Hunting method / Still hunting

[mglampson]

How many of you use this method of hunting?

When the woods are quiet, with snow on the ground or wet or rainy conditions, still hunting is what I enjoy the most. It can be difficult but very rewarding when everything comes together. My latest buck was taken this way.

How about it? What do you perfer, stand, still or deer drives?

 

[mothernatureson]

I used to hunt late ML season here in Iowa. Sit all day and sometimes luck out. Always a doe. Then I started to hunt during the shotgun season, with my charcoal burner of course. I let those other hunters move the deer around for me. I started seeing way more deer and am now seeing and shooting a few bucks. With a muzzleloader they are all trophy deer, buck or doe. Good hunting.

mothernatureson

 

[roundball]

How many of you use this method of hunting?

When the woods are quiet, with snow on the ground or wet or rainy conditions, still hunting is what I enjoy the most. It can be difficult but very rewarding when everything comes together. My latest buck was taken this way.

How about it? What do you perfer, stand, still or deer drives?

I don't happen to like any kind of people drives or dog hunting, etc.

I prefer still hunting as a method as it just seems more like hunting to me...however, it has always been my least productive method, only shooing one doe that way years ago...and here in NC, the leaves are usually like walking on corn flakes so it's impossible except on a rare day after a rain that I happen to also be off work.

So stand hunting while boring to me, is far more productive so 99% of my hunting is from a tree stand or ground blind overlooking high traffic trails in/out of a thicket or crossing a creek / drainage ditch down in a bottom, etc.

 

[shmrck1]

Brithes,
The very first day of gun season i will
take a stand i like and stick to it for 4hours
or until time to eat. After that i use both
methods sit for 1 hour move for 10 minutes.
I don't know what its like where you hunt but where i am at for the first 3 or 4 hours sounds
like a war zone. Because of that i like to stay
where my hunting partners know exactly where i
am at and i know where they are.
We are not permitted dogs and will not
make people drives but take advantage of those that do.
I have never seen a dog drive but i do
hear dogs barking all the time and always thought
it was dogs seeing so many people that they had
never seen before tied up on private property.
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[Protrucker]

Still hunting has always been my most productive method for bigger bucks. It takes an awful lot of patience to move slow enough to be able to spot the game before it spots you, but if take your time, persistance will pay off. Here's an example of what still hunting has produced for me:

 

[hobbles]

Mornin Bald Mtn Man
Darn, I'm not singed up with trophyphotos and can't sea it,,,

 

[Protrucker]

Well.....I guess that I did something wrong. The pic was supposed to be included the post. I tried to look for instructions to fix it, but can't find them. :hmm:

 

[AZ-Robert]

How many of you use this method of hunting?

Add one more to the list.

I'll sit in my scouted spot until that time of day when the deer have stopped moving, then I'll go look for them. Might be a little easier around here than back east, in fact. At mid-day, even at this time of year, they are looking for shade. They get down in the washes where the oaks grow tall (around here, that is about 20') and snuggle up close to the trunks. The wash is usually clean of debris so the only noise is the sound of sand scrunching under my feet. If there is even a little bit of breeze, the rustling of leaves on the trees makes it likely I'll see them before they've alerted enough to get on their feet.

 

[vermontfreedom]

Rarely, myself. I prefer to sit and wait between bedding and feeding sites. I can usually prepare for the shot, have a much better rest (my knees), and am not winded/out of breath.

However, the first deer I ever shot, with a flintlock no less, was by stalking. I had sat in the morning and had no shots. Spent midday hiking up a mountain and chasing a large herd through some laurel down the moutain. The forest opened back up to mature hardwoods and I jumped the deer several times more. One doe made a mistake by coming around in a circle. I dropped to one knee and she fell where she stood 22 yards from my muzzle. 8-12 inches of soft snow made the stalking 'easy' to stay quiet.

On one other occasion in this same spot I was scouting and was able to stalk up to two yearlings (6-months) within abou 40 yards. It was windy that day and I think these two were a little less wary than adults.

I have since done some stalking/still hunting. But my problem is I'm much too impatient and tend to walk too quickly. Wet leaves or snow and I feel more confident.

Bottom line is the deer have far superior instincts and are alert to your presence by sight, sound, and smell (always stalk into the wind) so they have the advantage. It's really a matter of keeping with it and waiting for the deer to make a mistake by coming back around or pausing just a bit too long in an opening. No question it can be more rewarding that sitting and waiting--you feel you've earned your game.

Yesterday was super windy here in central PA so I took my .44 S&W 629 for a walk. I did jump 3 deer, but not where I was expecting them (in thick scrub oak), so I wasn't prepared. I'm not sure I could have taken a shot if I'd had my .54 with primitive open sights, anyway as the shot would have been running at 50 yards and I'm not confident off-hand or at moving targets at 50 yards.

