success rate?

[MrSmallington]

I just spent the last 4 days in the woods on foot covering numerous miles... just curious as to the success rate of all these clowns driving around in their loud trucks who drive around, stop for a minute then drive off. extremely aggravating when im stalking the only buck Ive seen all season and i have a loud, deep truck with horrible brakes pulls up 1/4 mile up the hill just to yell down asking if Ive seen anything all while spooking my spiked buck... are road hunters successful? or just successful in raising my blood pressure? find a new hobby guys. luckily i am in the woods and enjoy my time outside but serious... side note. I seriously had a guy in a Prius drive by and ask if I've seen any rabbits. " me and my nephew are hunting rabbits with a crossbow." 

[Brandon.Hunter]

Hahaha  that's funny.  If you are hunting in an area with roads it's best to sit during the first 2 hours and last 2 hours of light. I hiked in to an area 2 miles in and had a few guys that where driving around me, but 20 minutes after they left I had a mature 3pt black tail poked his head out. I was really discouraged when I seen guys driving around after I just hiked in, but goes to show deer still have to stretch there legs, eat, and this time of year BREED. 

[MrSmallington]

I typically stay out all day. ill hike back to base for lunch but then head back out to dark.  its funny. its like the road hunters are all on schedule. same times everyday. i try to use them to my advantage. its just aggravating, lazy people don't even waive or acknowledge me.  i guess i just needed to blew off some steam.

[kirkl]

This is actually a funny post. You are complaining about road hunters but you are obviously not far off the road where you hear vehicles and people are able to see you and yell at you. Maybe you should get in the woods farther then you wouldnt have this issue? That would be like me sitting in my truck along the road watching a clear cut to complain about people driving by me. Just something to think about.

[Magnum_Willys]

Road hunting can be very effective - especially in areas with heavy road coverage and lightly driven roads.  If you are near a road that has a hundred vehicles a day maybe not so much.   I would rather drive the roads than walk on or near them.  The advantage of walking is you can get far from the roads.  If you aren't doing that then just drive IMO.

[MrSmallington]

Where i hunt there are a lot of fingers/roads. even hiking through the timber you still hear deep trucks pass by. the guy who yelled parked and started hiking down the hill side of a clear cut i was sitting at the bottom of.  trust me i put miles in on foot. still cant get away from roads though. always at least a mile from a road.  the post is meant to be somewhat funny.  hunting rabbit with a crossbow? thats hilarious.

[MrSmallington]

Road hunting can be very effective - especially in areas with heavy road coverage and lightly driven roads.  If you are near a road that has a hundred vehicles a day maybe not so much.   I would rather drive the roads than walk on or near them.  The advantage of walking is you can get far from the roads.  If you aren't doing that then just drive IMO.

where I post up i see about 10 vehicles tops a day.  in all honesty on my way out i do drive slow and glass but to drive all day in hopes of jumping out and shooting seems counter productive and just spooks local life and pushes them out of an area. i was just curious as to how effective it is and how often road hunters fill tags. i might just give up hunting and by a huge truck and drive around pissing everyone off all while shooting a crossbow 

[Lightning_Rider]

"are road hunters successful?" We get blacktails every single year by road hunting, my mom got a very nice 2x3 from doing it this year, I killed my biggest buck to date last year while road hunting. Bucks use the roads when they are rutting to look for does... i want to be where the bucks are, thus i use the roads  I still love a nice alder patch or having an area to myself with a walk-in but different strokes for different folks. During elk season I only use the truck to get to and from an area. Stick with what works!

[fishnfur]

Road hunting can be very effective - especially in areas with heavy road coverage and lightly driven roads.  If you are near a road that has a hundred vehicles a day maybe not so much.   I would rather drive the roads than walk on or near them.  The advantage of walking is you can get far from the roads.  If you aren't doing that then just drive IMO.

where I post up i see about 10 vehicles tops a day.  in all honesty on my way out i do drive slow and glass but to drive all day in hopes of jumping out and shooting seems counter productive and just spooks local life and pushes them out of an area. i was just curious as to how effective it is and how often road hunters fill tags. i might just give up hunting and by a huge truck and drive around pissing everyone off all while shooting a crossbow 

 

From the earlier post: 

"This is actually a funny post. You are complaining about road hunters but you are obviously not far off the road where you hear vehicles and people are able to see you and yell at you. Maybe you should get in the woods farther then you wouldnt have this issue? That would be like me sitting in my truck along the road watching a clear cut to complain about people driving by me. Just something to think about."     
 
 .....or being a road hunter and complaining about all the hunters in the woods scaring the animals away that are near the roads.....

[runamuk]

If there are roads the wildlife is used to them being used by cars trucks logging etc. It does not spook wildlife driving around.  They are far more spooked by smelling you when hiking.  I love messing with my local nutty deer. I have found the smell of human to be the quickest way to make them run. Second is to say hey deer sup. I can drive around in my gator or truck and as long as the wind doesn't carry my icky human stench to them they just move away.  I will say the days I was burning were the days I could get closest to the dingdongs smoke is a fabulous cover.  5 days a week for 8 months I spent around this last group of flighty fruitcakes.

White tails are far and away more spastic than the blacktails or muleys. But none in my experience are all that bothered by vehicles on roads.

[7mmfan]

It can be pretty effective depending on the area, time of year, species, etc... If there are lots of roads that offer different vantage points, a guy can cover a lot of ground in a hurry. Also, if the animals on are on the move, you're more likely to find them by covering a lot of ground. I'm a die hard foot hunter, but I have hunts that I spend a lot of time behind the wheel covering ground and glassing. Its another tool, and when used appropriately can be highly effective.

For most western WA blacktail spots, no I don't think its that effective. I also don't think it has much affect on the deer. They don't leave the area, they just stick to cover. Surprisingly, in some areas they don't even leave the cuts if they feel they are concealed. I've seen a lot of blacktails, and have killed a few, in cuts that have regular vehicle traffic, and right after trucks/atv's/dirt bikes come through.

If the spot has sign, and you're confident that there are deer there, hunt it, maybe just your tactics to hunt the timber edge instead of the cut edge, where the deer feel a little more comfortable.

[MrSmallington]

well... looks like ill be road hunting from now on. LOL. this whole time ive been tracking poop and game trails. what a dope.

[Magnum_Willys]

well... looks like ill be road hunting from now on. LOL. this whole time ive been tracking poop and game trails. what a dope.

My dad's theory during late buck was that if you could travel roads at the speed of light in theory you could cover all the roads in your area all the time and catch every buck when they crossed.  He covered a lot of ground driving like 15-20 mph and saw a ton of bucks getting one every year for 30 years or so.  So yea it can be effective during the rut mainly. 

[Matth]

I hunted all morning one day during the general season this year, hit the main road to walk back to the truck, and shot a 3pt crossing the road. Road work can be very productive.

[Rob Allen]

Most days i hiked  3-8 miles the only legal deer i saw was while driving during elk season.