The debate goes on. What's your opinion?

[Greg Nolan]

We've had lots of debates on caliber, bullet, rifle, and even sportsmanship.
In this lull in hunting (except for the Southern states) the question arrises;
What is the best hunting strategy??
I would hope to hear your thoughts involving stands, still hunting, calling, stalking and baiting. (we're not here to sit in judgement of techniques used in other terrains).
I personally, have sat in stands, still hunted a lot and road hunted on the way back to camp. I have hunted feeder areas in Texas and I take advantage of every legal opportunity that my conscious allows.

 

[DrMike]

Because of the diversity of conditions (to say nothing of the differences in quarry) any legal method is acceptable. What I prefer is spot and stalk. In part, this is necessitated by the mountainous areas I hunt. Still hunting is less enjoyable since an auto crash a number of years ago left me with impaired balance. I confess that while it does look funny to see a preacher staggering, it does make still hunting somewhat difficult. Stand hunting certainly can be productive, and I have taken game (moose and mule deer) on several occasions from a well-placed stand; but I seldom do it anymore.

I'm opportunistic, I confess. It is common to see game as I drive, especially in the mountains. Whilst it is illegal to shoot from the vehicle or to shoot from most roads, on many of the mountain roads it is quite legal to shoot if you get to the ditch (15 metres off the centre line). Moreover, on many of these roads, I seldom see another person in the course of a day. I have taken game that way on occasion. It is against the law to bait in British Columbia, so I've never done it. Neither have I hunted bear or lion with hounds; but I would be open to trying it.

After wandering about, I at last arrive at the question you asked, Greg. The best hunting strategy is the one that permits you to cleanly and effectively take game. The best hunting strategy will leave you with a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction in having prepared for the hunt and having treated the game with respect.

 

[buckfever]

I like to spot and stalk can't seem to sit still for more than a few minutes when I'm huntin but have shot a few deer from just off the road. I'm sure all methods work if you have the patients I don't.

 

[jmad_81]

Well... I must admit that my first three bucks and don't know how many does were all taken out of a pickup window with head shots. I wasn't very old and did what dad said. As soon as I started hunting in the mountians with my grandpa, I fell in love with spot and stalk. It seemed alot more rewarding and challenging. I could sit on a good vantage point all day and just glass everything. I enjoy trying to get as close as I can, but am not afraid to take a good poke if the situation allows for the propper setup. I do have one place that is one of my favorite hunts of all times that is a drive (not automotive drive) type of hunt. It is on my grandepa's home place in the foothills of the blue mountians of eastern oregon.

I have never hunted out of a stand, I'de like to try it someday with my bow. I know I would have a hard time sitting still that long, but I would sure try. We can't hunt bears or cougars with dogs in Oregon, so I have never hunted with dogs. I prefer the spot and stalk for bears, and would love to try running a cat with dogs. I would have no problem using salt blocks or bait to get critters on a game cam, but in Oregon it is not lawful to hunt over bait.

Pretty much I'm a spot and stalk kinda guy cause it works best for me.

 

[6mm Remington]

Spot and stalk or track. I cannot sit.......for long.

 

[FOTIS]

Spot and stalk or track. I cannot sit.......for long.

ditto... A.D.D.

 

[6mm Remington]

We can't hunt bears or cougars with dogs in Oregon, so I have never hunted with dogs. I prefer the spot and stalk for bears, and would love to try running a cat with dogs.
Pretty much I'm a spot and stalk kinda guy cause it works best for me.

jamd_81 I too would love to hunt a cat with dogs, but haven't had the good fortune to do so yet................ I have tried this but have not had any success yet, but keep at it long enough, I believe it can be done, and have heard about it being done.

I would love to call in both a bear and a mountain lion with predator calls. Rabbit distress, calf call, fawn distress, whatever. I think that would be a neat way to harvest a bear. I go out calling every spring during our spring bear season, but haven't gotten one yet that way. I will though. I'd like to spot one first and then get set up and call so I could sort of see what he does and how he's coming. I've watched a couple hunting tapes where they have callled in bears, and it does work. From what I've observed, you have to keep on the call almost constantly or it's like those of us with A.D.D. like Pop says, and they kind of forget what they were doing. I know bobcats will sometimes take a long time because besides just being cautious, they get distracted by something shiny on the way like a penny or something and piddle around.

