MrMatticus20

I am gonna try still hunting this weekend and I dont know alot of strategy behind it, so if you can provide some tips or tactics it would be appreciated. One I would like answered is how long should i stay in one spot? Thanks

BuckAlley

Still Hunting or Stalking big game is a method I like to use when the conditions permit it. Quiet walking is a must, light rainy, snowy days are good. Sometimes windy conditions that make stand hunting difficult or dangerous is a good time also. I do find still hunting requires more patients and attention then stand hunting. Take your time. What I do is try to have a set course or idea of area I want to walk through. I don't do it where I stand hunt. Walk very quietly, and slow taking time to look around while at it. I see too many guys spending time looking at there feet. I look at the ground for few feet in front of me for small branches, and walk toe to heal (Indian style) for several feet before looking at the ground again. I stop after walking for several yds, no certain distance. Just whatever looks good or if make some noise. Look until feel confident nothings in sight or around. Sometimes I spend 5-15 mins before move again. Its best to use cover, don't stick to open areas, move among the tree's, and brush for concealment. You'll especially need it if spot a deer, and need to adjust for a shot or make your way closer. Use binoculars to glass too. Give it a whirl, what you got to loose!!

AK

I agree with Buckalley. I'll also add to be aware of movement all around you, especially when you are moving. By contrast, when you pause, pay very close and focused attention to areas of brush or cover right in front of you that may be holding deer. I wish I had a nickel for every deer I've spooked inside of 15 yds because I did not know it was there until almost stepping on it. (Well, I'd have a dollar or two anyway.)

Binculars are extremetly helpful, not so much for looking at what is far ahead, but what is 10 to 40 yds away. Focus them back into the shadows and through brush to find deer you might otherwise miss. They're also helpful for identifying suspect objects you spot with your bare eyes. For example, "Is that a horizontal line a fallen log or a deer's back?" I once used my binoculars to spot a doe bedded down behind the leaves and shadows of a buttonbush shrub. I stalked to within 7 yds of it before I could see it without the use of binoculars...try as I did.

Hand pruning snips are the one thing I almost always take to the woods, especially when stillhunting. They are great for quietly snipping away the thorny branches that invariably hang out over deer trails just waiting to snag your jacket and make you cause a ruckus either freeing yourself or traipsing out wide around them. I keep them in my jacket pocket so I reach them easily to snip and move on.

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pdq 5oh

One thing I'd add, when you spot deer, look very carefully for others nearby. Yesterday I snuck to about 20 yds of two does I saw bedded. Then the third one I hadn't seen stood up. Game over. I saw them twice more, but they were on high alert.

Phil.
&quot;Could you guys be quiet, my dad's trying to shoot.&quot;<img src=icon_smile_shock.gif border=0 align=middle>

BuckAlley

I'm back, recalled something I've tried a few times under certain circumstances. On stalks that aren't quite as perfect as like. Example, maybe a section of woods has dried the ground sooner, because of more sunlight hitting it, and you have to move through it. Try using a turkey call. I carry a simple push button box. I'll do a couple light yelps with it as walk, and take shorter steps to imitate a walking turkey. It works!

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The Mouse

Here is another still hunting technique tip:

Always stop walking with your feet in a position that will allow you to draw your bow with as little leg/foot movement as possible. For example, a right handed shooter should stop with his left foot forward in a natural shooting position.

HuntingNet Member since Spring 2001