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How to find the flock in the first place? If I found a flock, my immediate reaction would be to crawl up to them in an extremely stealthy manner and take a reasonable shot with my fixed full choke 12 gauge using 3 inch shells. However, finding the flock in the first place is the tricky part. I...

Agree with all your points. Plenty of whitetails and turkeys have not fled from me when I was casually hiking or looking at my phone. A short portion of the long list of things to consider. I'll be out again with the shotgun in my hand. The grind continues.

It is stressful but perhaps coming back empty handed is a part of hunting. A BIG part of hunting.

1. Doves. 2. Public land managed for doves with corn and sunflower fields. 3. On foot, also with decoys where I am setup in a natural vegetation blind. 4. Ground is littered with spent shell, wads, and what looks like dove feathers from people plucking or skinning them. Occasionally, I'll run...

It's been dove hunting so far. Mostly on foot but I have added decoys to the mix recently. Standing and flying shots. 12 Gauge, over under, choked IC and MOD. I see a decent number of animals. No massive flocks but on any given day I'll see 30+ birds. All of my shots have come from flushing...

I have experienced this. It is odd. I feel that animals can sense energy and emotions in us. You are right. Sometimes all you have to do is just focus on enjoying the experience rather than being dead focused (pun intended) on getting the kill. That's why, on a lot of these short trips where you...

Agreed, and I do try to implement this. Step one foot, plant it slowly, head up always, scan at at least 180 degrees, pause for a little bit. Listen in, scan for any signs of movement. Raise the back foot slowly, and continue.

I have hunted so far all days in September and missed maybe around 3 days. The week days are all brief trips after work. More than a thousand miles accumulated on my car. Certainly I am trying to leave the couch mindset behind. I guess my mind is just playing tricks on me. I do sometimes wonder...

The squirrels have all disappeared unfortunately as soon as September started. Only time I saw squirrels last time was in the spring of this year when I was scouting without a rifle or shotgun. Even when I move slow, very slowly through the forest, I do not see any squirrels. During my "slow"...

Admittedly, I am having a very rough start to the hunting season. I just don't know what beginner mistake I am making. I feel perhaps I am doing these three things:? 1. High expectations. 2. Hunting areas with no animals or highly pressured animals. 3. Revealing myself and getting spotted. Of...

I think I will venture on to some of these lands after making sure the map is up-to-date. I'll likely stick to the edges, avoiding residential areas, and concealed behind tree lines to avoid scaring any residents.

I have personally found that in this day and age, real connection comes from being disconnected. Our lives have become so entangled in the web of constant headlines, media, music, internet, shopping, and other stimulating things that we many times forget to focus on the things that matter truly...

I just turned on the Voluntary Public Access map layer on my OnXHunt app and the amount of VPA land is very surprising. These are private lands that the landowner has opened up to the public for hunting use. I have never stepped on private land ever during a hunting trip and am taken back by the...

I finally got to take my first shots of this hunting season today at some doves. I stood on the edge of a tree line as a bunch of doves kept swarming over it. Unfortunately I missed all my shots. It was with a .410 bolt action with a fixed choke of full constriction. I plan on taking the 12...

This is a way of life. And it will take me years to become good enough to consistently harvest game with thousands of hours spent in the field. I am sure the experienced members on this forum have spent many days and nights in the field accumulating a lifetime worth of experience. It shows the...

Agreed. 👍🏻

I certainly am young and foolish at this stage however am trying to obtain as much experience as I can through actual time in the field. I started off watching content online and arguing like many others, about minute ballistic details of the many different rifle cartridges that are out there...

A lot to unpack here. Thanks for all the commentary. Firstly the reason I was trying to navigate this forest in the first place was to (this may sound stupid) find porcupines and snowshoe hares. My mentality was that I needed to go "deep" and "off trail, where the animals really are" in order...

Does anyone here have tips on how to quietly move through thick forests such as the one in the image covered with branches, stems, and foliage without making excessive noise? I find it extremely challenging trying to balance these three things: not making excessive noise, not making any rapid...

What time of the day was this?