Still Hunting = Frustration!

[ch312]

When walking to stand or stalking I try to sound like a flock of turkey's cruising the bush I try to replicate hens and poults.

Awesome! I'm going to try this on the next hunt and if it works I'll mail you some jerky.

CH,

I presume its a vertical bow and not a crossbow that you are hunting with? Its dang hard to quietly slip through the bush with a crossbow.

I'm using my exomax and it's the only thing I've ever used while stalking deer. You're right, it doesn't make life any easier and to say I'm exhausted after a long stalk would be an understatement.

If I still had access to private land I would be using my recurve, which is something I've always wanted to do. I wouldn't even consider it for these public land critters.

[Normous]

I hope to see a photo of your deer down by the end of the year. All good advice given, Good Luck!

[ninepointer]

Double post

[ninepointer]

I'm using my exomax and it's the only thing I've ever used while stalking deer. You're right, it doesn't make life any easier and to say I'm exhausted after a long stalk would be an understatement.

You're killing me! I might just have to try it if I find myself in the last minute of the 3rd period.

[ch312]

I hope to see a photo of your deer down by the end of the year. All good advice given, Good Luck!

Thanks, I'll need it.

Quite honestly, I think I'm going to need the whole horse up my butt, not just a single horseshoe, at this time of year with them yarding up already

You're killing me! I might just have to try it if I find myself in the last minute of the 3rd period.

Try it and you'll likely find yourself leaving the stand or blind in the garage. Home Depot sells camo knee pads which makes crawling through the snow a bit more pleasant. Neoprene gloves are a good investment too.

[Lake shooter]

I just remembered that I also have a buck to my credit while still hunting, using a shotgun and slug. It was noisy, dry leaves galore, but when I came to an old road bed at the bottom of a steep hill I spooked him walking my way. He turned and made a few bounds but stopped at my (mouth) grunting..... Facing away and behind a tree!

Another grunt got him to stick his head and neck out trying to see what that was that spooked him and I dropped him with a neck shot, offhand and iron sights at about 60 yards! Satisfying!!!!

Don't know about the rest of y'all, but I hunt with my ears as much as my eyes. I've read 1,000+ times that the trick with still hunting is to "see them before they see you". Well, it darn sure helps to hear them before they hear you too, and that's tough with a deer! I pop my ears every 10-15 minutes when I'm hunting and immediately have a little better hearing. Don't know if it's equalizing the inner ear pressure with the changing barometric pressure or if things naturally clog up, but it definitely works for me.

[cevans]

I feel your frustration as I personally think the deer have become more in tune with your hunting styles and have learned to adapt to our hunting styles more and more when it comes to still hunting. What I am having to do, while still hunting or stalking is finding the deer where they are hanging out,,,then the next day going in way before daylight and sneaking into the brush they will eventually be in,,and ambushing them vs, still hunting. So far this year,,have taken one from a stand,,and 2 off the ground in 2 entirely different woods using this. Its not still hunting like I used to hunt,,but works. In other words,,I am still hunting and finding the deer,,then setting up next time for the ambush. Now I am not seeing any bucks at all during the day,,nor is any other hunters in my area and haven't in the past 3-4 weeks as they aren't moving at all during the day where I hunt. But! Last nite, the wife coming home from work at 1:30am,,below our hill we live on just 1/4 mile from our house,,saw 11 bucks of various sizes in a corner of a cut corn field all together, sized from little to big boys up to 12 point spread and with not one doe either..so go figure that. Now I have to change woods again,,and go find where they are hanging to see if I can connect and running out of season,,as our hunting is over with after the first weekend of Jan. I have no choice but to still hunt/stalk,,and see where they are hiding. We are going to receive up to 5 inches of rain starting tonite thru Sunday which is really throwing another curve against me and will try and use it to my advantage. Good luck in your endevours.

[ch312]

Deer down! Checkout my other thread