Tracking or stalking game

[RedXd]

I think it would be beneficial for everyone to post a particular technique or trick you employ in the woods. Something that works for you. Movement to clothing....share some knowledge


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[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Highly dependent on the area you have to hunt. I use the times between the season to scout, trail cams, etc. I have around 15 different stands set up at all the best areas. I don't hunt a stand more that 4 times in a season on average due to weather or wind conditions. Plus once the rut starts well you know, and this is all during bow once gun starts I have to share.

[u_not_i]

Best thing I learned was to slow down, then slow down some more. I've taken a number of deer with a bow before even getting to my stand. As ICANHITHIMMAN mentioned, always play the wind. Make no exceptions. You can ruin a good setup by sitting there on the wrong day.

[Mac5.56]

I might be considered insane but I've been hunting in the North East forests for White Tale for a while now, and I prefer to Still hunt on the ground as opposed to in a stand. Stands really aren't for me.

I use a tactic of walking really slow heal to toe, three steps at a time then pausing. Of course this comes with days and days in the field of knowing where the movement is and moving around the deer trails using the wind, powdery snow, light rain and other natural elements to my advantage.

This year I was able to get within 20 feet of two bucks challenging each other with four doe around them. The antler restrictions kept me from taking a shot but I considered it a successful day. I also stalked up onto the alpha of this herd but couldn't get a clear line of site. Two days later I found him dead in a ditch with his antlers cut off... ****ERS!

[RedXd]

When your hunting on a new property and cross a well beaten path in the woods with fresh markings how would you proceed? Do you follow along side looking for a clearing, food plot, or water source to set up for the hopeful shot?


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[luckybychoice]

I always wear good insulated rubber boots when stalking. I let my hunting clothes hang outside for weeks before the hunting season starts. I try to eliminate as much human smell as possible for everything that I have on me while stalking.

I have a scent pad tied around one boot that I spray" doe-in-heat "on, the pad just touches the ground. When I get to a well worn trail I will stop and watch for a good while in both directions, paying attention to the wind direction. I will follow the trail and look for more sign, fresh sign, scrapes, rubs, beds along the trail or next to it.

If I see a spot that might provide a good shooting lane, I'll hold up there for a couple hours, depending on the time of day, time of the season, or off season. This is a year round thing for me.

I have managed to get within 30 meters or so of lots of deer this way,but I get out there a lot.it's very much a stress reliever for me.

Standing is good to, I hunt solo now, but years ago my one hunting buddy and I use to leap frog terrain in a wide arc very slowly, I mean patrol slow, and try and basically herd deer across each other's shooting lanes,again we would go out all year and look for sign, trails,etc. good luck.

[lunchbox]

I might be considered insane but I've been hunting in the North East forests for White Tale for a while now, and I prefer to Still hunt on the ground as opposed to in a stand. Stands really aren't for me.

I use a tactic of walking really slow heal to toe, three steps at a time then pausing. Of course this comes with days and days in the field of knowing where the movement is and moving around the deer trails using the wind, powdery snow, light rain and other natural elements to my advantage.

This year I was able to get within 20 feet of two bucks challenging each other with four doe around them. The antler restrictions kept me from taking a shot but I considered it a successful day. I also stalked up onto the alpha of this herd but couldn't get a clear line of site. Two days later I found him dead in a ditch with his antlers cut off... ****ERS!Same here! Esp self climbing stands, by the time you climb your cold freezing a$$ up there, your sweating buckets giving off scent. I should probably mention I have small fear of heights (and damn spiders but that's neither here nor there), give me a blind any day. I have pop up lightweight blind that fits in its own backpack https://www.google.com/search?q=backpack+pop+up+blind&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=X139UvnxD8bAkQf08IGIAw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=650 Can find good area/trail (don't walk on game trail) setup off path/area of interest (using wind to favor) for good view/shot. Also during rut I take strip of cloth, tie around ankle with dangling tip dipped in doe estrous scent (do not soaked cloth with estrous). Sometimes Bucky will follow you if your lucky.

EDIT- Luckybychoice touched on some of this.

[luckybychoice]

Lunchbox, I got one of those pop ups for spring turkey hunt this year,I will have to see how that goes, could come in handy for muzzleloader deer season too.thanks for link.

[SilverBullet432]

I shower with scent killer for a week before a big hunt. Wash all camo with it, once I get out in the woods. I rub natural foilage all over to try and mask scent even more. Then avoid hunting with the wind blowing my scent towards the deer.

[RedXd]

I shower with scent killer for a week before a big hunt. Wash all camo with it, once I get out in the woods. I rub natural foilage all over to try and mask scent even more. Then avoid hunting with the wind blowing my scent towards the deer.

One question I've always had was how much does scent play into hunting really? A hunting buddy of mine is a chain smoker, even bitched about the smoke burning his eyes when setting up for a shot and never has a issue stuffing the freezer. Another instance is I've seen tracks 15" off my bedroom window. Clearly the deer understands this area is a major hotbed for humans but didn't deter them. Don't get me wrong I take precautions masking my scent on a hunt. But always wondered how much of a role it plays in this day in age?


