Still Hunting

[Swede]

Derek\'s post on the elk hunting skill thread needs to be addressed on a thread. Derek, like many of us says he is not especially skilled at still hunting. What I know about still hunting is not all that much. It amounts to: move slowly, stop every few (3-4 steps), stay in the shadows be quiet as possible and look, look, then look more. Have the best binoculars you can get for the situation. Large 10X power is not as good in the timber as 7X or 8X. You are not looking for a whole elk. An ear flick, antler, a leg or some other body part, or movement. Do not call (cow call or bugle) because you will be drawing attention to yourself. Stealth, and looking constantly, is the key.
Pete here is your opportunity to help out.

 

[cohunter14]

Thanks for starting this Swede...I think there is a lot to be learned. Not to speak for Pete, but I know he would probably say one step and stop and I don\'t think he uses binocs either, just based on previous posts. Another thing I have problems with is the patience to take one step and stop and look. To me, if I hunted like that, I wouldn\'t cover much ground at all in a day. I think another question I would have based on that is do you just still hunt areas that you suspect elk to be in? Do you need to know there are probably elk in the area to still hunt it? For example, if we were to take Pete, or any other still hunter, and put them in a unit they had never hunted, how would they approach still hunting?

I think there are a lot of times where I am walking through the woods and could potentially be still hunting, but I want to cover ground and get somewhere else. Not that I am running or even walking fast in those situations, but I am definitely not still hunting, by definition. When do you go from regular walking to still hunting, and vice-versa?

 

[Swede]

do you just still hunt areas that you suspect elk to be in? Do you need to know there are probably elk in the area to still hunt it?

For the most part we hunt areas we believe elk are in. When we drop our guard, bad things commonly happen. I feel confident Pete would agree with the one step at a time point you made. Cnelk would remind us to watch the wind, but I just beat him to it. :lol: I mentioned a few steps because one step in slash and brush often leaves me in an impossible place to shoot or draw from. Regardless go slow and keep a sharp eye out. Note, even if Pete doesn\'t use binoculars, they are a great tool if used properly.

 

[Jaquomo]

+ Swede. I like to use terrain breaks to move, Then peer up slowly and glass carefully. I wear the elk hat when I show to glass. Where it\'s flat, shadows. But it\'s rarely flat in elk country, especially in the transition zones where still hunting is most effective.

 

[mainebrdr]

In my opinion, to be a successful at still hunting takes an inordinate amount of patience. Years ago I would try to stillhunt through small woodlots that I knew held whitetails. I was never successful. My A.D.D. is not my friend at times!

 

[OldMan]

Swede............I had to think what I was going to write for an answer for awhile. I\'ve posted about still hunting more on this forum than any other one i\'ve been on, or are on. I type rather slow, and some of my posts were long for me. The problem for me is to try and explain still hunting in a post. All I can touch on is barely the basics. Not even that really. There\'s so much more to still hunting if you want to be successful doing it. Most guys who think they\'re still hunting, are really just taking a slow walk in the timber, or are stalking. There\'s so many little details that need to be explained that a post could be 10 pages. There\'s so much more to it than the slow movement of the hunt. As difficult as that is to get right. It\'s not the hardest part. Knowing where to hunt is.

One of the skills needed is tracking. Not after the kill. Every hunter should know that. I\'m talking about tracking before the hunt in all kinds of terrain. You have to know the routes elk take during all times of the day. You need to know where all the bedding areas are where you plan to hunt. You don\'t want to find one by accident during a hunt. My only concern with waterholes, wallows, and feeding areas is when are they used, and what are the routes back to the bedding area. I only shoot elk in bedding areas. Not while laying down, but as they move around in the bedding areas. That\'s a personal thing, but something I stick to. I want to shoot a bull when it\'s completely relaxed, and not alert in any way. Especially to calls, but you know that much about me. I\'m not trying to trick the elk. I want to sneak up on him, and he never knows i\'m there until he here\'s the shot. Of course it\'s too late for him at that point. If he hears, smells, sees, or even thinks you\'re there. You failed. Sometimes hunters can do it easily, but they some luck on their side. Can you do it every year with no failures in all kinds of conditions? You can, but you need to work on it full time. You can\'t use other methods, and then just say.......I think i\'ll still hunt for awhile. My whole year is preparing for that moment when I have the sights on the bull, and he has no clue i\'m there.

