new hunter

[cem3434]

i looked up vail earlier today and have been there before. i just didnt know it. it was in an archery season when i didnt even have my license so it didnt recognize it as a place to hunt. but i remember it from the experince i had there and didnt like the number of people there and why cant you scout there?

Vail is a joke if you actually want to hunt. Try going up the Scott Turner Road outside of Eatonville and hunt the state land back behind the gated roads. The are a lot of deer, but you have to be willing to hike a couple of miles to get away from the main road.

Make sure you have a Discover pass and read the regs because its 2 point minimum for deer in the Mashel unit. You can also park at the gate at the bottom just before the town of Elbe and hike in from there to access the same area.

Like I said, there are a lot of deer in there, but you going to have to work a little to get one. PM me if you have any questions or need any other help on how to hunt the area.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Probably my best advice to a new hunter (firearm) would be to make sure your rifle is sighted in, buy the best binoculars you can afford, get a "Bino-Buddy" and maybe a Turkey vest.
Get out and find some gated roads in the area you like to hunt, and walk in as far as you can, looking for tracks, trails, old rubs, especialy remote clearings, find a good spot were you can see for a good distance, sit down and glass, sit longer, glass some more, look into the bushes along the edges especially, under trees, everywhere, look for parts of deer, not the whole animal...
sit and glass until your butt goes numb, and your legs are asleep, then glass a little more...
As a hero of mine said, if you want to see deer, take a walk in the woods, if you want to kill deer, sit down. 
If that dont work, get a bow, practice, practice, practice, and hunt any deer units, after you get a couple does under your belt, you will have learned enough to wait for a buck to show, unless you just like eating them like I do..

[RadSav]

There are deer everywhere on the wet side.  So chances are you do not have to go very far from home to find a decent spot.  Just need to find access to available hunting land.  From there all you need is Bing Maps or Google Earth and a little patience and dedication. And, a good pair of boots

When I begin scouting new areas I try to find spots not easily accessible to the average sportman, but that I can get to and spend a good bit of time.  That usually starts with a day of burning gas in the truck and marking maps of where all the gated loggin roads are.  At this point it's not as important to be getting out and hiking. That will come later.  I just want as many access points as possible.

Once I have my list of gated or burmed access points I spend a good number of evenings on Bing Maps.  I am looking for clearcuts or areas of feed close to water with a good number of hiding and/or bedding benches.  I am looking for these close enough that I don't have to spend an entire day getting there, yet far enough away the average beer drinkin', gun tote'n, road hunter isn't willing to venture into.

Once I have a good number of prospecting spots located it's time for scouting.  Most of your clearcuts will have fire trails around the fringe.  Walk them all looking for tracks and fresh rubs.  Don't bother with walking through the center of areas looking for sign.  Work the edges of big timber and thick brush.  It's ok to blow through these areas quite fast on your initial scouting trips.  All you want at first is to rough grade them as good, bad and ugly.  It doesn't take too much animal or hunting knowledge to figure out which ones are good and which ones are bad.  But, you do want to know if these areas are year round spots or just wintering and calving areas.  That's why you want to be looking for rubs as well as tracks.

Make sure you check out good glassing areas close to the road.  Look for trash or other sign where hunters would setup and wait.  You may find an area that looks good, but if there is sign that it has been hunted hard and guys are spending a lot of time there you might not want to mark that spot as not so good. Or as I mark them in my notes "Iffy"

Now once you have your prospects preliminarily scouted it is time to concentrate on those good spots.  Time to bust the timber a little and find out where those animals are bedding.  Where they are breeding.  How they are moving to and from the area.  And what vegetation is located where within the feeding areas.  Make sure you schedule scouting days for both morning and evening trips. 

Soon you will find a few spots that just seem to have everything.  Time to find out who is living there and what their habits are.  This is the fun part.  Now you are not just looking or scouting deer and elk.  The game now is where's Brutus, Doofus, Scrappy and Wholly Crap.  It's why are you there today Micheal Johnson and where the heck are you going Beavis?  You are watching certain animals and trying to understand why they do what they do and what makes them tick this way and that way.

Pay attention to how they work the areas during times of heat and times of cold.  Times of rain and times of drought.  During this time of the lunar cycle and at that time in the lunar cycle.  You might even want to let yourself be seen once or twice to see where they escape to and how fast they bug out.  You don't necessarily need to know a lot about deer and elk if you can know a lot about this deer and that elk.  If you can do that then soon you will know a lot about most deer and most elk within your area.