In the last 2 years, I've seen 2-3 articles on the Benoit family (father and 3 brothers) from northeastern Vermont who are literally world famous as stalkers of monster bucks. These articles have been in outdoor life, field and stream, american hunter, and/or other hook-and-bullet magazines. These guys are masters at getting big bucks every year just by putting the miles on.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I sit until I get cold and then still hunt. Even when still hunting I'll stop for an hour or more if I find a good "ambush" site.

To me it's the most saytisfying method and the closest to the spirit of free chase, putting the least amount of equipment between you and the deer.

 

[oomcurt]

I go along with what Roundball and Stumpkiller said. Sit in the mornings and late afternoons and still hunt the rest of the time. I guess in reality a lot depends on the country one hunts. One thing I do hate are drives. For one, unless one has a small army they are useless in the areas I hunted in Wisconsin. Two, your shots are almost always going to be at moving game. Three, the time window you will have to shoot is usually very small and also you will not always be in the best position to take advantage. All that said, did I get my deer every year? Hell no. But...what I did get was a lot of enjoyment. Seems to me those that just **have** to get a deer are missing out on a lot, not to mention those are the kind that usually go through the woods like a jet taking off from a aircraft carrier.

 

[mikee51848]

Well.....I guess that I did something wrong. The pic was supposed to be included the post. I tried to look for instructions to fix it, but can't find them. :hmm:

Pictures need to be a jpg, not bmp.

 

[Protrucker]

Here we go. I've figured out how to add a pic now.
Here's what still hunting can produce. :grin:

 

[bigbore442001]

About 99% of my deer hunting is from a stand of some sort. Most of the time it is up a tree. I don't hunt off the ground much only due to the fact that here in Massachusetts you have a chance of pushing a deer into another hunter. I have done that myself and I will not do that again. So I will sit and get bored up a tree.

 

[Rebel]

I combine still hunting and sitting on a stump or log. For the most part though, i am moving throu the woods slowly while looking for sign and deer.

 

[CG6018]

Stumpkiller, We must have attended the same deer hunting school. Temperature has a lot to do with how long I can sit. Then, I still hunt, and I do it very slowly with the wind in my favor. The majority of my black powder deer are taken in this manner. The Blue Mt. here in southeastern Pa. will see me using this technique after Christmas. :thumbsup:

 

[Slamfire]

When I was twelve years old, my Pap said to me "Boy if you cain't set still, you better learn to walk quiet". I've been practicin' ever since. However, I'm gettin' feeble, so I bought me a Tree Lounge. Now I kin set still fer hours. Trouble is I usually wake up stiff and chilled to the bone.
:rotf:

 

[Stumpkiller]

Stumpkiller, We must have attended the same deer hunting school. Temperature has a lot to do with how long I can sit. Then, I still hunt, and I do it very slowly with the wind in my favor. The majority of my black powder deer are taken in this manner. The Blue Mt. here in southeastern Pa. will see me using this technique after Christmas. :thumbsup:

Hardknocks U.?

Since 1980 I've taken 34 deer from the ground. Either sitting or still hunting (I'd guess the mix to be 60% while sitting on a stump or ground-level tree seat). The one "trick" I think I owe my success to is that I hunt from before sunrise and stay at it until sunset. I call it "putting my time in" and I am counting on just being available when a deer makes a mistake. I scout pre-season to make sure deer are present where I will be hunting. I have taken many deer that were unwittingly pushed to me by other hunters heading out of the woods at 9:00 or 10:00AM because they think mid-day is unproductive and the only method they know is waiting in a tree-stand.

Every hunter should have several techniques to use as conditions and opportunities change.

 

[Hamourkiller]

Stormy weather hunting: I like to find the thickest area that deer bed in during bad weather, take a stand during the bad rain. When the weather breaks them deer are going to get up for a bite to eat in the thicket. Hammer time.

Traveling from the stand to camp after a morning hunt is a great time to still hunt. A jeep trail in sandy soil lets you be quiet as an Indian. Any sunken old road deserves special attention. Deer will come to the end of your gun trying to figure out what you are. All they see is your head at ground level until the flash.

A variant that works well in the southern swamps, if you are moving close to a shallow water break in the woods, take time to cross the break very quietly then squat near a tree or stump. Many times the deer have been coursing you by sound and will circle around looking for you on the other side of the water!

I find stand hunting more productive but still hunting more satisfying. Combining both methods works well for me. I have never used BP on the deer yet, but am sure this will be taken care of in our Texas BP season in Jan. Good luck to all.

 

[hobbles]

Mornin Bald Mtn Man
Lookin good my friend, nice buck,,,