Advice for new hunter on tracking/finding game

[RGRBaggins275]

Hello all. I'm a "new" hunter in the W.WA area and I am looking for anything (tips, videos, classes, books, etc.) on finding and tracking game animals; specifically blacktail deer, elk, and black bear. I say "new" because I've gone hunting for the past 6 years (modern firearm) for deer and elk, but have yet to find anything. I try to read the harvest reports and have looked through forums and blogs, but no one is going to give away their honey holes (which I understand) and none of the info seems particularly helpful for where I am located and hunt. I can find tracks, have come across rubs, am patient (in my own estimation) and have a good amount of experience tracking and finding animals of the two-legged variety, I just can't seem to find anything to tag when the season opens. I also pay close attention to the wind when I hunt and I think I can avoid getting winded???? Never really seen anything close enough to know for sure.

I'm very competent with a rifle, although I'm hesitant to take shots out past 400m on game for ethical/safety reasons (not that there are too many places for that kind of shot where I am anyways). I'm also getting into archery, but just started this last year and don't feel quite ready enough to hunt that way yet. My archery shooting is ok out to about 35m (~2-4" groupings usually), but I really don't feel ready for an archery season because I can't even find a damn animal!

Any tips, links, or advice is sincerely appreciated.

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[thorborg]

Most hunting today is luck, unless you get well passed the roads end, due to the volume of hunters stirring up the normal lives of the critters sought during the short and multiple overlapping hunting seasons. Still, they generally don't go far, making knowledge of their daily life, what happens when they are excited, or scared, exceedingly important in finding them.
Read: "The Ted Trueblood Hunting treasury" . A fun read packed with truism,
and, the more succinct:
"Wilderness Hunting and wildcraft" , Colonel Townsend Whelen. You will pretty much have such relevant insight covered.

Both old, both may or may not have embellished scenarios, both, when juxtaposed to my own experience, ring true even today, minus modern regulations and population explosion.

 

[chukar]

The Comprehensive Guide to Tracking (Sc) - Reference - Books

<p>THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO TRACKING<br /> In-depth information on how to track animals and humans alike<br /> by Cleve Cheney</p> <p>2013 Long Beach, 350pp, photos, 8.5x11, softcover<br /> ISBN: 978-1-57157-427-5</p> <p>Tracking is an art form as wel

www.safaripress.com

 

[RGRBaggins275]

Most hunting today is luck, unless you get well passed the roads end, due to the volume of hunters stirring up the normal lives of the critters sought during the short and multiple overlapping hunting seasons. Still, they generally don't go far, making knowledge of their daily life, what happens when they are excited, or scared, exceedingly important in finding them.
Read: "The Ted Trueblood Hunting treasury" . A fun read packed with truism,
and, the more succinct:
"Wilderness Hunting and wildcraft" , Colonel Townsend Whelen. You will pretty much have such relevant insight covered.

Both old, both may or may not have embellished scenarios, both, when juxtaposed to my own experience, ring true even today, minus modern regulations and population explosion.

Awesome, thank you for the info! I started hunting in the Capitol State Forest, where there isn't really anything "past the roads end." I did do a long range backpacking hunt for elk two years ago with a friend who had been hunting his whole life. Covered about 13 miles in 9 days (walked about 90 mi total going to and from camps), most of it tracking a herd we never put eyes on, just semi-fresh sign (according to him).

 

[RGRBaggins275]

The Comprehensive Guide to Tracking (Sc) - Reference - Books

<p>THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO TRACKING<br /> In-depth information on how to track animals and humans alike<br /> by Cleve Cheney</p> <p>2013 Long Beach, 350pp, photos, 8.5x11, softcover<br /> ISBN: 978-1-57157-427-5</p> <p>Tracking is an art form as wel

www.safaripress.com

Thank you!

 

[Idaho44]

I see more deer in town than out my kitchen window (use to see 50 to 100 in winter and 10 to 30 summer), now it's just sub-divisions. But, late in the evening, this winter, I saw a nice trophy buck three house down grazing on their lawn! They are there, pick a tree, take a nap and they will come!

 

[ColeInOregon]

I just started "The Complete Guide To Hunting, Butchering, And Cooking Wild Game" By Steven Rinella. I grew up hunting in Wyoming and Nebraska so I too am a newbie to west coast hunting and figured reading these couldn't hurt.

The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game: Volume 1: Big Game: Rinella, Steven, Hafner, John: 9780812994063: Amazon.com: Books

The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game: Volume 1: Big Game [Rinella, Steven, Hafner, John] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game: Volume 1: Big Game

www.amazon.com

Also:

MeatEater | Your link to the food chain

Articles, videos, podcasts, recipes and more covering hunting, fishing, wild foods, conservation and everything in between.

www.themeateater.com

 

[Forester]

https://www.amazon.com/Blacktail-Trophy-Tactics-Boyd-Iverson/dp/0963040510

Excellent resource.
I am a professional forester and am in the field about 5 days a week.
the thought that you need to be far from the road is just not my experience.
the best thing a hunter can do is spend time in the field.
I lnow several very successful hunters. Their success has nothing to do with luck.
they know exactly where they are going to hunt and often which animal before they head out.
most of the work is done in the "off season"
Put in the work and u will fill your tag.

 

[Koda]

I can find tracks, have come across rubs, am patient (in my own estimation) and have a good amount of experience tracking and finding animals of the two-legged variety, I just can't seem to find anything to tag when the season opens.

IMO you dont really have to track deer and elk you need to pattern them. Coastal Columbian Blacktail do not migrate seasonally, if your finding tracks and rubs then they are using that area year round, find the spot in that area with the most fresh droppings and put a trailcam in there and you will find them, write down the times of day, scout a shooting position above and get there at least an hour before during season and wait motionless and camoed out. Note their pattern may change as the season arrives but they are still in that area. Glass clearcut edges and reprod during the day. Always have more than one spot you know they are at to hunt due to pressure.

