Still Hunting

[August West]

Cool, this "tree hunter" will see myself to the door and won't let it hit me on the way out. I love to still hunt and never said anything derogatory about it. I'll be still hunting next week. Later, Chris

 

[luieb45]

That's how I think about it :haha:. I always refer to my tactics as "Luke's Bag of Tricks." :haha: In rainy conditions when there's no one else hunting I still hunt, I sit in a stand if the conditions feel right for me to hunt in my spots that have tree stands. If I feel like going to a spot that I don't have a stand in I find a good spot on the ground. I usually have no luck with this because there's a reason I have stands in those locations :grin:. I've also been known to follow fresh tracks in the snow on those below zero types of days.

 

[Dave K]

Deer unfortunately do look up. Maybe they are conditioned to here in the midwest. I know many will say this or that about stand hunting or still hunting. I know this will probably start something, but it is not intended to and those that will throw stones, don't hunt here. In my locale, you can still hunt if you choose, but you may as well hunt with the wind to your back. It is flat land here. The woods are wood lots. If the corn is standing around the woods, you have a chance to still hunt. If not, you will possibly starve, unless, the deer are entering your woods from one end as you enter from the other end. I have hunted in many different parts of the U.S. and a little in Canada. If you have so acreage or woods to work in, you will be ok. If you have some changes in terrain, you will be ok. But in flat land, you can be in serious trouble. These deer know the game. They will bed on the edge, with some looking into the woods and some looking across the field. They have it covered by eye sight and by nose. I have watched them come into by tree stand areas bed down and do just that. You may get lucky someday and sneak up on one, but is Darwin's theory on the deer species and not really skill in this area. But, to those that do it with regular succes, my hat is off to you. If I were to leave my area and just travel 15 miles south, the whole picture changes. Like the deer you have to know your country.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

To nobody in particular:

I started this thread to share with other still hunters. I wasn't trying to convince anybody that this is the only way to hunt. It's just the way I like to hunt. Others feel the same way. Others don't for whatever reason.

Sometimes i'll spot and stalk. It's an effective way to hunt. Much more than still hunting, because you know where the animal is. Still hunting is more thrilling to me, because the hunt is so unpredictable. You don't know where the animal is, and you could see it at any second. I find that exciting, and never boring.

I guess if it didn't work where I hunt. I'd find an area to hunt where it did work.

I'm an avid fly fisherman. I'd catch more fish if I used bait. I couldn't do it. I want to tie my own flies. I want to figure out what bugs are hatching at that moment. I want to figure out where the fish are in the creek/river. When i figure out those two things. I want to drift the fly by the fish as naturally as possible. As if it's not connected to my leader at all. Then and only them will the fish be fooled into taking my fly. It's the challenge that counts. Fool the fish. Don't just feed it food.

Hunting is the same to me. I don't want to shoot it from 500yds away, ambush it, or feed it. Hunt for it. Let it use all it's sense to find you. Fool it on it's own level.

This is how I do it, and i'm not judging anybody. So, you don't need to defend your method.

I wanted this to be a positive thread.

 

[Scharms]

I've enjoyed everybody's comments, and I use several hunting techniques depending on the game being pursued. Deer are very heavily hunted in my area, pressured from the opening day of the youth season. Subsequently, my still hunting is reserved for small game. I find it much more relaxing than any block and drive tactics of deer season, plus there are fewer folks blasting away at anything that moves. For some great reading try traditional bowhunter G. Fred Asbell's book "Stalking and Still Hunting - The Ground Hunters Bible." Its very entertaining and informative. :thumbsup:

 

[Dave K]

I agree. It is the same here. Pressure put on game is allot different here than in the big places. I have hunted the west, where what is thought of as pressure there, doesn't even compare here. I have NO interest in drives, actually I am more of a bowhunter than anything. When I did hunt the west, it was with a rifle though. Stalking there was so easy compared (please remember I said compared) to still hunting here. I walked up on so many animals while there, that doing any still hunting here, is great training for terrain that rolls, has saddles, ridges, valleys and draws. I am sure in some of those areas, the better way is to still hunt as stand hunting here is much different if you hope to see game. Yes, I got my elk still hunting in the shadow of Pikes Peak, out of Cripple Creek, while hunting the west. I know you want to keep this a friendly thread, I just want to be sure it is not a thread of "out way is better than yours". It certainly can be, if the terrain permits it. I feel ambushing it is more into the hunting mode than anything. IMHO. As a hunter, you have learned your games habits, it's breeding and feeding schedules as foods sources change and you have used nature to your advantage to claim your price. That means wind, cover, knowledge of your game. Because YOU KNOW your quarry and are not just looking around hoping to see one. It is a matter of what you are used to,where you hunt and what you have learned about your way of hunting. But yes, I certainly do enjoy still hunting, when the conditions permit it. It is a great way to see new country. See what and where the game is going, has fed, bedded, looks to breed. Things that a stand hunter has probably already determined by scouting, because the area to hunt is smaller and the hunting pressure more congested.

