Just finished reading this article and thought it was pretty good. But I'm one of them greenhorns, so what do I know?

Let me know what y'all think: http://www.biggamehunt.net/articles/...ing-whitetails

Stalking isn't easy to do when you share land with other hunters or hunt smaller tracts. Maybe if you hunt large tracts up North or out West stalking would be fine but most of the midwest it would be harder to do.

I hunt in the midwest, typical situation is smaller woodlots. I don't really stalk (to me, stalking is what you do once you have spotted an animal). I do still-hunt, which is simply moving very slowly through good deer cover, using the wind to your advantage, trying to see deer before they see you. This is very productive for me, and a lot of fun.

I hunt a stand in the AM for a few hours, then still hunt a piece or two, then stand again until dark. This method is great when deer are bedding mid-day. In the chase-phase of the rut it is often better to sit a stand or several stands all day. Still-hunting is very effective in bad weather, wind and rain especially.

I hunt the wide open prairie and farm lands...generally after all crops are cut. If you can't stalk here you should probably take up golf or tennis. That or fine tune your extremely long range shooting skills.
Its not unusual for us to spot deer from 2 and 3 miles away.

A very good artical with many good insights from a seasoned hunter for sure. I really like the concept of this type of hunting and hope to give it a try with my ML this year. I have 135 acres of private land which holds a small herd of deer,probably around 10 Does and 3 Bucks based on last year and what survived. I think it is a good area to try some still hunting with a Gun but the Bow would be out of my confidence and skill level I think.Geting close enough to get one with a bow would be a big challenge for me having only hunted for one season so far. Siting in a stand is hunting but still hunting in my opinion seems to be 100% hunting that requires greater woodsmanship and skill. Thaks for the Article it refreshed my memory about this skill.

It's having the patience of moving slowly. It involves looking; not the looking of common everyday people. It's looking for small things; looking for small parts of deer; looking for small deer movement-a tail, an ear, a foot. Then a quiet short move and more looking.

I heard a ranking army officer say his best soldiers for locating IED's , improvised Explosive Devices, before they blew up, were deer hunters.

Okay, you've spotted a bedded deer that you want to take. How do you do it? A shot to the vitals could be very difficult based on how they are laying. How do you get the deer to give you a chance at a good angle without making it bolt?

alot of times your best bet is to just wait and be still. you can always do the typical muley tactic which is to stand and draw and the deer will stand up hopefully. or you can try a SOFT grunt or bleat

Yes, they don't always give the perfect shot, but rather than alerting them and risking that they jump instantly, I have taken a few neck shots.

Last buck I shot was a nice 9 point. The wind was coming from the north, and I was moving into the wind. The end of a small cornfield was to my right about 75 yards away and I stopped to wait a while. After maybe 5 minutes I saw a doe come out of the standing corn, so I waited hoping a buck was following. She worked her way downwind and eventually winded me I assume, because she came back after a few more minutes looking like something had bothered her. Waited 10-15 more minutes and proceeded north. In this piece of woods there is a 3 trunked oak that I like to stand next to. The paln was to get to that tree eventually, and wait 20 minutes or so before continuing. The land is basically flat, but there is a slight rise there, and it make a good vantage point. I stopped when I knew I was about 50-60 yards from that oak to look for its exact location. As I saw the tree, I noticed something out of place near the base. Then it came together, there was a deer bedded right next to that tree. Then I saw one side of the rack and knew he was a shooter in my book. The deer was looking my way, but had not seen me. Very slowly I raised my scoped shotgun, found the deer in the scope. No good angle to the vitals, but there was his white throat patch. At this point I think the deer saw me, or at least knew something was up as he got wide-eyed. The cross-hairs were centered on his neck, so I let her rip. Lights out.

I know they say a tree stand is the most effective way to hunt, but I've killed more deer/hogs still hunting than sitting in a tree. IMHO the secret is to go slow - take one or two steps, then stop & look for 30 seconds. Squirrels are not silent in the woods. They take a few noisey hops, then stop - then they hop around again then stop. Make yourself sound like a squirrel. Take a few quick steps then STOP - & look for a minute. It's surprising how close you can get to animals as long as the noise they hear from you is "normal".