Another question for all us hunters: Favourite method?

[Blkram]

Not sure if this topic has ever been asked (I do not recall):

What is your favourite method(s) of hunting?
And you can include small game (including predators), big game, upland birds and waterfowl.

For me, for small game: it is spot and stalk through the thickets for snowshoe hares, and squirrels.
Since most of our upland birds (ruffies, spruce hens, blue grouse, sharptails and ptarmigan) are in the forests and alpine fringe, or more open grasslands of grazing leases or large cutblocks not yet replanted, we drive the the back roads, and hike the back trails. I did enjoy the following of the dogs on the open prairie the couple of times I had an opportunity to, looking for pheasants, Huns and sharptails.
For predators, I must say we usually cover large areas by vehicle to find the coyotes (and/or lynx, fox, or wolves) and then try to stalk in and/or call them into shooting range.
For big game, covering large areas by vehicle, atv/sxs, or horseback, or shank's mare, with stopping to glass likely locations (ridges, exposed hillsides, wallows/licks, trails, meadows, etc., or know ag fields with permission from landowners) until we find game, or lots of fresh sign, then still hunting until we find the game, and then stalk into shooting range. Calling and use of decoys (Montana) has also proved successful on some species, most notably elk.
I have only gone on two goose hunts, as a teenager, using decoys in the ag fields, and was only successful on a couple of greater Canada geese on the second try, having never tried wingshooting before. Was fun, but have never had or taken the opportunity to go again. I have passed on many ducks and geese on large ponds while out hunting big game, because if they died on the water, I had no way to retrieve them, unless I went swimming (and I hate hunting in soggy wet clothes!)

By far, I like and spend more time hunting upland birds and big game.

 

[xphunter]

Big Game - Spot and Stalk

 

[Blkram]

Big Game - Spot and Stalk

And you spot and shoot further than some people stalk!!!
You got some skills man!
FOTIS might be able to create accurate ammo and shoot tiny little groups; you can really reach out and touch them!
And you have, and with hand cannons no less...
I have long since added you to my list of those I want to shoot like when I grow up!

So many talented and skilled members on this site!
And willing to share their knowledge too.

 

[Wolfshead]

I hunt Whitetails, and I love to still hunt in the thick, close, woods here in the northeast.
Love finding the main trails, and going very slow along them looking for the slight trails that Bucks use.
We also have a few ag fields that we are able to hunt and I love that too, but I’m not really good at sitting still for too long.

 

[8mm Enthusiast]

I used to try to stalk and my beginning days' struggles are well documented in other threads so I have fully and thoroughly divorced myself from ever attempting to spot and stalk unless the conditions are just absolutely perfect with thick fog that makes me invisible and very wet damp ground that makes me silent. Even in those situations I'll likely never go out purposefully spotting and stalking and will just get from point A to point B.

My hunting style is fully dictated by three factors:

1. I exclusively hunt public or open to public hunting land.
2. I hunt alone.
3. I do not own or hunt with a hunting dog. Also, I have a very minimalist hunting style, and don't hunt deer from a tree stand nor do I plan on doing it any time soon. Shot my first one off the ground.

These factors have heavily dictated my strategy. I find that attempting to stalk in the thick woods is impossible for me. Maybe I am just too clumsy and can't step in the right place or generate too much motion but it just doesn't work for me under any circumstance. Animals bump far and wide and evacuate the area well before I arrive or even catch a glimpse of them.

So my ultimate grand strategy which works every single time all time for me and continues to work when things get tough is: Shut up, sit down, take cover, stop moving, stop making noise.

I love picking out natural blinds made from natural vegetation or deadfalls and sit in them for as long as I can with my Tailmate Gelcore hunting cushion. I always tell people my favorite piece of hunting gear in the world, even beyond my rifle/shotgun is the Tailmate Gelcore hunting cushion seat. I can't live/hunt without it. I love it so much I plan on buying a second piece.

This strategy works for every single species I can think of that I'll ever encounter with one small exception for small game. Deer, works perfectly. Turkey, is absolutely made for turkey hunting. Squirrel is a little bit different, I have to move and cover just a little bit of ground and then sit until they start coming out of the trees. Even works for waterfowl. I just hide inside cattails near water and pass shoot waterfowl.

