This post may be old news for seasoned hunters, but I thought I would share.
A few years ago I scored a 30.06 deer rifle for a steal. With no real need for a deer rifle at the time I figured I should give deer hunting a go. Whenever I have had venison in the past I have liked it. I grew up knowing hunters but never anyone in my family hunted. So being in my 30's I finally got my act to together and took hunter's safety. After taking the class I realized I still had some work to do.
Living in North Seattle I had to find some place to hunt. I settled on GMU 448 to start with. I wanted somewhere close to home so I could actually go out and scout areas during the summer. Using the internet I learned a ton about what land is public and how to access it. I think it great we have public land open for hunting. I also think it's bogus that large tracts of it are landlocked behind private land. On a side note I also hate the fact the most public land in this GMU is closed to target shooting. If it rural enough to hunt, why can't I walk in around a gate and go shoot?
Despite all my scouting and prep work I didn't even see a deer let alone shoot one. I plan on hunting the late modern firearm season. I'll be hunting some private land backing state land. This time I am going to try the salt lick and bait pile method since it is pretty wooded.
Below is a few observations from my first hunting season.
Where did the Deer go?: Five days in the woods for minimum of 7 hours each day and I didn't see a single deer. I hunted three different areas. Some days I was in he woods 6:00am or earlier or I started later and stayed until dark. I saw plenty of signs in the clear cuts. I did miss opening weekend. Maybe they all got spooked early, I scared them all off each day or I wasn't looking in right spots. Either way the black tails got the best of me so far.
Hunter's Orange: I was amazed on how well hunter orange shows up against the natural back drop. With that being said It seems like some hunter's wear the smallest, cheapest vest they can. With the incident near Darrington where the woman hiker was mistaken for a bear and shot, I wanted to make sure I was seen. I decided to wear a solid orange vest and a solid orange ball hat. It was nice to know when I took my vest off to remove or add layers my head had a better chance of being visible when bending over my pack. Overkill, maybe. Not shot = good.
Backpacks or the lack of: I had way to much crap in my pack the first couple days. I had my food, water and clothes, survival gear and other extras. I decided I really didn't need the extra crap and not much survival gear seeing as I was a few miles from the car and within cell phone range. Getting the weight out of the pack helps out with the duty of rifle carrying. I also learned the backpack gets in the way of the rifle sling. It seems like a lot of hunters didn't have a pack at all. Makes me wonder if they don't have one because of the rifle sling. They must have only had a knife and a rifle. It's all you really need right….
Advice from other hunters: I learned a ton from talking to other hunters, here and the rest of the internet. Like anything you need to sort through some BS and see what works for you. You tube has some great and some not so great videos about field dressing and deer processing.
Bikes: I am a biker and my mountain bike makes a great tool for exploring area for there hunting potential. I can cover a lot of ground in a relative short amount of time. If an area looked promising I was able to come back on foot and check things out at a slower pace.
Inconsiderate People: I found multiple places where someone sitting on a stump with a good view of a clear cut left their trash. Soda & beer cans, water bottles, cigarettes, etc.. I hate people who can't be troubled with packing their trash out. I mean how hard is it?
Nice Poeple: The few hunter's and non hunters I spoke to were friendly. Maybe it's because we all have guns…
Phantom Deer: Tree stumps or logs start looking like deer when it gets it's dark and you haven't seen a deer all day. Always identify your target...
