First day in the woods

[v0lcom13sn0w]

now if you REALLY wanna have a good time, pick up archery hunting and go during the rut. im not kidding, these bucks care about nothing else beside doe pu..y. i had a buck once trot right up to me and sniff me because i had doe pee on my boots. a lot of animals moving during the rut.

 

[No_Regerts]

most of the deer i have killed have been from me sitting still for hours glassing a hillside or meadow and they move infront of me. only a few times have i snuck up on one or had 100% pure dumb luck

Where I hunt on the east side of WA, you do the exact same thing, but then you have to out the sneak on the deer once you find him. Its so open that you can use a spotting scope and glass from pretty far away. You read a canyon wall or hillside kike a book. First with the naked eye in your immediate vicinity, then with binoculars. If nothing, pull out the spotting scope and take everything apart piece by piece. I've shot deer as close as 25 yards in some really open country by using folds in the land to get close and shoot them out of their bed.

 

[Timbertodd]

most of the deer i have killed have been from me sitting still for hours glassing a hillside or meadow and they move infront of me. only a few times have i snuck up on one or had 100% pure dumb luck

This exactly

 

[Hockeystud87]

So update from today.

I woke up and made it out the door by about 6:30am. I was trying to leave by 5:45am but my bed was to comfy. Last night I had google earthed some good spots that I had wanted to try close to where I was yesterday. On my way to these spots two trees had fallen (One I got around). The second was not going anywhere and it just happened to be on the only road that connected to the other side of the mountain (No looping back for another road). My only other option was to go all the way around the mountain so I decided to find another spot south of the mountain if I was going to be out that way anyways.

I took your guys advice and found about 3-4 CC in that area and headed off. I was no more than 5 miles out of the second location and then boom another tree. No way of getting around it. So I grabbed the google again and found another clear cut. By this time it was already probably 10:30am and I didn't get on station till around 11:00am.

I walked in on the CC maybe 50 yards, since CC was right along the road. I sat in one spot for a good 45-hour and didn't see much then moved to a different spot that gave me a better view. Hung out there for maybe another 30min. Seems from the advice and where i was I could have stayed there longer and also gotten to a location that gave me a better vantage point.

I decided to try another spot that was a few miles away that was a meadow. So I loaded back in the car and drove off. This one I hiked in maybe 1000 yards or more to get to. Saw some bear poo and deer poo (Stepped in it!). Sat around for about an hour and decided to head out. Didn't see anything, but on my way back there was a trail that I walked for a little and saw this little silver coyote. Was too small to be a wolf but looked like a mini one. Think I scared him and he ran off.

A lot less rain today, the new gear kept me nice a warm. Can't complain about anything on that end. Just gotta keep trying I guess and scouting out areas to use. I will say I didn't see much for other hunters, I know you can never see them but I didn't see any other trucks or anything parked along the roads anywhere... Maybe they all know where I was trying just ain't good hunting!

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

sounds like huntin!

 

[Ahol]

Take time to soak up the other flora and fauna present and maybe take a picture or to for the memory.

agreed. These were taken while archery elk hunting out east by murders creek close to John Day. Didn't see a damn thing moving for a week, too hot still. Just being out in the middle of nothing was a great stress reliever.

 

[Hockeystud87]

Thats awesome Ahol. I've always been a pretty active guy (go, go, go). I had a few moment out there where I wanted to just go do something. But it was nice to just step back and relax and let things slow down. Might start enjoying this "relaxing" thing in nature. Still have to get used to being out so far from stuff and remove some of the anxiety of knowing that there ain't much around to help if things go south.

Next plans are to try the Hood unit Elk season coming up and the next times I hunt i'll be scouting out some nice areas with a good view over CC to just relax and soak in the area.

 

[No_Regerts]

When there are storms, its a good idea to take a chainsaw and some chain to pull logs out of the road. Its all fun and games until one falls behind you and you can't get out. Then you gotta wonder if some laser guided fir tree is gonna find your rig.

Deer hunting is more my style because I like to be quiet and still while dissecting the landscape. If you like to move, elk hunting will be more your forte.

 

[Hockeystud87]

So Elk hunting is more moving and stalking? I might have too look into it. It was kind of nice to just turn things off for a little tho.

 

[No_Regerts]

If you arent putting some miles on your boots, you're not elk hunting. I know guys that hike 12 miles a day, easy. Elk make big trails and leave big piles of....sign. If you get on a herd, you can follow them around for a while before getting a shot.

 

[KKG]

Elk are a herd animal while deer Pretty much stick to themselves.

