Hunting near Davis Lake/Sylvester Rd area?

[DoubleDeuce]

Heard lots of guys have success up in this area,I know on the weekends
it can be a bit of a gong show with the "shooting gallery" dynamic up there but luckily most of my days off are during the week.
Ive been up there a few times late last season(post rut) to do some scouting around and saw lots of sign and quite a few does.
I'm wondering if it's worth focusing up in that area this season or if I'd be wasting my time.Problem is I usually don't have days off in a row so I need to be able to hunt somewhere fairly local (Mission,Maple Ridge,Abbotsford,Chilliwack) in order to be able to put some decent time in.
Any thoughts guys?Or any other ideas on some spots worth hunting in those areas?I don't expect I'm gunna get any secret spots but some general ideas would really help a guy out whoselooking to put meat in the freezer this fall.

Greg.

[Pinewood]

If I had a day off, I would make sure all my gear was kept organized and ready, and I would head up to Merritt at 3 am.

[brownmancheng]

If I had a day off, I would make sure all my gear was kept organized and ready, and I would head up to Merritt at 3 am.

x2
way too much traffic up sylvester

[Wentrot]

Plenty of good ground and deer up Sylvester, just like any of the other local roads. Key is GTFO of the truck and hike. You won't see any crowds doing that.

[DoubleDeuce]

In a perfect world yeah I would head up Merritt way but I know about as many spots to hunt there as I do here so
if I'm gunna strike out may as well do it local and save gas lol.I am hoping to do a couple Day hunt later in the season up near Rock Creek so mostly just looking to try my luck at a local buck.

When I was up there scouting last season I parked in a lot of places and hiked quite a ways through some of the cut blocks up some of the deactivated roads,covered a lot of ground and don't mind hunting that way,guess I'll just have to do the same again this year and hope I bump into something,just didn't want to spend to much time up there if there wasn't at least a fair chance of a deer.

[brian]

If you are seeing plenty of does then obviously the deer are there. You can give it a go but realize they will be heavily pressured, there won't be many gimmes on the heavily traveled corridors so try to get off the beaten track and look for the overlooked pockets. Like Wentrot said, fewer hunters hike any real distance away from the roads so that is good place to start. I once had a place where I hunted up in Chilliwack valley, a heavily hunted area where the only boot prints in the snow week after week were my own. It was nasty to get in there, but the deer were there. In a way you gotta start hunting hunters... where are all the hunters going to be focusing, what are the easy places to access? Avoid those places and start looking at all places that you avoid for whatever reason.

I have pulled a number of deer out a small area that I regularly walked right past for years. I never actually thought of venturing into it as I was focusing on different places that I figured would pay off. Then one day I looked at it and went huh! Why do I always walk by this area? I bet other guys do the same. Lets go in there and see what's up! Viola a perfect spot for deer to sneak around in.

[DoubleDeuce]

Interesting point,might be a little more cautious about deciding which spots to pass on by in the future with that in mind.It all makes sense and I'm thinking it'll be worth a shot.Dunno how many opportunities I'll get up there (newborn in the house has lessened the possible hunting hours this season) but I will post up if I manage to get lucky and find something up there.

[buckhunter76]

Have taken quite a few deer out of Sylvester, theirs lots of deer but you have to get out of the truck and hike, last year I took a deer out of stave and one out of Harrison, took my hunting buddy out and he took 2 bucks out of Harrison and my girlfriend took one out of norrish area, their is plenty of deer you just have to find them. Your doing the right thing though scout hard. Find the food, find the mature timber, find the water find southern exposure. If it's absolutely miserable outside pissing rain side way get out their and hunt em cause they move hard, if you've found the does you already ahead, a spot I hunt in mission I keep tabs on the does and wait till the rut gets close cause theirs gonna be bucks. Best time to hunt them is the rut cause they are moving. I find October they are mostly nocturnal or hung up in the thick stuff not moving much eating and packing on weight for the up comming rut

Chilliwack is also I good place to check out I got some big blacktails on trail came from last year beginning of November just cruising trails looking for tail. Everyone says Merritt or the coq yeah theirs more deer but most people don't wanna climb the hills and get frustrated by not seeing a lot or anything on Day hunts, this will teach you percistance, patients and a good learning experience to understand how to find blacktails. Theirs some good area not to far up Sylvester on the right and their is also some really really good area above Salisbury lake on the left. last one I shot out of Sylvester I had to drag by myself around 4kms to a road.

hopefully you stick it out and give it a shot in their if so welcome to an addiction...... blacktail hunting addiction

[RackStar]

If I had a day off, I would make sure all my gear was kept organized and ready, and I would head up to Merritt at 3 am.

If you actually want a deer
fallow this advice.
I no longer live in the LML. But if I did... that's exactly what I use to do.

[RackStar]

But, if you scout and try real hard, a blacktail is much more rewarding.

[Brew]

There's deer up Sylvester and all over the LML. You just can't expect to Rd hunt them. I buy timber and hike a lot of the area. Find a south facing or southwest facing steep hill and climb. When you think you've gotten high enough go higher. Then just slowly creep the hillside. My biggest buck scored 136 before deductions and it's a local buck

[ForestWalker10]

how is the small game in this area?

[happyhunter]

That area is a gong show for shooting, vandalism, stolen vehicles and dumping. Keep the RAPP number handy. Remember that the beginning of the FSR is a no shooting zone.

Good luck

[ForestWalker10]

yeah no kidding. theres a sign telling people not to shoot but yah wow. been a couple years since ive been down there. tons of logging has occured off the main road and the side road trails or whatever lead to firepits with massive garbage heaps. i was pretty unimpressed. i wont be going there ever again. ill stick to norrish where at least the hiking is nice.

[Wild one]

BT hunting is really good in the LM if you stop looking where everyone else does

You have two choices in my opinion

1) Hunt the FSR bigger tracks of bush(Sylvester chilliwack Harrison so on) burn boot leather put in lots of time learning for moderate success. Some do well in these areas but most fail

2) hunt the areas others don’t think of. Small pockets that are odd to access that does not always involve long hikes but instead involve natural boundaries. Places people drive past all the time and just don’t try. May involve weapons restrictions shot only slug only archery. These areas hold more deer and more bucks per square KM. This in my opinion brings the highest success rate

So your call think smarter or work harder

[ForestWalker10]

what i would really like is a reliable small game area, still looking :)

[plumberjustin]

I spent 100% of my time this past season hunting in the Fraser valley. Trail cams, plenty of driving and tons of hiking, I was amazed at what I saw right in my own backyard. Many great spots off the #7 all holding good numbers of bucks. Just gotta put the time in and find where they like to hang at different times of day. Lots of rabbits around dawn and dusk, but better grouse hunting the further east you go. Weekends are not necessarily a deal breaker if you’re in the right area. Don’t rule out shotgun zones along the Fraser either...

[walks with deer]

back when i lived on the coast we shot lots of blacktails..many of them insight of popular shooting spots..they dont seem to care about gunfire...it everywhere they need to eat..last trophy buck dad saw on the coast was in the main pit on sylvester in nov.