Stalking

[Ed Ashby]

#4984

The Ghillie suit thread got me to wondering just how many bowhunters still employ stalking as their primary hunting technique, especially for the alert animals, such as whitetails. Stalking has always been my favored method of hunting but I meet, see or even hear of very few bowhunters today who stalk their game. Is stalking, and the techniques used, becoming a lost skill among today’s bowhunters?

Interested in your thoughts.

Ed

[lyagooshka]

#35859

I looked in the index of the instruction book for my tree stand. “Stalking” was not listed. Be well.

Alex

😕

[boutlou]

#35862

I may be wrong but I believe that few of us have the opportunity of hunting pristine areas. I share my hunting area with hikers, dog sled enthusiasts, and those noisy motorized beasts. So my opportunities of stalking some unaware prey is zilch. There are a lot of “innocents” in many urban areas that I’m not permitted to hunt. You climb a pole and hope for the best. Not my preference mind you, but….

[David Petersen]

#35901

I fear you are correct, Ed, and some reasons for this loss have already been posted, above. Even for those of us who have access to big enough chunks of undisturbed hunting habitat (on western public lands that increasingly means “beyond the sound of motors and the sit-down hordes they bring to places they don’t deserve to be”) there are also the old “traditional” concerns of landscape type and game species. I have had success stalking whitetails in the hardwoods, but not in the desert. Elk are relatively easy to stalk, if they’re not in huge herds. Stalking is the only way I’ve hunted pronghorn (blew one myself and had illegal motors ruin two more) …and so on. No stalking turkeys for me, though Alex Bugnon can pull it off. Moose are cake once you locate them. I always hunt elk from the ground, but most often in ambush. I think the areas of your greatest experience, Africa and OZ, lend themselves to stalking both in habitat and game more so than most of N. America? It is unarguably the purest, hardest and thus most reward hunting there is … assuming we have the right animals in the right terrain to make it even remotely possible.

[paleoman]

#35917

I believe it’s a dying skill. With success equal to a carcass for many it’s a low odds gig for all but the virtuoso, at least for eastern whitetails which are all I’ m familiar with. I’ve had good things happen while still hunting, but tend to get peeved when I make noise, which I know can be managed and does not always spook game, but nonetheless I’m less likely to be peeved sitting motionless in a likely spot:wink:

[coastalbendbows]

#35956

Whitetails no I’m not a good stalker. I have tried a few times to stalk them at the ranch in nebraska. We only see a handful every year. Our place there in Nebraska is mainly mule deer and angus.

As a kid growing up in the northern part of the golden triangle of Texas we would stalk them some every now and again we’d get in a dry creek bottom (its always dry) and ease along and peek over the top and see some does and smaller buck but was never able to connect.

Shawn

[shaneharley]

#35973

I am blessed to live in Oregon where a guy can put boots to the ground and move out. Sitting in a tree or ground blind holds very little appeal to me. If you prefer to hunt that way then that’s awesome. Do what you like to do. We are all out there to enjoy the experience so hunt how you enjoy to hunt.

Last year I decided to only fly fish with dry flies even though it would mean a little less success. I still caught fish. Maybe not quite as many or maybe could have caught some big ones but I really like to watch that trout take that fly off the top. Even if it costs me.

Like my fly fishing rule of dry flies only I decided I wouldn’t hunt from a ground blind or tree stand. Even if it costs me. Simply because I enjoy walking and still hunting. I know guys who take huge blacktail deer out of a tree stand. I’m as giddy as a school girl with a forky I snuck up on. But how they and how I measure enjoyment and success is different than them and I won’t try to make them wear the same hat as me.

That said I had two turkey hens in front of me for an hour as I layed on the ground with just a branch for cover. As I layed there with a good tom off to my left that wasn’t quite coming in, my legs cramping, my arm tingling as it’s falling asleep, that itch you can’t scratch and you can’t move. I thought to myself, hey a blind would be awesome right about now…

But I’m ranting, sorry. I like to walk and stalk.

[James Harvey]

#36088

I am a stalker. Fortunately for the animals I ‘stalk’, the only thing I do worse than stalking is shooting 😉

The prey’s internal dialogue probably goes like this:

“What’s that idiot doing over there? Oh he’s shooting a bow, I wonder what he’s shooting at? Great shot! He just nailed that rock. I wonder why he looks so disappointed, it was such a perfect hit his arrow shattered on impact. Oh well, it’s about time I try and set my personal record on a 5km sprint now. Bye!”

[Dan Jackowiak]

#36118

I’ve never hunted whitetails but with mulies, stalking is a good way to go. They wander over so much territory that it can be hard to pattern em, although I have done it. Elk are pretty easy to stalk if you get the chance but I usually catch them going to feed or water, undisturbed they are pretty easy to pattern.

[Wolfshead]

#36600

I have yet to hunt but i intend to start.

I am getting ready to take my hunter & bowhunter safety courses this spring. with that said…

I think (with considerable lack of experience) that the popularity of tree stands has a little to do with it too.

Mostly however as I am experiencing it, there is little info on how to stalk available.

I have G Fred Asbell’s book “Stalking and Stillhunting” which I think is great, but there is little else that I have found that goes into that much depth.

Most of the info from the internet has been “must move slow”, “use the wind”, “blend in”, “get out and do it” which all have their place and are important (mostly a lot of) pieces of advice but is there more than that?

I think I need more depth into the how to of it I guess. I would like to know more of how to do it as I do not want to hunt up in a tree, I want to be on the ground. whether in ambush or stalking….

Maybe I do just need to go and experience it :oops::oops:

[Alexandre Bugnon]

#36738

I love stalking. I do it roughly 40% of the time.

I got in the 25-30 yards range on whitetails quite a few times in the past, and killed two deer and my only turkey that way. Last year I stalked a napping coyote for one hour all the way to about 20, but I made one mistake, and the game was over!

I love it!!

[Todd Smith]

#36745

Ed,

To mosey through the woods, sitting often and looking – listening, is my favorite way to hunt. It is my least productive, but most enjoyable.

Last season, for the first time, I saw them before they saw me, and I crouched, fingers on the string, heart racing. (Yeah, my heart still races… It’s always exciting.)

Eventually all the does moved past me, the closest ones at about 15 yards. On the ‘other’ side of the fence. I didn’t have permission to shoot on that side.

Instead, I was able to settle in and enjoy the show.

Some day I hope to connect on one while slipping through the woods like that.

todd

[Ed Ashby]

#36765

I’m glad to see that there are still a few folks who hunt by stalking. Even the elusive whitetail can be stalked. My closest stalk on a whitetail was to about 10 feet, on a doe in its bed. Stalking can add many productive extra hunting hours by working bedding areas at times when the game is not moving. Not only can one catch them bedded down but in thick bedding areas deer often arise and move about just a little, for a bite or two of browse.

Hunting “Old Africa” was mostly a stalkers game, and some of those animals are much more difficult to stalk than whitetails, but it can be done. A herd of impala are just as alert as whitetails, and there are a lot more eyes, ears and noses to contend with. Stalking is a challenging, but very rewarding hunting method.

Ed

[Ralph]

#36794

Right on! My best “trophy” deer is a forky muley. I spotted him, a doe and a yearling about a mile away, watched them bed, sneaked to within 15 yards and had to throw a couple of rocks to get them to stand. I shot a tad high but hit the buck in the spine and dropped him where he stood. A prize moment in my life. I’ve never been so intense.

I’ve been close to whitetails but it’s always their fault they don’t stay put for the shot. :lol::lol:

[gigglemonk]

#36937

Stalking and ambush, groundhunting, are the only tactics Ive used so far. Closest is 5 yards on a bedded spike mulie buck during a preseason scout.

Its tons of fun.

[mittenm]

#37029

I sure do like to stalk. The only whitetail I took last year was in the snow and the result of a stalk that brought me to 18 yards. I like to stalk depending on game and habitat. Some may feel it is a lost art, which I can’t deny, but know that it can be brought up again as soon as the need matches the desire to feel a higher acheivement. Mike

[Ptaylor]

#37042

Hello Folks, This is my 1st post, just joined recently.

My favorite method of hunting is to find a fresh track, follow it to the animal, spot the quarry, and stalk in close. I have been successful getting close to animals like this on mule deer, black bear, and feral hogs. However, I’m a terrible shot, still working on the “pick-a-spot” thing, so I missed all the animals I managed to stalk in close enough to shoot at. My best opportunities where the animal is totally unaware of me and I can set up a good shot scenario came from ground ambushes. For me it depends on the substrate and weather. If the ground has less debris, or is wetter then stalking is easier. Likewise, if there is some weather, then I can close in on an animal with more success due to the background noise. During the hot, dry, still early season in the west I usually start with ambushes and move to tracking/stalking when the weather shows up.

Interestingly, I spend more time in the offseason tracking/stalking animals and watching them, which helps setting up ambush locations later. Ambushes seem (for me) a better way to get a close shot, but stalking is much more fun!

preston

[Etter1]

#37204

Stalking is largely an impossibility in the south, but we do continue to do it when the bears are in the trees and anywhere that feral pigs can be found.

As for stalking into recurve range of whitetails or turkeys in these woods, well, I’ll just say “good luck”.

[Col Mike]

#37297

Dr.Ed, Dave, all

Stalking is the hunt–unless your skilled enough in tracking to persistence hunt. And in good enough shape to run it down.

Ambush is the logical choice from good scouting.

Successful stalking requires those traditional skills that we see are lacking in so many hunters particularly the youth.

IMHO we have to redefine success in the hunt. I have the unique ability to “stalk 18 Husky’s in my dog yard when returning from the hunt” talk about a learning experience.

And on Fri. I have a young man (ROTC Marine option) who has asked me to show him how to use map and compass.:D Yep I’ll be having fun.

Semper Fi

Mike

[wildschwein]

#37309

Stalking is my preferred method, mostly because I hat sitting still and don’t care for climbing trees. Never been able to connect on a Whitetail while stalking though. Mulies are a whole different story, bless their gullible nature.

