What do you guys look for?

[MLHSN]

I have a few questions.  I'm new to hunting.  In fact, I just finished hunter safety.  Felt a little weird at 30 years of age.  Anyways, not unfamiliar with carrying a firearm for long distances (spent 4 years in the Army).  I also do a lot of backpacking.  My biggest hobby is fishing the high-lakes.  I spend a lot of time looking at maps,  researching routes, etc.  I've got maps all over my office.  I'm always looking at for blue spots and guessing at what might be there. 

Anyways, my question is: What do you guys look for?  I'm not asking for specific spots.  I'm just asking what type of terrain, etc piques your interest when searching for spots to scout out on a map.  I'm most interested in the high-hunt because I'm constantly running into guys doing the high-hunt when I'm out fishing and that is what interests me the most.  I've noticed people talking about saddles as high traffic areas, etc.  What about slope directions, recent burns, types of feed I might have seen on other hikes?

Thanks a bunch for any input.  Here are a couple of my favorite backcountry trophies so far, all caught in WA at close to 7k' feet.


DSCN2195 by mlhsn1, on Flickr

DSCN1843 by mlhsn1, on Flickr

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/20209691@N05/3963268570/]
DSCN1125 by mlhsn1, on Flickr

[csaaphill]

Nice fish. sorry no comments for ya though. Nice fish however. Love the pics.
I'd say hunt the same spots you fish.

[Maverick]

I've never hunted the high hunt. My advice would be to scout while you fish in the summer. Beautiful fish!

[MLHSN]

Thanks csaaphil and Maverick. 

I wasn't asking for specific locations.  Let me clarify.  When looking at maps, what kind of topography do people look for?  Saddles, south facing slopes, etc.  Any good books people would suggest?  I've already got a list of places that I've seen a lot of deer or elk sign while backpacking but I would like to explore those same areas more and I'm curious what types of terrain to best look for in planning scouting trips.

[DoubleJ]

I have nothing to offer except nice fish!  There are more than a few high hunt specialists on this forum.  Hopefully they chime in soon for you.

[h20hunter]

Sorry that I don't have to much to offer but I wanted to also say nice pics. You may be able to answer this for yourself but how far back do stocking records go? One thing that might be cool is to research old stocking records to explore places that haven't been stocked/fished in the last however many years....maybe find some untouched gems that way.

[jackmaster]

what type of critters are you lookn to hunt, all 3 deer types we have here in washington have their own set of terrain that they seem to like, as far as direction of slopes and saddles, i have always noticed that a slope with a southwest exposure are pretty damn good, and for blacktail which is the only deer that i think i know  well lets just say that there aint no guarantees with those deer, just when you think ya got them even a little figured out they up and warp your mind again.......speakn of high mountain lakes though, have you ever hiked and fished blue lake up out of cyspus out of randle? you want to talk about some of the prettiest rainbows and they have some of the best meat...i take tinfoil with garlic, pepper and butter wrapped up in it and then i cook some of the trout in the foil right over a little fire up there, damn its fine eatn and a good time....it is only a 2 or 3 mile hike to...

[fillthefreezer]

i like basins. high basins with some ribbon cliffs, patchy timber, a creek through the middle is nice, hell to get into. way off trail. steep. glaciers that melt late so theres green late into the year. etc

pick up mike eastmans and david longs mule deer books, you will learn an infinite amount and find more deer

[shootnrun]

i like basins. high basins with some ribbon cliffs, patchy timber, a creek through the middle is nice, hell to get into. way off trail. steep. glaciers that melt late so theres green late into the year. etc

pick up mike eastmans and david longs mule deer books, you will learn an infinite amount and find more deer

  Solid gold

[bobcat]

This is the book you need:   

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0965770400

[Heredoggydoggy]

Nice figure, good job,  doesn't care how many guns I buy or how often I go hunting......OOPS! Wrong answer--sorry!   

[Kola16]

No help, but love those fish  And near 7000' 

[300rum]

That spot just to the right of your left ear in the first pic.  I would pull the spotter out for that. 

[fillthefreezer]

That spot just to the right of your left ear in the first pic.  I would pull the spotter out for that.

i would go to the top of that ridge and look down. easier on my neck

[Jburke]

Trying to plan a trip this year with my brother.  Need to pick up a book or two.  Are the above mentioned the best of the best?  What others should I look for?

