Still Hunting versus stalk hunting

[Surfdog]

Still hunting for me is as follows,
Only walk when other noises cover the noise you are making. Things such as wind, planes, vehicles, crows etc. only a few steps at a time, stop, look and listen. This is the only way I hunt and is very productive.

^^^^^very good advice there...something I practice as well.

Surfdog

[whelenshooter]

Ross Seyfried once wrote a still hunting treatise I consider one of the best I've ever read. It was in successful Hunter back in the early 2000's. I have it but would have to dig for it.

If you find that I'd like a link to it.
Thanks, David

[ammohead]

I have often wondered on the naming of the diciplines of hunting. Still hunting is performed by "moving" through an area. Stand hunting is accomplished by "sitting" in a tree or on the ground. Spot and stalk is the description closest to the act of the three. Out west it is more like glass and sneak.

[kens]

And then you got different terminology, along with different conditions, such as wide open hunting out west, and the close quarters brush in the east. I'm a eastern brush hunting kind of guy, and the western guys are chiming in with their wide open spaces stories, and then I can't figger it out !!!! no wonder I'm confused !!!!

[Texas by God]

move a little look a lot, be quiet.
it can scare every bit of adrenaline out of both of you when you get within 15' of a bedded buck you didn't see and he suddenly realizes your there when he smells you.

I have had this happen twice. What a rush. Luckily had a 2x on the .308 and a Lyman on the Krag!

[LAKEMASTER]

Last time i hunted, was a compound bow and i was hunting rabbits.

I stalked some and found myself in a few situations where i had to still hunt cause they scurried towards me.

It was a lot of fun. UNBELIEVABLY difficult, which i think made it fun. I don't think id ever hunt another way ever again.

Of course, elk wouldn't (scurry ) towards me....

[LAKEMASTER]

Still hunting for me is as follows,
Only walk when other noises cover the noise you are making. Things such as wind, planes, vehicles, crows etc. only a few steps at a time, stop, look and listen. This is the only way I hunt and is very productive.

Basically what I've learned to do... Except i tend to slow down tremendously when i spot animals from afar

[centershot]

Eastern or western, we all modify our techniques in order to adapt to our surroundings. Where I live in western NY state the average shot at big game is only 30-35 yards. Frequently, my shots are more on the order of 30-35 feet! You can see deer moving much further out but the chance of threading a shot through the brush and trees is ZERO. But, it pays to still hunt, moving slowly and glassing. I use a 1-4x rifle scope to glass with, hung around my neck on a piece of paracord. I wear glasses so the longer eye relief of the scope versus binoculars is an advantage. I see a lot of deer that I can't possibly shoot but you never know when they'll turn towards you. This is where keeping the wind in your face and knowing the terrain are really important! Still-hunting works, done properly; Go S-L-O-W, glass every two or three steps - if you're moving fast enough to stay warm in cold weather, you're moving too fast!!!

[waksupi]

And then you got different terminology, along with different conditions, such as wide open hunting out west, and the close quarters brush in the east. I'm a eastern brush hunting kind of guy, and the western guys are chiming in with their wide open spaces stories, and then I can't figger it out !!!! no wonder I'm confused !!!!

I live in timber country, where I still hunt. On the eastern plains in the state, it is spot and stalk.

[rking22]

It's called "still hunting" because you are Still huntin even when you are moving VERY slowly to your next stand a few feet from this one. Or maybe because you gotta be still

[runfiverun]

we have both types of hunting on the same mountain.
you can go from a very thick pine-aspen-scrub oak thatch that transitions right to open grassy hill sides with buck brush and cedar trees that have sage brush along the bottom edge.[sometimes running out for miles]
the pine-aspen thickets have a border of holly bushes you can't get through in many places.


I have to keep an eye on my scope settings throughout a day or just target certain types of cover if I have the lever gun along.
I generally have both guns in the truck along with the shotgun during deer season.

you just never know where your gonna find a deer or a grouse when your out and about.
two years back I watched a couple of coyotes cruise through the rock edges right at the tree line [about 9500 feet in elevation] in early November.

[mart]

If you find that I'd like a link to it.
Thanks, David

The issue was Jan/Feb 2004 of Successful Hunter. I've scanned the the article and will attempt to post it in a PM to you.

[white eagle]

I have done it where I have the room to do so
move when the wind blows stay in near cover
be a shadow among shadows and do not linger

[whelenshooter]

The issue was Jan/Feb 2004 of Successful Hunter. I've scanned the the article and will attempt to post it in a PM to you.

Thanks for that. In that article Seyfried references a book he holds in high regard on still hunting by Theodore Van Dyke. It's available on Kindle for $1.99. Print copies are high. Van Dyke was a contemporary of Theodore Roosevelt.

David

[mart]

I bought the Van Dyke book after reading that article. It's a good read.

[kens]

is this it?
https://www.amazon.com/Still-Hunter-.../dp/1612037240

[mart]

is this it?
https://www.amazon.com/Still-Hunter-.../dp/1612037240

Yup. That's the one.

[Texas by God]

I love still hunting in the woods during high winds. The deer can't hear as well and you can get closer. This works for turkeys as well.

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[waksupi]

I love still hunting in the woods during high winds. The deer can't hear as well and you can get closer. This works for turkeys as well.

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Kind of chancy in this area. These shallow rooted pines have a nasty habit of blowing over at any time.

[mart]

High wind is a good time to be out. I like to put on my rain gear and go out during a heavy rain. They seem to hold pretty tight and you can move quietly with ease.