Those of you that still hunt, how do you do?

[Wolfshead]

The last few years it seems that we have had less and less snow in our area during the hunting season.
the last few years I’ve done a lot more still hunting, and Ive become very intrigued with trying to get better at it, and I’m eager to learn as much as I can about this “skill” or technique.

if you so desire please add what you think are keys to being successful.
Such as, but not limited to;
What technique you use.
What do you wear, clothes, footwear?
Where do you like to Still Hunt? What attracts you to a certain area? What type of area has your best success been?
How do you move from place to place? You are the most vulnerable to detection while you are moving. More often than not you are in dry leaves.
Do you mimic a deer to cover the sound of your movements? Do you take steps to sound like the cadence of a deer’s steps?
I recently watched a video with Joe DiNitto (an Adirondack Deer Hunter) and he had a lot of great tips, but one that should out to me was when he was close and how he approached while being ready to shoot.
He stated that when he felt he was close, he would take one step at a time with his left shoulder (non-dominate) leading the way so if a deer were to appear, either to his right or left, he would have the ability to shoot in either direction.
I would love to have anyone to share any tips, and such that would help someone be successful in this endeavor.

Anything else that you feel is important is gladly excepted.
Im looking forward to your replies.

 

[jmorris]

We don’t even get snow every year but has been that way since 1904 (more than likely long before people started writing it down).

If there is no pressure and you are a source of food, they will follow you around like they do at our place.

Baiting the hog trap

www.youtube.com

If they view you as a threat vs the treat people, then being still in a box helps go undetected. Being off of a travel path can be a good spot too. Spending time observing where they are going and when can help success in general across the board.

Its pretty hard to argue the benefits of hunting over food, it’s almost like fishing with bait vs a bare hook…

 

[snowman357]

Look for signs, rubs scraps paths on field edges. I hunt farmland, I hunt near the signs I see (not on top of them). Make yourself comfortable be still and quiet. Dont over hunt the same places. Be slow and quiet going in and out. Scouting before season and using cameras help, but I go for less activity in hunting area the better, I have checked cameras and scout during the rain, to hide noise and scent. Rubber boots are good for scent control.

 

[Patocazador]

I am still hunting at 80 y.o. but I don't "still hunt" because I haven't the patience for it. I can't seem to be able to take 2 quiet steps and then wait several minutes before taking another few steps.

My only suggestions are:
1) Hunt where there are lots of deer (duh).
2) Watch the wind and hunt into it.
3) After you strike out enough, put up a climbing stand in a travel area and hunt out of it.

 

[courtgreene]

I’ve had SOME success still hunting, as in it happened twice, but am determined to get better at it. As such I, like you, have been trying to learn a lot. One thing I’ve heard that makes sense to me is that you should pick your days/weather conditions. When it’s really windy so that covers your movements through crunchy leaves (I’m in western nc), you still hunt.
Also practice. I was able to sneak close to one last week while just exploring a new area because I was more focused on finding food sources so I was moving crazy slow and even though I wasn’t really hunting I learned a good pace from that. So now I practice moving that speed. Tragically the deer was just on the other side of the ridge from me and when I popped over it took off, but my point is that the encounter showed me something. Move slow, stop often and stay stopped for a long time.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

The most important is to have your game come by.

 

[Chuck R.]

Still hunting and spot/stalk are my favorite ways to hunt, but you've got to have the land to do it, or you're just going to end up pushing deer into somebody else. Snow helps, but that's more of a tracking thing, as long as it's not crusted crunch, it makes it easier to see movement and quiets things. For me it's mostly a western proposition, here on the east side we mostly sit stands and late season do drives.

Move slow, work the wind, use binos! The times I've been successful are because I saw "something" that was just a fragment of a deer (ear twitch, shiny tine, off colored brown patch) by using binos. I literally move from tree to tree, then glass and repeat. IF you bump one, freeze, don't push.. half the time they have no idea what you are. Let them settle and start again. Now if I jump one close that's a different story, and I'll take a shot if I can.

Weather is key, I like strongish wind in my face as it cuts down on scent and noise, plus it screws up their hearing. Try to go after it's rained or at least damp as it cuts down on the noise while moving. One of my best hunts was 30+ MPH winds with a wind chill that was hazardous, nothing was moving (that had any sense). I got within 20+ yards of a bedded 8 pt and shot him in the back of the head while he was bedded facing away from me.

I go light on clothing cause I'm moving, wear a vest with pockets VS a backpack, for a rifle I take one of my carbines with low powered scope. (Lesson learned from shooting am 8pt in the back of the head at 20yds with a .270 and 130grns bullets going 3100+ FPS).

Even if I'm not successful I find it way more enjoyable than sitting, there's always a possibility that a big one is just around the bend or over the next hill.

 

[drobs]

I check the wind and then set my folding camp chair up in my back field near the wood line. I wear a Blaze Orange Hat and Vest. I really don't see any point in expensive camouflage when wearing blaze orange, so I wear either blue jeans or earth tone clothing.