[MLHSN]

Sorry that I don't have to much to offer but I wanted to also say nice pics. You may be able to answer this for yourself but how far back do stocking records go? One thing that might be cool is to research old stocking records to explore places that haven't been stocked/fished in the last however many years....maybe find some untouched gems that way.

If you pick up a copy of "Lakes of Washington", it will tell you some stalking dates between the 1930's- 60's roughly.  Do to some freedom of information requests.  Stocking information has become much more public in the last couple of years.  I know in recent years, there is a policy, I believe that it might be 10 years?  If it hasn't been stocking in 10 years then it is potentially dropped from the stocking list never to be stocked again so the number of lakes being stocked is slowly decreasing.  You would be surprised how many lakes are stocked but yet have little or no sign of human visitation.  Those are my favorite ones to visit and usually involve a lot of off trail travel.

Here is a link to the .PDF of lakes of Washington

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/wsb/pdfs/WSB_14b_Book.pdf

[MLHSN]

what type of critters are you lookn to hunt, all 3 deer types we have here in washington have their own set of terrain that they seem to like, as far as direction of slopes and saddles, i have always noticed that a slope with a southwest exposure are pretty damn good, and for blacktail which is the only deer that i think i know  well lets just say that there aint no guarantees with those deer, just when you think ya got them even a little figured out they up and warp your mind again.......speakn of high mountain lakes though, have you ever hiked and fished blue lake up out of cyspus out of randle? you want to talk about some of the prettiest rainbows and they have some of the best meat...i take tinfoil with garlic, pepper and butter wrapped up in it and then i cook some of the trout in the foil right over a little fire up there, damn its fine eatn and a good time....it is only a 2 or 3 mile hike to...

I'm mostly interested in Mule Deer because that's what I see in most of the areas I hike.  I'm not familiar at all with the cyspus area.  My favorite way to cook a trout is to clean the fish and then insert a stick up behind it's backbone and then put it over the fire to cook.  I tried the tinfoil method for a while but sometimes it would seem a little soggy to me unless I opened up the tinfoil at just the right time for a little bit.  The other thing Is I'm not willing to leave tinfoil sitting around after I camp and I hated carrying out tinfoil with fish gu on it for several days.  Sometime mention a recipe the other day I thought was interesting.  I never liked boiling the fish but this involved some vodka and a pile of seasoning of some sort, I forget the name.   

[MLHSN]

i like basins. high basins with some ribbon cliffs, patchy timber, a creek through the middle is nice, hell to get into. way off trail. steep. glaciers that melt late so theres green late into the year. etc

pick up mike eastmans and david longs mule deer books, you will learn an infinite amount and find more deer

That description sounds like my favorite places to hike and fish.  My mouth is watering thinking about next summer already.  Thanks for the book suggestions, I'll have to put them on my Christmas list. 

[huntnnw]

U will find a big buck where u find a big buck..not to sound broad, but its true. U can glass over the most beautiful looking mule deer country and not see a deer. Then u can glass what looks hopeless and boom there is a buck. I would tell u to keep fishing those lakes in the summer, get up early gain a vantage point and start glassing..scouting is key! find where buck are in august and u have won half the battle come Sept 15

[fillthefreezer]

Trying to plan a trip this year with my brother.  Need to pick up a book or two.  Are the above mentioned the best of the best?  What others should I look for?

i liked cam hanes' book, mike eastmans and david longs, mike eastman also has a new bool ot but i have not read it yet.
if youre after blacktail pick up boyd iverson's

[pd]

Have you read through this link already?  You really should, including Chapter 6.  There are some interesting points.  http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/ElkHuntingUniversity/1/Pages/ScoutTips.aspx

Good luck.

[greenhead_killer]

go get the 'public land mulies' by the eastman crew, mainly david long. great read, full of information, stories of success, and picture breakdown on what you should/need to be looking for when out and about.

