Navigating in a dark forest

I am wondering ,what You are doing well before the hunt-at mornings ,or after the hunt in the afternoons-how you find your ways out from the forest? Without much disturbance(idea is to get back there the "next"time too,while leaving deer unaware of my presence)
Field edge,farmer properties mainly do not pose this question-paths ,roads are close,no issue walking safely thru fields.

I face the dilemma how to find -AND how to get back out from my spots ,which are generally in mature forest.Pine-spruce plantations,with some hardwood spots,or cedar swamps.
Spots are deep in the woods -or relatively deep in,away from roads or even well used paths.

I would like to develop a method of avoiding reflective tacks, as trail guides-they have a tendency to "walk".

The ideas is to do the entry -exit quietly,meandering thru forests,with everything in my way as obstacle, what a nice mature forest can offer.
I have no desire to use "monster" headlamps or very powerful flashlights either.


I go in ,and sit up the tree 0.5 hr before legal just about every time,and wait for the forest to quiet down,while waiting for the legal time.
At afternoon sits-i generally come down at legal,and "quietly"walk out.

Appreciate your ideas and feedback.

Just curl up in the bivy bag and stay there for the evening and morning hunt ....

I just do that lately as my old hunting group not holding me back as they did in past ...
Ha Ha Ha :ashamed::D Hi Hi Hi

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Originally Posted by gbk

I am wondering ,what You are doing well before the hunt-at mornings ,or after the hunt in the afternoons-how you find your ways out from the forest? Without much disturbance(idea is to get back there the "next"time too,while leaving deer unaware of my presence)
Field edge,farmer properties mainly do not pose this question-paths ,roads are close,no issue walking safely thru fields.

I face the dilemma how to find -AND how to get back out from my spots ,which are generally in mature forest.Pine-spruce plantations,with some hardwood spots,or cedar swamps.
Spots are deep in the woods -or relatively deep in,away from roads or even well used paths.

I would like to develop a method of avoiding reflective tacks, as trail guides-they have a tendency to "walk".

The ideas is to do the entry -exit quietly,meandering thru forests,with everything in my way as obstacle, what a nice mature forest can offer.
I have no desire to use "monster" headlamps or very powerful flashlights either.


I go in ,and sit up the tree 0.5 hr before legal just about every time,and wait for the forest to quiet down,while waiting for the legal time.
At afternoon sits-i generally come down at legal,and "quietly"walk out.

Appreciate your ideas and feedback.

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A small GPS unit maybe ? Night vision goggles ?

Basically, headlamp/flashlight and GPS do suffice.
I now use onXmaps with maps downloaded, tracks & waypoints saved on my phone. And always carry back-up GPS, compass, extra flashlight, etc.....

And a safety glasses

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Originally Posted by G.S.

Basically, headlamp/flashlight and GPS do suffice.
I now use onXmaps with maps downloaded, tracks & waypoints saved on my phone. And always carry back-up GPS, compass, extra flashlight, etc.....

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Originally Posted by alfoldivandor

And a safety glasses

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100%

Bring some the bush in dark is is prone to eye damage

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There are many variables to consider. Are you solo? Solo way into the bush off trail than recovery also becomes an issue (albeit secondary because if you get lost you gonna have bigger issues).

First off presumably you have found your off trail spot by conducting scouting in the daylight and the goal is to return and/or exit in the dark efficiently. I typically would visit many times in the spring and summer during daylight hours to totally get familiar with any and all landmarks. Than i would start visiting in the summer well in advance of the season in the dark to practice when mistakes can be made with little or no consequence.

During the season the time within the season makes a huge difference. Early bow season when all leaves are still out is vastly different than late December in the snow. Clear skies are your friend and compass or GPS is unnecessary if you can see Polaris (north star). Study moon-rise and moon-set times for your dates. If you know the time of day and you can see the moon you can also navigate based on that. Lost track of how many times i have used the moon to get my bearings.

Another trick that has saved me once when I got turned around is noting the compass direction of the prevailing wind at the start of your hunt and than using that later to get your bearings.

And of course always bring a compass and learn how to use it. GPS is good too but honestly i am old school and don't like anything that needs batteries or relies on third party satellite coverage. That being said i have one in my kit and know how to use it but honestly haven't used the thing outside practice in 20 years.

As for lighting i wear a head lamp with a low illumination red lamp. The red light seems to bother the critters less. Once are the leaves are off and if skies are clear with a decent moon i often don't use a light but still have it in my bag if i need it (actually have four of them in the bag as i hang them in trees them to mark blood spots when tracking).

