Okanagan hunting

[4pointer91]

Just wondering how fellow Okanagan hunters have been fairing? From what I hear overall yields are down. Not as many sightings off the 201 as in previous seasons.

[mtnmax]

My hunting this year has been all about taking my rifle on some nice hikes through the trees. Deer? Moose? I think they are on vacation in Mexico. I herd westjet has some seat sales.
This coming weekend I will be going out the 201 over to nevertouch. Will give a report on my findings.

[Joe89]

We haven't seen alot moving the last 2 weeks, yesterday with the snow was the best so far, seen about 15 does and 1 spike buck

[4pointer91]

I think the deer are staying more in the timbers lately, perhaps due to the dryness of the terrain ....there is more food & water within the timbered areas. Have to start walking in deep I guess...

[sparkymacker]

It has been very slow so far, most guys I know have not had a huge amount of success. The nice deer that I know have been taken so far where more a case of being in the right place at the right time (that might be the essence of hunting though).

[4pointer91]

Another reason I think the deer are keeping withing the timbers is that most of the sign I've seen is very dark black which is an indication they are eating the mosses in timbered growth.

[NightOwl74]

I am from Kelowna and what I have seen recently is that the whitetails are venturing into the secondary growth(10-15 ft aspen and lodgepole), wich still affords them cover, to feed during night. You'll catch them in the draws heading back into the taller fir, lodepole and alder as the sun rises. From there they will have a "lookout", usually a wise old doe, bedded down inside the treeline, always on a high vantage point, to maximize her view. I screwed up last weekend when I parked at the base of a seldom used logging road(not tellin ya the name8-)) and took a walk. It was about a half hour after legal shooting light and I rushed myself to get into my spot, only to get startled by a VERY large buck and does snorting and flagging up on the hill above me. They already arrived at their "lookout" spot! Further down the ridge I could see where the buck had thrashed a few saplings and struggled to climb a shale slide, coming from their feeding area in the old clearcut.

[jjensen20]

the only thing i see on the 201 is other hunters!!!

[jaeger]

We were up at Solco lake for the weekend looking for immis & Whiteys,
I guess the weather change kept them holed up. We did not see a thing for 2 days other then a few deer tracks & a couple of moose tracks.

[Bigbuckadams]

Although I haven't been out as much as in previous years ( work, packing up for a move ), Mulie #'s for me are the same maybe a bit higher. In the area I hunt, up until this year I have only seen one cow moose in 12 years or so. This year I saw an immature bull, didn't have a tag. Then bought a tag, saw a cow moose only after that :mad: . Haven't hunted Whitetails as much as normal, was trying to find the moose, but when I did, #'s were about normal, maybe a tiny bit low. Lotsa grouse too, but we don't shoot more than maybe a half dozen/year. Went out yesterday morning, saw 60+ Mulies, about 10-12 bucks, all spike or 2-points, and one average 4-point. I won't be able to get out again until at least Friday, moving, so my moose tag is done, but gonna hit the Mulies hard the next week :lol: . Also, just got my digital camera, so hoping to figure it out and try to post some pics soon :lol: .

[mark]

BB adams, I believe your hunting private land where your seeing all these mulies, am i correct! Try hunting crown land in our valley and you will be very dissapointed this year! Trucks, quads, dirt bikes, everywhere ya look! Deer are very scarce! I do get well off the roads and hunt the bush quite a bit just to avoid all this traffic, no deer there either! I shouldnt say no deer, as i do see deer everytime i hunt, but im probably seeing only 20% of the deer as last year, at same time, in same spots!

[Bigbuckadams]

Yes Mark, the majority of my hunting is done on Private Property. There is normally a lot less traffic, however, this year there has been probably an increase of tresspass & poaching at least 10 fold from last year. The hills have been scarred to hell by dirtbikes and quads all year long. It is freakin' ugly :mad: . Too many holes cut into the fence and too little time to fix. Up until this year, I have had to chase or kick out an average of 4-5 hunters a year. I have spent a lot less time hunting this year than last, and seen over 20 people inside the property ( hunting/poaching ) without permission. One jerk had the balls to winch out 2 fenceposts & fencing to drive his truck into the property. Enough ranting, I realize Crown Land can be very difficult to hunt. I also realize that I am very fortunate to have the hunting area that I do. However, whether I've been hunting Crown or Private, all I was saying was the numbers appear roughly the same to me as previous years.

[sparkymacker]

There is no comparison between hunting on private land and crown land. The bucks don't group up on crown land due to the relentless pressure, at least around here. Most of the guys I know have been commenting how slow the deer hunting has been this year.

[bckev]

We have one three point muley so far this year. Have been seeing lots of cow moose, does and two six point elk, unfortunately they were going into someone else's truck. I have my doe tag to fill yet, hopefully tomorrow. I haven't hunted much this year due to weather and work.

[zedex]

Yup. Its been slow for myself as well. I have only been out twice but both times we were lucky to see a few doe's. Havent seen one grouse this year either.

[WoodOx]

ran into a bundle of mulie does tonight. one group of 5 acted like whites for some reason - sprinted from me when seeing me at 200 yards. quite odd.

The other group of 9 just hung out, it was the same group with the 4pt that I missed with my bow last night, he was no where to be found. I would be willing to put money on it though, that if anyone reading this thread followed the stereotypical adage "find does and bucks will be soon behind" they will tag, atleast thats what ive been finding the past couple days as the mulie rut heats up.

Regardless, good luck to yas!

(BTW, if you have the opinion that hunting mulies on private land is real easy, ask some people for permission. Probably 1 in 10 will give it, but then there yah go, you have private land to hunt on!)

[bckev]

Filled my doe tag yesterday morning, and then watched two cow moose for about an hour. Didn's see anything else after that.

[dave_fras]

i got a nce whitey the other day.... im gonan go out tomrorow and see if i can connect on a big mulie

[NightOwl74]

Really? I am from Kelowna too. Any pics?

[phoenix]

Here's a couple of K-town deer, small one mine from Oct.15, big one from today off the burn by Myra

[dave_fras]

ya that burn has some nice deer.... certain times tho....alot of them pass right through,,,,,