Stand or Stalk???
 

hello all,
first post here... BTW...
i was just wondering what percentage of us hunt whitetail with a bow "on the move" no stands, no blinds, and no guns or crossbows. bow and camo only... or does pretty much everybody use the traditional "stand/blind with gun or bow setup" and stay in one spot???

36 hours till opening day of squirrel season, 14 days till deer season... i think i'm going to explode!!! must... live... until...

37°42'21.88"N, 82°12'47.42"W. (squirrel heaven)

i would think its something like 60% stand hunting 40% stalking. maybe less. it all depends what your hunting and where. hunting sheep in mountains is a spot and stalk method hunting whitetail is usually stand hunting. etc etc. if your hunting land that is big and open praries you might stalk more ya know. but strictly whitetail speaking stand hunting def carries a higher percentage.

im getting antsy as well man. our opening day of bow season is saturday! but our crow season and squirel and rabbit season is already in full effect.

I find my odds of seeing a whitetail go up in direct proportion to the degree that I can sit still. Awful hard to sneak up on one. Maybe out west, where you can glass, find one, you can sneak up on him. But in the woods, where visibility is limited, the odds of moving within bow range are pretty poor. I'll still-hunt a little with a gun, almost strictly stand hunt with a bow.

The only time I've had chances at deer with a bow while still hunting is during days with high winds. On those days, everything is moving and noisy. I 've gotten close under those circumstances several times. Otherwise, I'm on stand.

If you're like me and don't want to stand much, I sit in ground stands made from branches, plus I always feel like I suck at being quiet even though I've had deer get pretty close. I also just don't have the patience to walk super quiet, that and all the leaves and branches I magically find no matter where I step.

I'm still-hunting exclusively until gun season opens this year... it's going to be interesting.

Lately there are more and more people who like stalking/tracking. The woods determines the method for most of experienced hunters. It depends on the ratio, for example if it is 1 or 3 deer per square mile sitting is not a good idea. When going to PA for the deer season, you could be a sitter because there are dozens of deer per acre and if you are quiet, one will walk by. You choose!

the county i live in, and the 3 adjoining county's are bow only. surrounded by county's with gun seasons. very rugged terrain, extra steep with thick woods. glass is all but useless, cant see more than 50-100 yards either way.
it's mostly (land company) property, thousands of acres, you can hunt it but i wouldn't advise leaving a stand. it would probably be out of the woods before you are. the hatfield mccoy trail system runs through the entire area. ground blinds from surrounding brush may be an option. i will try that first, got an awesome spot picked out. several low saddles, small valley in between with a creek bottle necking in the center. there are so many deer tracks in the mud it looks like the surface of the moon... deer, bear, turkey, and of course squirrel. speaking of mr bushy tail, less than 24 hours to go... i still haven't decided, take the 12? the .22? or the gamo?
i think my dog (candy bear) knows something. she keeps going to my truck and crying at the door... she looses her mind if i so much as look at one of my guns. how does she know they moved squirrel season up this year??? lol.

I'm not gonna say it cant be done (cause I'm sure a couple people out there have), but in the northern midwest aka timber country it is darn near impossible to still hunt with a bow. Rifle season is a different story. I spot and stalk almost exclusively for turkeys here because I can glass fields and dont have to worry about scent. But deer are another ball game. If anyone out there has had great success still hunting in northern minnesota, wisconsin, or michigan with a bow I'd be all ears to hear how they do it.