Generational collective knowledge

[Bow_mon]

Hello.

I'm new to this board, I'm new to hunting, but i'm not new to the woods. I'm a born & raised Washingtonian and am looking for a little help here. No one in my family hunts, so I don't have the collective generational knowledge that is passed down. I've been reading a lot, but finding books and info specific to hunting the West is more challenging. Everything I'm finding is mostly about Whitetail tree standing tactics. Which kind of surprises me since in all the magazine's people talk about how rad the West is.

My question to the group here is can you please help me out with some info here. Be my 'grandfather' if you will. I'm not after your honey holes what I want to know is what would you describe as prime black tail and mule deer habitat? When I'm pouring over my topo maps and out scouting, what is it that I should be looking for? What are general considerations to make about these animals in regards to how they live their life and how I can best increase my chances for success? What am I missing?

When out scouting, I've typically stayed on known hiking trails, which also means i've been totally unsuccessful in seeing either animals or scrapes/rubs or hell even scat for that matter. Then again, I don't have any idea on where to go because I don't know what i"m looking for as far as habitat goes.

Lastly, I know one can't learn to hunt from books, but that's about all I got right now, so any recommendations on good hunting books for black tail/ mullie's that are primarily focused on tactics for the West/Mountains would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance with your advice and suggestions.

Cheers
Bow Mon

[Colville]

Bow,

Where are you going to hunt?  Your answer won't be stock for both mule deer and black tail.   If you suggest a unit, or region you can get some specific advice about terrain features, areas, times of the year, tactics etc.

Also, how are you prepared to hunt? Bow I assume?  But what seasons.  Are you going to car camp and pack out each day? Back pack in? Drive in from home daily?

What level of outdoor experience do you have?  Prepared to bivy out? Are you properly equipped for staying out there? Use GPS? Comfortable if you are long out of sight of a trail or obvious landmark? Have a hunting pard?

There's a ton of background about what skills you posses,  where you will hunt and when.  Then people can start the process of giving you pointers.   First one. There are no Grocery stores on I-5.  Trails are I-5. They are meant to get you places. Then you have to exit the highway and get to the deer.  Yes some lucky sods will get a deer from a main branch trail, but that's not a plan for success.  Another truism, in the mountains away from agriculture, a place being a pain the ash to get to is a "pro" not a con.

PS:  I was never taken hunting and received zero generational assitance.  I am completely self taught. I started by buying an 89 jeep Cherokee after college and a rifle. I made some calls and found a land owner near Tonasket and so it began.

[fillthefreezer]

david longs mule deer book, mike eastmans mule deer book, boyd iversons blacktail book would be good starts

[JLS]

Also, anything by Dwight Schuh.

[Bow_mon]

Hi Colville,

To respond to your inquiries:
Where are you going to hunt?  for blacktail in the GMU's around Darrington, Granite Falls and Gold Bar and surrounding areas. For Mullie's on the Eastern side of the Cascades around Wenatchee.

Also, how are you prepared to hunt? Yes. I will be doing both archery seasons (sept = black tails and Nov = Mullies)
Sept trips could be either all day trips from super early AM until last light and pack out. Or they could be overnight trips with a single spike camp but these trips will primarily be under 48hrs. I will not be taking time off from work (mon-fri job) for Sept. Nov is a single trip planned with my one buddy who hunts and some of his other friends/relatives will be joining us at deer camp. This is going to be a late season archery mule deer hunt in Nov for 5 or 6 days with a wall tent and a base camp and then hiking out daily from this established camp.

What level of outdoor experience do you have?  I've done a fair amount of backpacking in my days, but again most of that has been along predetermined trail routes in the Cascades. I feel comfortable in the woods with my gear and knowledge base. I do have a GPS unit as well as map/compass. To compensate for this I will not be going solo, I'm hoping to find some hunting partners on this site for Sept weekend/day trips while I really get an understanding of really being off the beaten trail. I would like to bivy/spike camp in the future on longer trips.