The trick to coastal Rosevelt elk is to find a herd, but they do cover more range... look for areas inundated with fresh droppings but know they may have simply moved over a ridge or deeper into heavy timber, learn the elk trails and use the ones with the most tracks to move between spots with the most fresh droppings. Both deer and elk; fresh droppings are key, find those spots before the season opens.

 

[chukar]

Another blacktail deer specific option other than the Iverson book (which is a great read):

Hunting Black Tail Deer by Louis G. Terkla (1992, Trade Paperback) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Hunting Black Tail Deer by Louis G. Terkla (1992, Trade Paperback) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Written by a dentard, former dean of the Oregon dental school, the old man hunted and hunted well.

Semper Dentardis!

 

[Forester]

In case your a visual learner

 

[rcnpthfndr]

for blacktails JBLM is full of brutes

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Getting the time to actually go hunting...is important when trying to find game.
Unfortunately , work and other job related issues will curtail hunting time.
More time in the field , the greater the chance of getting game...the less time out...the less of a chance.

That said , this is nothing really new.
There are many a historic account of experienced hunters like Kit Carson , George Drouillard , Daniel Boone and the like , coming back with nothing to show for their efforts.
If that happened to them , when they were out , often everyday in areas where game was plentiful , it should be no wonder that it can happen today as well.

Something else to consider is that Animals are smart...they seem to know when its hunting season and will times , adapt their habits to their surroundings and hunting pressure.
Andy

 

[Forester]

Getting the time to actually go hunting...is important when trying to find game.
Unfortunately , work and other job related issues will curtail hunting time.
More time in the field , the greater the chance of getting game...the less time out...the less of a chance.

That said , this is nothing really new.
There are many a historic account of experienced hunters like Kit Carson , George Drouillard , Daniel Boone and the like , coming back with nothing to show for their efforts.
If that happened to them , when they were out , often everyday in areas where game was plentiful , it should be no wonder that it can happen today as well.

Something else to consider is that Animals are smart...they seem to know when its hunting season and will times , adapt their habits to their surroundings and hunting pressure.
Andy

Adapting during hunting is for sure.
I used to live on the coast. The week before elk season herds would gather in dairy fields where they wouldn't be hunted. Some were next to the Hwy. So much that state troopers would park there to mitigate people shooting them from the road.

 

[kempoguy70]

Adapting during hunting is for sure.
I used to live on the coast. The week before elk season herds would gather in dairy fields where they wouldn't be hunted. Some were next to the Hwy. So much that state troopers would park there to mitigate people shooting them from the road.

That's still happening to this very day down my way on the coast.

 

[RDLamb]

I'm no expert but I have killed my fair share of blacktail. Live in yakima but spent the first 40 years my life on the west side. Time spent in the field is about the best thing you can do. If you want expert advice I would and have read and watched everything I can find from Tom Ryle, Scott Haugen, and Brian Call. My experience in the woods of Washington tell me that these guys know exactly what they are talking about. All live in the northwest and know the animals we hunt. I don't mind sharing areas I hunt. PM me.
Rich

 

[RDLamb]

I'm no expert but I have killed my fair share of blacktail. Live in yakima but spent the first 40 years my life on the west side. Time spent in the field is about the best thing you can do. If you want expert advice I would and have read and watched everything I can find from Tom Ryle, Scott Haugen, and Brian Call. My experience in the woods of Washington tell me that these guys know exactly what they are talking about. All live in the northwest and know the animals we hunt. I don't mind sharing areas I hunt. PM me.
Rich

BTW I still do most of my hunting on the west side.

 

[Koda]

There are many a historic account of experienced hunters like Kit Carson , George Drouillard , Daniel Boone and the like , coming back with nothing to show for their efforts.
If that happened to them , when they were out , often everyday in areas where game was plentiful , it should be no wonder that it can happen today as well.

I dont know about Wa. but here in Oregon I once looked thru the ODFW statistics and the average sucess rate for deer was super low around 15%, and only in some of the better units. Puts things in perspective.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I dont know about Wa. but here in Oregon I once looked thru the ODFW statistics and the average sucess rate for deer was super low around 15%, and only in some of the better units. Puts things in perspective.

Its low here in some areas of Western Wa.
Not sure of the numbers or percentages....I still think it is a matter of having the time to get out and hunt.
If you don't get out much...you will have less of a chance to see game.

And...
Even if you do get out a lot something to consider is that :

Everyday is hunting season for prey animals.
They need to avoid dangers / being eaten almost daily....they also know the land and have far more "woodsense" than I or most human hunters.
If they weren't good and or lucky...they wouldn't have made it to deer / elk / bear etc...season.

So seeing game and getting it...takes skill , time , practice and luck , in my experience.
Andy

 

[Koda]

Its low here in some areas of Western Wa.
Not sure of the numbers or percentages....I still think it is a matter of having the time to get out and hunt.
If you don't get out much...you will have less of a chance to see game.

And...
Even if you do get out a lot something to consider is that :

Everyday is hunting season for prey animals.
They need to avoid being eaten almost daily....they also know the land and have far more "woodsense" than I or most human hunters.
If they weren't good and or lucky...they wouldn't have made it to deer / elk / bear etc...season.

So seeing game and getting it...takes skill , time , practice and luck , in my experience.
Andy

Id have to agree with all that. Since the statistics reflect the total tag sales vs harvest reports its safe to say the percentage rate of success reflects the typical person who really doesn't have the time to hunt every day of the deer season. Myself included...