Huntster Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Washington, Oregon, and northern California are well accessible by firest service roads..........but you may have to walk. I'm currently looking at the national forest areas where the PG film was shot, and those forest service roads are only open from mid-June to the end of deer season on Oct 21. That's only 4 months! But I don't think they can stop you from walking in, and frankly, that would also be less disruptive to the wildlife, including sasquatches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedHawk454 Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 33 minutes ago, Huntster said: Washington, Oregon, and northern California are well accessible by firest service roads..........but you may have to walk. I'm currently looking at the national forest areas where the PG film was shot, and those forest service roads are only open from mid-June to the end of deer season on Oct 21. That's only 4 months! But I don't think they can stop you from walking in, and frankly, that would also be less disruptive to the wildlife, including sasquatches. Yep. I think generally when the FR’s are closed by gate in the winter you can still walk in unless they specifically say you can’t. i like the idea of BiGFo0Ting by boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntster Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Many (if not most) of the sightings in Southeast Alaska have been either from a boat or access was by boat........primarily because access throughout the region is by boat. And a larger cabin cruiser provides great comfort in addition to access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted January 15, 2019 BFF Patron Share Posted January 15, 2019 3 hours ago, RedHawk454 said: I just gotta ask.. from a BiGFo0Ting perspective.. is there anything gained by using a boat to access certain spots in Washington? I've looked at the Puget sound area and it seems most places in WA are accessible by truck/car. I don't see a lot of islands off the west coat in the lower 48. Alaska on the other hand is a different story since it seems over half of their transportation is done by using boats or planes. I think the reservoirs along the North Fork of the Lewis River South and East of Mt St Helens might be a good place to cruise the shoreline at night with FLIR gear. Since the primary use of water craft is fishing and water skiing, at night no one is anywhere near the south shorelines. The South Shore of those reservoirs is uninhabited and not accessable by road and has some very rugged timber and multiple deep inlets where streams run into it. During the summer I believe that the reservoirs have to be a source of water for the BF in that area. The North shores have a highway that turns into a forest road and the boat ramps are along the road. I do not have a power boat or I would do it myself. Somehow floating along the shoreline in a kayak in the dark does not seem like a good idea to me. It would be my luck to bump into a BF out for a night swim. 3 hours ago, RedHawk454 said: I just gotta ask.. from a BiGFo0Ting perspective.. is there anything gained by using a boat to access certain spots in Washington? I've looked at the Puget sound area and it seems most places in WA are accessible by truck/car. I don't see a lot of islands off the west coat in the lower 48. Alaska on the other hand is a different story since it seems over half of their transportation is done by using boats or planes. I think the reservoirs along the North Fork of the Lewis River, South and East of Mt St Helens might be a good place to cruise the shoreline at night with FLIR gear. Since the primary use of water craft is fishing and water skiing, at night no one is anywhere near the south shorelines. The South Shore of those reservoirs is uninhabited and not accessable by road and has some very rugged timber and multiple deep inlets where streams run into it. During the summer I believe that the reservoirs have to be a source of water for the BF in that area. The North shores have a highway that turns into a forest road and the boat ramps are along the road. I do not have a power boat or I would do it myself. Somehow floating along the shoreline in a kayak in the dark does not seem like a good idea to me. It would be my luck to bump into a BF out for a night swim. 3 hours ago, RedHawk454 said: I just gotta ask.. from a BiGFo0Ting perspective.. is there anything gained by using a boat to access certain spots in Washington? I've looked at the Puget sound area and it seems most places in WA are accessible by truck/car. I don't see a lot of islands off the west coat in the lower 48. Alaska on the other hand is a different story since it seems over half of their transportation is done by using boats or planes. I think the reservoirs along the North Fork of the Lewis River, South and East of Mt St Helens might be a good place to cruise the shoreline at night with FLIR gear. Since the primary use of water craft is fishing and water skiing, at night no one is anywhere near the south shorelines. The South Shore of those reservoirs is uninhabited and not accessable by road and has some very rugged timber and multiple deep inlets where streams run into it. During the summer I believe that the reservoirs have to be a source of water for the BF in that area. The North shores have a highway that turns into a forest road and the boat ramps are along the road. I do not have a power boat or I would do it myself. Somehow floating along the shoreline in a kayak in the dark does not seem like a good idea to me. It would be my luck to bump into a BF out for a night swim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norseman Posted January 16, 2019 Admin Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 8 hours ago, RedHawk454 said: Yep. I think generally when the FR’s are closed by gate in the winter you can still walk in unless they specifically say you can’t. i like the idea of BiGFo0Ting by boat. I ride my horses and mules behind locked gates. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandoo Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 7 hours ago, SWWASAS said: Somehow floating along the shoreline in a kayak in the dark does not seem like a good idea to me. It would be my luck to bump into a BF out for a night swim. No kayaks. Not stable enough. Not enough room for equipment. I have thought about a 'water approach'. I have a small Zodiak. Electric trolling motors and batteries have come a long ways in a short amount of time. An inflatable has good stability. It would need a good canopy of camo material. Camo that is 'loose-leaf' cut for ventilation. Confidence decoys like birds would be good. The quiet way would be to drift and appear to be a clump of forest debris. Human smell and boat material odor would be factors. A disguised inflatable can be quiet but may look out of place. I would do daytime first. I am boots to the ground currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntster Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, Catmandoo said: ........I have thought about a 'water approach'. I have a small Zodiak. Electric trolling motors and batteries have come a long ways in a short amount of time. An inflatable has good stability. It would need a good canopy of camo material. Camo that is 'loose-leaf' cut for ventilation. Confidence decoys like birds would be good. The quiet way would be to drift and appear to be a clump of forest debris. Human smell and boat material odor would be factors. A disguised inflatable can be quiet but may look out of place. I would do daytime first........ I tried that on a solo brown bear hunt on Kenai Lake once, but without the camoflage you suggest. It's a Zodiac Mark II (13.5'), I had a 25 hp on it for when the battery died, and I poked along on a 55 lb trust electric trolling motor at @ 4 mph @ 3/4 throttle. I had a game caller going. No bears responded. But bears seem not to be alarmed by boats at idle or anchor. I hunted black bears in Prince William Sound out of a 22' cabin cruiser for years. We could idle around bays and coves @ 100 yards off the beach and see bears walking along the beach seemingly paying us no attention whatsoever. Sometimes they would see us coming, though, and walk into the forest. My suspicion is that they'd been shot at from boats before, a practice that has been illegal for a number of years now. Edited January 16, 2019 by Huntster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedHawk454 Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 2 hours ago, Huntster said: I tried that on a solo brown bear hunt on Kenai Lake once, but without the camoflage you suggest. It's a Zodiac Mark II (13.5'), I had a 25 hp on it for when the battery died, and I poked along on a 55 lb trust electric trolling motor at @ 4 mph @ 3/4 throttle. I had a game caller going. No bears responded. But bears seem not to be alarmed by boats at idle or anchor. I hunted black bears in Prince William Sound out of a 22' cabin cruiser for years. We could idle around bays and coves @ 100 yards off the beach and see bears walking along the beach seemingly paying us no attention whatsoever. Sometimes they would see us coming, though, and walk into the forest. My suspicion is that they'd been shot at from boats before, a practice that has been illegal for a number of years now. can you legally shoot them from the boat? 8 hours ago, Catmandoo said: No kayaks. Not stable enough. Not enough room for equipment. I have thought about a 'water approach'. I have a small Zodiak. Electric trolling motors and batteries have come a long ways in a short amount of time. An inflatable has good stability. It would need a good canopy of camo material. Camo that is 'loose-leaf' cut for ventilation. Confidence decoys like birds would be good. The quiet way would be to drift and appear to be a clump of forest debris. Human smell and boat material odor would be factors. A disguised inflatable can be quiet but may look out of place. I would do daytime first. I am boots to the ground currently. My cousin and I once hunted coyotes with an electric golf cart at night. Electric would a huge advantage because of how quiet they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntster Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 21 minutes ago, RedHawk454 said: can you legally shoot them from the boat?........ Some coastal game management units prevent it, but in interior units, one can shoot from a boat, but it cannot be under motor power or still under propulsion from the motor at the moment of the shot. I have also laid bait along the shoreline of Cooper Lake, then laid in the boat anchored offshore. Again, no luck. Either way (anchored, or cruising on electric power and calling), or sitting in a tree stand, it was COLD. I now prefer to bait on one side of a small pond, and sit in an ice fishing tent just inside the forest on the other side ofbthe pond, some 130 yards away. It's MUCH warmer (being out of the breeze), and my movement is hidden. The pond provides separation in case a sow grizzly shows up with cubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWWASAS Posted January 16, 2019 BFF Patron Share Posted January 16, 2019 10 hours ago, Catmandoo said: No kayaks. Not stable enough. Not enough room for equipment. I have thought about a 'water approach'. I have a small Zodiak. Electric trolling motors and batteries have come a long ways in a short amount of time. An inflatable has good stability. It would need a good canopy of camo material. Camo that is 'loose-leaf' cut for ventilation. Confidence decoys like birds would be good. The quiet way would be to drift and appear to be a clump of forest debris. Human smell and boat material odor would be factors. A disguised inflatable can be quiet but may look out of place. I would do daytime first. I am boots to the ground currently. I would think a camo net over the zodiak would be a good way to break up the silhouette. You would need to have navigation lights you could turn off when away from the docking area. Otherwise you could be ticketed for not having running lights operational at night. The reservoirs I mention normally do not have much current but often have wind blowing. Motor up wind then drift along the shore silently. There is not much beach so finding footprints is not likely. But I did find footprints along a small lake shore North of there. While there was not a trackway, it appeared to me that the BF waded along the lake shore to get within 1/2 mile of the campground it had been stalking around at night. I went there because BFRO had posted reports of BF activity in and near the campground. For all we know BF may like to swim during warm weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catmandoo Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 1 hour ago, SWWASAS said: For all we know BF may like to swim during warm weather. I understand that trolling with live bait works well. Any volunteers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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