outdoor338

I hunted for elk and found that my GPS helped me get out of a bad area, have any of you ever walked into an area that was hard to hunt, hills, downed trees, swamps?

Dr. Mike

skeeter 7MM

DR. M I have had some rough moments in the woods, including finding myself stick n' berries deep in muskeg while moose hunting to top off wet to the waist, freezing temperature, I became a little panicked about direction to get back to the quad. I think it is a must to have a compass and gps along when you hunt. But you must be able to use and navigate with both devices just in case. We now hunt with 2 way radios as well but as most know when you get into rough terrain the coverage is hampered and they can be of no use. I also feel if hunting as a group you must have a plan if someone was to get lost and this includes carrying fire starter. I also think an idea and direction in which each guy is headed is important. If you hunt alone which I do a lot as well, you should have directions and possible places you may be in the event you don' t return home at a predetermined time. This something we seldom talk about but all fear to some degree the inability to find our way out of knarl or an unexpected situation. Devices such as a compass, gps, radio and maps can help reduce the worries. As my grandpa use to say: " prepare for the worst but expect the best" ! a philosphy I hold true when I head out into tough terrain and make sure I have the basics and tools to help me cope with an unforseen event.

Good hunting to all

xXx6182

I hunt the thickets and swamps of TN. I am sure there is worse places but considering I haven' t ever hunted anywhere else, this sh*t is THICK. That is one of the reasons I bought a summit, its light so I dont' get tired as easy..........I hope I haven' t got it yet.

akbound

Hi outdoor338,

While in Alaska a number of times I found myself either hunting by myself....or not at all. For just a morning or afternoon hunt I would tell her (my wife) where I was headed. (These locations were local...and she knew them!) For hunts that required me to be gone for several days/nights out of our local area, I' d do more planning. Of course the wife would kinda freak about it, but we did have a plan. I would always tell her the day (try to get close to the specific time of day) I planned on being back. Then I also gave her what we referred to as a " drop dead time" .

Let me explain: I would take a topographic map sheet of the area(s) I intended to hunt. Then I would put " onionskin" (copy paper) over top of the map sheet and outline pertinent information. Where I intended camp to be, possible route(s), and the area(s) I intended to concentrate on. After I had this " tracing" I would include information like the map sheet name on the bottom of the tracing. Several places on the tracing I would put little markers (with numbers or names) that corresponded to the map sheet, (so any one could simply take the appropriate map sheet and overlay my tracing(s).) When that was all finished I would include any notes on the sheet that I thought might be pertinent, equipment I carried, etc. This information I left with the wife!

If I knew I could not make it back home by the day/time I had told her...I would leave the area....find the nearest phone (might be 100 miles or more, not much cell coverage in large parts of Alaska then...don' t know yet if it has changed since) and let her know that the time had changed. Inconvenient maybe, but a possible life saver.

If I did not contact her....or show up at home by our predetermined " drop dead time" ....she was to contact the Alaska state police and report me as missing! Also she would at that time give them all of the information I left with her. Trust me...you do NOT want to initiate a search in Alaska because you were too lazy to notify someone you were okay. They would literally pull out " all the stops" . And I am talking to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars (and more) when required. If it was found out that you just were being lazy, negligent, whatever....you had a lot of P****D off people and maybe a H**L of a big bill!

On the other hand it was comforting to know that if something really did go wrong....if you could hold out until the predetermined date/time that help would be on the way. (And no, running out of gas, your ATV having a flat, etc., did not constituted an emergency in their mind.....So go prepared!)

LeeinVa1

I used to think the hills i climbed when i was 20 were pretty rough, but now, at age 63, i find the foothills are just as tough.

glob3006

The toughest place that I have ever hunted was in western Colorado just two weeks ago.
It was a 1200 vertical ft climb every day on what had to be a 75* slope????But that was the easy part! The dirt was soooo soft you needed two steps just to make one and if you didn' t have the dirt, you had very fragile shale rock that would give way and send you sliding with the slightest touch.Then it snowed and it just got worse!!!!!!!!!Lots of Elk and a great trip.....But absolutely the worst terrain I have hunted!!!!!!!!!![X(]

deer hunter x27

i thank the worst where i was hunting was with my cousin who own a ten acre loy bt we had to almost swim through a swamp in southern florida to get to our stand

brush buster

ALL we have is rough terrain outhere it can look like a nice hike then a 1/4 mile up your in the thickest most ancient looking forest god ever made, couple weeks ago i was running a ridge and had to turn back the manzanita and buck brush was so thick i couldn' t even turn around to scratch my elbow, and thats off the road, no comparision to the rockies or alaska but it can be a chalenge 15 mins outta my back yard...[]

EOTN

Seems like any place I pick to hunt is harsh. I don' t get a chance to scout much due to where I hunt as opposed to where I live. This year it turns out I' m hunting the side of a mountain. Granted, it' s not Alaska or Colorado, but New York still has some big hills. Ironically, I was born and raised in Westchester County, NY., which has an excellent deer population with plenty of trophy whitetail, and while I know plenty of the woods here from my youth, most of the land is private or postrd and inaccessable to me, so I have to drive hours North to hunt where theres a weeker deer population in woods that I' ve never been in before>oh well> I guess that' s just life.

bobcat 10

i live in tennessee.i hunt hills, to flats, to swamps......hills are big around my area.you have to grab a tree to get to the top.flats can be real thick in parts.swamps can be very big and deep but there is mostly small swamps in tenn.and we have them stinkin cedar trees they are rough if they are clumped in a thicket.hard to hunt an area with alot of cedars.hills makes you tired,but once you can see an intire ridge you better watch out ,the big bucks will follow the ridge.



go deep hunt hard.