Tips for Success Series: "Pick a Spot & Stick With It!"

I’ve wanted to write up a series of brief articles to post here based upon the things that I have learned over the last several years that have dramatically impacted the success that I have experienced on my hunts. Here is the first of such articles.
The absolute best advice that I could give to any individual who is just starting to get into hunting is: Pick a spot and stick with it.
If you were to simply go to the Utah DWR website or go to the DWR store and look at maps of the hunt units here in Utah (or really anywhere in the western US) you’ll notice one thing… they are all huge. All of the individual units contain more acreage than what one hunter can cover in one season, heck multiple seasons. So the challenge faced by every hunter out there is to identify which of these hunt units we will spend our time and energy actually hunting and where we really hope to find the animals we are looking for. This is an overwhelming task, especially for those with zero experience or knowledge of a specific area.

Our camp on my grandpa's Central Mountain, Manti
 elk hunt with the mountain we hunted in the background.

I experienced this recently when my grandfather drew a Central Mountains, Manti limited entry rifle elk tag. It was a brand new hunting unit to me, I had never once stepped foot on the Manti chasing any kind of big game animal. We were starting the research process on this unit from scratch. I was designated as researcher for the pre-hunt scouting so I went through a couple different steps to “pick a spot.” I immediately turned to the internet for any information regarding different locations within the unit. With a list of locations (mostly vague generalized area names) I turned to Google Earth and began looking for areas that would appear to fit my grandpa’s hunting style. From that time on Google Earth I was able to refine those generalized locations to specific locations that looked promising to me. With those locations in mind I took a drive with my grandpa to those areas just to check them out and we made a preliminary decision where we would focus based on what looked best to us. As opening morning rolled around and the hunt progressed we rarely ventured far from that spot. We picked a spot and we stuck with it… for better or worse (2014 Rifle Elk).
Whether you are hunting general season deer, general season spike or any bull elk, or a limited entry hunt you inevitably have to make a choice of where to hunt. The permits issued will tell you which unit(s) within the state you can legally pursue game in, however within each unit are numerous possibilities. In many units there are areas with different types of terrain, different levels of access, and inevitably differing amounts of other hunters and the game you are after. This is where you need to make a decision… and once you make a decision stick with it. Admittedly, this advice applies best to general season hunts where you can make an initial decision then year after year as you hunt that same area you can build a knowledge base that will ultimately yield consistent success. Limited entry hunts are a little bit different because the hunt is usually a one-time deal or if you do return for a second hunt there it is often years later. I have heard of great success using this philosophy on limited entry hunts if a large hunting group decides that they will all apply for the same hunt individually year after year and as each member of the group draws their tag they build their knowledge of the unit and share the knowledge and experience within the group.
Let me illustrate the benefit of picking a spot and sticking with it through two personal experiences. First the positive… I have some family property and have hunted that area for deer for nearly 20 years now. In 2012 a couple friends and I decided to try hunting elk there for the first time. We had very little knowledge of the elk herd in the area, we really began the hunt not knowing if we would even see an elk. We considered the hunt an educational experience more than anything, we ended up seeing a handful of elk but were not able to create any real chances for filling our tags (2012 Muzzleloader Elk). The things that we learned on that first hunt influenced the scouting strategy that we put in place the following summer. Later that fall, with the knowledge gained from the previous hunt and a summer of scouting, we had a much clearer idea of where we thought the elk were going to be. Success came for me on the second evening when I was able to shoot my first bull elk, a spike. We saw even more elk during the 2013 hunt and learned even more (2013 Rifle Elk). In 2014, now with two hunts and two summers of focused scouting, we felt that we had a pretty good base of knowledge and were anticipating success. We found elk easily and regularly during that hunt, and on the second morning I again tasted success as I was able to shoot a nice little 5x5 bull (2014 Muzzleloader Elk). In 2015 we continued to build our knowledge and had an especially successful year shooting two cows, a nice buck deer, and narrowly missing our chance at a couple nice little 5x5 bulls (2015 Muzzleloader Elk).

General area where a couple nice bulls were missed
on the 2015 muzzleloader elk hunt.

Over the course of the last four years we have built a solid knowledge base on our little spot, and over the course of the four years we have been able to increase our chances of success each year.
Now, the negative… after the 2009 deer hunt we decided that we were not seeing the number of deer that we thought we should be seeing on our family property. So for 2010 we determined to hunt a different area of the state. None of us had hunted this new area in more than 25 years, so essentially we were going into this area as if it were brand new. We didn’t do any scouting and showed up for the hunt the Tuesday before the muzzleloader opener and thought we should be able to find deer pretty easily. Four very frustrating days later we drove home and promised ourselves that we would never again discount the value of the knowledge that we had of the family property that made it seem so easy to find deer and have success (2010 Muzzleloader Deer).

