How Do You Go About Still Hunting?
10-05-2009, 12:22 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,304
How Do You Go About Still Hunting?
This applies to both gun and bowhunting:
When I first started learning about bowhunting, fortunately the guy that was helping me lived off of still hunting. My intro to bowhunting was watching hunters do it from treestands on video, so seeing my buddy's real-life methods shed new light onto new possibilities and methods that expanded my experiences in the deer woods; that and additional fun!
Since those days I'll killed several deer with a bow still hunting and now usually use a gun. However, I had fun either way and now wonder how you guys go about still hunting...
What tips, opinions, advice or methods do you guys use to kill your deer while stillhunting?
My experiences has shown that many deer are on their feet during high winds and they are vulnerable to be still hunted. All the looser foliage and limbs are moving around. The woods are noisy and the winds have a tendency to be more straight-line being more predictable. So it's easier to fool their eyes, ears and nose during that time.
iSnipe
When I first started learning about bowhunting, fortunately the guy that was helping me lived off of still hunting. My intro to bowhunting was watching hunters do it from treestands on video, so seeing my buddy's real-life methods shed new light onto new possibilities and methods that expanded my experiences in the deer woods; that and additional fun!
Since those days I'll killed several deer with a bow still hunting and now usually use a gun. However, I had fun either way and now wonder how you guys go about still hunting...
What tips, opinions, advice or methods do you guys use to kill your deer while stillhunting?
My experiences has shown that many deer are on their feet during high winds and they are vulnerable to be still hunted. All the looser foliage and limbs are moving around. The woods are noisy and the winds have a tendency to be more straight-line being more predictable. So it's easier to fool their eyes, ears and nose during that time.
iSnipe
10-05-2009, 07:16 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,304
Hello 1shotkill1993! I use to think the same thing! Yeah, it makes no sense. It's like calling a highway a parkway and a driveway something we park on. LOL!
Stillhunting is walking around looking for your game; slowly of course. Often it's mixed with moments of just sitting or standing in one spot for several minutes, then moving on. It's a method of hunting where one gets to be mobile and use the elements in their favor. It's also called "sneak" hunting.
==========================
One tip I have is to try and avoid being in direct sunlight when I'm easing along or standing.
iSnipe
Stillhunting is walking around looking for your game; slowly of course. Often it's mixed with moments of just sitting or standing in one spot for several minutes, then moving on. It's a method of hunting where one gets to be mobile and use the elements in their favor. It's also called "sneak" hunting.
==========================
One tip I have is to try and avoid being in direct sunlight when I'm easing along or standing.
iSnipe
10-06-2009, 04:00 AM
#4
Spike
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location:
Posts: 96
At least here in Louisiana, hunting from a stand is classified as "still hunting", but when hunters use the term they are really referring to what iSnipe is talking about.
I still hunt during gun season as much as possible, but down here in SE Louisiana the underbrush is so thick that it is hard to find an area to do it in. And with all the hurricanes that blew through here in the past years, the woods are a nightmare scenario. BUT, I still try.
Basically I just stalk the woods, taking 2 or 3 steps (very slowly), then stop and spend several minutes watching and listening for any movement, often with bino's. I think a big misconception with some people is thinking you have to be 100% silent. I haven't found that to be true. You have to remember that lots of other animals are out there walking around, especially hogs. Anybody who has heard a hog bulldozing through the underbrush knows they are noisy. The trick for me is to sound like other wildlife, not a person. People have a tendency to walk a steady pace through the woods. That is a dead giveaway. If you take a few steps and stop, then even if a hog or deer hear something, they won’t necessarily bolt. They will probably stop and scan the woods and try and pinpoint where the noise is coming from, and if you are working the woods very slowly then it will work to your advantage. And if you step on a limb and crack it, don't worry about it, just stop and hold your position for 5 minutes or so and watch the woods.
That is how I do it, but I always like to hear other people's strategies.
I still hunt during gun season as much as possible, but down here in SE Louisiana the underbrush is so thick that it is hard to find an area to do it in. And with all the hurricanes that blew through here in the past years, the woods are a nightmare scenario. BUT, I still try.
Basically I just stalk the woods, taking 2 or 3 steps (very slowly), then stop and spend several minutes watching and listening for any movement, often with bino's. I think a big misconception with some people is thinking you have to be 100% silent. I haven't found that to be true. You have to remember that lots of other animals are out there walking around, especially hogs. Anybody who has heard a hog bulldozing through the underbrush knows they are noisy. The trick for me is to sound like other wildlife, not a person. People have a tendency to walk a steady pace through the woods. That is a dead giveaway. If you take a few steps and stop, then even if a hog or deer hear something, they won’t necessarily bolt. They will probably stop and scan the woods and try and pinpoint where the noise is coming from, and if you are working the woods very slowly then it will work to your advantage. And if you step on a limb and crack it, don't worry about it, just stop and hold your position for 5 minutes or so and watch the woods.
That is how I do it, but I always like to hear other people's strategies.
10-06-2009, 08:33 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,304
stancel,
That's a good post with some great info. Before I really understood, my dad told me when I made a sound, to stop about 5 minutes and the deer will forget about it. I thought "sure"... "uh huh", but he was right. Looking back now I've made some horrendous racket in the woods and moments later either saw a deer or killed one!
