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Don't be on the 8 oclock news.
Gps? i have a good one they're cool especially on scouting trips and marking likely locations found but--
eventually you'll be looking to reduce weight unless you can hire some sherpa's.
They are not reliable in heavy cover, some times you can travel far looking for an opening to pick up the satlelites maybe taking you farther out of wack.
For me:
There is no subsitute for learning how to properly use a compass and read a map untill your confidant and comfortable. they are light, fast and handy. never let you down, run out of batteries or go dead in deep cover. a quick check of where you'll likely be heading and where the roads are before you head into the woods and you can go with confidants you'll get out albeit you may hike miles on a twisted switch back road when you may have been a few hundred yards as the crow flies to your camp or truck.
Like any tool though training and practice will be required but will last a lifetime. I learned in 1958 to find hidden prizes miles from a starting point and way befor GPS and geo cache games were available and have never been let down nor lost.
 
Badclam has good advice. You want to make sure that you are shooting a sufficient caliber but even more important, in my mind is shot placement. Anatomy. You need to know where to put that bullet. get off the bench rest as soon as the rifle is sighted in and practice from field positions. Shoot from a sitting position, supported standing position and off hand, as you never know what kind of shot you are going to get. Practice these until you are putting those bullets where they need to go every time. Confidence in your gear is crucial. You will get advice about caliber selection all day long if you look for it. More important than caliber choice is bullet selection. If you are going to shoot an elk, you want to use a heavy for caliber bullet (150 gr in a 270, 160 gr in a 7mm, 180 in a 30 cal and so on) Get bullets that are designed to stay together and you will get good penetration. Moving on, buy the best scope and binoculars that you can afford. You can't shoot an elk if you can't see it. Better glass means better light transmission, for those shots at dusk and dawn. Next, a gps, maps and a compass. LEARN HOW TO USE THEM, if you don't, they will just be taking up space in your pack and giving you a false sense of security. And trust me when I tell you, being lost SUCKS!!!! Next is a good quality knife and sharpener. I cary about three knives when I hunt. A good fixed blade drop point, that doesn't come out of my pack until I have an animal down, a leatherman, for god knows what (super handy) and a pocket knife for everything else (a staple, I never go anywhere without a pocket knife). Carry a sharpener ( elk are rough on blades) and learn how to use it. Keep those knives super sharp. Other gear, everybody else is right about boots. Buy a quality pair and break them in way before the hunt, your feet will thank you!! Good quality rain gear. I like the packable kind from cabelas. I think it's called mt0150 packable. It works and it's quiet. Don't get wrapped up in camo, deer and elk don't see like we do. They see in shades of grey, so you don't need the super realistic tree- looking stuff. You want to look like like a non- human. I'm a bow hunter now and use camo with random shapes. Predator camo and cabelas outfitter camo are two of my favorites. But as a rifle hunter, make sure you wear your clothes in layers. Good long underwear made of synthetics are great, but there is a reason us humans have been wearing wool for so long. Keeps us warm and holds warmth even when wet. Fleece is great too, not bulky and doesn't soak up water like cotton. Seriously, stay away from cotton when hunting, it traps water and holds it. You'd be better off in the woods naked than wearing wet cotton. As far as hunting itself goes, talk to people you may know about taking you hunting. Most of the hunters I know, learned from their fathers or grandfathers or uncles. Find someone that you know hunts and are you are comfortable with and ask them to take you. If you don't have anyone like that in your life , than do it yourself. I would suggest you read as many books written on the subject as you can. Read books about elk and deer. There is so much good material out there, you just have to go find it. Also study up on first aid and wilderness survival. Knowledge is power, be a sponge, the more you learn about this stuff, the better hunter you will be. There is a learning curve to successful hunting,so the more you learn about all these things, the shorter the curve. One more little nugget for you,

learn how to field dress and quarter game. The last thing you want is to have that big bull down and be scratching your head about what to do next. And know how you plan on getting him out of the woods. You worked so hard to get that bull or buck, it would be a shame for that awesome meat to spoil. Good luck
 
LUCK ....................the #1 thing your going to need for Deer or Elk hunting now days is LUCK. and right after that is permission to hunt where there are some animals.
 
We are 100 years or so removed from needing to hunt for food. )

.

This foreskin has not been out side the US or even looked around from within. While gleaning food from the woods in the US may not last long with our population should the SHTF, knowing what and how to harvest it will go a long way to place us on the top of the heap. Him and his ilk will not be invited to break bread at my table
 
Do not wear anything brown or close to brown or white, the biggest collection of half wits are out in the woods during Elk season.
Biggest secret around, got recoil? Put a muzzle break on it and love your big bore for life.
 
I think the real irony with Bratch is his position that hunting is bad for the animals. If he could see how industrial farming treats cattle and pullets, he'd be vegan for life. But maybe he already is.

We have eyes in the front, not the sides: we're predators by nature. Having a relationship with your food is the best and healthiest way possible to earn your meat.

I'm reading this thread because I hope to hunt deer this Fall, in my first-ever large-game experience. An old friend (very old) is taking me to his favorite spot. Crossing my fingers for a tag....
 