In the end your own spot is going to be much better for you than someone elses "Honey Hole" anyway.  Because you will know it and it's residents and others will not.  Plus on the wet side you are going to find that a honey hole this year might only be acceptable next year and not be worth a crap the year after.

Really liked the way you presented yourself and the way you asked the question.  Newbies reading this should take note of how you do it right.  Good luck to you.  Hope you have a lot of fun finding that glory hole.  We will be expecting pictures and a story in the fall!

[teanawayslayer]

I don't know much about the west side any more.  Used to hunt it quite a bit when I was a kid.  I know that the kapowsin area holds lots of big black tail. I believe you would now need to buy a tree farm pass to get in there.  You may want to look into that area seeing that it isn't that far from the house.  As far on any advice to a new hunter goes.  Get out there look for track, rubs, food sources, and water.  I was a self taught hunter.  Didn't have any one to teach me the ropes.  It just takes time and persistence.  I don't agree with not scouting.  Scout as much as you can!!!!  That's why it is important to find a place close to home for you are able to do it on a regular basis.  One other thing you may have way better odds of harvesting a quality animal if you were to switch to archery or muzzy.  You will figure it out in time.  Good luck to you.

[JamJets]

There are deer everywhere on the wet side.  So chances are you do not have to go very far from home to find a decent spot.  Just need to find access to available hunting land.  From there all you need is Bing Maps or Google Earth and a little patience and dedication. And, a good pair of boots

When I begin scouting new areas I try to find spots not easily accessible to the average sportman, but that I can get to and spend a good bit of time.  That usually starts with a day of burning gas in the truck and marking maps of where all the gated loggin roads are.  At this point it's not as important to be getting out and hiking. That will come later.  I just want as many access points as possible.

Once I have my list of gated or burmed access points I spend a good number of evenings on Bing Maps.  I am looking for clearcuts or areas of feed close to water with a good number of hiding and/or bedding benches.  I am looking for these close enough that I don't have to spend an entire day getting there, yet far enough away the average beer drinkin', gun tote'n, road hunter isn't willing to venture into.

Once I have a good number of prospecting spots located it's time for scouting.  Most of your clearcuts will have fire trails around the fringe.  Walk them all looking for tracks and fresh rubs.  Don't bother with walking through the center of areas looking for sign.  Work the edges of big timber and thick brush.  It's ok to blow through these areas quite fast on your initial scouting trips.  All you want at first is to rough grade them as good, bad and ugly.  It doesn't take too much animal or hunting knowledge to figure out which ones are good and which ones are bad.  But, you do want to know if these areas are year round spots or just wintering and calving areas.  That's why you want to be looking for rubs as well as tracks.

Make sure you check out good glassing areas close to the road.  Look for trash or other sign where hunters would setup and wait.  You may find an area that looks good, but if there is sign that it has been hunted hard and guys are spending a lot of time there you might not want to mark that spot as not so good. Or as I mark them in my notes "Iffy"

Now once you have your prospects preliminarily scouted it is time to concentrate on those good spots.  Time to bust the timber a little and find out where those animals are bedding.  Where they are breeding.  How they are moving to and from the area.  And what vegetation is located where within the feeding areas.  Make sure you schedule scouting days for both morning and evening trips. 

Soon you will find a few spots that just seem to have everything.  Time to find out who is living there and what their habits are.  This is the fun part.  Now you are not just looking or scouting deer and elk.  The game now is where's Brutus, Doofus, Scrappy and Wholly Crap.  It's why are you there today Micheal Johnson and where the heck are you going Beavis?  You are watching certain animals and trying to understand why they do what they do and what makes them tick this way and that way.

Pay attention to how they work the areas during times of heat and times of cold.  Times of rain and times of drought.  During this time of the lunar cycle and at that time in the lunar cycle.  You might even want to let yourself be seen once or twice to see where they escape to and how fast they bug out.  You don't necessarily need to know a lot about deer and elk if you can know a lot about this deer and that elk.  If you can do that then soon you will know a lot about most deer and most elk within your area.

In the end your own spot is going to be much better for you than someone elses "Honey Hole" anyway.  Because you will know it and it's residents and others will not.  Plus on the wet side you are going to find that a honey hole this year might only be acceptable next year and not be worth a crap the year after.

Really liked the way you presented yourself and the way you asked the question.  Newbies reading this should take note of how you do it right.  Good luck to you.  Hope you have a lot of fun finding that glory hole.  We will be expecting pictures and a story in the fall!

Probably the best advice I've seen in awhile!

I'm new as well (in the enumclaw area) and the knowledge you pass along is invaluable. Thanks!