Bought a new spotting scope the other day. If nothing else I can use it at the range for looking at groups. But what I really wanted it for was to try more of a Spot & Stalk type hunting for the blacktail & cougar here in Washington. I have always been more of a drive or sit on a clear cut/deer trail type of hunter. Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions? I know I am probably wasting my time because the blacktail like the deepest, most wet brush they can find, but it is a good excuse to by a new toy. Slim

Learning about my new spotting scope. Not near as much fun as I would have hoped. Took it up hunting this last week. It was hot and I discovered on sunny days at higher powers the mirage makes it almost worthless. On cooler mornings it worked great. Started out low powered, 15X and zoomed in when I really wanted to see. I think 45X would have been high enough but I wanted 60X at the top end. Slim

I've used mine with some secess. Took 2 Blacktail that I spotted when eating my lunch. In October the weather should be cooler, (I hope).That would lessen the marige effect. What area do you hunt, Mt.Adams? Fuzz

Fuzz, Out of Randle across the Cowlitz, hold to the left at the "Y". That is the 23 Road. Just past mile marker 6 on the right Ginie and I have a place there. A little campsite lot. We hunt all up that road. In fact on 23 just past the 17 mile marker is where I took my deer. Hunt up Lone Tree off of 23 and Cat Creek on the 21 Road. The Packwood and Lewis River GMUs. How about you? Slim

Slim,
We typically use our spotting scopes in the early moring or late evening. The exception to that is during mid-day when spotting for bedded down elk.
If you can keep the sun behind you it is always a plus.
We keep it at the lower power then maginfy to identify if needed.
xphunter

SlimL I usually hunt Vail Weyerhaeuser Tree Farm because it,s right in my back yard and I work there. I have done alought of camping & fishing on Cat creek and East canyon creek.Done some hunting at Dark Meadows . Fuzz

That is basically how I hunt deer here in nova scotia when I go deer hunting except I don't have a scope . As it is required by law to wear full blaze orange I usually first wash my clothes with water let them air dry then put them in garbage bags with strong smelling fresh pine branches,some ground debris from roughly in the area I will hunt in for no less than a week or two if not longer I don't bother with all those scent items .On those days that I go I usually try to get in to the middle of my area early by 8 moving slowly and delibrately then I lay down in under a small group pines or thicket for a while usually half asleep an hour or two this lets the animals calm down and resume thier routine ( besides I catch up on my sleep )and this also allows you to get use to the regular sounds. Some times as most creatures are very curious they may follow you in not all the time but it does happen . Then I start looking for fresh or old tracks and follow them they eventually all lead to the same spots moving slowly occassionally stopping for awhile and use my antlers and buck call . the last time I went was about 4 years ago the buck pop. was low and the does were high so it was harder to convince the bucks to pop thier heads out no competition for the does but in one spot I had one circle me a couple of times trying to catch wind of me and in another spot not far I had a buck srape the ground not 20 feet from where I sat but I couldn't shoot as I would have to move to see ,had a good view of the deer run but he came in from another angle and I didn't want to disturb him much so I lost him in a swamp , I have gone since due to couple of things but this year I am going . The brush at times is thick here and most hunters put out apples and sit in a tree I prefer my way I may not get one but I have passed on quite a few does , we have an antler law so you have to check first and I do get quite close to them one year I got less than 15 feet from a small deer born that spring when the doe jump straight up in the air hit the running went into the brush turned came back about 60 feet from where i was still standing to check on things snorted the little one left ( during bird season only )and I have jump quite a few more over the years , my clothes are of the type that is a branch rubs against them there is little sound and you do have to pay attention to your feet placement ,and alot of other things why one year a group of hunters came out of this one spot with a deer so I went in to the same area and started casting for tracks found a set followed them and must have lost the first set and picked up a different set somehow carried on and came upon a buck feeding in the field he started running I fired 3 times but he was just at the woods and all I hit was branches he crashed through fences on his way into swamp I tracked him from almost an hour but no blood trail at all later I found out he was a 14 pointer there was a guy in a tree stand counting instead of shooting . Here there is no laws regarding trespassing unless it is properly registared and posted all around your property and then all you can do is ask the hunter to leave . To me hunting is not just shooting the animal but I always like to see how close I can get and how long I can track/ chase the same deer my mom always said that I should hunt with a camera it is the same with bird hunting I just like watching my dog work and drink fresh prec coffee in the woods .

Carter, you said you have an antler law in Nova Scotia. What's that? Fuzz, I used to hunt Vail. Ed Freelund, who lives on Laurence Lk. and his sons John & Jim adopted me when my dad died and let me hunt with them. Ever met them? I used to take a week off and camp out intil the a__holes & s___ for brains started forcing Weyerhauser to lock the gates. Used to hunt the 3390 Road system. Took a few deer out of there. I would like to hunt it some more but it is so hard to learn an area when you have to get in at dark and out at night. That's why I started hunting Randle. What I really like is the camping with guns. E-mail me some time. After deer season maybe we can get together and chase some cougar. Slim

[ 09-23-2002, 04:34: Message edited by: SlimL ]