When I've tried to call lions, I have attempted to locate tracks, hopefully fresh tracks and set up and call. If I cannot find any tracks, I then just set up in likely looking areas where I think they might be. No luck yet on the cats either, but it's just fun to try!

My son and I both had wolf tags this year, and my plan was to carry my rabbit distress call and my coyote howler with me when we were elk hunting. If we heard wolves or saw fresh tracks, then we would try and call one in. On one of our days we were out, we had hiked our bottoms off and were heading down an old jeep trail to get back to the truck. There in the road was THREE sets of fresh wolf tracks. We followed them for about 1/3 of a mile before they started sidehilling up the ridge. I had left the calls in the truck (1.5 miles away from where we currently were) but we should not have given up. One, we could have tried tracking them. They were that fresh, the wind was right for the way they were going, and we could have tried barking and howling with our voices. That can work too. I was so disheartened :roll: that I had left the calls in the truck that morning. I feel pretty confident we could have called them back and maybe gotten one or even two! Would that not have been a neat day :!: Plus it would have helped to keep their numbers in check and keep them wild.

 

[DrMike]

I would love to call in both a bear and a mountain lion with predator calls. Rabbit distress, calf call, fawn distress, whatever. I think that would be a neat way to harvest a bear. I go out calling every spring during our spring bear season, but haven't gotten one yet that way.

I've called in bears on several occasions. I've called wolves from over 450 yards. They come running. Bears tend to lose interest very quickly when calling is not continuous. Nevertheless, I've seen bears come at a run from over 100 yards. Last spring, my hunting partner and I played with one young bear for over thirty minutes as he came on three separate occasions to a call. We were sitting in a pickup, and he would sneak through the grass to walk to within five yards of us and stand to look at what was making that strange sound. Calling is a hoot.

 

[nodak7mm]

Because of the diversity of conditions (to say nothing of the differences in quarry) any legal method is acceptable.

With that said, the best kind is the one that meets the above and the one you enjoy the most.

Jmad mentioned the traditional deer drive. Growing up, thats what we did. I got so sick of it, I archery hunted only for about 10 yrs. The woods we drove was the obstical course from hades....

I love to spot and stalk, but dont much a chance to do where I currently hunt. So I park myself in one of three comfy (dry & warm) deer stands and hang out with my kid(s) and we wait for the deer. Any view is pretty clear for a 2 mile radius. Definatly a relaxing & enjoyble time with one of my daughters...

Thats what currently works for me.

Rod

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

big game hunitng out here in the West, I like spot and stalk. Sitting on a high ridge with a spotting scope, and taking in as much country as I can, hopefully find something, and make a plan. If not, it's off to the next ridge until you figure out where the critters are, and what they are up to. Once I figure out how they are behaving, I'll spend my fair share of sunsets sitting on water and feed.

Unland bird hunting is a blast. I really enjoy watching a good bird dog at work. Just watching the dog can be more fun the bagging a pheasant.

Ultimatly it's the quarry and conditions that will determine what works best.

 

[Greg Nolan]

I agree that "spot and stalk" is my choice. I guess I just don't have the patience, or the fact that in the West you may have to sit in your blind for months before you see a deer, to do anything else except an occasional drive if you have enough young and tough kids to do the drive for you. I know I sure did my share of drives only to find dad asleep under a tree when I got there. :roll: The mule and blacktail deer may do the scrape and goofy rut thing but Kalifornia carefully avoids having the hunting season at any time deer may actually be huntable. They must be on the PETA payroll. :evil:
Greg

 

[super-7]

I like trying to get the game to come to you, either calling in yotes or rattling/grunting for whiteys, once grunted in a nice muley buck within 5yrd of the pick-up, just playing with him as no body had a tag Lucky buck. Moose calling works the best in early fall, and I 've yet to hunt elk during the rut rifle season is ussually pretty late here. We do some spot/stalk ussally if ya get drawn for muleys, some times we will do drives or pushes in the middle of the day if nothing is moving. the problem with pushes is the deer have an advantage, and they ussually bust out on the dead run, in a spot you least expect. I have used a push early in the season kinda like a scouting tatic and if you push out a decent buck you can narrow down his home base/ area if you don't be foolish and scare him right out of the area.

 

[jtoews80]

Well, I tend to spot and stalk, but I will admit for WT it's alot more like baiting. My dad's got 100 acres of alfalfa and I had 40 acres of alfalfa with a covercrop of oats, so it wasn't a question of if you'd see something.

