I want to start hunting but hate sitting still, advice please

[mr.jake]

Well the title mostly describes my dilema. I hunted alot of squirrel with a ruger 10/22 when i was younger but now that i have a .357 rossi 92 i want to test my beloved cast boolits on something a bit larger. The meat brought home will be a bonus Most people in my area (gaston county NC) hunt from tree stands but to me thats no fun. What are my options? I know for certain we have coyotes and deer in my area but it seems to me that if im not sitting in a tree stand it would be nearly impossible to get a shot on eather of them.

[scrapcan]

travel and hunt in a place where you can move might be an option. But then you get into the expense.

[mr.jake]

I have a couple of place i could hunt were i would be able to move. But is it not nearly impossible to do this without the target spotting you before the shot??

[725]

Try pigs. They are down in your area. Search around and I bet you find something suitable.

[HollowPoint]

To some folks, hunting from a tree stand just doesn't really seam like hunting.

Growing up in the open country of the southwest, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to sit still long enough to be an effective tree stand "hunter." Same thing when I'm fishing. I can't get myself to sit in one spot while I wait for the fish to come to me. I have to be moving around looking in the spots that look good to me.

I think in the case of the tree stand hunter, the thing being hunted is actually the place where you want to hang your tree stand. Once you find a suitable place, then you're more of a tree stand sniper; assuming you've picked a good spot.

Your 357 lever action is perfect for this kind of thing. The learning curve lies in the area of figuring out where best to place your tree stand.

[bowfin]

I don't hunt out of a tree stand either. However, we have enough open space in Nebraska that it makes it easier to hunt on the ground or to still hunt.

There was a family up in Maine that were able to hunt down big bucks just by tracking. This isn't something that can be learned in one or two seasons, but they hunted some pretty thick woods. How it compares to your neck of the woods, I cannot say, but hunt the way that is enjoyable to you.

[Wolfer]

I've always been a still hunter I didn't like staying in one place too long. When moving through the woods I moved really slow, say maybe 100 yds an hour or a little more.
If I saw someplace I liked I might set there for an hour or so then ease on making a big circle over the course of the day.

This style of hunting is difficult enough with a rifle let alone a handgun but it's nowhere near as boring as stand hunting. A few years back I lost the place I hunted and we found a new place. It's on public ground in a big river bottom and it's so brushy no one else will hunt there. I couldn't still hunt here very well so climbed into my first tree stand. Man! I see a lot more deer hunting like this. It's so thick a 30 yd shot is pretty long so all meat deer for me need to be taken with a pistol. I carry a rifle in case a wall hanger comes by and is a difficult shot with a pistol. Also I find as I get older it's a lot easer to set than it used to be.

When the leaves were dry making it impossible to move quietly I try to walk with about the same speed and cadence as a turkey. There's a lot of them in the area and I've fooled many gobblers that way so I know it works for deer too. Most times the deer would see me before I saw them and if your going to bring home meat you and your rifle better be in tune. I've saw several first but it's not the norm for me.
Good luck. Woody

[MT Chambers]

Wolfer kinda nailed it, walk slowly and quietly, stopping to look and listen, you should do more stopping and looking/listening than you do walking. Most folks are in way too big a hurry for this style of hunting...at least this is how I like to hunt here in W. Canada.

[runfiverun]

the trick is definately to see them first.
in our area you have to be mobile,flexible,and quick.
the deer don't wander down the creek bed to the hay/corn field every evening at 7 p.m., and back again in the morning.
i hunt open areas,pine trees,quakies,buck brush,sagebrush flats,and cedars.
quite often in the same day.
spot and stalk,and stealth hunting is practiced alternately from ridge to ridge.
punt and run is used too, on the smaller patches.
sometimes just wandering along the ridge edges quietly pays off too.
a good quality pair of small binoculars,a pair of well fitting soft souled boots, a rear peep sight and bright easily seen front sight,and quiet clothing are about all you need.
picking the right time of day when the deer are not moving to or from somewhere works best for the quiet movement tacics.
and playing the wind is essential.

[mr.jake]

Man i love this forum! Great tips guys exactly the type of feed back i was looking for.

[waksupi]

I travel about the same speed as Wolfer. No matter how slow you think you are going, slow down more. Take a few steps, then glass every thing around you. Look at each bush, every clump of grass. Don't forget to look behind you.
It is amazing how moving a few feet can put you in view of deer or elk that you couldn't see from your previous position. When done right, you can get within slapping distance of a deer. They don't like it though, and may kick you.

