Backpack style hunt for whitetail deer in Ontario?

Hey all, I've been hunting crown land now for 3 years in muskoka/ south river area in a blind with zero luck. Have really been interested in watching backpack elk hunts in the west, seems exciting and a challenge. Just curious, is backpack style, spot and stalk hunting for whitetail a thing in ontario? I always figured I would be near impossible to hunt that style for whitetail and would just be bumping the deer long before you could see them? Has anybody here done it with any success? Really needing a win here have been 3 years and alot of effort with nothing to show for it.

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Not a hunter but have watched some of the same shows as you. The thing about that style of hunting out west is the geography seems to allow for long sight lines and the more mountainous open terrain good vantage point for longer spotting. Ontario is much more dense forest with little to no alpine type terrain so the topography is different. One area that has some similarities is up around the killarney area. The "La Cloche Range" has some good hill hiking with longer viewpoints and less dense woods (although not open alpine meadows like out west) I was hiking the Heaven's Gate Trail a few years ago and there is hunting that happens in the area (it abuts crown land) and it seems to me that might be a better area for backpack style hunting. Of course I haven't done any actual hunting - so I could be completely wrong.

By pack hunting,do you mean campout hunting overnighters or day hunting using back packs to haul gear in and drag meat out? There's different techniques used for each style. I've done both over the years. To me,it's the purest form of hunting,but,there's advantages and disadvantages to both.

For the most part, that's how we hunt. Our camp is on crown land. We usually go out in pairs and have good success just walking around slowly. I and another camp member have come up on 2 bucks laying down.

Ontario is more suited to using a canoe than hiking in my experience. Taken numerous bear that way but never tried deer that way as I have better options for deer at our camp.

Actually hunting bear via canoe right now. Put the canoe in 90 minutes ago for the afternoon/evening hunt.

Spot and stalk for whitetails in Ontario isn’t really a thing. Certainly not as you describe. It’s possible to see a deer in an open area such as a field, clearcut, or old burn and try to sneak up on them, but the opportunities to do it all day long are limited. Whitetails spend most of the daylight under cover or close to it.

In northwest Ontario, you can track or still-hunt over large expanses of crown land, all day long. There are areas around Kenora with lots of exposed bedrock that a guy can sneak along on and shoot a deer.

1/2 of my deer have come still hunting, the other half in stands. So sure its a valid technique. It is slow paced hunting though, not spot and stalk, but slowing moving through the bush and hopefully getting a deer before it sees you and spooks. Although that still happens alot, I've also had decent success doing it. Really helps if you have the right conditions (rain recent or on going, or wet snow), if its dry, its like walking on potato chips and your odds are a lot less.

I have an old hunting partner,he used to hunt only that way all his life,around Bala.Quite successful rifle hunter.
They had a cottage on a remote lake, they would then walk the bush out from the cottage, or canoe to other areas of the waterbodies, and walk the bush there.
Try to read from the Benoit brothers. They are excellent trackers,and they did quite some hunts,some in Ontario and Quebec as well as in Maine .They have bunch of videos also, you will see-not all the successful hunt is on an ideal landscape.

But like many said-not all the land/bush is suitable for that kind of hunt.

If You have reasonable walkability and visibility, AND the area holds deer-what will You loose to try out?Walk all day,again and again,then You can build Yourself up for campout hunts too(if needed)

You'd have much better luck with spot and stalk opportunities in SW Ontario where there are lots of open agri fields. Only time I've snuck up on deer were in farm fields. But of course there is no crown land that allows that. If you can pack in a tree saddle, or just sit on the ground by a trail then I could see that happening.

One of my old hunting buddies on Manitoulin Island still hunted for years and shot his fair share of deer. Walking very slowly and stopping lots was the key to his success.

Good luck

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Originally Posted by Species8472

Ontario is more suited to using a canoe than hiking in my experience. Taken numerous bear that way but never tried deer that way as I have better options for deer at our camp.

Actually hunting bear via canoe right now. Put the canoe in 90 minutes ago for the afternoon/evening hunt.

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Good luck Species, hope you score. Keep us posted

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Originally Posted by JeffPires

Hey all, I've been hunting crown land now for 3 years in muskoka/ south river area in a blind with zero luck. Have really been interested in watching backpack elk hunts in the west, seems exciting and a challenge. Just curious, is backpack style, spot and stalk hunting for whitetail a thing in ontario? I always figured I would be near impossible to hunt that style for whitetail and would just be bumping the deer long before you could see them? Has anybody here done it with any success? Really needing a win here have been 3 years and alot of effort with nothing to show for it.

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Welcome to the forum.
It might be another options but you might want to look at what you've been doing the last 3 years.
Is there Deer around?
Are you scaring them away.
Are you sitting in blind first thing and last light?
Are you sitting all day?
Are you moving in blind a lot and making noise?
Is your blind well positioned downwind from Deer travel?

If you don't see Deer, you will never shoot one regardless the method you hunt.
You need to figure out what your doing wrong then work on that.

Good Luck

My natural walk is quiet. Many times I’ve got to 25y on deer and bear.
Try getting on a fresh track in the snow and see if you can find the end.

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Originally Posted by JeffPires

Hey all, I've been hunting crown land now for 3 years in muskoka/ south river area in a blind with zero luck. Have really been interested in watching backpack elk hunts in the west, seems exciting and a challenge. Just curious, is backpack style, spot and stalk hunting for whitetail a thing in ontario? I always figured I would be near impossible to hunt that style for whitetail and would just be bumping the deer long before you could see them? Has anybody here done it with any success? Really needing a win here have been 3 years and alot of effort with nothing to show for it.

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I think you would need good skill sets to accomplish this type of hunt. You need to know how to navigate in the bush, you need to know the terrain, you need the physical strength to get a deer out of the wood's. Deer are experts at hiding that is why they have survived since the ice age and on the ground they have all the advantages. I have been hunting deer for 30 years or so and would not try this type of hunt, unless I got real bored. The perfect day would be a sunny bright late fall day with good tracking snow and I would give it a go for a while.

I would think you would be more productive setting up a tree stand on a pinch point and waiting things out.

Deer in central Ontario have had the absolute crap kicked out of them 5 of the past 6 years by brutal winters. They are only just now on the recovery. The last 3 years are not reflective of the norm in the areas you are hunting.

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Originally Posted by blasted_saber

Deer in central Ontario have had the absolute crap kicked out of them 5 of the past 6 years by brutal winters. They are only just now on the recovery. The last 3 years are not reflective of the norm in the areas you are hunting.

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This is very true. Many of us have struggled the last 6 years

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Originally Posted by FishHog

This is very true. Many of us have struggled the last 6 years

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My grandfather does not remember a worse period of deer hunting in his 80 years

Been on these backpack deer trips in the past and most turn into a gong show. Rifle season in November you’re at the whim of the weather. One day in a t-shirt and next day I have woke up to 4-6inches of snow. Makes tenting and camping out backcountry a real chore and have never seen my success increase vs just a day hunt. I spent 10days on a backpack moose hunt in sept northwest Ontario...first two days were beautiful then dropped to -10 and heavy snow. Spent more time surviving than hunting LOL.

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Originally Posted by JeffPires

Hey all, I've been hunting crown land now for 3 years in muskoka/ south river area in a blind with zero luck. Have really been interested in watching backpack elk hunts in the west, seems exciting and a challenge. Just curious, is backpack style, spot and stalk hunting for whitetail a thing in ontario? I always figured I would be near impossible to hunt that style for whitetail and would just be bumping the deer long before you could see them? Has anybody here done it with any success? Really needing a win here have been 3 years and alot of effort with nothing to show for it.

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Remember the 5 P's.....prior planning prevents poor performance. If going on a camp out,back pack hunt,always assume it will be a winter hunt and go accordingly with proper equipment,the very least of which should have a prospector tent with a wood stove,a way to dry clothes and a bug out plan in case you get snowed in. The tent hunts I experienced were the best of my hunting adventures. If it wasn't for being a senior hunter (cold and damp is no longer an option) ,I'd dearly love to do it again. Good luck and keep us posted.