My question is around trying to find out what are some aspects of things you consider when looking for new places to hunt? I can read a topo map just fine, but what I want to know is what are some things you look for specifically? For example, clear cuts. Are those good feeding areas? if so where would you expect a buck to bed near a clear cut? Assuming that clear cuts on places bucks would forage for food. That's one example and clear cuts are not on Green Trail maps, so what other maps would you use?

I hope my answers to your questions help to provide you with some greater insight as to what I'm looking for. I really appreciate you helping and the others here on this board in helping me gain an understanding.

To JLS and Fill The Freezer: Thanks for the tips on those books, I'll check them out as well.

Respectfully,
Bow Mon

[wooltie]

PM sent.

[Special T]

Boyd Iverson Balctail trophy tactics    its a MUST read.

Don't forget to come practice with your bow up at Silver Arrow Bowmen in Mount Vernon!
www.silverarrowbowmen.com

[baldopepper]

I can't help you a lot with whitetail or blacktail specifically, but I've hunted mule deer since 1962 and started with my father who started hunting them in the 1930's.  A few quick things I'd pass on to anyone just starting;
1) Get good with whatever weapon you're going to use.  I don't bow hunt because, quite frankly, I never could seem to get good enough to feel confident with one.  Tried for quite a while, but finally had to admit I'm just a lousy shot with one.  If you're going with a rifle, get confident with it, and I don't mean just hitting paper at the range from a dead rested position.  Get out with it and shoot until it's almost automatic.  Not many deer are going to stand there and let you take a dead rest and 20 seconds to finally squeeze off a round.  Get comfortable with your scope (if you use one) Seen lots of hunters with variable scopes  try to find a close deer when they forgot to adjust down from 9 power to 3 power and lots more who forgot to keep them clean in bad weather.  All the scouting and hard work means nothing if you finally find that shooter buck and you miss or can't even get off a shot.
2) Mule deer range just about everywhere.  They're motivated by food and water-best way to scout is go find deer!!! Confine your area once you do.  Get to know it very, very well.  Where every road goes, where every trail leads (or at least as many as you can) and obviously concentrate on areas where you see deer.  What did they do when you jumped em, did you jump deer in the same places often?  To many hunters, I think, try to cover too  big of area.  Our group has consistently taken our 10-12 deer every year from an area that is really no more than 10 square miles-why? because we know it extremely well. Preseason scouting should concentrate first on finding an area with deer and  then heavily on getting to know it. Don't waste a lot of time running all over the state getting to know a lot of places a little bit. Keep in mind when you're scouting that lots of those roads you're going up may be impassable when the season actually starts.  Also keep in mind that  while they may not be easy to find during the opening weekend, if you know they're there-keep at it-they can only lay low for so long.
3) Know your limits-don't waste time scouting in areas that realistically are just to difficult for you to hunt.   Lots of shoe leather is not always the best answer -especially if you're not in the proper shape to really do it. Killed a lot of deer in those little "nook" areas  that are fairly close to the road, but  overlooked by the shoe leather boys who hiked right on past em.  Those little gullies and finger canyons that only have 50 -100 yards of cover can hold some nice deer-simply because they looked to insignificant to bother with. Mule deer only go  as far as they need to  and stay there until someone or something makes them move again. 
I could probably go on and on, but those are some of the highlights I've learned over the years.  On the job training is the best way to learn-just get out there and have some fun-not much beats a day in the woods, or sagebrush, or buckbrush or whatever terrain you choose to hunt.

 

[300rum]

Keep the wind in your face or at least on the side of it. 

Buy a good pair of binoculars, 10 power will do.  Look at close stuff first, then farther away.  Try to find something that doesn't look right.

Dead head about a mile or so off the road.  Then, don't walk any faster then if it took you 15 minutes or so to cross a two lane road. One step, look, another step, look some more. 

Walk into the woods when it is pitch black.  Don't walk out of the woods until it is pitch black.

If you can do that you will see animals and shoot them too.     

[Bow_mon]

Thanks so much for the advice and knowledge. I deeply appreciate it. Have a great and safe 4th!

Cheers.
Bow Mon