By the way, I don't know how old you are, but a young person can usually not hunt like this.

[white eagle]

there are many forms of hunting
you are speaking of hunting two totally different animals
both have their own ways to be hunted successfully
work out the animal you want to hunt and go from there
would not combine different species in the beginning

[Slam'n Salmon]

You can move faster but must keep a non bi-ped cadence.

With an irregular step it is easier to sneak up on stuff. Try to sound like background noise. I have used a squirrel type pace to cover a lot of ground to get to a ridge to look over.

Crunch crunch crunch crunch won't do it.

Soft fabrics and no metallic bumps clicks or clanks.

Be clean! Ivory soap is low scent. Leave your hunting clothes out side away from house. No Chili for dinner.

The main problem with stalking is you are on the ground and your scent travels along it. Deer will smell you before they see you.

Motion motion motion. It makes you and your quarry visable.

Is it doable? Yes.

But most deer will see you first.

It is probably easier to be still enough in a stand than on the ground when a deer is getting close. Freezing in an awkward position can be an intense isometric exercise. Try doing it with a bow or handgun at arms length while you wait for him to go behind a tree so you can move without being seen. If you can see a deers eye don't move or he will see you and game over

[camaro1st]

i've hunted alot of draws that are 50yrds or so wide and i found that when you can walk in a creek bottom you dont make much noise. i drag my feet so that im not makeing smacking noises in the mud or water. seen lots of deer when i walk in the early afternoon. Coyotes are a different story the only ones i ever see are running across the field like drag cars on sunday. remember any day hunting is better than working!!
good luck

[jhalcott]

There are products like Scent Shield that minimize body odor and CAN help. Always ,if possible, hunt into the wind as that will keep your scent away from their nose. Set trail cameras around your hunting area to know when and where the deer are traveling. One of my friends uses felt soles glued to the bottom of his boots to lessen the sounds as he stalks thru the woods.
ME, I setup on a ridge with a,high power scope equipped LOONG RANGE rifle on sand bags . A table with a range finder and wind meter with a comfy chair. HEY, I can't walk very far any more!

[Wolfer]

I've found woodsmoke to be extremely effective at covering or eleminating human odor even on coyotes which are much harder to fool than deer. You do have to stand in the smoke until you are really saturated.

[HollowPoint]

"No Chili for dinner."

If I eat chili before a deer hunt, I've found that I can then produce some effective "Buck-Grunt" sounds.

I just have to make sure that I keep track of which way the wind is blowing or my usual hunting
buddies won't have anything to do with me.

Feel the burn.

HollowPoint

[btroj]

No tree stands for me. I prefer a stool or a boat cushion on the ground. I find that as long as you aren't stupid the deer will ignore you pretty well. I have shot a few at less than 20 yards.
I do get up and move around from time to time, I just can't sit for more thana. Few hours at a time.
In the end the area you hunt determines the methods that work best.

[mr.jake]

I travel about the same speed as Wolfer. No matter how slow you think you are going, slow down more. Take a few steps, then glass every thing around you. Look at each bush, every clump of grass. Don't forget to look behind you.
It is amazing how moving a few feet can put you in view of deer or elk that you couldn't see from your previous position. When done right, you can get within slapping distance of a deer. They don't like it though, and may kick you.

By the way, I don't know how old you are, but a young person can usually not hunt like this.

Ile be 21 in june. Im gonna give it a try maybe ile be one of the few. I dont mind moveing slow as long as im moving! Deer stands make me sleepy. Thats why I never cared much for hunting other than squirrel hunting. When i used to squirrel hunt I basically walked very slowly trying not to step on any twigs and kept my eyes on the trees for movement. I really enjoyed it back then and always killed more squirrel than my cousin because he stomped and tore through the underbrush like some sort of yetti.

[quilbilly]

Like everybody else says, go slow but there are a couple things that have helped me over the years hunting blacktail deer in the thick stuff of the Pacific NW. First, if possible, hunt in sneekers with flexible soles rather than boots if you can in spite of the local ticks and chiggers. Stiff sole boots are noisy. I recently started rain hunting in calf-height soft "Muck Boots" ( a brand name) that are really flexible and they are wonderful like waterproof moccasins for being quiet.
Second, if you know any old abandoned or little used logging roads, walk them very very slowly but always stay on the edge next to the brush. The deer and other wildlife use them as a path of least resistance until the first traffic of the day goes by.