squamish trip

[olympia]

went out to ashlu valley today in squamish...did not see any bucks at all, we saw some elk, bear tracks and scat and one sorry set of deer tracks. where are all these *******s? we were in the higher elevations as well and nothing, we were out there between 6am and noon. the only reason i went out there was because we bumped into some deer last spring when we were looking for bear so i figured we would find deer but noooo

[seanps]

This seems like as good a spot as any to post this:

There's a crew doing road work on the Squamish Main near 29 Mile weekdays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.; the road is only open from 12-1 p.m. (lunch break?).

This has been going on for about a month, and the signs say it'll continue until Oct. 15. If you're heading up for a hunt, plan accordingly.

[scoutlt1]

What????? You were out for a full 6 hours and didn't see anything???

I would give up hunting and head for save-on.... :-)

[seanps]

It can be damn near impossible to find them in the Ashlu/Squamish/Elaho. In three years of driving I've only ever seen one buck while driving; best bet, if you haven't already, is to find some prime habitat and start hiking.

[nuadixion]

Isnt Ashlu closed to hunting?.....I am sure there is something about that in the regs .

[EvanG]

closed to goat hunting forsure. To the height of land.

[olympia]

some of ashlu is closed we obeyed the signs, we were not just driving we were also hiking, we went up this trail called "sigurd trail" to look around because last spring i saw five does there, tracks and droppings, this time we saw no deer, nor tracks or droppings, they completely disappeared. We watched 4 elk cross the squamish river, i thought that was pretty cool. There was some bear tracks and fresh droppings. I could be wrong if I said we to ashlu valley, all i know is we drove down squamish valley road until pavement ended and then turned left and crossed a bridge and drove up to some sort of a power station and parked and started hiking. There were campers EVERYWHERE

[lovemywinchester]

some of ashlu is closed we obeyed the signs, we were not just driving we were also hiking, we went up this trail called "sigurd trail" to look around because last spring i saw five does there, tracks and droppings, this time we saw no deer, nor tracks or droppings, they completely disappeared. We watched 4 elk cross the squamish river, i thought that was pretty cool. There was some bear tracks and fresh droppings. I could be wrong if I said we to ashlu valley, all i know is we drove down squamish valley road until pavement ended and then turned left and crossed a bridge and drove up to some sort of a power station and parked and started hiking. There were campers EVERYWHERE

Thats the Ashlu. Its closed to goats only, not deer. Lots of deer around in the Squamish system. The brush is so thick and the terrain so steep the deer are hard to spot for sure. My fishing buddies see lots of wolves now up there as well as the many cats so lots of competion. Remember you are hunting blacktails there so maybe go back and read some of Proguide66 threads to see what can be involved with taking a good blacktail.
In the future when hunting you should have an idea of where you are as the regs are quite specific where you can hunt and when. Get a backroads map book and keep the regs with it. You could easily cross into a managment unit where the regs are different. Ignorance is no excuse for screwing up.

[seanps]

That's a busy area with campers, you've got to get further out to find some deer. But they're tough.

And the last poster is right to be wary of cats and wolves. I had a cat sneak up on to within 15-20 feet of me last year while I was deer hunting along a series of scrapes. Then just last week, I found a chunk of buck skull with the antlers still attached. Wonder if the cat ended up getting the deer I was after.

[270WIN]

been hunting this area for years now and even more so since i moved here two years ago. the deer are around. i am just starting to figure out the puzzle and i think this will be my year. seen couple wolves few months ago chasing elk up there well out setting up my trail camera..

[High Country]

Scoutit1 hits the nail on the head... If you're just learning a new area be realistic! You might have to put in years into an area before you can confidently find yourself a good buck!! If it was easy we all would tag out first day! That's why it's called hunting! Patience, patience...

[TheProvider]

Blacktails are very hard to hunt in the Sea to Sky area. Don't be disappointed about not seeing deer in 6hrs. Pembie crew did a survey I beleive 2 yrs ago and the average I think was about 15 days of hunting too shoot a buck. Don't quote me on that though. Once you start finding honey holes you'll be seeing deer. Typically I see blacktails absolutely everywhere in the spring in the Sea to sky. Come fall you have to know where they've gone. And most of the time when hunters say the crankers are at the top of the mountains they aren't lieing.

Like you said there are campers everywhere down there. Getting an hr or two off the roads and trails on south facing slopes with lots of rock bluffs is key. Most of the time in this type of terrain tracks are hard to be seen in the mossy ground