I commented to my nephews how boring deer hunting is. They recommended that I play a game on my phone (solitaire, etc) to pass the time, just be to sure to look up frequently.

I've shot all my Deer in the late afternoon before dusk. Opening day, I will go out in the early morning. If I don't see anything I will go back to the house around 10am. Then go back out at 3pm. I see no point in sitting out all day long.

 

[dobedo]

I learned to track in the woods without snow and can tell by the way the leaves lay on the ground and how fresh the tracks are. In MD some areas have not gotten snow for many years especially in the southern areas. Deer are like people and often take the easier routes and are a creature of habit. Once you learn their habits things get easier.

 

[jmr40]

Still hunting and tracking are similar, but not the same. Hunting in snow is a rare event here in North GA. I usually hunt public land that I've not had much opportunity to scout. When I step into the woods I'll walk pretty briskly for a few minutes. After that I simply stand or sit STILL for 10-30 minutes. Then quietly, and very slowly move to another spot and repeat. Sometimes I may only move a few steps. Sometimes 20-30 yards.

If I come upon some good sign and believe it is worth sitting in that spot for a while, I become a stand hunter. If not, I continue moving to another location where I stand STILL for a few minutes. I might do so for several hours and only cover 100 yards.

I'm not tracking a specific animal. It's really nothing different than stand hunting except you change your stand every 10-15 minutes. Or glorified scouting. If I come across good sign or see deer in a location, then I will come back another day and set up a ground blind and hunt that spot all day.

I'm 65. I haven't climbed trees in a while. I can walk a lot of folks 1/2 my age in the ground, but I don't trust my agility anymore to be hunting in trees. Two years ago a friend, 15 years younger than me, nearly died from a fall and spent 2 weeks in the hospital. He would have died if his hunting partner had not heard the fall and went for help.

 

[Meeks36]

I’ve only still hunted squirrel. But my paw paw taught me to move slow and stop often. Worked for me.

 

[.308 Norma]

I'm 75, my wife is not far behind, and we'll both be headed out mule deer hunting bright and early tomorrow morning. However, we don't hunt the way we used to - not at all.
On opening day, we used to climb to the top of a ridge before daybreak and sit on the side of a saddle. As the world "woke up," and other hunters started moving around down lower, deer would often cross back and forth over the saddle that we were watching.
I'm a little saddened by the fact that neither my wife nor I are physically able to climb to the high saddles anymore. So, our mule deer hunt tomorrow will mostly be just driving over to our friend's ranch and asking them where the deer have been hanging out in the evenings lately. Then we'll drive to wherever our friends tell us, look the area over, and try to figure out where will be a good place to be sitting late tomorrow afternoon just before the deer come out of the sagebrush for their evening meals in one of our friend's hayfields.
That's what we did last year, and it worked. The only thing was, I was the only one with a tag because my wife didn't "draw" in that area last year. This year, we both drew tags in that area. However, last winter was really rough on the deer herds in this part of Idaho, so even though both my wife and I have tags for the area where most of our friend's ranch is located, our chances of getting a deer aren't all that great.
BTW, as I've said before, deer hunting in Idaho is not like what deer hunting is like back east - at least it's not like the eastern deer hunting I read about here on THR. For one thing, most of the deer we hunt here in Idaho are mule deer. There's getting to be more whitetails here, but they require special tags.
Also, annually only one in three Idaho deer hunters even get a deer. It's been like that for years, and I'd bet good money, the odds in this part of the state are even worse this year. My wife and I usually do a little better than that, but that's because we've been at it for many, many years, we know the best places to hunt, and we consider one deer a score for both of us.

 

[Hookeye]

Kill half my deer on the ground.
Stalk or still hunt/ happen into em.
When I get near the thick stuff I slow waaaay down.

 

[Hookeye]

After years of hunting, just know where they tend to be, and see them before they see me.
Probably could have been a shorter learning curve though LOL

 

[JFrank]

White tail around here are not that big until later in the season when the high country is deep in snow and frozen over. I personally can’t sit in one place more than twenty minutes, I seem to be more of a hunter of opportunity or slow stocking

 

[Milt1]

I don't hunt anymore but when I did I loved still hunting as I know I was much more alert to movements or sounds. When I lived in Montana, I loved to stalk antelope as you had to plan on using gullies and hillsides in order to get close for a shot. The stalk was the exciting thing, not the shooting!

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I'm 69,overweight and have an assortment of the "itis" in places.
That said, I am also not comfortable in trees or on ladders.
The last time I tried the ladder stand a gust of wind shifted the tree just when I squeezed the trigger.
I have a spot on the ground that overlooks a hay field with clover and that's where I'll hunt this season.

 

[Hookeye]

I used to be nimble, light footed and stealthy.

NOT ANY MORE!

Arthritis (RA) and being 60.........sitting in a stand or still hunting, neither is comfortable.

Last yr my back hurt enough I just sat by a log and let the snow pile on my shoulders, just below ridge at creek.
Had a 6pt come up to 25 yards.

