How not to get lost when hunting around Kamloops for mule deer

[Jelvis]

I want to inform anyone that is going to try for mule deer around Kamloops this season that you need to know how not to get lost. :shock:.
-- can be very frightening and mentally over bearing. :-o.
I'm going to tell you what to do so you don't end up in the local papers here in Kammy. :sad:. Hunter lost in the lonely hills of Mule Deer Lake. :?:.
-- I have seen many mixed up individuals in the hills of the North Thompson. :redface:.
Jel -- stick with me and you will learn to be confident when trying to hunt a ridge from the vee hick cull.

[Jelvis]

=-ll----> I am going to ask you a simple question and see what pops up in your minds eyes.

1. What's the difference of being lost and being mixed up in the bush?

Jel -- in the bush your lost or mixed up, what's the difference?

[Hublocker]

Is this a thread open to suggestions on how to stay "found" rather than getting lost?

[Jelvis]

Heey Hubs good one haha staying found whoa! I wood take any good info on staying found if so be.
-- Getting mixed up or lost is a lil different by some degree and we will get to that.
Jelly Fish -- Lock the hubs were goin in folks -- into the ridges and clear cuts of Kamloops mule deer country the best mule deer range in the world right here.

[carnivore]

=-ll----> I am going to ask you a simple question and see what pops up in your minds eyes.

1. What's the difference of being lost and being mixed up in the bush?

Jel -- in the bush your lost or mixed up, what's the difference?

If you don't know where you are, you are lost. If your mixed up, then you are not sure where you you are. If you are completely out of it you don't care where you are.

[Bugle M In]

Same could be said for parts around Merrit as well...thankfully gps helps.....but carry spare batteries.

[Jelvis]

If your hunting from a vehicle that your buddy parked at a spot say up by McQueen area and beyond for mules.
-- Your spot to go and return to is the spot where the truck is parked.
-- So if that is the spot, what's next so you know how to get back later?
Jel -- what are you thinking when leaving the truck to go up a ridge about how will I know my way back later?

[RackStar]

I thought I was lost once. I was mistaken, clearly just mixed up.

[HarryToolips]

Same could be said for parts around Merrit as well...thankfully gps helps.....but carry spare batteries.
Also good to have a compass, know how to use it, and when you depart from your vehicle or camp, pay attention to your surroundings, and know the direction your going, pay attention to any change in direction your doing, and having a map or knowledge of the area your in, such as roads, ridges, mountains etc is always good...knowing other navigation techniques such as the solar watch method is always fun and helpful as well..

[Salty]

Lost is so negative.. I prefer to look at it that sometimes I find a different way to walk back out.

Jel my F150 4x4 pick up truck has a compass right on the dash board lots of new trucks have compasses I hope you'll touch on this for road hunting safety.

[finngun]

from kammy hills yu can see timmy many places..or pulp mill steam...cant go wrong...unless ya totally drunk like some truckers--hunters few years back..wasnt able to walk,,driving not so bad.i,m not so sure about shooting..i dont think deer was any danger....well happy campers anyways..:tongue:

[Jelvis]

-- One thing i suggest is don't minimize the idea that I ain't going to get lost cuz I can see up in those hills where I am.
This is minimizing -- not taking getting lost seriously enuff. You can get lost in no time flat if you take a wrong direction.
Compass yes of course, we must take a compass and know how to use it b4 we go in the ridges and ponds.
-- don't stand too close to heavy metal objects, like a truck when taking compass readings the needle will point to the truck. Stand a ways away about 25 feet or so.
More later
Jello -- know your direction your going

[Jelvis]

-- When you get to the spot where your buddy goes to and he or she parks the truck and says -- This is where we park and we go from and come back to.
-- you get out and walk aways from the truck and look at your compass. See where north is, now, ask buddy what the plan is?
--- If buddy says, we're going up that little ridge here and back aways the circle around to the right, he points to the ridge and the direction.

- Now look at your compass, and as your near the truck about 25 feet away, see where the ridge is from the truck, that he pointed out, don't use right or left, use west or east. If the ridge runs south from the truck then go south, if he said then to the right, that would be what? If your going straight south then going right would be what compass direction? It would be west. So you head in on the ridge from the truck south then after you hit the ridge turning you go west.
- left or right don't mean squat, when you turn around. That's why you always use proper compass directions for determining your direction.
Jel forget left and right, use directions from your compass, north, south, east and west---- no matter which way your standing the compass directions will be correct.

[finngun]

Jell king of compass...never make mistake..no gps..old way..best way..never say hay i,m lost..in the hay..no way..as long i see a lake.i can find a timmy..double...double...roll up tu rim to win..jell win a honda,,,driving to a sun set..but never got lost,,..:lol:

[REMINGTON JIM]

Lmao ! :d rj

[Weatherby Fan]

I use the new Jellycompassiphonemaptracker.........Ive never been lost once but of course I haven't left the truck in 3 years :mrgreen:

[Jelvis]

-- If your King of the road hunters and use your truck as a living room and cover lots of roads then not much of an issue to worry about except the truck stalls and no heater, you might have to put a coat on.
If your a road hunter and park one day with a partner and decide to explore a spot on foot real qwick for a change, it could turn into a night mare -- if you get mixed up in the bush.
Jel -- no one to help you -- turning dark out, getting cold, cougars and bears coming out creeping around. Real scarey and lonely cold and wind chill yer losing your mind.