One of the nicer bucks that was taken by my brother
on one of his afternoon drives.

My brother is a “road hunter” extraordinaire (road hunters benefit from this philosophy as well) and along with my father and grandfather have developed a routine that they follow religiously throughout the day. Each morning they make the same turns, following the same route each morning. Shortly after lunch they made a short drive into one specific area. Then in the evening they follow a different route for the evening drive. I don’t hunt with them much because I prefer to spend more time hiking around… but honestly, those guys have it figured out! Over the span of the last three years they have killed five deer on their brief afternoon drive just driving to this one specific spot at 1:45 in the afternoon and each of those deer have all been killed in the same small clearing.
With this philosophy you should desire to become so familiar with an area that you know exactly where and when you should be seeing deer, elk, or moose (or whatever you are pursuing). You will become instantly aware if something is “off”… if another hunter, or perhaps another predator, has been through the area. You will also become instantly aware if everything is set up for you perfectly. In my opinion, this is when hunting gets exceptionally fun.

The north facing slope where I watched the herd of elk before
shooting a cow near the water hole that is out of the picture. 

Last fall, on the muzzleloader deer hunt a friend and I hiked into my now favorite spot and just like we had done the two previous years we planned to sit over a small water hole for the evening. The bowl was quiet as we worked through the aspens and before we even arrived at our predetermined spot we began to spot elk working across the north facing slope that we would be watching the rest of the evening. We quickly recognized that conditions were perfect, the elk and other animals had been unpressured, and there was no question that we would at least have one opportunity to fill the cow elk tags that we also had in our pockets. Four hours later, after watching a small elk herd for the entire afternoon, three cows made their way to the bottom of the hillside to the small pond. My friend and I had waited patiently a mere 60 yards from that small pond for this opportunity. We had sat over this same pond the previous year with the exact same result, except last year I decided to pass on a cow elk because a decent little buck was also spotted just up the hill. I have absolute confidence that I will be able to go to the same spot next year and with favorable conditions be able to fill my cow elk tag.
The most difficult part of picking a spot and sticking with it is just that… picking the area or spot! My only advice is to find something that looks good to you. If it looks good to you then you will be more inclined to put in a little more effort to try and figure it out. Do some research, spend some time on Google Earth looking at satellite imagery, if possible go have a look at it yourself on a scouting trip, or if you can’t scout spend some quality time there during the hunt checking it out. Google Earth is a phenomenal tool… there have been many new spots within my area that I have explored thoroughly on Google Earth then later was able to go and see firsthand and it felt like I had been there before.
The second most difficult part of picking a spot and sticking with it is to know how long to stick with it especially if the area isn’t producing like you want it to. This is a tough call to make. Giving up on a spot you thought looked good is like admitting defeat and nobody likes that. None of us want to invest any amount of time in an area only to find that the animals just aren’t there and be left with the feeling that all the time was wasted. On the flip side, nobody wants to give up on a potentially great spot too soon. I suffer from this… not wanting to give up too soon, especially with some of the spots that showed real promise but have never really developed into anything tangible.
Inevitably as you develop a knowledge base of an area you will learn not only the areas that are productive but also the areas that don’t warrant your future time. I have one spot that I hunted three years in a row for deer beginning back in 2011… it was a very good area and I had the opportunity to shoot a very nice 4x4 mule deer buck there in 2012. However, since 2013 I have not been back. I haven’t abandoned it because it is a poor area, but I have spent my time in other areas of the property. I know that area is still productive and I have it on a list of places to check out but it is now a little further down my list than it was three years ago. Then I have another place that I set a couple of trail cameras for two summers in 2010 and 2011, and over the course of two summers I got mostly pictures of small bucks and moose. Nothing that I saw really interested me in that spot so after two summers I abandoned it entirely. On a whim this last summer (2015) I put a couple trail cameras there again and saw a number of nice bucks and lots of elk… don’t forget that over the course of several years things can change! As you develop your knowledge base of an area and some spots fall off your radar don’t neglect them entirely, be sure to circle back every several years because these animals move around.

One of my "go to places" that I no longer go to regularly.

The hardest part is making the call to move on from those really good spots to learn better spots. All of the spots that I have high on my list today and hunt every year were not on my list three years ago, and many of those places that were my “go to” places several years ago now hardly get a second glance as they are well down the list of options. I don’t think this is a bad thing, it’s a consequence of learning more and more about the area that I hunt and really dialing in on just a couple specific spots that are exceptionally productive for me during the hunting seasons.
The key to this philosophy is that it takes a little bit of time to learn the potential of any spot that you pick to hunt. You may not have success (in the terms of a filled tag) immediately when you go into a new area but it is my opinion that if you give yourself some time to learn it then success will come and eventually be had on a regular and consistent basis.