[Charles Ek]

#37481

I made a real bad mistake stalking a flock of turkeys last fall for the first time, which some of you might recall hearing about. I put an arrow smack under the feet of a nice tom, number two in size in the flock. Nope, that wasn’t the bad mistake.

I had only the single arrow with me. I had to hold my sides in as I watched the number one bird in the flock and then a parade of another dozen birds follow in the footsteps of the first one. Nope, failing to be properly equipped wasn’t the bad mistake.

The real bad mistake was ever putting a stalk on a turkey in the first place. There’s no turning back now …

[paleoman]

#40435

AlexBugnon wrote: I love stalking. I do it roughly 40% of the time.

I got in the 25-30 yards range on whitetails quite a few times in the past, and killed two deer and my only turkey that way. Last year I stalked a napping coyote for one hour all the way to about 20, but I made one mistake, and the game was over!

I love it!!

Alex – you spurred a latent memory…as a kid I was still hunting for deer with my bow. I stepped up on a little hummock screened with small hemlocks. I looked down and inches from my feet was a sleeping coyote. A few seconds of wondering what to do and he shot forward in a low crouch and took off. I got it right that time:D

[Steve Capps]

#40601

Ed,

I’m not sure I would say stalking is becoming a lost skill. By that I mean I don’t believe its a technique that great numbers of bowhunters were ever adept at. I was fortunate enough to be taught to hunt by a WWII medal of honor winner. This man shot a shotgun from the hip and could sneak up on anything. Men of his age all held him in esteem but the one thing I noticed was that none of them hunted the way he did. Instead most of them hunted from box blinds and “permanent” treestands.

Unfortunately too many hunters these days define success by the kill. The stillhunter and stalker have a different definition. For us the hunt is the success, the harvest is just one aspect of that.

For me stand hunting is hours of boring inactivity followed by seconds of excitement. Stillhunting and stalking allows me to actively learn about the environment I’m in and the wonders it holds. I feel like standhunting places me above my environment and limits the things I can learn.

[Michael Scott]

#40995

I think it is true that stalking is becoming a lost art, simply because there are “easier”, less strenuous ways for hunters, gun and bow alike, to harvest their animals. Stand hunting over a food plot or water source seems like a bland, boring waste of a day, morning or evening.

I don’t believe that I could bring myself to hunt for bears over a bait like so many hunters that go to Canada wind up doing. Yes, you can sit there and count bears and pick your bear, but shooting a bear that has its head in a bucket just doesn’t seem fair. I understand that it’s safer to be 10 or fifteen feet up a tree with that many over-protective, hungry bears around, but if you want to be on the ground, find a different outfitter or hunting area that isn’t baited.

The same goes for hunting here in Texas. I understand that a lot of folks have feeders and corn spreaders to draw the game in. It helps to ensure the buck they shoot is legal. And with hogs being such a problem, it makes sense that a person would want to have the best opportunity to kill those pests, too. What better way than to bait them in? Might get a double or triple, right?

I would have to say that for the guys that like sitting on stand or in a blind, by all means…jump on it. For me, I like hiking the country, spot and stalking, calling, and when the opportunity arises, ambushing. It doesn’t get much better than putting yourself in the perfect position to harvest an animal. Whether I carry a rifle or a bow, I’ve always enjoyed the experience of just being in the woods. I love wild game, but the real treat is just being able to get out.

Does any of that make sense? LOL! Heck, I dunno…just let me take my bow or rifle for a walk in the woods. I don’t care if I shoot anything or not.

[Doc Nock]

#41136

Dr. Ed’s point about African animals, with so many predators, being at least as wary as Eastern Whitetails made me stop and go “hmmmm”.

Stalking falls under the same category in my mind as “still hunting”… and that then falls in the same realm as “hunt with the wind in your face!”

Back here in E. PA, I defy anyone to pull off those stunts on a regular basis or where I get to hunt!

The checkerboard of posted, no hunting, Vs. available access might give me at best, 5 acres of land to hunt… or just a small 1/2 acre woodlot.

Often you cannot…CAN NOT walk the perimeter to get the wind in your face due to terrain or open fields. Doing so would push the deer up into the wooded ridge and off into posted ground where they bed.

I lived in MT for 6+ years and LOVED to still hunt & do spot-n-stalk…what a thrill.

I do not find it enjoyable or sane to go out and push all the game off available access land onto posted or “hunt club” land and do their deer driving for them.

Finding pinch points, scouting to locate travel ways, takes as much perseverance and talent as I used to employ still hunting, spotting and stalking…just more secretive I suppose.

Having said that, I’m not very good at getting the time to do that reconnoitering…hereabouts, I find I have to drive 3 hrs to find even decent huntable land and populations, I don’t seem to get that critical tasks done well.

Given a choice, I’d love to wander the day away, seeing what’s over the next ridge/draw… and not see deer, but in some locals, you’ll end up fined or locked up for trespassing to do that.

Enjoy what you got…get out and do whatever it takes to be in the woods!

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