Thanks,
iSnipe
That's a good post with some great info. Before I really understood, my dad told me when I made a sound, to stop about 5 minutes and the deer will forget about it. I thought "sure"... "uh huh", but he was right. Looking back now I've made some horrendous racket in the woods and moments later either saw a deer or killed one!
Thanks,
iSnipe
10-06-2009, 09:12 AM
#6
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: WC FL
Posts: 26,323
This applies to both gun and bowhunting:
When I first started learning about bowhunting, fortunately the guy that was helping me lived off of still hunting. My intro to bowhunting was watching hunters do it from treestands on video, so seeing my buddy's real-life methods shed new light onto new possibilities and methods that expanded my experiences in the deer woods; that and additional fun!
Since those days I'll killed several deer with a bow still hunting and now usually use a gun. However, I had fun either way and now wonder how you guys go about still hunting...
What tips, opinions, advice or methods do you guys use to kill your deer while stillhunting?
My experiences has shown that many deer are on their feet during high winds and they are vulnerable to be still hunted. All the looser foliage and limbs are moving around. The woods are noisy and the winds have a tendency to be more straight-line being more predictable. So it's easier to fool their eyes, ears and nose during that time.
iSnipe
When I first started learning about bowhunting, fortunately the guy that was helping me lived off of still hunting. My intro to bowhunting was watching hunters do it from treestands on video, so seeing my buddy's real-life methods shed new light onto new possibilities and methods that expanded my experiences in the deer woods; that and additional fun!
Since those days I'll killed several deer with a bow still hunting and now usually use a gun. However, I had fun either way and now wonder how you guys go about still hunting...
What tips, opinions, advice or methods do you guys use to kill your deer while stillhunting?
My experiences has shown that many deer are on their feet during high winds and they are vulnerable to be still hunted. All the looser foliage and limbs are moving around. The woods are noisy and the winds have a tendency to be more straight-line being more predictable. So it's easier to fool their eyes, ears and nose during that time.
iSnipe
Predators are the only ones that walk a constant walk when looking for food.......
10-06-2009, 01:26 PM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Cove City, North Carolina
Posts: 256
it's a fun way to hunt, but my experience is i usually jump deer and forget to shoot. i'd be a great driver on a man drive. the closest thing i do to "still hunting" and actually am serious about is hunting from the ground. i've had deer walk up to 5 steps from me just sitting on a raincoat and being still. of any method though, i'd have to say i prefer hunting from a tree stand. i can see more deer over a greater distance and am more sure of my shots because i'm shooting at a downward angle and am not concerned quite as much with missing and having a live round traveling through the woods as far.
10-06-2009, 01:40 PM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: central and east texas
Posts: 4,894
i use a turkey call while stalking, i see deer hangin with the turkeys all the time, and i think they will dismiss my walking on the leaves as a turkey..also i take sum antlers with me and make it as if i am rubbin a tree, if i get to loud, such as sliding down a steep hill to get down from a high spot. the antlers work good, as i have seen deer jus go back to eating insted of bolting, granit they were 60-80 yrds away at the time and i never could get close enough. gl
10-06-2009, 02:16 PM
#10
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eagleville Missouri
Posts: 338
Still hunting to me is stalking on the ground. Moving from cover to cover, trying to sound like, smell like and look like anything but a human. Take a few steps then be still (quiet and motionless) for a while and look around, then when you are sure nothing is out there looking back, move a few more steps. It has always worked well for me for turkeys and deer with gun or bow. You can even take a stand for hours between stalking. I learned to sneak up on turkeys many years ago, and that isn't easy, when you have to get within shotgun range, but it's fun. Plus turkeys in my opinion are more difficult to approach than deer. Something that I learned in the military actually helps even though I had this figured out years before, convince yourself that blowing your cover will get you killed! In reality you will only lose a game animal, but stalk that animal as if it were a person who will kill you if you're seen. Be determined to win this battle or die. Your adrenaline will be up anyway and you have to think everything through so as not to make a mistake. Your equipment must be ready, you must be well trained, and you must have a plan, or die! Very intense training but it works.
Stand hunting, is taking a stand, and staying put, whether in a tree or a blind or where ever for hours or for the day.
Then there is spot and stalk which in my area is drive around until you see what you want then leave the truck and try to move in on that animal. But this can also be done on foot after glassing an area and spotting your game.
No matter what method you use take your time and keep your eyes open, I have killed so many more deer on the way to the stand than from it. Out of over 100 deer killed, 24 were bucks with a rifle and probably 4-5 from a stand the rest on the way to a stand or stalking.
Stand hunting, is taking a stand, and staying put, whether in a tree or a blind or where ever for hours or for the day.
Then there is spot and stalk which in my area is drive around until you see what you want then leave the truck and try to move in on that animal. But this can also be done on foot after glassing an area and spotting your game.
No matter what method you use take your time and keep your eyes open, I have killed so many more deer on the way to the stand than from it. Out of over 100 deer killed, 24 were bucks with a rifle and probably 4-5 from a stand the rest on the way to a stand or stalking.