It's a little different situation for small game like rabbits, pheasants, hares, grouse. In the early season I find myself being stationary and using this same strategy near trails or areas that border thick cover and openings. In the early mornings and when the sun is coming down, the animals will come out onto the small clearings and paths. And yes, I proudly ground swat birds like pheasants and grouse. Excuse my no-wingshooting unholiness but like I mentioned, I like a minimalist and no-dog style. As a dogless hunter, it's nearly impossible for me to flush small game in the early season when the Wisconsin vegetation is extremely thick.

Once the vegetation starts to die off in the later months I do enjoy hunting small game the traditional flushing style. Without a dog, I have found a few things that work for me when it comes to inducing a flush. One is stopping frequently. I have found that animals will burst out and flush either when you stop or right as you start walking again. Two, I backtrack and circle back the same areas as many times as I can. Ideally five times. They'll easily hunker down and let me pass the first time, the second time I pass makes them nervous, by the time I pass the fifth or sixth time, there's a high probability for a flush because the animal thinks I've spotted it and won't give up looking in the same area.

From what I have seen on TV and researched, it appears my sitting method would not work at all in a western plains/open country environment as most of the hunting shows portray long range glassing and spot and stalk hunts but I do not know as I have never hunted western open style environments. I'd probably just sit at a watering hole if I was in the western US if that's even legal.

 

[Aussie Wanderer]

Spot and stalk all the way. Doesn’t matter the game or whether rifle or bow. I love leaving camp with a pack on my back and a sense of anticipation and optimism. I love the weight of a pack full of meat walking back into camp, getting it squared away and the satisfaction of plonking down into a camp chair with a cold beer. That sir is my version of hunting. I like working for my game.

 

[8mm Enthusiast]

Spot and stalk all the way. Doesn’t matter the game or whether rifle or bow. I love leaving camp with a pack on my back and a sense of anticipation and optimism. I love the weight of a pack full of meat walking back into camp, getting it squared away and the satisfaction of plonking down into a camp chair with a cold beer. That sir is my version of hunting. I like working for my game.

Lets say in a hypothetical scenario if you were hunting Red Junglefowl (wild chicken), an extremely paranoid bird that lives in dense thick jungles, would you still do "spot and stalk"?

 

[Blkram]

I used to try to stalk and my beginning days' struggles are well documented in other threads so I have fully and thoroughly divorced myself from ever attempting to spot and stalk unless the conditions are just absolutely perfect with thick fog that makes me invisible and very wet damp ground that makes me silent. Even in those situations I'll likely never go out purposefully spotting and stalking and will just get from point A to point B.

My hunting style is fully dictated by three factors:

1. I exclusively hunt public or open to public hunting land.
2. I hunt alone.
3. I do not own or hunt with a hunting dog. Also, I have a very minimalist hunting style, and don't hunt deer from a tree stand nor do I plan on doing it any time soon. Shot my first one off the ground.

These factors have heavily dictated my strategy. I find that attempting to stalk in the thick woods is impossible for me. Maybe I am just too clumsy and can't step in the right place or generate too much motion but it just doesn't work for me under any circumstance. Animals bump far and wide and evacuate the area well before I arrive or even catch a glimpse of them.

So my ultimate grand strategy which works every single time all time for me and continues to work when things get tough is: Shut up, sit down, take cover, stop moving, stop making noise.

I love picking out natural blinds made from natural vegetation or deadfalls and sit in them for as long as I can with my Tailmate Gelcore hunting cushion. I always tell people my favorite piece of hunting gear in the world, even beyond my rifle/shotgun is the Tailmate Gelcore hunting cushion seat. I can't live/hunt without it. I love it so much I plan on buying a second piece.

This strategy works for every single species I can think of that I'll ever encounter with one small exception for small game. Deer, works perfectly. Turkey, is absolutely made for turkey hunting. Squirrel is a little bit different, I have to move and cover just a little bit of ground and then sit until they start coming out of the trees. Even works for waterfowl. I just hide inside cattails near water and pass shoot waterfowl.

It's a little different situation for small game like rabbits, pheasants, hares, grouse. In the early season I find myself being stationary and using this same strategy near trails or areas that border thick cover and openings. In the early mornings and when the sun is coming down, the animals will come out onto the small clearings and paths. And yes, I proudly ground swat birds like pheasants and grouse. Excuse my no-wingshooting unholiness but like I mentioned, I like a minimalist and no-dog style. As a dogless hunter, it's nearly impossible for me to flush small game in the early season when the Wisconsin vegetation is extremely thick.