.35 rem pump, red and black plaid wool coat.

I let him pass.

If Id had an orange Fudd hat I'd have popped him LOL

 

[Hookeye]

Bud and I sometimes do one man drives.
Guy on stand, the other move slowly down creekbottom.
Not a drive really, but a gentle push.
Wind bump some people call it.

Last successful bump we did (shot from stand).

Only one of us has shot a buck as a bumper.

 

[LoonWulf]

These are just my thoughts.... pretty much all i do is "still" hunt, tho it's mostly just going for a walk and shooting when i stumble across something.


Move as smoothly a the terrain, conditions, and cover dictate. Might be fast or slow, but smooth and comfortable are quieter and less invasive seeming.
Stop often and when u stop be ready to shoot. If an animal thinks youll just walk on by without noticing them they will sometimes hold fast and just watch. When u stop they will bolt.

Play the wind both in terms if scent control, and noise control.

Ware comfortable clothes that allows you to move freely. Color pattern don't really mater ime, primarily its a combination of noise and movement that will give you away.

I've found i do better when not "looking for deer" as dumb as that sounds. You just go for your walk quietly and pay attention. As someone else said youll most likely pick up movement, a white leg or inside if an ear, the body line that dosent match the surroundings. Small stuff that easy to overlook when your hyper focused.

Primarily have fun, enjoy the walk.

 

[Laphroaig]

I come from a long line of "walkers". My dad and uncle John grew up hunting in the PA big woods counties of Elk and Clearfield where you could walk all day and never cross a road. Myself, I get too bored, or cold, to sit in one place all day. What I do might not be considered still hunting in the classic sense, I've killed some deer and bear while on the move.

When I hunted with my dad when he was alive, we'd sit for a couple of hours in the morning then meet up and do one man drives the rest of the day. If you do them enough, you find ones that work (i.e. see some deer) and ones that don't. Hunt in one area and do enough of them you build up a menu that can be very productive since deer are creatures of habit. It makes for a fun day and we always saw more deer than hunting alone.

My type of still hunting involves moving slowly into the wind trying to be quiet. When I stop, I get beside a tree to break up my outline and have a rest should I get a shot and look around for a couple of minutes before moving on. If I find a nice place, I might stand there for awhile until I get bored, or cold, then move on. I try to wear clothes that aren't "noisy". Some synthetic fabrics can make a swishing sound when a branch brushes against them. I like wool the best. Fleece is good too.

I had one place that I hunted for years where a tram road ran along the side of a ridge. The hillside that it ran along was very steep and deer used to get pushed up there. I would sneak along that trail, and peek over the side every 75 or 100 yards. I saw deer almost every time I did that sneak. Killed a small buck and a few does doing that, and missed a nice buck once. It was tough getting a dead deer out of there due to the steepness of the hillside. A couple of times I slid it down to the road and walked a couple of miles to the truck because that was easier than pulling it up hill.

Another notable hunt, when I shot my biggest whitetail, came on opening day of the PA deer season. When the sun came up, I decided that I didn't like where I was standing. One of my sons was hunting nearby, so I decided to move in his direction and maybe push something to him. Moving through the thick brush on the hillside I bumped a small bunch of does that ran uphill in his direction. There was a nice 8-point with them, and he tried to sneak away rather than follow the does. Bad mistake! I saw him and waited until he stepped into a fairly open place and shot. I hit his liver so he ran about 50 yards before I saw him fall over. Pretty exciting stuff!

But times have changed for me and I imagine for some of you as well. The properties around my home, where me and my family have hunted for the last 30 years or so, have changed owners, houses have been built, so I don't have the acreage to walk very far. I used to hunt on some big wooded properties that my company owned, but I'm retired now and access is more restricted. I do go bear hunting in Elk county on state forest land every year, but the terrain is so rugged I can't walk very far there either these days.

 

[Milt1]

A tip that I received years ago when I first started to still hunt. When moving put the ball of your foot on the ground first testing to see if you're going to break anything under the leaves before you put the rest of your foot down. You can move very silently like that.

 

[Meeks36]

A tip that I received years ago when I first started to still hunt. When moving put the ball of your foot on the ground first testing to see if you're going to break anything under the leaves before you put the rest of your foot down. You can move very silently like that.

Me personally I always use the tips of my toes first. Toe to heel. If i didn’t want you to hear me you wouldn’t. Took 15 years stalking the woods. But I was silent. Still am even tho I’m 50 lbs heavier.

 

[Hookeye]

Im right handed.
When I'm creepin' along..... I move left foot fwd.
Right come even, but doesn't get to lead.

 

[jmorris]

I commented to my nephews how boring deer hunting is. They recommended that I play a game on my phone (solitaire, etc) to pass the time, just be to sure to look up frequently.

I have noticed I tend to shuffle less if I am doing something too. A book works, if I don’t have cell at the stand.

Once I get tired of watching the deer, I’ll surf, until the pigs get there.