 

[squirrellluck]

I understand your feelings about still hunting. I enjoy hunting this way, however I also love to hunt from a tree stand or a ground blind. Heck, I have even been known to crawl into a old brush pile... not the best idea here in louisiana :idunno:. I am a meat hunter first and foremost so I use what tactics work for a given area. I love my woods here even though some of it is darn near impenetrable. Still hunting is what I do after the deer have been pushed back into the deep woods. The places most hunters won't go because of the swampy terrain. Can be a real challenge with the slurping sounds of rubber boots in gumbo mud and muck but that is where they go so.. me too :v

 

[Problem Child]

My favorite method is Still Hunting also but I hunt public land and it's probably not the safest thing to do during firearms season.
Also,my 15 year old son is hunting fulltime with me now and it's hard enough for me to be quiet and twice as hard with two people.
I bought a couple of "Lone Wolf" climbing stands and that's how we hunt about 90% of the time.
We also use the same tree seat as Stumpkiller when we hunt from the ground.
I can sleep good with either one. :v :v

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I'm not sure why it's not safe? I've never seen a blaze orange deer, or been mistaken for one.

 

[Dave K]

Your 100% right about the orange. But in that type of country, you don't know who is out there. Wouldn't be the 1st time a "sound type of shooter" pulled the trigger. As a still hunter, one must be very aware of other hunters along with the game you are looking for. Funny thing I just thought of early this season. This year I caught a still hunter going under my stand and while I was in it. I think he thought God was speaking to him, after I let him get past. He as shaking like a leaf. He may still be still hunting, but not at the same place anymore. :grin:

 

[luieb45]

A lot of times you can't see the orange if the right cover is in front of you. A bullet could make it through and get you anyway. Especially in rifle country in the south.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

A lot of times you can't see the orange if the right cover is in front of you. A bullet could make it through and get you anyway. Especially in rifle country in the south.

Really? You can't see a full orange vest and hat, but you can see me good enough to be certain i'm an animal, and hit the kill zone?

I'm glad you don't hunt in Colorado.

 

[luieb45]

You must not have all the underbrush we have in Illinois. You may not see them one second, but if you take one step forward you can see the orange. This is one of those things where you have to know what the terrain is like here to understand.

 

[Problem Child]

A lot of times you can't see the orange if the right cover is in front of you. A bullet could make it through and get you anyway. Especially in rifle country in the south.

Really? You can't see a full orange vest and hat, but you can see me good enough to be certain i'm an animal, and hit the kill zone?

I'm glad you don't hunt in Colorado.

Have you ever hunted in the South?? Most places you're lucky if you can see 100 yards and 50 is about average where I hunt.
Then.... most of the good ol boys think they need a 300 mag to shoot 50 yards.
I do still hunt sometimes during rifle season but I pick my times.I usually don't still hunt on weekends and especially on Holiday weekends.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

You're missing my point. I was brought up in Mass. It had thick brush. Believe it or not. Parts of Colorado can be pretty thick too. I hunt those parts, because still hunting doesn't work in the wide open.

My point is, if you can't see the blaze orange. You certainly couldn't see good enough to take a shot. Let alone hit a kill zone that isn't even there.

Aren't you two more sure of your shot before you pull the trigger? I know you don't shoot, because you see something moving.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Now, let me say something about this thread. August West accused me of being a troll in this thread.

That couldn't be farther from the truth. This was a thread to those who love still hunting. To share the joy of still hunting together.

It wasn't a thread about my way is better than your way. I could care less how you all hunt, or what you shoot.

The question this thread asked........This is how I do it. Do you like this way too?

 

[Problem Child]

You're missing my point. I was brought up in Mass. It had thick brush. Believe it or not. Parts of Colorado can be pretty thick too. I hunt those parts, because still hunting doesn't work in the wide open.

My point is, if you can't see the blaze orange. You certainly couldn't see good enough to take a shot. Let alone hit a kill zone that isn't even there.

Aren't you two more sure of your shot before you pull the trigger? I know you don't shoot, because you see something moving.

It's not me I'm worried about,it's the other idiots. :v

 

[twobarrel]

I believe they are concerned about others seeing them when they're stillhunting and trying to keep from getting shot.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

I believe they are concerned about others seeing them when they're stillhunting and trying to keep from getting shot.

The idiots could think they're a squirrel, and shoot them out of the tree. :grin:

It's a chance we all take hunting. No matter what method you use.

 

[twobarrel]

:grin: Those of us that slide through the woods wearing the funny looking clothes and carrying those strange looking guns that belch smoke and fire are probably a little squirrelly anyway. :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: