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

[Three44s]

Get some hunting buddies together and you double back to your truck while they tramp all around and send the game past your truck!

Every time, I drive out to the end of a logging road and park and start stalking elk, the only tracks I see are right around my rig!!!

The other suggestion has been mentioned: Get some trail cameras going. Take some dogs with you and watch when they get real interested in a spot or trail. Place a camera in as many "dog" interesting places as you can.

You'll be amazed at how HOT certain spots are and DEAD others are!! Only a trail camera gives a good picture about what your "fortunes" might be somewhere!


Three 44s

[ksriverrat]

It's good to keep some thing between you & the area in front of you when reaching the top of high ground.
Such as a tree rock or whatever. A tree behind you can break up your outline just as well.

Get to know whats normal behavior for the birds in your area. How they act can tell you things you cant see.

If the need arises crawl!!
You can a lot of times see much better & farther at ground level in thick stuff. In some cases it is the most quite method.
Practice & then practice some more. Doing it with your favorite deer blaster. While doing this a taped muzzle is a good idea. To keep debris out. You can safely shoot through it

It is also good to remember there are no horizontal straight lines in the woods or timber. Besides fences & a 4 legged critters back.

When season is no longer open get out & replace your deer blaster with a camera. Devolping & testing your skills on getting close while capturing that moment in a pic.

[badge176]

I've had great luck with a boat cushion and the will to sit rock still. Hiking logging roads on property I had never scouted (My bad! but I had looked at a topo map before going in so I knew some terrain features; dense tangles- so the roads seemed like decent paths of least resistance for them as well as me) until a promising "L" or "T" or "X" came along, sat facing wind in my favor to catch motion coming onto two or more "legs" of the road that I could see and then find a comfortable position to sit in for a while. I've dropped a couple of deer that were walking toward me down the road to really short distances! I guess that I looked like a goofey shaped stump or a heap of debris but since i had the rifle up once they put the first foot on the road I didn't have to move at all. Movement and recognition as a biped shape seem to trigger the bouncing white flag into the timber... IF the wind is in your favor and you don't stink like a person.

I sort of count on the fellas who stumble out to the stands in the dark and amble back to their trucks for lunch to get deer up and moving (to me sitting still). A pal of mine had a "hunter" walk up and start unlimbering for a pee while my buddy was seated at the base of the same pine tree. Mind you now, that he was wearing the required Orange hat and vest, but the other "hunter" didn't "SEE" him until he cleared his throat!!! Same day (earlier), same buddy had a mature doe walk up and almost press her nose against his glasses; he was sprayed with Pine cover sent, resting his back against a pine tree with a couple of lower branches snapped back to make his hidey-hole.

Lately, I've taken e-books with me on my Iphone to read while in the tree stand. A flick of finger across screen turns page, and no sound! I rely on my hearing to a greater extend in these thick woods especially once the leaves drop and before the first snows.

I usually spent the hours prior to the approach of dusk to mentally inventory all the trees, rustling leaves, pouncing squirrels, woodpeckers, gurgling streams, voles in the leave litter, etc; so that by the "golden hour" I have tuned most of these out and am ready to sit rock solid still when a twig snaps or an ear swivels, or a nose twitches...

Around here, Deer season can be more about staying warm enough to manage to stay out in the woods long enough to see and shoot a deer! To that end I fold a 12V electric blanket (RV store or auto department at Target) and wrap it around my torso (armpits to groin) up under my Carhart bibs, then snake the power cord out the fly and then get my parka over the top. I lug my 12V car power pack (the jump start one that has a 12V outlet on it) and set that under my tree stand seat. I tough out the cold as long as I can, and then as the sun goes toward dusk and the temp tanks, I plug in and warm up nicely. I usually run out of light way before I run out of battery!

[waksupi]

No matter what you do, you are not going to fool a buck, bull or bear. If they are downwind, they WILL scent you.

[Longwood]

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.

You are set my friend.I used to hunt with Yetti's.
Nothing better to get the attention of the animal away from you and get him to expose himself to you while watching and avoiding the Yetti.

[Longwood]

It is also good to remember there are no horizontal straight lines in the woods or timber. Besides fences & a 4 legged critters back.

Plus two super black and shiny eyeballs on one end.
I have spotted more deer looking for those round black eyes, than any other way.

[jim147]

Wolfer must be close to me. I haven't had to shoot anything over 30 yards away from me in these old strip pits I live in.

Walk super slow.

Your eyes and nose might not be as good as the deer's but you can see them if you are looking for them and you can sure smell them if you if you come up down wind of them..

Most of the time that I spook a deer, be it noise or them smelling me, they will snort before they bolt. If you are looking and can pick the deer's spot out quick enough, you still have a good chance of getting it.

jim

[Beerd]

Mr.Jake
about that meat hunting thing- deer are good, coyotes not so much
..