And make sure you have what you need in your pack (for me that means enough to survive 2 days given the time of year) and wear your pack properly - i.e both shoulder straps and the waist band secured at the proper length/tension. Saved my butt 2 years ago. Was hunting an area i know like the back of my hand and stepped on a log and it rolled and i went 60 feet down the side of a ravine that i have crossed 100s of times. Solo with no cell reception laying at the bottom on my back in the dark with a badly broken leg. If i wasn't wearing my pack properly i would have lost it in the fall. Had a tactical hatchet, bush-craft knife, paracord, first aid kit, jerky, peanuts, water, whiskey and ibuprofen in the bag. I couldn't get up but was able to get pack off and take 1200 mg of ibuprofen, drank 12 oz of whiskey, bottle of water and ate 100 grams of jerky to settle my stomach. Waited 45 minutes and was able to use a tree to pull myself up onto my good leg after the drugs and booze kicked in. Used the cord, knife and hatchet to splint my leg and make crutches. Than walked my butt out of there real slow.

I rarely use a light especially for turkeys they hate them. It takes a 20-30 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust to dark. Therefore in the morning it’s key to let them adjust before you walk. After you’ve got everything ready you need to turn all lights off at the vehicle and spend 20 minutes adjusting before you walk. In the evening your eyes should be adjusting as light falls in the stand so no issues just don’t look at your phone or other light


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Always use a light in the dark, to prevent getting shot at. I sometimes use the brown reflective tacks on trees once I get to a more remote part of my walk, they dont work as well but are very difficult to see in the day light. Another method I use is to hunt mid day, some days there is more deer traffic around 10 AM and again around 3PM than the typical morning/evening hours.

After rereading your OP I'm thinking that going in and out with some daylight is the safer way to hunt. I would not want to drag out a big Buck in the dark by myself, besides if you did shoot one at Dusk you still have to track it and find it which would probably take you away from your stand into parts unknown ? My gang hunts on 50 acre tracts of bush (woodlots) that becomes 500 acres in the dark so the camp rule is climb down off the stand at Sunset and do a nice , slow walk out.

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Originally Posted by longpointer

After rereading your OP I'm thinking that going in and out with some daylight is the safer way to hunt. I would not want to drag out a big Buck in the dark by myself, besides if you did shoot one at Dusk you still have to track it and find it which would probably take you away from your stand into parts unknown ? My gang hunts on 50 acre tracts of bush (woodlots) that becomes 500 acres in the dark so the camp rule is climb down off the stand at Sunset and do a nice , slow walk out.

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Its not a lot of fun looking for a deer after darkness but is really part of the process as deer are most active before last light. Good reflective flagging tape is probably your best friend and using enough of it to actually follow it out. A couple of good flashlights, also very important.

My experience is that most deer if shot properly drop on the spot, near you blind or tree stand.

The other is that they run, but even then they generally do not run much more than 100 yards, it just seems longer in the dark.

Now bow hunting is a whole other game for recovery and techniques.

Depends, if I’m looking for a wounded deer than it’s lights. Otherwise I memorize how the ridges are in relation to where I need to go and just follow them out or in. I personally enjoy walking through the bush at night. Edit: go slow, your eyes will slowly adjust and you will be able to see enough to safely navigate.

the bush I deer in has a main trail up the middle of it so pretty much no light required. Turkey bush has many trails and I just know them well enough to get to where I hunt . If I do need a light to walk in I have a ball cap that has green lights in it. If deer hunting I carry several flash lights with me, so if get a deer towards end of legal I have lots of light to track and field dress. It is easy to get turned around in the dark dragging a deer. So what I try to do is get everything ready to start dragging, go put a light up in a tree at the main trail so I can see it, go back to deer and start dragging it out keeping an eye on the hanging light, basically the same thing in daylight, carry an orange hat to hang in a tree so I have something to aim for, I always have my quad with me on the trailer if I get deer I come out and get quad, drive to where deer was shot then track down with my dog, and then get quad as close as I can, then leave running with lights on, so that is my target to get back.

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Originally Posted by sabmgb

the bush I deer in has a main trail up the middle of it so pretty much no light required. Turkey bush has many trails and I just know them well enough to get to where I hunt . If I do need a light to walk in I have a ball cap that has green lights in it. If deer hunting I carry several flash lights with me, so if get a deer towards end of legal I have lots of light to track and field dress. It is easy to get turned around in the dark dragging a deer. So what I try to do is get everything ready to start dragging, go put a light up in a tree at the main trail so I can see it, go back to deer and start dragging it out keeping an eye on the hanging light, basically the same thing in daylight, carry an orange hat to hang in a tree so I have something to aim for, I always have my quad with me on the trailer if I get deer I come out and get quad, drive to where deer was shot then track down with my dog, and then get quad as close as I can, then leave running with lights on, so that is my target to get back.

