Still hunting for deer

[salmonriverjohn]

Sage advise!

 

[WilliamIV]

You simply must have ground that is quiet when you step on it. Warm dry late summer and early fall makes still hunting problematic in many situations. If you can find overgrown roads or we'll used game trails then your odds of being quiet improve. You must also be patient. When I'm in a good spot with good sign I slow way down. One step, count to 10 slowly, repeat. Staying slow like this will low you to spot many things you would never see if you were moving more quickly.

It's funny you mention going slow makes more things noticeable. Last season I was looking at a fresh rub. Literally as soon as I take a step a pretty nice 3 point took of into the really thick brush. I'm sure it was his rub I was looking at...

 

[DeanMk]

Something else to remember when hunting in deep thick woods, like what we're addressing here, is that you can't effectively hunt if every animal in your surrounding area is screeching a warning that "something" is afoot OVER HERE.
Once you've hunkered down on your little perch and everything in the woods figures you're no harm, and stops making noise, that is when the hunt starts.
So if you're in a spot where you can't help but make noise, make the noise and get to your spot, then just wait it all out.
It's all you can do.


Dean

 

[salmonriverjohn]

Was the tree bark green? Consider it like an apple peel. Look for leaves on top the shavings, if brown but no leaves, it's just hours old. Take a chunk of alder, scrape just the bark, and notice how fast it darkens. The elk are rutting and rubbing late this year, expect the deer to do so also.
The biggest Black tail I ever took was bivouacked within four hundred yards of my home, and I didn't know we shared the same zip code until I mistook him for an old buckskin log he was bedded against. He was obviously comfy there, and had been there for awhile. I wouldn't have thought to look at that tangle of blow downs, that close to the house and dogs,, Goats? hmm.
True story.

 

[jbett98]

The best deer hunter I know wears home made moccasins. He is a real ninja in the woods.
One year he had me waiting at a small pond next to an old homestead. It has a grove of old apple and pear trees next to it that the deer come to visit late in the day before they bed down for the night.
Standing in the shallows of the pond was a large blue heron with it's wings out stretched and staring intently down into the water.
It was creating a shadow that the small trout would swim into and it would snatch them up for dinner if one came close enough.
I had been watching the heron for over an hour, when I watched my friend come out of the woods.
He spied the heron and managed to sneak up to it so quietly that when he got to within two feet (He's managed to get in the water right behind it) he takes a stick he had picked up and pokes it in the butt.
The heron explodes upwards and starts to frantically flap it's wings trying to get airborne and also try to look over it's shoulder at what poked him.
The funniest part was all of the loose feathers floating down after it made it's getaway.
I wish I had a video camera on me, because it was really was something to see.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

There's a reason we call them Chit a quarts! And as I read this my moccasins are on my tootsies!

 

[Oregonhunter5]

The best deer hunter I know wears home made moccasins. He is a real ninja in the woods.
One year he had me waiting at a small pond next to an old homestead. It has a grove of old apple and pear trees next to it that the deer come to visit late in the day before they bed down for the night.
Standing in the shallows of the pond was a large blue heron with it's wings out stretched and staring intently down into the water.
It was creating a shadow that the small trout would swim into and it would snatch them up for dinner if one came close enough.
I had been watching the heron for over an hour, when I watched my friend come out of the woods.
He spied the heron and managed to sneak up to it so quietly that when he got to within two feet (He's managed to get in the water right behind it) he takes a stick he had picked up and pokes it in the butt.
The heron explodes upwards and starts to frantically flap it's wings trying to get airborne and also try to look over it's shoulder at what poked him.
The funniest part was all of the loose feathers floating down after it made it's getaway.
I wish I had a video camera on me, because it was really was something to see.

So after all these years, I've missed the boat. Moccasins. Holy crap. Well looks like I'm headed to Oregon leather company.

 

[DeanMk]

In 1973, I remember my father received a pair of Sorel pac boots.
They were unusual in that the sole came up the sides of the boot, thus eliminating the typical "leather boot top / rubber galoshes bottom" construction common with that type of boot.
The leather was fairly thick and the inside was lined with thick white fur.
Most comfy shoes I ever put on.
More to the point of this thread, though, was that the sole didn't have a "tread" per se. It was just a bumpy textured surface.
Because of this, dad never left a footprint with those....and he hardly made any noise those shoes, too.
Really remarkable footwear. Too bad Sorel doesn't make them anymore.


Dean

 

[Mystykl22]

Another little trick is to carry a whistle on your wrist.. When a deer has seen you, and is bolting away, a simple shrill whistle will often make him stop and look back. Prey on their curiosity. I have taken several Bucks, who were running away, by blowing the whistle and getting him to stop, for just a second. Remember, the Deer you work the hardest for will be the most satisfying. You might gripe and complain as you are dragging him out, but, you will never forget what you did.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

to that last post,, well said.

 

[2gr8dgs]

For me it's patience, good binoculars, & attention to the wind.
on a side note... I like to critique myself after every hunting encounter I have with them.
what I did right & wrong
this weekends lesson was to pay closer attention immediately after the shot!

 

[WilliamIV]

Thanks for all the information! I'll see what kind of tactics I'll be using next weekend because I'll be heading east for Mule Deer!