[Andrew]

Dragged my brother-in-law out from Indiana to do the high hunt with me (our first time).  We both read Eastmans and David Longs' books (thanks to all that posted the reference!) at least three times cover to cover.  Best advice aside from reading those books I received was to pick a spot and invest some time in scouting it.  My regret this season was that I only had two days to scout which included "ins and outs" so I didn't get much of an opportunity to learn the area and its inhabitants as well as I'd like to have.  Spent really the first two days of the hunting season "learning" than hunting.  Next season I will go back to the same AO and maybe spend some on the 'next' ridge or camp higher and re-learn what I thought I knew.  FYI - when people advise you to get into shape do it!  I'm an avid backpacker and agree that it is similar, but in many ways much different, and your body seems to get beat up a tad bit more if not prepared physically!

[bobcat]

Next season I will go back to the same AO

What is "AO"?

[jackmaster]

AO = area of operation 

[bobcat]

Thanks, never would have guessed that.

Apparently it's a brand new hunting acronym I've never heard of.

[Bean Counter]

Welcome aboard, rookie!

First thing I would look for is a good pair of binoculars. Up in the high country I prefer to spend more time sitting and glassing rather than hiking. There's a difference between hunting and going for a walk in the woods with a gun. Quality optics are a must. I started with a $20 pair, lost it and moved on to a $200 pair, broke that and had it replaced under warranty, and sold the new pair to move up to a $2,000 pair. Maybe you can't afford that, but spend as much as you can--you wont regret it. We have a separate board dedicated to optics and you will find a wealth of information there searching prior posts. Then you won't be that guy asking a question that has already been answered 6x in the last year 

[Skyvalhunter]

Welcome aboard Marc and fellow HiLaker good to have you on this forum.

[MLHSN]

Hi Keith, good to see you around.

Thanks for all the book suggestions.  I've read the Cameron Hanes book before.  I'm reading through "Hunting High Country Mule Deer" right now. 

Bean Counter, I have a pair of binos: Bushnell H20 12x42's.  They aren't $2k binos but they were in my price range.

Thanks all for the tips,

Mark

[RG]

Those are beautiful trout! 

[Jburke]

Picked up a couple books today off craigslist.  Public land mulies, and also backcountry bowhunting bowhunting.  $5 a piece, seemed like a sweet deal to me!   

[archeryantlers]

 I agree with the books mentioned here! Also, Binoculars are the most importsnt tool you  will need. I started with a $100 pair of 10x42 ALPEN binos, which for that money are excellent and a good place to start. Now using Nikon Monarchs ($300-350). Will upgrade as I can afford to. Good Luck!

[MLHSN]

Since you menioned the Alpen binos,  what did you think of them?  I'm thinking of getting an Alpen spotting scope.  They are quite a bit cheaper but I'm wondering if I would be wasting my money.

[crazysccrmd]

How large of an area do you guys recommend? I have what looks like a nice spot, no trails to it, pretty isolated but it's not the biggest in terms of area. The basin isn't very big, has a lake and stream, elevation varies from 2600-5200'. Maybe 1000m wide by 2000m long.

[archeryantlers]

Since you menioned the Alpen binos,  what did you think of them?  I'm thinking of getting an Alpen spotting scope.  They are quite a bit cheaper but I'm wondering if I would be wasting my money.

I think they get overlooked a bit and are percieved as "cheap".  I was pleased with their quality for that price range. I think they have a couple different levels as far as quality of lenses. BAK4 lenses are what is in the 10x42s I have. Also have a good warranty. I, personally, think they're worth the money.

[archeryantlers]

How large of an area do you guys recommend? I have what looks like a nice spot, no trails to it, pretty isolated but it's not the biggest in terms of area. The basin isn't very big, has a lake and stream, elevation varies from 2600-5200'. Maybe 1000m wide by 2000m long.

All depends on how many others are gonna be there when you want to hunt it. I would try to have a back up plan within hiking range, just in case.

[Maverick]

I'm starting to get my dad I.to the idea of the high hunt. Hes hunted the hunt in wyoming and loved and hasn't gotten drawn in awhile I'm always.open to more deer hunting! 

[lucky33]

The bigger the better. As we all know the spots hardest to reach consequently have the best hunting. Given room I prefer to push harder into nastier country in search of better opportunity. If I hike into an area and find hordes of hunters, I still have miles that I can hike in search of untouched areas.  This is all fine in theory until you have to pack an animal out. 

[RifleRidge]

 ,Beautiful...Love the Lake in the back ground of this photo..