[Wayne Smith]

Not mentioned yet - do your own laundry. Avoid laundry soaps/detergents with brighteners and don't add any. Animals see further into the ultraviolet than we do and these brighteners really make you stand out.

[ksriverrat]

Plus two super black and shiny eyeballs on one end.
I have spotted more deer looking for those round black eyes, than any other way.

I believe all it takes is ones mind to key in on one particular mark for ID & have it work just a couple of times. Then it becomes ingrained. I can spot a deers back in some pretty thick stuff.

It is amazing some times how ones mind & eye works together to ID what we are after.

[mr.jake]

Mr.Jake
about that meat hunting thing- deer are good, coyotes not so much
..

I was waiting on someone to say that

[1Shirt]

There is merit to both tree stand hunting and still hunting on the ground. There is an element of safety with both. If you are still hunting in areas where there are a lot of tree stands, you face the potential of being shot if you are on the ground by some numbnut in a tree. It does happen! There are always a few tree stand hunters each year who fall from stands and who seriously injure themselfs or get killed. Still hunting requires that you know what is behind what you are shooting at, and not launching a round where it is a problem to livestock, houses, or other hunters. You are young, and I suggest you consider teaming up with a sucessfull hunter that has some gray hair to learn the ropes. That is if you can find one that will be willing to take you on and allow you to hunt sucessfully and grow gray haired yourself.
1Shirt!

[largom]

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.

Hunt deer the same way as squirrels but don't look at the tree tops, search the ground and brush for a "piece" of a deer. Don't look for a "whole" deer, look for an ear, an eye, a nose, a leg, just a piece. Many times a bedded deer will ly still and let you walk right by. Also do not make and hold eye contact, watch with side vision until ready to shoot.

Larry

[Al_sway]

Lots of good advice in the above. I have to admit to using a combination while deer hunting; stands in the morning and evening when the deer are moving, and then still hunting during the day.
You don't need special clothes, or special soaps. In my jeans and whatever warm jacket I need, I have walked up on deer within 20 yards or less, on a regular basis. Sometimes off season as well to practice. It is really enjoyable to stand and watch a buck and doe standing there within 20 yards, for up to 10 minutes.
Practice.
Also I have followed fresh tracks in light snow and walked up on my deer for the season. Again, practice.

[30cal]

Walk a little,sit,walk a little.Move SLOW and into the wind.A fter my Dads last back surgery he couldnt do either for very long so he just sat as long as he could then moved walking maybe 5 steps every couple minutes.He soon confessed that although his back was screwed he was seeing more deer than ever.Like quillbilly said loose the boots and go with something flexible.Stay into the wind,you can fool their eyes and ears but not their nose.

[shastaboat]

Stand Hunting is really the best if done for no more than 2 to 3 hours at a time. Mornings be in the stand 1 hour before first light. Evenings be in the stand 1.5 to 2 hours before dark. If your state allows lights and a timed feeder stay in the stand. Too much pressure on a deer/hog stand is bad. Spot and stalk is good but you must be able to see 100+ yards. Pretty hard to do in dense forest areas. If you insist on walking that's OK cause you'll just push them to my stand. Thanks for the assist.

[CATS]

If driving game is legal and culturally acceptable in your area, ask around at hunting clubs. Often, clubs will have a bunch of guys who will want stands and too few who want to push the game on drives. Volunteering to help be a driver can get you invited along without having to become a member. If you have rabbit or deer dogs you could find yourself in high cotton with local clubs. Also, offering to help for free on offseason club work days can get set you above ever loafer who only shows up on opening day. And MAKE SURE that you are a good guest if want to be asked back.

[jsizemore]

You might want to check the hunting regs for your county. About all the counties at my end of NC require you to be a minimum of 8' above the ground when hunting with a centerfire rifle. You can hunt on the ground with a handgun or shotgun but there's a bunch of folks in the trees with guns that shoot at anything that moves. That's why I quit stalking with my contender.

[cavalrymedic]

I will sit in my tree stand, or ground blind for a few hours in the morning. When I am to itchy to sit anymore, I slowly get to my feet and plot out a hunting/recon trip for the noon hours. I walk slowly and as quietly as I can, following dirt roads. I watch for where the game trails are crossing my path in great numbers, forward and back.

While moving about, I have spotted many deer that due to the season being buck only, I could not shoot. I also see lots of gobblers maybe 30 yards in front of me before they spook. I didn't have one with me this last season, but I will now carry a turkey shotgun with me when I move about. I am very careful to avoid other hunter's who may still be in stand.

Around 3 PM or so, depending on when the sun is setting, I move to my evening hunting spot. Sometimes it's the same place I hunted the morning, especially if I saw a lot of deer. Usually though, I will set up a ground blind near the largest game crossing path I can find.

This style of hunting breaks the day up and keeps me from being bored. But it is far from stalking hunting. I need someone with those skills to teach me.

[mr.jake]

Great ideas guys. I suppose i will study up on some of the laws and seasons of my area and take that huters safety course. Any more advice is welcome