Still Hunting?

[DeplorableDan]

Hey guys, haven’t logged in in a while, hope everyone’s had a good season. I’ve been working my ass off lately and haven’t been able to get out in the stand as much as I’d like. I didnt take off opening day of 6 day, because weather looked good on Saturday. Of course I was out Saturday and ended up cutting my hunt short because of the storm, the snow was really wet and I was not comfortable where I was, and I wasn’t prepared for that much accumulation.

 

I know some guys use inclement weather days for still hunting, or just walking around extremely slow through the thicket to try to catch bedded deer off guard. Does anyone have luck with this? I’ve snuck up on deer in a field by staying downwind in the edge of the woods , but it seams like they always See me first when they’re bedded down. , of course I’ve never went extremely slow, because I want to be in my stand sooner rather than later. Can still hunting produce mature bucks? I feel like our deer in New Jersey are a lot more skiddish, and more wary of possible threats. Also, I don’t like to push deer off the property during gun season.

[Rusty]

 Can still hunting produce mature bucks? 

 

My buddy has killed several slammers still hunting in the snow during the late season.  Move real slow, use you eyes more than your feet, keep the wind in your face.  

[B B]

Try it every once in a while and usually ran out of patients.  It would piss me off beyond belief when I snapped a twig.  And yes, Jersey deer are a different breed.  When deer walk around looking up in the trees you know your dealing with a jersey deer.   Good luck.

[Axiom]

 

I bagged my biggest buck by weight still/stalk hunting in Hacklebarney State park during the first week of January with temps in the single digits right after a snow storm..... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jerseyhunter]

I've snuck up on a couple, esp. if they're feeding on acorns.

[Rusty]

I bagged my biggest buck by weight still/stalk hunting in Hacklebarney State park during the first week of January with temps in the single digits right after a snow storm..... 

 

 

[Buck154]

Can work but have to have the right conditions. Wet, fresh snow or windy weather. Like Rusty said you have to SLOW and then go SLOWER 

[06roadking]

Doesn’t work for me but I get thru the woods about as graceful as the Titanic. There were a couple of older brothers that used to hunt land I hunt(they are now deceased). They were the slowest talking, slowest moving guys I’ve ever met. I never knew how they could get a days work done. One of them worked in a feed mill. The other guys there said he got more done in a day than anyone else. Everyone that ran all day had to stop and rest while this guy just mosied along but never stopped all day. Anyway, these two guys would still hunt all season with a bow and killed nice deer every year. I would be in a stand and they could walk right up behind my tree and I would never hear them. I was always amazed. It takes a special kind of patience to do it but, it can be done. Just not by me...

[Haskell_Hunter]

Still hunting is an art, and when done correctly can yield slammers.  It should take you literally hours to go a mile.  You need to know your area well in order to get results.  Your mentality should be "be aware" while walking through the woods versus trying to get to a particular destination.

 

It's a real challenge, but I enjoy it.

[Mallard1100]

Utilize and buy some snow camo. It helps tremendously and many of the best still hunters and trackers wear it in the snow. It helps to conceal movement vs wearing a dark camo pattern and really standing out against the white back drop.  You can not move slow enough, keep the wind in your face, otherwise they will wind you before you can even see a tail. Last,  don't waste time still hunting areas that wont hold deer.  Cover ground to get where you think deer will be bedded or holding and focus your time there looking for horizontal figures, deer body parts, etc in the vertical environment. Also scan the woods in blocks and sectors and dissect them not the entire woods. GL.

[Mallard1100]

Also one important thing to add. Hunt the conditions.... rain, wind, fresh powder.  forget about it if you are breaking through ice and snow or the leaves are like corn flakes.

[Haskell_Hunter]

Also one important thing to add. Hunt the conditions.... rain, wind, fresh powder.  forget about it if you are breaking through ice and snow or the leaves are like corn flakes.

 

I somewhat disagree about sounds.  I've been in my blind and had a flock of turkey decent on my spot.  It sounded like a couple of hikers stomping through the woods.  I was ready to jump out of my blind with a WTF? conversation to be had.  Surprised the heck out of me that they were turkey.  Squirrels can make a ton of noise too as they zip across the forest floor and dig in the leaves.

 

If you listen to deer and other animals walking through the woods they all make different sounds.  Choosing one and mimicking it can sometimes help you in loud forest floor situations that are less than ideal.

[not on the rug]

I somewhat disagree about sounds.  I've been in my blind and had a flock of turkey decent on my spot.  It sounded like a couple of hikers stomping through the woods.  I was ready to jump out of my blind with a WTF? conversation to be had.  Surprised the heck out of me that they were turkey.  Squirrels can make a ton of noise too as they zip across the forest floor and dig in the leaves.

 

If you listen to deer and other animals walking through the woods they all make different sounds.  Choosing one and mimicking it can sometimes help you in loud forest floor situations that are less than ideal.

I think there is a balance when still hunting.  Obviously being a ninja is ideal, but some small sounds are ok also.   Understand that if you make a sound, it will draw a deer's attention. The instant you make a sound, freeze.  Don't move a muscle until you've scanned every inch of woods around you.  Then continue.  

 

Making or mimicking the sounds of a large animal is a bad idea as well.  If you knock a rock over or snap a twig, freeze.  Squirrels and turkey don't snap twigs or knock big rocks over.  Deer and bear do. So if you make a noise like that, freeze and scan.  I've never killed a slammer by still hunting, but I've killed a few flatheads and snuck up on plenty of small bucks as well. 

 

The key to all of this is extremely slow and deliberate movements, with plenty of long pauses in between movements.  

[Axiom]

 

If you listen to deer and other animals walking through the woods they all make different sounds.

 

 I agree, different animals will make different sounds.. And deer pretty much know what animals make what sounds.. Even so, any noise in the woods is likely to be investigated by deer.. And they are likely to see you WAY before u see them.. With that in mind, I agree with others who say avoid the still/stalking technics when it seems you're walking on corn flakes... In those conditions I think its best to just walk briskly through the woods and hope you jump one.. Some deer will sit tight and hope U pass.. But will get up and run if you get too close...

[mikejd]

If you don't have patients still hunting is usually a failure. I have been trying to master it for years. I have seen my dad still hunt an entire ridge in front of me going about 300 yrds in an entire day. He moves so slow that I almost never see him.

he did not know I was there by the way. He pretty much only still hunts and the key is usually no destination in mind.

The problem I always had was setting a destination and ultimately I would get there to fast. Now I have gotten better where sometimes it takes me 7 or 8 hrs to go a half mile.Its actually a ton of work to go that slow. However it does produce deer.

 

As for the sound thing. I have sat through a Few Randy Flannery seminars(pretty renowned Maine guide)and he actually walks in particular sequences as to sound like deer and not humans. Sounds crazy but not how he explains it. We are basically a crunch crunch crunch crunch walk w'ere deer have a different cadence then that.