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Author Topic: New member here. Hopefully this is the right place to post  (Read 3235 times)

Offline Pacific Ghost

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Re: New member here. Hopefully this is the right place to post
« Reply #30 on: October 08, 2024, 02:32:18 PM »
What was the range on the elk in the first picture?

Around 575 yds
Everyone lives off the land.  Some of us simply have more fun doing it.

Offline chukardogs

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Re: New member here. Hopefully this is the right place to post
« Reply #31 on: October 08, 2024, 03:31:11 PM »
Mule Deer are specialist at concealment. A few years ago, I started down a ridge I hunt all the time. Fog thick enough that 50 to 75 yards was as far as you could see and between the rain and the fog blowing through, the visibility was going from 10 to 15 yards to 50 to 75 and back to 10 to 15 every 30 seconds or so. I stepped away from a sapling just far enough to get a view of the crest of the ridge because I'd found bucks laying there before when it was raining. There was a spindly 3 point standing up next to a large Ponderosa pine about 70 yards below me. The buck didn't know I was there so I just figured I'd have some fun and see just how close I could get. With my back to the saplings, I stayed as tight to the cover as I could without brushing up against it and slowly cut the distance in half. At this point, to get closer, I was going to have to step away from the cover behind me. When the buck turned it's head and looked directly down the ridge, I figured with the noise of the rain and the fact that I was above the deer and my scent should be going up hill away from the animal, I started to slowly step away from the cover. I was able to cover 10 to 15 feet. The deer was still oblivious to my presence and I figured that was close enough and stopped and stood still. I had spent the last 15 minutes focused on my feet, the deer and whether I would brush up against anything. At this point as I started to take in all of my surroundings and as I pivoted my head, I saw movement behind and over my left shoulder as a monster mule deer buck stood up at about 10 yards away from behind a dead fall with branches sticking in all directions. He'd actually been laying amongst all of the dead limbs on the uphill side of the deadfall trunk. I realized afterwards, as I stepped away from the saplings, if I had turned my head and looked to my left, I'd have been looking right at him. Had the buck jumped at that point, I may have gotten a shot. With the buck waiting until I was below him, his second or third jump put him over an edge and going into thick timber above me.
The only lesson or lessons I learned from that episode are first, deer are smart, next, when hunting, never get fixated on anything and then last, hunting is the most fun a person can have legally. The few times in my life when I've been up close and personal with a really big deer, there is nothing else in life that is more exciting than that to me. Good luck out there!
And yes, the spindly three point was legal and had my goal been to bring home a deer, I could have shot him. I guess my goal is to spend and enjoy my time in the outdoors and if the right situation presents itself, maybe I bring home a deer or a bear.
 

Offline BigGameSeeker

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Re: New member here. Hopefully this is the right place to post
« Reply #32 on: October 08, 2024, 04:03:09 PM »
Mule Deer are specialist at concealment. A few years ago, I started down a ridge I hunt all the time. Fog thick enough that 50 to 75 yards was as far as you could see and between the rain and the fog blowing through, the visibility was going from 10 to 15 yards to 50 to 75 and back to 10 to 15 every 30 seconds or so. I stepped away from a sapling just far enough to get a view of the crest of the ridge because I'd found bucks laying there before when it was raining. There was a spindly 3 point standing up next to a large Ponderosa pine about 70 yards below me. The buck didn't know I was there so I just figured I'd have some fun and see just how close I could get. With my back to the saplings, I stayed as tight to the cover as I could without brushing up against it and slowly cut the distance in half. At this point, to get closer, I was going to have to step away from the cover behind me. When the buck turned it's head and looked directly down the ridge, I figured with the noise of the rain and the fact that I was above the deer and my scent should be going up hill away from the animal, I started to slowly step away from the cover. I was able to cover 10 to 15 feet. The deer was still oblivious to my presence and I figured that was close enough and stopped and stood still. I had spent the last 15 minutes focused on my feet, the deer and whether I would brush up against anything. At this point as I started to take in all of my surroundings and as I pivoted my head, I saw movement behind and over my left shoulder as a monster mule deer buck stood up at about 10 yards away from behind a dead fall with branches sticking in all directions. He'd actually been laying amongst all of the dead limbs on the uphill side of the deadfall trunk. I realized afterwards, as I stepped away from the saplings, if I had turned my head and looked to my left, I'd have been looking right at him. Had the buck jumped at that point, I may have gotten a shot. With the buck waiting until I was below him, his second or third jump put him over an edge and going into thick timber above me.
The only lesson or lessons I learned from that episode are first, deer are smart, next, when hunting, never get fixated on anything and then last, hunting is the most fun a person can have legally. The few times in my life when I've been up close and personal with a really big deer, there is nothing else in life that is more exciting than that to me. Good luck out there!
And yes, the spindly three point was legal and had my goal been to bring home a deer, I could have shot him. I guess my goal is to spend and enjoy my time in the outdoors and if the right situation presents itself, maybe I bring home a deer or a bear.
Thats an awesome experience. The mule deer I saw last year stood on a basically bare hillside and it took me 10 minutes of looking right at him before I realized he was there. He blended in so well and I only spotted him when he moved. By the time I decided to move to the next ridge to get within a comfortable range he was gone and I never saw him again. Of course that’s excluding the big muley buck that walked right across the road in front of me as I was after elk. Also saw 3 big whitetail bucks as I was looking for elk.  It’s like they knew I couldn’t shoot them and taunted me. Only saw the one buck actually during the season.


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Offline Drewrich

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Re: New member here. Hopefully this is the right place to post
« Reply #33 on: October 08, 2024, 08:18:55 PM »
Hey all, I'm in a similar boat myself. Didn't grow up with guns at all, so no hunting in the family. I started whitetail hunting in 2021 in the NE corner. Got lucky with a buck the first year, but skunked the last two seasons. I keep trying to find a good "how to" podcast for basic hunting strategy but can't seem to find one specific to whitetails in the PNW. Have you found anything good along those lines?

Offline BigGameSeeker

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Re: New member here. Hopefully this is the right place to post
« Reply #34 on: October 08, 2024, 08:27:41 PM »
Hey all, I'm in a similar boat myself. Didn't grow up with guns at all, so no hunting in the family. I started whitetail hunting in 2021 in the NE corner. Got lucky with a buck the first year, but skunked the last two seasons. I keep trying to find a good "how to" podcast for basic hunting strategy but can't seem to find one specific to whitetails in the PNW. Have you found anything good along those lines?
I watch a lot of samong outdoors but it’s not really a how to. He has some “how to” content but it’s limited. He’s in our area and I really enjoy him and his content. I’m sure there are people here with much better recommendations but I find myself watching “the hunting public”.  they’re in completely different areas than we are but it’s nice to see content that talks about hunting with more public land hunting information. I really like a bunch of other channels but it’s hard to relate when they’re not on public.


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Offline addicted1

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Re: New member here. Hopefully this is the right place to post
« Reply #35 on: October 08, 2024, 10:28:23 PM »
Hey all, I'm in a similar boat myself. Didn't grow up with guns at all, so no hunting in the family. I started whitetail hunting in 2021 in the NE corner. Got lucky with a buck the first year, but skunked the last two seasons. I keep trying to find a good "how to" podcast for basic hunting strategy but can't seem to find one specific to whitetails in the PNW. Have you found anything good along those lines?

There’s not many, if any directly how to. Search for Troy Pottinger as guest on podcast (I think that’s the spelling) he hunts Wa and North ID WT. I’d recommend getting old WT hunting books and apply those tactics to our region. Deer are still deer and they all need the basic things.

Also big woods tactics are some what similar to our area and there are tons of how to videos for hunting the big woods, and you can also apply Midwest tactics to a degree. Instead of fields it’s reprod and edge habit is the forest cover, you have inside corners, funnels it’s just different stuff make that up and it’s usually on a mountain instead of flat land.

Offline BigGameSeeker

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Re: New member here. Hopefully this is the right place to post
« Reply #36 on: October 10, 2024, 04:47:08 AM »
Hey all, I'm in a similar boat myself. Didn't grow up with guns at all, so no hunting in the family. I started whitetail hunting in 2021 in the NE corner. Got lucky with a buck the first year, but skunked the last two seasons. I keep trying to find a good "how to" podcast for basic hunting strategy but can't seem to find one specific to whitetails in the PNW. Have you found anything good along those lines?
I found one episode of a podcast called cutting the distance that has a guest on who hunts our area for whitetail.  it’s episode 21 called mountain whitetails and how to hunt them with John Gabrio. The host is Jason Phelps and they’re with meateater. 


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Offline Drewrich

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Re: New member here. Hopefully this is the right place to post
« Reply #37 on: October 11, 2024, 11:02:51 AM »
Awesome, thank you all! Yeah Samong is great. I watch a lot of his stuff, *censored*, and some Gohunt stuff. I will check out those other podcasts. Thank you all!!

I should have also prefaced my first post- I passed on four small bucks last year so I think I'm in a great spot. I had listened to too many pros that were hunting for monster bucks and I thought I would do the same. But then it bit me and I went home empty handed... that was a bummer.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2024, 11:39:48 AM by Drewrich »

 


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