I haven't got out hunting anything, but WT for 10 years, so I have to go try hunting Elk or moose soon.

JT.

 

[Greg Nolan]

When the dawn starts to sillouette the pines and the steam engine breathing from hiking up the mountain slows to a whisper. Only then does the adrenelin start to put visions of the big one that no one else has ever surprised in our heads. Got to get hidden before light and which way is the wind blowing? OK, OK. Any minute now something should come right along that treeline. The tracks told me so. Man, where did all those shooting stars come from? :wink:

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I tend to spot and stalk or spot and shoot, just depends on the situation.

The area I hunt for coyotes/deer/antelope/elk/bear is either wheat fields, sagebrush flats, or canyons, so ya best learn how to shoot decent at longer range or your gonna be goin home empty handed quite often.

I cant sit for long. I get bored to easily...

 

[JDMAG]

For deer I like to stand hunt here in Tn. And as Greg will attest, out west, I like to stand hunt, or glass from a good slope. or spot and stalk along a well used trail. taking a stand and calling a turkey or possibly an elk doesn't bother me neither. it just don't happen that often.

 

[Scott Spencer]

Here in Alabama, spot & stalk is pretty much impossible. If on a private lease you are usually dealing with pine plantations and thickets. The limited hardwoods we now have, except in some areas of the state, are the only real place for spot and stalk. I would never do it on public management areas as the overcrowding is dangerous (too many shoot first and think later folks)

I have sat in a tree stand and box blind on a green field but it is boring! I've walked trails in the woods years ago - before the best lands were all leased up - and had limited luck.

The two times I've hunted out west were spot & stalk and sitting on a migration trail in WY. That was most like hunting in the Southeast since we sat for 8 hours watching deer after deer travel the same 2-3 trails we were watching.

Given a choice, I would prefer spot and stalk like you folks have out west. The sheer vastness, beauty, and amount of public land simply dwarfs what we have here. I truly envy you fellas out west even though our season runs mid Nov to the end of Jan. I'd swap limited hunting out there for what we have here any day of the week!

 

[DrMike]

too many shoot first and think later folks

It would only take one of those jehus to ruin your day.

 

[Polaris]

Not to pass judgement, I won't call any names, I don't like baiting except for bears and predators as that is the only effective way to hunt bears if you don't own a brace of bear dogs and IMHO anything that makes for less coyotes is a good thing. I hunted a baited pig hunt in Texas once. Sure, I know theyre kinda like vermin down there, but I think my experience would have been much better hunting travel corridors or even doing a drive or still hunt of sorts. Seemed too much like pig shooting vs pig hunting. I've also hunted areas for whitetail where baiting was allowed and it really messes with the deer movements over the landscape. Even thought the baiters don't necessarily shoot the deer, it really makes everything go nocturnal fast and seems to bunch up the does and hence the bucks in tight cover near bait piles. If it's legal, go ahead but don't blame me if I lobby to change the law.

Personally, I prefer a type of hunting I call rambling. Opening day when the deer are still in full shuffle reacting to hunting pressure I'll sit tight. I hunt public land and avoid formal deer stands as they tell other hunters where I found the deer. It's also a lot warmer at ground level curled up under a balsam fir. I'm also not averse to napping with one ear open. It's amazing how you can train yourself to wake up at the slightest sound. I like to find a nice rock, log or treestump along a "sneak trail" that bucks will use to slip out of heavily hunted areas into the thick cover. Usually that is a wooded hillside with a small depression between pasturelands and cedar or alder thickets. I avoid corridor trails unless I'm trying to fill some doe tags.

After opener, I'll sit tight sunrise and sunset. The rest of the time I spend quietly walking log trails, hilltops, ravines, or open woods trying to either spot and shoot a deer or bust some loose and try to pattern them and ambush another day. I've got one particular patch of woods that was homesteaded many years ago and has grown back irregularly. I've busted deer and shot them on the run in this place. I also like to do small, informal deer pushes with one or 2 standers on sneak trails and one "lost hunter." I've had great success moving deer past shooters this way. I also used to enjoy organized deer drives, but do not have the hunters to pull them off right now.

 

[Greg Nolan]

Dr Mike
Again I am humbled by your knowlege.
What is a "jehus"? :?
Greg