Once the vegetation starts to die off in the later months I do enjoy hunting small game the traditional flushing style. Without a dog, I have found a few things that work for me when it comes to inducing a flush. One is stopping frequently. I have found that animals will burst out and flush either when you stop or right as you start walking again. Two, I backtrack and circle back the same areas as many times as I can. Ideally five times. They'll easily hunker down and let me pass the first time, the second time I pass makes them nervous, by the time I pass the fifth or sixth time, there's a high probability for a flush because the animal thinks I've spotted it and won't give up looking in the same area.

From what I have seen on TV and researched, it appears my sitting method would not work at all in a western plains/open country environment as most of the hunting shows portray long range glassing and spot and stalk hunts but I do not know as I have never hunted western open style environments. I'd probably just sit at a watering hole if I was in the western US if that's even legal.

We all have methods that work for us an individual, and there is nothing wrong with that!
Do what works best for you, in your environment!
Knowing, recognizing, and sticking within your limitations is a good thing!
You have successfully taken a number if great animals that anyone would be proud to have taken, so no one can fault your methods.

I would love to see a pic or get a link for your hunting cushion. sounds like something my wife and I would both appreciate for hunting and fishing.

And even out here in the west your hunting style would work sitting over a waterhole for antelope or a wallow for elk, moose and deer. Don't be hesitant to hunt out west with your method, there will times and places where it will be the best option!

 

[8mm Enthusiast]

We all have methods that work for us an individual, and there is nothing wrong with that!
Do what works best for you, in your environment!
Knowing, recognizing, and sticking within your limitations is a good thing!
You have successfully taken a number if great animals that anyone would be proud to have taken, so no one can fault your methods.

I would love to see a pic or get a link for your hunting cushion. sounds like something my wife and I would both appreciate for hunting and fishing.

And even out here in the west your hunting style would work sitting over a waterhole for antelope or a wallow for elk, moose and deer. Don't be hesitant to hunt out west with your method, there will times and places where it will be the best option!

Thanks, appreciate it. I know I may have come off a bit passionate about this subject in my previous posts. It just comes from the early experiences I had while attempting stalking in my environment.

Here's the MidwayUSA link to the Tail Mate Gelcore. I really love it and recommend it to others as well. --> https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1025366847?pid=868825

 

[Blkram]

Thanks, appreciate it. I know I may have come off a bit passionate about this subject in my previous posts. It just comes from the early experiences I had while attempting stalking in my environment.

Here's the MidwayUSA link to the Tail Mate Gelcore. I really love it and recommend it to others as well. --> https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1025366847?pid=868825

No apologies necessary.
If we didn't have passion for our lifestyles and hunting/shooting/handloading, this forum wouldn't exist and have the quality people we have here keeping it the best, and most civil site on the web! So grateful that they share their knowledge in such a respectful and positive manner that is surely missing in so many other forums!

Still missing our ladies shared wisdom...we need to do a better job of recruiting some of those knowledgable women to join us here, so they too feel safe and comfortable, and can support this growing arm of our hunting and shooting group...
How about a couple of new sections on here for Nosler Ladies and Nosler Youth?

Thanks!
Going to order a couple cushions today!

 

[Slimfinn]

I guess my method would be considered spot and stock, but it is mostly taking a longish hike with a rifle and backpack and hoping if/when you "spot" something worth "stalking" that you are not already too far from the truck. Sometimes I get lucky

 

[truck driver]

Hunting big game I do a lot of scouting to locate where they are traveling to and from once I locate them I use still hunting method which is a slow style of stalking, about like hunting grey squirrels or fox squirrels, when I hunted small game, birds or rabbits I walk and flush them.

 

[xphunter]

And you spot and shoot further than some people stalk!!!
You got some skills man!
FOTIS might be able to create accurate ammo and shoot tiny little groups; you can really reach out and touch them!
And you have, and with hand cannons no less...
I have long since added you to my list of those I want to shoot like when I grow up!

So many talented and skilled members on this site!
And willing to share their knowledge too.

Thank you for your kind words.

I am pretty sure @FOTIS can send them from a distance, as others can here, if they so chose to do so.

There is a talented group of hunters and shooters here.

 

[Blkram]

Unfortunately I cannot order from Midway as it does give provinces as an option and will not accept our postal (zip) code.
Might have to get DrMike to pick me up a couple when he travels Stateside this fall...