walking in dry leaves?
 

after my last trip into the woods i was making more noise than godzilla. how do u guys walk with all the leaves down? do u go out before and sweep them off the path you take? just wonderin. pete.

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

I use a turkey mouth call to mimic some noisy hens approaching--and it works!

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

Deer are a curious animal. I walk a little slower than I normally would trying to match the cadence of another deer in the woods. Many times I've climbed into stand and had a deer walk to me wondering what was walking through the leaves.

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

If you have to walk through the leaves, you cannot completely eliminate the sound. What you can do is walk slower, or mimic a different animal, so you don't have that two-legged, rythmic, crunch,crunch,crunch sound.

I have heard of people dragging a stick behind them to cover up the 'two-legged' cadence. I usually just walk slower and be carefull where I put my feet down.

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

I walk much slower , hesitate every couple of steps for about 30 seconds and listen like a deer , and walk on the balls of my feet to reduce my footprint . Sliding your toe slowly into the leaves instead of just stepping also reduces the noise considerably and allows you to feel for sticks before setting your foot down , try to time your steps so that the wind in the tree tops masks the sound . Never be louder than the forest around you , if you can hear you so can they .

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

All solid advice. You can also take 3 steps and pause and then 3 stpes and pause, etc...your way to your stand as it is suppose to better mimic a four legged beast.

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

I know walking on dry leaves can be a pain when your trying to be quiet but some things can't be done no matter how hard you try.
It doesn't really matter what time you head out to your stand , it could under the cover of darkness in the early morning or midday.
Just try to watch your step and avoid those twigs that snap , you could try to move those leaves to the side as you walk but I know its harder than to just to get to the your stand .
Some hunters just don't care if they make noise and others want to be quiet as a church mouse.

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

everyone gave good advice. i go slow(also cuts down on sweating..i could walk naked and still work up a sweat walking to my stand..carrying 30lbs on my back and bow in my hands) and i stop every couple feet. one guy i hunted with walked painfully slow. took like an hour to go a couple hundred yards. it was breaking daylight when we were moving in. we stopped every few steps and he grunted along the way every so often. whatever he did worked..i killed my first deer that day!

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

A friend of mine showed me how to sound like a squirl or chipmunk he says never take a couple steps and stop thats what a predator does I don't know all this advise is great finding what works and practice ... I also walk on the heals of my feet and try to bring my leggs up higher .. makes for a great workout

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

Thats why you take 3 steps at a time.

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

Always throw in an extra studder step every now and then after the tree step method. It's worked very well for me.

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

Agreed with all the above. When I was about 4 my dad told me "walk like a deer" it took me a while to understand, but now I walk the same way that I stalk/still hunt. Step, wait. Step, slow step, step, wait. You definitely don't get anywhere fast but it's proven itself effective over the years. Also one of those little things that has made a difference for me is that I make sure that I always stop either with my feet together or with my left foot forward (I'm a right handed shooter). This just ensures that I don't have to take a full step in order to get into shooting position if something happens quickly.

RE: walking in dry leaves?
 

I've been using turkey calls for years. It works like a charm. If you hunt from a climber, cluck on the way down when it gets dark if deer are close. I have yet to spook out a deer while clucking on a turkey call going in for a late afternoon stand, or coming out.