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[lunchbox]

One question I've always had was how much does scent play into hunting really? A hunting buddy of mine is a chain smoker, even bitched about the smoke burning his eyes when setting up for a shot and never has a issue stuffing the freezer. Another instance is I've seen tracks 15" off my bedroom window. Clearly the deer understands this area is a major hotbed for humans but didn't deter them. Don't get me wrong I take precautions masking my scent on a hunt. But always wondered how much of a role it plays in this day in age?


Sent from my iPad using TapatalkI know exactly what your talking about!! My cousin smokes in the deer stand and always gets deer. I cant get to the stand nearly as much any more so when I am finally able to get in a hunt here and there, I am very careful to follow cardinal rules and still don't pack the freezer like smoking cuz. Some people are just lucky. The exact opposite happens when we go fishing, he can throw every lure in his tackle box with no luck, I can toss a line in the water and pull a big'en no problem. Meh it is what it is, it aint what it aint.

[Mac5.56]

I've talked pretty extensively with several biologists (I come from a family of scientists) about the scent question, and one of them was also at one time a Wyoming Fish and Wildlife employee as well as an environmental restoration expert. Most of the people I've talked to aren't avid hunters, and I did that for a reason, because I didn't want them to be bias.

The responses I keep getting tend to suggest that the biologists I talk to seem to conclude that the only way scent would be a major factor is if the individual deer has had contact with humans in the past, and the scents mimic their past experiences.

Every time that I pose a question of if I enter an environment where the deer aren't typically exposed to humans, and I smell like some detergent from clothes I washed two days ago, will this indicate human to that deer? The answer is "probably not". But it still may spook the deer because it is something they aren't use to smelling.

I personally don't use very many stinky human products anyway, and those that we use in our house are "unscented" in general. Come hunting season I dedicate one outfit to the woods, I break the outfit in, I let it get covered in mud, I let it get dirty, it sleeps outside if we cook onions or decide to hose the house down with perfume, but basically I just leave my hunting clothes be during the season. I've found that things like slamming the car door, abrupt movements, loud walking, loud clothing and so on tend to have more of an effect on a hunt then my scent.

I can't tell you the number of times I've had someone offer me "doe piss" to help me hunt, then when we walk in they slam their damn truck door...

[blade_68]

I knew a hunter that got the blue chemical that's used in port-a-potty and used it for a cover scent for hunting on military base. The deer was familiar to the smell and he would setup near one. The first time he told me I thought he was b.s.ing me. It was at post in Ga.

[RedXd]

That's interesting and more in line of my opnion. Still I take measures to keep my scent down, as deer uses sound, scent, and eyesight as their primary defence. I suppose it's relative to where we are hunting as well....heavily populated by both deer and human vs not.

What about clothing? Speaking of sound what's everyone's thoughts on guillie's? I've never hunted in one. I can clearly see an advantage for ground hunting, but what about the noise levels as they tend to snag on every twig and briar within a 30 yard radios?


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[jwdeeming]

When I started bowhunting, I was taught to do a "scratch test" before buying clothing. If it whistles or sounds noisy when you scratch it with your fingernail, it's not going to be real good in the woods. As for scent, I try to minimize it but bottom line there's no substitute for hunting into the wind. Amazing claims to the contrary by the folks who sell the snake oil have resulted in some interesting lawsuits...
I'm much more concerned about avoiding or killing UV brighteners and minimizing movement now days than scent masking. Frankly, I can't possibly stay scent-free chasing elk at 10,000 feet. I sweat too much.

[ryan]

I almost missed a doe with my bow this year because of the cigarette smoke in my eyes.

Its terrible for your health but you know exactly which way the wind is blowing.

In the south, every deer still alive has been hunted.

Setup down wind of the anticipated travel lane and make your semi permanent stands/blinds with the prevailing wind in mind.

9 outa 10 here its blowing North NorthWest, nothing you can do about the swirls in the pines.

[steyrman13]

I have tried doe pee scents and it seems I see less deer when I decide to use it. I have found the same above as far as clothing with the noise level, and usually hunt in a plaid Flannel shirt. My old boss slays some deer and killed his biggest 10 point Buck with a bow that walked right under his stand and when I checked on him after the hunt to help him load the deer, I couldn't believe it. He smelled like a man hoar with all the cologne he had on like old spice or brut type! I also know many smokers who slay deer. I also don't play into the fourwheeler noise/gas smell because I usually end up taking five steps off the fourwheeler and jump a deer or two when I was thinking that there is no way a deer would be this close to me and I'll get quiet once I move a hundred yards from the atv. Does are in general very curious and I think that is what plays into the "filling the freezer" for smokers, cologne, gas, etc. I have found that most of the precautions and playing the wind plays bigger into Big Bucks, although the 10 point mentioned above was a big one but it was during the rut and following a doe.