I\'d like to give you specific answers, but my hunts are a complete system. It all has to be done, or i\'m not sure it would work. That\'s why i\'m attempting to write a book on still hunting. I want to teach the whole system, and that takes a book to explain. I\'ve been perfecting this for 60 years. I was taught the basics by my dad. Through trial and error over the decades i\'ve found out what works, and what doesn\'t. I\'m confident that if someone follows what I do they will be successful at still hunting, and be able to repeat it on a consistently.

However, I can\'t do it in a few posts. Here\'s some good news though. It\'s much easier to do on a bull elk than a mature muley buck.

 

[cohunter14]

As difficult as that is to get right. It\'s not the hardest part. Knowing where to hunt is.

Pete, can you talk about this a bit more? How well do you have to know your area before you feel comfortable still hunting it? We all know you spend hundreds of days a year scouting and you have hunted the same area for a very long time. Let\'s take that away and say you were hunting a new area this year. How would you approach it? At what knowledge level of the area would you feel comfortable still hunting it?

 

[OldMan]

Derek............I almost did that last year as an experiment. I blew out my knee, and never got to hunt elk at all. I was going to go over to unit 55 with an OTC tag. Something that someone new might do. To compound the problem I wanted to simulate what someone would have to do who couldn\'t scout, because they were from non res hunter.

Not being a great map reader, but someone who just uses a map to get general areas to scout. I asked Brad to look at the map of 55, and pick some areas to scout. I also had 3-4 of my own. My plan was to go there early to do some scouting like I used to do when I came to Colorado from Calif. I used to come 3 weeks before the hunt to scout. I know that isn\'t very practical for everybody, so in this case I was just going to scout 3-4 days before the hunt.

Of course I never got to do it, but the plan was going to be the same as always. I would be in the areas I thought i\'d be hunting. Of course i\'d be looking for bedding areas, but in this case i\'d also be looking for where they\'re feeding. Since this was going to be a later rifle hunt I would be looking at migration routes too. I would be looking for areas that a lone bull would be going to for solitude. This would actually be my main focus. First i\'d find out where the herd is, and work off of that to locate the mature bulls. This would be the nastier terrain that still offered some feed , water, and cover. I\'m always looking for the lone bull. It\'s really hard to sneak up on a herd. A herd will want to bed on a bench. The lone bull will bed anywhere, and you have to cover a lot of ground to find some sign.

I could totally fail at a hunt like this. It\'s out of my comfort zone. My hunting depends on knowing an area very well, and knowing where the elk go to under different circumstances. I could get lucky like any hunter, and run into a bull. I\'m not sure i\'d pull the trigger if I did. I prefer to earn it. I could fail until I know the area better, and I can only do that by a lot of observation. It takes time, and boot leather.

Calling wouldn\'t be much good that time of year, but most of you are bow hunters, and calling does work when you all hunt. So, does spot and stalk, because bulls are stupid during the rut. My method is not the most productive, but I find the most rewarding. That\'s not the goal of the majority of elk hunters. They just want to kill an elk. Nothing wrong with that, and is normal. I may be a bit odd, and I guess my dad was odd too, because he was the same way. It rubbed off on me.

Kind of a long winded answer to say...........My way takes a ton of scouting to be effective. If you don\'t have that option. You may be better off picking a different method to hunt. Calling an elk to you can\'t get any more basic. Glassing to see elk, and then sneaking in when you know here it is can\'t get more effective.

Sneaking in on an elk that you don\'t know is there for sure, but hope it s through endless scouting is not a challenge for everybody. For those who can do it. You know how big a smile it puts on your mug.

 

[elky McElkerson]

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[Swede]

Pete: Do you sneak into the bedding areas using game trails, or do you avoid them, as elk tend to be on that level and are watching there?

 

[OldMan]

I\'ll use them, but walk well off to the side so I don\'t put my stink on them. This applies to all tracking.

 

[elky McElkerson]

to a game animal, i imagine we stink pretty badly.

walking or not walking on a trail..we stink. i tend to think game trails are more often than not the quietest path thru some deep growth. i use them if i have to. animals turned them into a game trail, for a reason.

 

[OldMan]

Yes, of course we stink to them, but not walking where they walk helps some. I can only go by my own experience.