[Jelvis]

--- Years ago a hunter wood chip the tree with his axe to mark a trail, now it woodnt be cool chipping bark off trees.
- I recommend colored tape, you can hang a piece on a limb about eye high, bright yellow or blue etc every so many metres, as long as you can see the next tape from the last one. Hangin about foot long or so. Get the kind that fade into oblivion over the years or the one that lasts forever.
Jel -- one way of getting in and getting out -- you can take the tape off on the way back or leave it for the next time.

[finngun]

jel roll of outhause paper is better than plastic...it wont ruin kammy hills..way to the timmy..

[VFX_man]

Personally prefer the term. "Turned Around".

Usually have a good sense of direction I do . . .

But a couple of years back on a overcast day West of Chartrand Lake, I decided to cut through the bush to check out a lake I had seen on the map. Bushwhacked back to the lake tromping around a mass of wind falls and stopped paying attention to where I was going. I was finding a ton of buck sign - scrapes, rubs and beds and was in the moment of the hunt.

Now a great man I know once told me, "Never trust your memory". He was not referring to this incident, but memory in general can shift - perception vs reality. I SWEAR the Lake I was checking out had a North/South orientation so I based my travel out on that perception. In reality the lake had more of a East/South West orientation . . . so off I headed, in the wrong direction. Fortunately, my spidey sense said this was not right after a few minutes, and realized I WAS TURNED AROUND -- Fired up the iPhone's GPS map and realized my error. Marked all of the sign on the iPhones map for future reference and reversed my direction.

Have yet to get back to that spot, but it was deep cover and the bucks were using it heavily. Don't think the Elephant Hill fire made it into that spot, but might check next year.

Cheers, VFX

[Jelvis]

-- What I think is a great idea for two guys or gals out hunting Kammy hills and dales is walk together in the ridges. Stay together (all the time) from the vehicle and back until you get to know that ridge especially if it has trails that are being used recently. Don't walk in a ways and seperate whatever happens, stay within eyesight at all times.
-- Walk from the truck together, read compass together, then walk close enuff to each other one behind the other. When you walk with a buddy like this, your four legs sound like an animal walking and your learning an area together. Have your own colored tape you both choose and tape a tree every 50 feet or so. Together you tape.
Jel -- if you park and walk, hiking a ridge or two, do it with someone to learn together and have a spot if it shows good sign of muley's. This way you have each other for comfort and friends, a helper right there by your side, someone who works with you and you with them to find a muley paradise near Kamloops City. Someone to help in case you get turned around a bit..

[HarryToolips]

^^^^depending on how thick the bush is, using landmarks is extremely effective - use your compass and take a bearing when leaving your vehicle, pick a landmark in the direction, or close to the direction your heading....be aware of where that landmark is at all times...pay attention to other landmarks in your surroundings, and keep a mental note of what direction they are from your path of travel....if the sun is out, it can make bush travel, even in the thick, very quick..if you have the time on you, you can use the solar watch method...in the Northern hemisphere, point the hour hand of your watch at the sun (or, if your using digital, imagine where the hands of the clock will be), then, halfway between the hour hand and twelve o clock will be your north-south line (1 o clock during daylight savings time)...you know that the sun travels in the southern horizon during the day, so the majority of the time that you determine your north-south line, your looking south, the only time your looking north is say, in the summer late evening (like say 7 pm in June, using this method your looking north....not as complicated as it sounds and with practice becomes effective..

[HarryToolips]

Plants and vegetation can also give you direction, though you have to be careful to take several bits of evidence of direction when using these methods, yes moss likes the north side of trees but it likes other sides of trees too, depending on shade...branches on the south side of trees will generally be thicker and longer, but again, be careful not to make this conclusion on just one or two pieces of evidence, take multiple trees in an area for example to make your assessment, because they can be affected from shade from other trees, from contours and hills etc...birch trees will make their own natural sunscreen on sunnier, usually more southerly facing parts of their trunk.. know the direction of the prevailing winds in your area, ie in my local it's usually from the northwest, this can be effective especially in the winter, judging by which side of the trees in a given area the majority of snow has blown onto...again, be aware that this can Ben effected by the topography, but it can give you a general guideline of your direction..

[Jelvis]

-- When you plan things out with a buddy to go out in the hills for mules in Kamloops wild country during the weeks b4 you actually get out for the day, do it slow, slow your self down mentally and plan the day from start to finish. So your both excited and confident this is going to be fun. We planned it and we're doing it.
-- when you reach your park spot in the hills, go slow, slow slow. Park, talk to bud in truck b4 getting out, don't slam doors.
Once out check compass directions from truck to where your heading in --stay with buddy in new spots, have tape and use it on the way in from truck.
-- the thing iz go slow, and quiet as you can stopping every 25 feet or so and really looking around. As you walk scan ahead and to the sides and recognize certain outstanding features in your route. Features like a huge boulder or an upturned huge stump. That's why you and buddy look back as you hunt in to recognize the view on your way out.
Jel -- you must use compass from truck and back at all times, and use some tape also when going into a new spot.