help!!!!

[jayman448]

so this is the first year ive ever hunted. im the only hunter in my family now. so basically i dont know what im doing. i cant find a bloody deer to save my life. i dont care if i take it with a rifle or a bow. im hunting mule deer. what should i be looking for? ive hunted high elevations and low elevations and overlooked swamps and clear cuts and meadows. ive road hunted and i have wandered about through woods and meadows and clear cuts. ive been in dense woods and new growth and everything else i can bloody think of and i cant even find poop. any tips for a helpless noob?

[Pat B]

Talk to your local game warden. He knows where the deer are. 

[bowandarrow473]

Pick a spot where there is a game trail or deer sign and sit there until you see one! Deer are creatures of habit, they will more than likely come back to the same spot eventually, whether it be a buck checking his scrapes or a doe stopping by to grab a bite to eat, if there is sign, you will see one eventually. I've seen a six point come back to the same stand the day after I shot his buddy and be completely at ease, I've seen countless does come to the same stand every day and even if I shot one or two. They still came back. Deer are habitual so find a good spot where there's sign and sit there until you get a shot.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Relax and enjoy the opportunity. Keep your eyes open and watch what happens all around you. Keep your ears open and listen for all that is going on around you. That's what its all about. Not tracks, not scat and not antlers.

[JoJoDapyro]

That is why they call it hunting, and not just killing. I know of a lot of good places to hunt, but they aren't "My" spot. they are known by many and thus used by many.

[JW_Halverson]

Time in the field helps, too.  Along with wearing out a heckuva lotta shoe leather.

And slow the heck down!!! Spend three times more minutes looking (binoculars, spotting scopes, bare eyeballs) as moving.  Move quieter. NO, QUIETER THAN THAT! Never stand in the open, always "tree up" (stand next to something larger than you or capable of covering you with a shadow, or breaking up your outline), and never make sudden movements. 

Also, if you find a trail with deer prints, you can always sit on it.  A rule in fishing is "Moving water, still fish.  Still water, moving fish".  Well, the terrain don't move any too fast, so the deer generally are moving at least some of the time.

[jayman448]

thats a real good tip JW. and yea it is mostly about the nature of it... but i also kind of need to fill a freezer for my mother XD we have a deal XD. haha

[JoJoDapyro]

Hunting in itself is the reward, getting meat is a bonus.

[TimBo]

Good advice from JW.  For mule deer, figure out what they are eating this time of year (a local conservation officer or wildlife biologist should be helpful), find a place you can get up high enough to see over your meadows or clear cuts, get there early (like before sunup!), sit downwind with some binoculars, and watch for movement.  If you can't see very far because of woods/cover, you will need to scout some more or find someone willing to help you narrow things down.  Good luck!

[jayman448]

Welp i found a spot with more sign than id seen all year. Fresh poo and good tracks. Bumoed into a cow moose and a couple grouse but that was all. I think ilk have to return there. I believe i have found a trail one eats on quite frequently. Would you figure the morning hunt is kore productive than the evening hunt?

[Tracker0721]

I prefer super early morning and hunting between bedding and feeding areas closer to or around feeding areas. Grap a topo map with a satallite overlay google earth or caltopo.com and look for lakes, open meadows, flat ground surrounding a creek(swampy areas are great) and aspens. Now find the links between those and the nasties forest around. Saddles between hills, old logging roads, small drainages. Now find where those lay together. An aspen grove with an open stream at the top that has a drainage running to the saddle on a ridge with a dense forest on the other side. Bingo. Ambush location during the morning/ late evening. Still hunt through the aspens and drainage during the day. Wanna sit back and glass? Find a clearcut new or older, an old burn, or something open on a hillside with vegetation starting to grow. Watch the deer till they bed down then you have a few hours for a sneak. I had found the perfect spot for mulies but it was down low so I passed it up, a mile from home and only 500 feet up from the valley floor, went in grouse hunting the other day and saw the largest Mulie of my life. Body and rack. If you find the combo on a topo-satallite, go hunt it. Good luck bud! I'm a bit father south just across the border from grand forks.

[Chief RID]

You got it going on , now J man. Good Hunting!

[bradsmith2010]

try both morning and evening,, stay out as long as you can,,