Walking or sitting for deer?

[Bushleague]

I think you need to chose your methods based on your strengths, and your preferences to optimize your success and enjoyment. I emphasize the last part because I think its a variable that modern hunting media basically ignores. The idea that potential extra inches of antlers are worth more than getting maximum enjoyment out of your season is total BS as far as I'm concerned.

I almost exclusively still hunt and track because I enjoy it more, it works well in the types of terrain that I like to hunt, and it requires minimal gear (which for me brings its own sense of enjoyment to the table). Because I'm playing to my strengths, enjoying myself, as well as staying flexible and reacting to the sign in real time each day, hunting on the move is almost always far more productive... for me

Following Dick's example, Sit.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ight=bush+buck

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ight=bush+buck

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ight=bush+buck

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ight=bush+buck

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ight=bush+buck

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ight=bush+buck

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ight=bush+buck
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...ight=bush+buck

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

I think you need to chose your methods based on your strengths, and your preferences to optimize your success and enjoyment. I emphasize the last part because I think its a variable that modern hunting media basically ignores. The idea potential extra inches of antlers are worth more than getting maximum enjoyment out of your season is total BS as far as I'm concerned.

I almost exclusively still hunt and track because I enjoy it more, it works well in the types of terrain that I like to hunt, and it requires minimal gear (which for me brings its own sense of enjoyment to the table). Because I'm playing to my strengths, enjoying myself, as well as staying flexible and reacting to the sign in real time each day, hunting on the move is almost always far more productive... for me

Totally agree!
Cat

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Joe Btfsplk

I only have two years experience hunting whitetail, and would really like to harvest a mulie if the draw works in my favour one of these years. Last year, I tried walking the area, and scared up a moose cow with two calves, who knew I was there. She was booking it in the opposite direction. I saw no whitetail at all. Getting tired later in the day, I sat in my favourite little wooded area looking down on a slough, and out walked a beautiful mulie doe about two hundred yards away. Of course, I don’t have a tag, so all I can do is look. She rubbed salt in the wound by coming towards me until about 25 yards away when she sighted me and pronked off. I did not see a whitetail at all.
Question; is the option of walking better in general, or is sitting better? Does it depend on terrain or my physical condition? I hunt where there is vehicle access to most areas, so I will not have to pack out an animal. Keep in mind my level of experience and the fact that I am 68 years old.

By the way, was it just a bad year for me or are whitetail numbers down in some areas? I did eventually get a small doe, but there was not much meat in the freezer this season…

One final observation on the VS issue... An experienced still hunter will usually have no trouble switching to stand hunting when the situation calls for it. The same can not usually be said of a die hard stand hunter.

[aragor764]

Also if you come up North and hunt in November, it will likely be to cold to sit for extended periods of time anyway!

[Bigwoodsman]

Originally Posted by Apatrickson

I am not the most experienced hunter out there but I will share my experiences. I have found that when hunting whitetail sitting in a stand is the best option as when I have been walking I tend to bust them more often. When I hunt muleys I am often in large and long coulees. I have had a lot of success hiking them and keeping an eye out for deer. However I have also had luck sitting on the side of a coulee and calling. Honestly I can't tell you one is better then the other, but that is just what I prefer to do

If you're busting or bumping deer, you're walking to fast and not looking close enough. I learned this over time. It's hard to slow down your walk and increase you viewing. Good binoculars in cover are a great asset to have. Once I learned this, I started having more opportunities for a shot.

Originally Posted by aragor764

Also if you come up North and hunt in November, it will likely be to cold to sit for extended periods of time anyway!

The colder it was the more I sat. I found deer to be more active in cold weather. Combine the cold with other hunters bumping deer. I had great chances with harvesting a deer.

BW

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Bigwoodsman

If you're busting or bumping deer, you're walking to fast and not looking close enough. I learned this over time. It's hard to slow down your walk and increase you viewing. Good binoculars in cover are a great asset to have. Once I learned this, I started having more opportunities for a shot.



The colder it was the more I sat. I found deer to be more active in cold weather. Combine the cold with other hunters bumping deer. I had great chances with harvesting a deer.

BW

I've found that a big part of it is sounding like a deer way before you make actual contact, and on that front it is entirely possible to move too slow.

Case in point, last year's conditions were terrible for still hunting. Early on in the season I was trying to compensate by moving incredibly slow, but was forced to hunt a stand in order to connect with a decent buck. After killing my buck I continued to hunt moose the rest of the season, needing to cover more ground/ find sign I moved much faster but did my best to move in a deer like fashion... I saw deer like crazy and had several mature bucks come charging in to check me out.

In more instances than not a deer will hear you coming before you see it, if you are moving on a deer trail, at a deer pace/ cadence, and with the flow of "traffic" its pretty normal to still get good shot opportunities. Break any one of those rules and you wont, sound more like a sneaking predator than an unalarmed deer and you will also have trouble.

[Joe Btfsplk]

Originally Posted by aragor764

Also if you come up North and hunt in November, it will likely be to cold to sit for extended periods of time anyway!

Colder than north of Two Hills? Born and raised Alberta boy here, cold I can usually handle - but as I age its the wind that makes me miserable. 🥶 And my truck has a good heater! Seriously, if its that cold I prolly won’t be in the bush…

[Prairiekid]

Originally Posted by Bushleague

One final observation on the VS issue... An experienced still hunter will usually have no trouble switching to stand hunting when the situation calls for it. The same can not usually be said of a die hard stand hunter.

to add to Bushleagues comment, in the past when I am still hunting but decide to sit for a bit I can stop in a spot with fresh sign. Then have a snack and drink and listen/watch the forest. I have had some good luck with that as well.

[aragor764]

Originally Posted by Joe Btfsplk

Colder than north of Two Hills? Born and raised Alberta boy here, cold I can usually handle - but as I age its the wind that makes me miserable. 🥶 And my truck has a good heater! Seriously, if its that cold I prolly won’t be in the bush…

I wasn't trying to compare coldness and wind speeds, just trying to say that during mid November I can typically only sit for 2 hours at a time before having to move. I am up in WMU 512 btw.

[Bushleague]

Originally Posted by Joe Btfsplk

Colder than north of Two Hills? Born and raised Alberta boy here, cold I can usually handle - but as I age its the wind that makes me miserable. 🥶 And my truck has a good heater! Seriously, if its that cold I prolly won’t be in the bush…

In my area, where south facing slopes are relatively rare, still hunting one on a -27 day is usually well worth the discomfort.

You know how one learns this type of thing? Its not from riding around in a truck or sitting on a hay field, I can assure you of that. Probably at some point my knees wont take me over the ridges anymore and its quite likely that is when I will start shooting my biggest deer, but it will be a direct result of hundreds of kilometers I've walked on game trails, and millions of fresh tracks I've examined and compared.