This may take some people awhile to wrap there brain around. Cattle ranchers cull there heads every year. Why? Old non productive cows (no longer produce calfs), weak, crippled, diesese, genetics, (out with the old bull in with the new bull), animal does not gain weight (feed conversion).
Now take this management style and apply it to big game. The indians did this for thousands of years possibly with out knowing they were managing the herds. I belive the ODF is now managing Oregons big game the same as a cattle rancher manges his cattle herd.
I'm not a fan of trophy hunters, but, some one has to cull out the old bulls and bucks to keep changing up the gene pool.
 
Yes, but old critters, while they may be sporting a really nice rack are also some of the toughest table fare one will ever sink a tooth into. I've taken my share when I wore a younger mans britches because I thought I had to, not so much now.

I fully agree with you that when they have surpassed their potential they should be and will be culled, either by predation by man or beast, or time and misfortune on their part. I tend to root for the critter making it to his own end and have in recent and not so recent past let those big bastards pass, but then again,, you never know!

I do believe though that while many units managed by ODF&W are managed for quality hunts, most are purely about the ever loving $$$.
 
Most of all, enjoy being out in God's country. Sit on a stump look and listen.

In my opinion this is key.
Hunting isn't about going out and killing something. It's about getting away from the work, stress, crap of the city, getting close to nature and enjoying a fresh breeze, making through the brush and finding that amazing view you can see for miles, it's about feeling like if all else in society fails you can and will survive.
I don't even like hunting all that much. Hate the thought of killing something that isn't trying to kill me. But knowing if SHTF me and my family will be alright. And I love eating meat.
 
A couple years ago I shot a 200# mule deer that stumbled into this canyon:
WapinitaCanyon-edgesouthwest.jpg

Not to resurrect a thread from a year ago, but just for my own education, how would you go about hunting a canyon like this?

All my limited hunting thus far has been on the wet side of the mountains, and I'm ignorant.

I figure you're doing a lot of glassing, but where do you bet on looking? Down deep in draws? On a southern facing slope?
 
Not to resurrect a thread from a year ago, but just for my own education, how would you go about hunting a canyon like this?

All my limited hunting thus far has been on the wet side of the mountains, and I'm ignorant.

I figure you're doing a lot of glassing, but where do you bet on looking? Down deep in draws? On a southern facing slope?
Dark areas north facing. Up high is the nasty rock stuff. Mule deer bump easy. And when they do, they run a long ways. Black tail do not. So be quiet and keep your head up.
 
thats the right attitude :s0155: any reason to get another rifle is a good reason


as far as scopes make sure you get duplex and a 3x9x40 or in that range will do you.

the Leupold Vx 2 is very nice i had a Vx3 and i preferred my buddys vx2 for light and clarity don't figure since the 3 cost almost twice as much

but i personally use a bushnell elite 4200 cause it has the raingaurd and illuminated cross hairs for my elk rifle

for budget scopes i personally like the simmons master series scopes but they have do have some reflection in the eye under certain lighting that bugs me .

If you hunt with a 30.06 you can kill anything that moves in this State - same with .270 I have killed 4 elk with my .270 and 2 with my .06 !
 
Not to resurrect a thread from a year ago, but just for my own education, how would you go about hunting a canyon like this?

All my limited hunting thus far has been on the wet side of the mountains, and I'm ignorant.

I figure you're doing a lot of glassing, but where do you bet on looking? Down deep in draws? On a southern facing slope?

Find where the deer are coming in and out of the canyon for feeding and migration. On the right side of the picture above there are only 3 places deer can enter and leave the canyon conveniently for as far as you can see into the distance. Those flats on top are wheat fields with little cover, but also some ponds. If you sit and watch one of those entry/exit points in early morning and late afternoon you will see deer moving in and out of the canyon. If the wind is right and you're in the right spot you'll see them before they see you. I've gotten 5 bucks in the last 7 years that way.

It might sound easy to just sit on a stand, but the hard part is finding those entry/exit points, and which ones are being currently used. That changes according to where the best feed is. You can hunt miles of canyon rim looking for them. I have found some of them by backtracking from trails up on the flats. You need to have a little tracking skill to do that. I don't try to hunt the canyon itself, though I often see deer down inside the walls. I have packed one out of there already, and I never want to have to do that again. If there was a road or even a cow trail along the bottom I would hunt it, but the only way in and out is over the edge, and it's no cup of tea.
 
I am about your height and about 140lbs. I love my 30-06. The recoil can be a bit much when I'm sitting down and shooting more then a box of ammo. Whatever gun you use check into getting a Limbsaver.
http://www.limbsaver.com/
I definitely second the advice for good boots. I haven't found that shooting from a bench does much for me for practice as a hunting application. Get out to the woods and practice some real world shooting. Kneeling in the dirt, standing for short range shots, stuff like that. Deer don't usually stand still in a flat field perfectly 100 yards away.

And this is why you should take Appleseed training!
 
Not to resurrect a thread from a year ago, but just for my own education, how would you go about hunting a canyon like this?

All my limited hunting thus far has been on the wet side of the mountains, and I'm ignorant.

I figure you're doing a lot of glassing, but where do you bet on looking? Down deep in draws? On a southern facing slope?
The way I hunt it is to scout the rim for places where the deer are going in and out. Notice the sheer drop for the first 25 to 50 feet. There are only a few places where they can get in and out. I watch those places. I've shot 9 really nice bucks there over 13 years of hunting it. Just try to keep any you hit from jumping over the edge. That's a pain in the butt.
 

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