 

[The Heretic]

Elk move around a lot and they move long distances - they can be in one county in the morning and another the next day.

Deer don't move as far, but I imagine muleys on the dry side move farther and more often to find feed. Here (wet side) deer will often move in the same areas and use the same trails so it is a matter of learning what trails they use and being there when they use them. They can switch trails day to day, but they tend to use those trails repeatedly - which ones they chose can depend on what they encounter with regards to threats/noise and food.

I see a lot of deer sign on my property - much easier to see it after I cleared brush this summer - and they just walk right through right next to the house. I see them from time to time - if I wanted to I could take deer from my porch. I don't care for venison though and while my parents like it, they are not around anymore, so I don't. Now elk, those I could go for, but very few of them on my mountain - too many humans.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

Western Rifle runs through Friday for 18 & @ >.

Get back out there!

 

[The Heretic]

If you are lucky enough to encounter an abandoned apple tree that has apples on the tree, then pull some down and let them lay on the ground. Deer "deerly" love apples and will come back to them as long as there are some on the tree/ground.

 

[awshoot]

So today I had my first day in the woods. ...

I'm a new hunter, started last year seriously (aside from some aimless thrashing about in the woods as a teenager than amounted to nothing). I was fortunate enough to get a young buck last year but as much as I read or watched videos, I wasn't really prepared for the whole deal. Still working for this year.

Last year I developed a sub-moa load for my rifle and practiced a lot. You can get some idea of the effectiveness of different commercial/handloads here: Knowledgebase (see cartridge research)

I read this article called "Effective Game Killing" and used the autonomic plexus shot: Effective Game Killing (there is a good diagram of where to aim a little more than halfway down, but the whole article is very good).

I watched several videos on field dressing a half dozen times till I could follow along in my mind. You've probably watched Steven Rinella's but "Richard Smith" has a good one too:

Also, never forget Dune if you are still hunting: "Walk without ryhthm and you won't attract the worm."

Seriously, see at 2:21:

Here's what I didn't know - maybe intellectually, but not really: Deer, even small ones, are heavy. About 99% of my preparation was for getting and gutting a deer. The last bit -- moving it -- I just figured I would chop down a pole, tie the deer to it, and then by putting one end on my shoulder and letting the other end drag, I'd haul the deer out -- sort of Peter and the Wolf style like I'd seen illustrated in a kids' book when I was little (except by myself, rather than with a guy at each end of the pole).

Ha! I made it about 50 yards across flat riverbed ground then had a 15' bank to climb, and a gated road with the steep uphill grade to my car. I ended up walking empty handed back up to my car, driving till I got cell reception, and asking a friend to come out with a wheelbarrow.

This year I got a foldable cart to keep in my car, but as I look around in the woods, I'm thinking a plastic sledge would be better. Anyway, you don't see much about dragging a dead body through the woods -- no glory in that -- but holy cow, it's _____ hard. Do some thinking about that aspect.

And then lastly, here's my story: Last year I had a chance at three deer, one quite nice -- I ended up with the smallest of course. The first one, the best one, is interesting to me because I totally choked. It was the first day of the season and I went to the spot I'd been scoping out by hunting grouse since September. It was a gated logging road on state land. I was maybe 100' from the gate when I saw what looked like it could be a grouse out on the road about 150 yds away. It was hard to tell and very foggy up there (the road rose steeply). I took a peep through my binoculars and was just watching the bird (it was a grouse) when a shadow materialized behind it, and then it ran off the road. Out of the mist, a buck appeared, slowly walking down the road munching on thimbleberry leaves. I discovered that morning, that deer very much enjoy thimbleberry leaves and now make a point to pay special attention to thimbleberry bushes for signs of browsing.

Anyway, I had a shooting stick with me so I got myself setup -- I'm standing in the middle of the road, blaze orange, easy to see. The deer gets to about 100 yds. My heart is beating like a drum and I'm shaking so I decide to just keep him in my sights and wait till I calm down. He keeps coming closer. And closer. I get calm. He sees me -- he actually stamps his front foot at me and sort of huffs a few times. I don't move, he shrugs it off and keeps moving toward me munching on choice thimbleberry leaves. After 5 minutes or so looking at him through the scope, I realize I'm not going to shoot him. I don't know why I'm not going to, I just know I'm not.

