It's a little late this year but if you want to hunt deer on the west side of the mountains I suggest you read Scott Haugen's book, Trophy Blacktail's-The Science of the Hunt. Boyd Iverson's 2 books on blacktail are excellent also. For elk I think the authors name is Mike Lapinski. He wrote a couple good ones. Douglas Boze ( a member of this forum) has a couple good black bear hunting books. Spend some time learning the Fish and Game website. There is a ton of useful information on there, such as the annual harvest reports, which can help you narrow down what GMU you would like to try. Once you have a GMU that you like the sound of, go walk it. Find the accesses. Can you drive in? Bike? Do you have to walk because it's gated? Then go look for sign-scat (aka turds), rubs, bedding areas, tracks. If it just snowed get in there and look at all the tracks (or lack of). Once you have done this you will have more questions. Ask those questions on this forum during the off season and you will get answers. Stay on the forum. Post some pics of what you're looking at. Right now you are new to hunting and new to this forum. Read old posts. There's a ton of information on here for someone willing to look for it. If you are one of those people that posts on here once or twice and only around the hunting seasons, don't expect too much. Good Luck! There is no substitution for getting out in the woods.
