Which one appeals to you more while big game hunting?
It seems like the current trend is long range deer sniping, sitting in box blinds or tree stands while looking over pastures, clear cuts, and crop fields. While I have no problem with this method (after all, venison is venison) it just doesn't appeal to me.
Does anyone else prefer methods such as tracking/stalking (where practical) or ambush in hunting heavy brush where ranges are very short and you have to make a real effort to cover your scent and conceal your movements?
Admittedly, such methods won't have as high a success rate as hunting over a big field of deer food, but I find it to be a pretty intense way to hunt when you finally do catch up with a deer.
Jason,
Like Art, and MC, I live here in in Texas where we have varied terrain. On my place, I can sit atop of one hill and cover about both of our bottom pastures. This is where I grew up hunting, and it is wide open except for wind breaks of oaks. The deer there do not put up with spot and stalk or still hunting. I HAVE killed a couple that way in some 40 years of hunting, but they were pretty caught up in working the does and not paying attention to anything I did. Growing up I learned real quick if you wanted a deer you had to be willing to stretch things out a bit. They simply didn't walk out there and pose for me.
This said, I also hunt on two of my friends properties. One of them has an 800 acre cotton field bordered by a flood levee, and then another 650 acres of river bottom some 250 - 300yds across a pasture from the levee. I can sit atop of the levee in places and hunt more acreage than I can shoot, and I DO enjoy doing this from time to time with my grandson as we see a ton of deer. We also hunt the river bottoms where we still hunt, sit in ladder stands, and stalk. To me I enjoy it all. From on top of the levee, I have no issues with reaching out to 400 - 500 yds on a calm morning or evening. I know my rifles and loads, and I shoot this far on a regular basis.
In the woods I have left powder burns on hogs literally, and have had deer within feet of me rather than yards. It is simply a matter of being still and paying attention to our surroundings. I do admit that IF I am actually going after a deer, I prefer to stalk them over anything else. However if while sitting out on the levee, the right one pops out, and I have the opportunity, you can bet I will dump him on his nose just as fast.
My grandson and I watched this deer for close to or possibly even over an hour and let him walk due to him not having the mass we thought he should have had. He was a true trophy for that area, especially being free range low fenced,
WE also had this deer within 10 feet or less of us sitting in a ladder stand with only one 4' section of ladder on it. It was needed to get us up over a little rise so we could see back into the thick stuff where he came from. We were actually only hunting hogs, but the grandson 4 at the time REALLY wanted to bust a cap in him. Heck I had to wait on him to get away from us to turn on the camera.
While I have only killed a few deer in the past 10 or so years, I have seen a TON of them which would make most folks shiver, and get goose bumps. I simply enjoy the hunt more than the kill anymore. However I still see a few that get me all goosed up as well, I just haven't gotten them on the terms I want yet.
This is the last one I shot, and I shot at it first with my bow standing on the ground beside a tree with 5 does within yards of me while I drew and aimed, and shot at him at 19 yards.
I still don't know how the grapevine got in my way, but I missed him clean with the arrow. Not knowing it at the time I grabbed my rifle and dropped him when he stepped out from behind a bunch of brush that he stopped behind. I didn't ant to take the chance, of him being wounded, and having to track him in the underbrush. I was actually hog hunting right before Christmas for tamale meat, when it all came together, and was simply in the right spot at the right time. That particular morning, I had an 8 point within 20 feet of me that never knew I was even in the same county, I had a 10 point walk within 25 yards of me, he knew something was up, but just couldn't get the wind right. I had two other bigger bucks than the one I shot come in from behind me and the does with them walked right up to me and when the lead on blew I got sprayed with snot.
So close is fun, but sometimes like others I simply like to kick back and just watch whats going on over a whole lot of area.