So I walk over to the side of the road and sit down. He keeps eating, eying me, and walking closer. So I get out my camera and start taking pictures -- even with the flash on accidentally. Doesn't bother him a bit. This goes on for 30 minutes and he gets to about 25 yds of me. At some point, he turns around and casually saunters back up the road a bit, then hops into the forest never to be seen again. I beat myself up about that afterwards. Still wonder about it. Here he is (enlarge the picture - right click, open image, enlarge, notice all the twigs around his feet -- those used to be leafy thimbleberry bushes):



As for when the deer come out -- I don't know what to say. I go out in the dark and come back in the dark. I go in the rain or in fair weather. I think you just have to be out there so you eventually run into a deer. When I shot mine last year, it was almost 10 am, the sun was bright and above the hills -- not what you'd think of as perfect blacktail weather. I had actually basically stopped hunting -- I'd been waiting in ambush at the spot I saw my first deer, hunkered down in the dirt being cold since dawn. I'd been going back every day to get another chance at that buck, but with the sun high, I figured it was too late.

So I left, drove down the road to a different gate and decided to walk down to the river I knew to be at the end of that road to scope out potential fishing spots. As I got down to the end, it opened up on the river bed and out there eating shrubs were two bucks. One with just spikes and the other with two or three points on one side for certain.

I crouched down, put some bushes between us, crossed a little side stream, then starting looking down the aisles the bushes make in the riverbed. As I came out of one aisle between two rows of shrubs, I saw the younger spike buck eating. He saw me too and didn't seem all that concerned. I steadied my shot with the shooting stick I'd made, lined up on his autonomic plexus, squeezed the trigger and he just flopped right over.

What was interesting was that unlike the first deer I saw, something flipped in my brain and I was in predator mode. There was no hesitation. I was totally focused and totally committed.

Not much of a rack, but he was tasty.

 

[SparksFly]

If you are lucky enough to encounter an abandoned apple tree that has apples on the tree, then pull some down and let them lay on the ground. Deer "deerly" love apples and will come back to them as long as there are some on the tree/ground.

I found one of those while hunting the white river unit. No deer, 2 skeletons, a ton of bear crap, and a crapload of wasps.

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

OP, this is another trick a lot of hunters use; Meta Tarsal Glands.

One must be careful for two reasons; they stink to high heaven and a hunter may find himself in a fight with a deer.

They are found and salvaged from the inside of the buck's knee; a dark brown patch of hair.

Best to always wear rubber gloves when handling them.

Hang them on shrubs around your blind or on your backpack (something that can be quickly dropped.....

Triple bag them, freeze for next year.

Keep yours or gifted from another hunter...

 

[FireArm]

I like to be in the woods before day breaks, watching a clear cut as the first light hits. Your eyes adjust better this way, and deer are out and about in the early dawn light, because thats when they see the best, in the fading light of dawn and dusk.
I stay up high but not on the tops of ridges, just a bit down from the top of the ridge so my body doesnt make an outline on the ridgeline.
Scent is a big deal, stay up wind, try to keep the wind at your face when your watching/glassing. If you looking into the wind you scent is going past/behind you. Scent blocking agents help.

Hike alot, the more ground you cover the more deer you will see. Unless you find a game trail super highway. In which case post up a comfortable distance away and wait. Game trails are small trails that generally travel a path of ease for animals to follow, the original highway systems where developed by following large game trails, again because of the path of ease. They dont take difficult routes, the grades arent normally steep, they are aslo fairly direct routes. Game trails are found near water holes, edges of fields, the game trail openings are usually no more then 3-4ft tall openings, if you see deer prints its a game trail, follow it a ways. My general rule with game trails is dont cross them, and dont use them to hunt from, once one find a game trail follow it off to one side untill you find where it T's, then hike back the other way and find a T in the trail. Most of the time one trail is going to more used then the others, watch that trail for a while.
The Gorge sucks for deer because the thick brush, most times just end up stumbling across one and have to be a quick shot.
Good luck

 

[Mikej]

Interesting read.....I'm not a hunter, deer hunter anyway. I hunt mushrooms. Just for the something to do on you unsuccessful deer hunts learn to ID some edible mushrooms. If you don't already? Chantrelles and several kinds of Boletus are available in the forest this time of year and those species are quit easy to ID.

 

[41mag]

What are some things I can do better to increase chances of seeing deer?

enjoying your exploration; my driveway often has deer staring back at me; not just now but in years past as well after I spend days in the woods near & far without any deer sign....just one of those woodsy things, like fishing "you should have been here yesterday/tomorrow/when the sun is out/before/after a rain/near dark/after sunrise/etc/etc/etc.

Cheers & good luck.