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Smart way to hunt.

Thanx to all for the feedback.

just for the records,i am not worried about tracking or hauling deer out in the dark.With good flashligts,GPS,knowing the land AND Cell phone Aerial views/maps and points indicating my "exact" location,i really have no issue going thru "any"forest.
By then-there is NO need to worry about disturbing deer by wandering around,being noisy, leaving scent trails etc.The deed is done,and hopefully,the deer will be found.
Ocassionally,if tracking needs require,i even get out-and come back next morning(being at the spot at first light-after a sleepless night ).

Hovewer-going in and out in the dark,AS quietly as possible(not a time to step on branches,wade thru bushes unkown,leave scent all over the place )and AS sneaky as one can (no flashlights,or minimum,no GPS watching every 100 yards or so...)in a big timber, is my problem.

Once more-awesome ideas,and help.Thanx

I really don't worry about scent, and as far as stepping on a few branches not to concerned either. I walk in slow and I don't touch anything as I walk by. I have had bucks and doe's follow my tracks with no concern. I also try to be at my stand half hour before legal, so bush has had lots of time to come back to normal

If ever l am going to a stand in the dark in a location l need to mark for dark travel. l cut the reflective material from an old vest up into small pieces, tack them to trees in or out on my path. A flashlight shows the way and you can clean up after you stop using stands.

There are a variety of spray paints that go on clear; but reflect light. Benefit it that during the day, there is no tape or thumb tacks anyone can move, you can also spray more trees since it is invisible during the day.
This is just one example, you can probably find it cheaper elsewhere were it is not promoted to hunters.
https://tillsonburggunshop.com/Buck-...g-Paint-Canada

If it's a hassle getting deep into a spot in the morning darkness then I don't bother. I'll leave it for the night sit. You'll have a much easier time getting into it at 3pm and you'll make less noise. It's easy in daylight to see where your retreat path is going to be when you walk out in the dark. I always sit till the last second of legal time! I've shot a pile of deer in the last five to ten minutes of legal time. I would never be a member of any camp that had rules that you're walking out at the primest of all times. Crazy!

I carry a headlamp with me. It can shine in either white, red or green… the latter 2 don’t wreck your night vision. My gps displays a bread crumb trail of my route, so it’s easy to orient myself to the walking trail if I should wander off it. Every time I walk in or out of a stand, I’ll clear twigs and branches (on standing trees or on the ground) along the way so to eliminate noise and getting poked in the eye. After a few trips in, the trail is pretty much cleaned up to the point that deer eventually start using them.

I always have lights with me, but in 40 years of hunting the northern Ontario woods I think I've used them a few times at most going in and out of my stand. Perhaps I have good night vision, but it just never seems to be so dark that I can't see enough to get in and out. That being said, you need to let your eyes adjust. If using a gps, or your phone turn the backlight way down first so you don't wreck your night vision everytime you look at it.

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Originally Posted by Fenelon

If it's a hassle getting deep into a spot in the morning darkness then I don't bother. I'll leave it for the night sit. You'll have a much easier time getting into it at 3pm and you'll make less noise. It's easy in daylight to see where your retreat path is going to be when you walk out in the dark. I always sit till the last second of legal time! I've shot a pile of deer in the last five to ten minutes of legal time. I would never be a member of any camp that had rules that you're walking out at the primest of all times. Crazy!

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Crazy ? Maybe but that's what a lot of people said about hockey and bicycle helmets too. We hunt Southwestern Ontario bush lots (forests) in November Controlled Hunt and most years all the leaves haven't fallen off the smaller undergrowth and it gets dark in the woods fairly quickly with few groomed trails to use so as Captain of the Hunt I made the Rule of "boots on the ground come Sunset" and for 20 plus years everyone has come home safe and sound. As we use metal and wooden treestands to hunt from I like hearing that they are at least safely on the ground . We have shot deer late in the day (dusk ?) but those were usually always on the side of a field... go figure, if you can't see them you can't shoot them. We only shoot sabots or slugs and have rarely had to put a second shot into the deer and love that "vertical tracking" performance of them, worse case is they walk away only to pile up nearby. Everyone has they're own style of hunting but in my camp it's safety first ! Having fun is second and meat on the pole is bonus.

I have had good luck with reflectors, the last set I put in have to be 20 years ago. Each year I carve them out of the trees if they are growing in. I find I only use them coming out in the dark if I have soy something, I seem to find my way if I am not dragging something. My spot is down a deer trail so it is also well beaten down.