promising and set up camp. leave early in the morning and hike around. return after a few hours and take a nap and get some food in me. around 16:00 in the afternoon, head back out.
some times I see deer in an area in the morning, or in the evening. 1 spot may have white tails in the evening, but mule deer in the morning. I scout around for a few days. If I don't see good sign in the first day or so I will move camp.

[two-feet]

For me i put in for various leh draws and plan my hunting season depending on the results. Moose leh is my priority but i will put in for other draws that can act as a backup plan. The various open seasons are always there if i want them. Getting familiar with the draw system will be advantageous for you. Just planning what draws to put in for is part of the adventure, looking over maps and seeing the odds.

[BRrooster]

I like to go to a spot that I have scouted previously and get there before daylight, set up and wait and watch for a couple of hours. So I guess that I would have to say , I hunt from stands. Seeing the game before it sees me is the best way for me. After my morning hunt I drive around and scout other likely places to try new stand sites.
I hunt an area that I found many years ago and camp and walk into my favorite spots right from camp. Its fairly thick and the rifle hunters don't usually come down to that area. I had to give up my bow hunting and hunt a lot with a crossbow now.

[Rayne]

Don't under estimate a small 100 metre area plenty of room for a deer to live its life.

[Salty]

Sometimes I crank up Rage Against the Machine and drive around doing four wheel drifts. Haven't been successful with that one yet tho.

[two-feet]

I love boats of all sorts so including one with my hunt is a favorite way to go. Either by boating across a body of water to get access to non motorized areas or actively hunting lake shores for moose from a canoe.

Getting to an area where the trucks and quads cant get to is key for me.

[warnniklz]

Sometimes I crank up Rage Against the Machine and drive around doing four wheel drifts. Haven't been successful with that one yet tho.

This spring, the bears were lovin the Steel Panther. Bears all day while blasting the Panther.

My brother seems to do well with deer and Trivium...

So the heavier the metal gets, the bigger the critter.

[gmachine19]

New hunter here too. First hunting season for me. I've tried road hunting, hiking, walking and sitting at a nice spot. I prefer sitting at a nice spot over all of them. Watch and listen as the forest comes alive around you.

[NorBC]

This spring, the bears were lovin the Steel Panther. Bears all day while blasting the Panther.

My brother seems to do well with deer and Trivium...

So the heavier the metal gets, the bigger the critter.


Funny thing is I was listening to trivium and had some decent bucks on the cams today! That's not even a joke.
I also crank slayer in the gravel pit before I hike dink mountain. So everything checks out.

[brian]

I spend most of my time still hunting. If I have a great ambush spot then I will sit there a couple of hours but mostly I like being on my feet and seeing what I bump into. Mostly I hike and try to get to know one area really well. I look for pockets that are overlooked or tough to get into. I agree with the other posters, never underestimate a small patch of timber.

[M.Dean]

Where a bouts do you live Lugg? The reason I ask is your best bet might be to hook up with someone for a day hunt, then you and your Son would have a better understanding of how to go about picking a spot to hunt in. Or, maybe someone could send you guys in the right direction, and then you could at least have a idea if there is deer in that area. Are you planning on going out this year? And if so what region do you plan on hunting in? And, just a heads up here, Hunting is very, very "Addictive"!!! And thankfully there's no known cure for this Sport!!! Have fun out there!

[Salty]

Yeah if you could tell us roughly where you live and wish to hunt it would help. I'm hunting 5 minutes from home so my personal ideas may not help. I and most of us do travel to new areas too of course. For now I'll just say find a promising area and walk around it for a few hours if you don't see any sign or animals drive somewhere else and repeat.

[warnniklz]

Funny thing is I was listening to trivium and had some decent bucks on the cams today! That's not even a joke.
I also crank slayer in the gravel pit before I hike dink mountain. So everything checks out.

I can't do Lamb Of God, Fear Factory or Hatebreed though. That shit gets me too fired up that I just end up ripping the inside of my truck apart...

[Salty]

Holy fak we got some serious head bangers here :mrgreen: Never been my mainstay but every once in a while ya gotta do it..

[Drillbit]

Holy fak we got some serious head bangers here :mrgreen: Never been my mainstay but every once in a while ya gotta do it..

Hahaha, music and hunting!

Since we put the Bose Bluetooth system in the Golf cart for gopher hunting, we've found the Old Gangster rap (Shorty the Pimp, Snoop Dogg, Cypress Hill) really gets them standing up looking around.
They can't resist!!

[TrickleCharger]

Gangster rap.... good lord this has deteriorated quickly!! :wink:

[Lugg]

Where a bouts do you live Lugg? The reason I ask is your best bet might be to hook up with someone for a day hunt, then you and your Son would have a better understanding of how to go about picking a spot to hunt in. Or, maybe someone could send you guys in the right direction, and then you could at least have a idea if there is deer in that area. Are you planning on going out this year? And if so what region do you plan on hunting in? And, just a heads up here, Hunting is very, very "Addictive"!!! And thankfully there's no known cure for this Sport!!! Have fun out there!

We are in Surrey. Lower mainland. We may go this season for rabbit, birds, etc. Don't think I can afford to get a bigger rifle for deer as well. Looking at a rem 700 with vortex scope in 30-06 before next season.

Id like to find a place within a 5 hour drive. Preferably less. Been looking near Boston bar, 80 mile house up to Clearwater. Would like to find an area that's not very populated but that may take some searching.

I think we would prefer to start with finding a good logging road, parking somewhere and making camp. Then hike out from there for an hour or two checking clearings we find on google earth.

[warnniklz]

Within a 5 hour radius, you have some good hunting areas. Don't overlook Pemberton and Squampton. Merrit is within that radius, keremeos, princeton....

[wideopenthrottle]

to hunt: -learn an area (scouting, game cams, google earth etc)
-get out and still hunt before light
-super stealth stalking till mid day
-truck scouting for animal activity after lunch
-end of day hunt (sneak in to an area and still hunt until dark)
-repeat as necessary

[Salty]

Sorry about the hijack Lugg some of us have a poor attention span here :wink:

Some good general areas mentioned so far being your in Surrey personally I'd pass on going through the city up 99 and find a spot far enough away from the city to the east that its not too crazy busy. The loggers are your friends look for areas with a lot of activity and a good maze of roads that usually gives you a chance to find some real estate with few or nobody around as you'd like, and start looking. Maybe do a few bird hunts this year and keep an eye out for deer sign hopefully you'll find somewhere you want to return to.

On the way there and back keep your eyes peeled you will find other spots that look interesting and check them out quickly too if you can and see if they're worth coming back to. A few promising areas in the bank is a good thing. Its basically just a big process of elimination. Keep looking until you find sign, no sign move a bit, if you find sign then zone in on that area and learn it well. Experience begins once you start get out there and enjoy.

[scotty30-06]

Hey lugg if you and your son wanna do a tag along sometime I could take you Into some spots around Harrison and Chilliwack

[Lugg]

Hey lugg if you and your son wanna do a tag along sometime I could take you Into some spots around Harrison and Chilliwack

Thats a great offer. I'll send you a pm.

[Lugg]

Sorry about the hijack Lugg some of us have a poor attention span here :wink:.

No problem salty. Appreciate the tips!

[Drillbit]

Sorry about the hijack Lugg some of us have a poor attention span here :wink:

.

I wasn't hijacking!!

I was giving a tip about gopher hunting in a golf cart, fo shizzle my wizzle!!

[Salty]

. word yo