Frustrated on the sunshine coast

[SyntheticHero]

Now living on the beautiful Sunshine Coast is great!!, Gibsons/Sechelt and Pender Harbor.

However when it comes to deer season it's extremely frustrating. With an overgrowing Elk population, and Wolves starting to habitat the area more frequently, what hunting grounds we have seem to be great for hunting Black bears and Elk only (if you manage to get a draw for an Elk).

Myself and my buddy spent all weekend covering allot and I mean allot of ground between Pender Harbor and Port Mellon and found about zero deer sign, lots of Elk and Bear sign but no deer.:confused:

I'm wondering if there's anyone on these forums from my area or anyone who has hunted my area and tell me if I'm wrong on this assumption. I'm fairly new to hunting (2nd year) but I have done my home work and I think I know the animals and area fairly well (other than mule deer that is lol).

Any suggestions or tips from anyone would be great whether you know this area or not. In the meantime I will stay optimistic and pound the ground and hope for some sign. Thanks for the read :mrgreen:

[pg83]

Study Blacktail deer instead of Mule deer for starters. They are very different in their habits. There are many useful threads on here regarding blacktail hunting that will certainly help you out.

[jetboat jim]

i'm working at the gibsons mall, living in a camper and have scouted many nights from pender to port mellon. there are deer there but took me quite a while to figure them out, i seen quite a few around roberts creek but they all seem to live on private property.......you wont see them from the road, you need to do some slow walking.

drop by some night for a coffey and i may give you some pointers.

[Sangstercraft]

It can be hard to find where they are in just a weekend or two, so don't get discouraged. In my area there's lots of deer, yet you could walk around and not notice sign quite easily due to all the salal bushes covering up tracks and droppings, etc. You might have more luck just picking a spot with great vantage, say a rocky bluff overlooking the edge of a clearcut or some lower benches that the deer might rest on. Go for a look-around during daylight and find your spot. then go in by headlamp an hour before dawn, and wait. Keep in mind the direction of the wind, and the effect of the rising/sinking hot/cool air off the bluff.

[proguide66]

Your area is also experiencing a hangover from predation peak. Local bio there was begging hunters to come hunt cats and wolves the last few years.
Going to be some great persistance to nail a mature buck as only the superior ones survive! good luck!

[BlackwaterMerc]

Im moving there next summer and I was wondering how hunting was. So this is how its gotta be eh?? Dam cats and dogs, I already spend all the money I got feeding the ones inside my house, now the little shits outside want to share my dinner? Whats I guy to do?