Does anyone on here still do this type of hunting? I can't stand sitting in a blind and am too old for a climbing stand so I have gone back to my roots and enjoy the easing through the woods to find my game. May take me an hour to go 100 yards when I get to my hunting area but it sure is rewarding to take a buck or doe, hog or squirrel that has no idea you are there.

My preferred method.

I do this a lot. Really enjoy it. Have shot some nice animals doing it.

Best after a rain when the vegetation isn't crunching underfoot.

I move faster than traditional still hunting though.

I'm fidgety and can only sit in a stand for so long (like 2 hrs and I'm coming unglued).

Im similar to Ernest, I walk alot and check target areas. My favorite blinds to sit in are large brush blinds, that way I dont feel so stuck.

still hunting a job so can aford me own, as pappy says: food stamps ... rant over... dang Gov. still spying on me...


still hunting is my prefered way of hog hunten down at OSBWMA.... Deer&hog hunts prefer sitting in tree stand with bow in hand enjoying nature
at its best...

I hunt in a variety of ways, whatever I think is best for the circumstance. I don't do a lot of still hunting as I prefer to hunt more open areas, but I do some. I do a lot of stalk and spot and stalk. I do some stand hunting.

What is the difference between "still hunting," "spot and stalk," and just sneak around and sit awhile in a spot?

Moving......

Still hunting is moving looking for your target and spot and stalk is knowing where your target is and getting close enough to take out, would be my guess.
I just hunt the old fashion way and ambush'em!!!

I love still hunting and spot and stalk but these are tough to do in Texas on deer. The leases I've been on do not allow it because they feel like it encroaches on others hunting areas, stand and feeders area. I use to do it quite a bit back when I hunted public land but when they started type II public hunting it just became too dangerous. I do enjoy squirrel hunting this way.

Absolutely my favorite type of hunting. If I'm hunting hogs or squirrel in thick woods, it is my most successful method too.

My second favorite method is using a climber treestand in the deep woods in fall. Something about being up high on a brisk day while the wind is swirling the leaves around and the woods critters not knowing your there.

I will add that it always helps to carry a shooting stick. If I've got a standing, freehand shot at a big buck 200 yards out, and the blood is pumping, that shooting stick is worth more than my pride.

I hate looking at the same 2 acres all day. I gotta move! I've become very fond of SW Texas mule deer hunting. You have to be on the move!

Around home, I'll ease around in the tree lines and creek bottoms.

That reminds me, I need to go cut some trails so I can sneek...

I love stalking or still hunting. When I have the place to myself I will stuff water bottles in my pockets and disappear for half a day. It is awesome walking up on animals that do not know you are there. The challenge of getting up close and personal with some bedded down deer will get your blood pumping. I could come back with a whitetail every time, but the thrill can be better than the kill.

Spot and stalk works great in the terrain I hunt in. Most of my nice kills have been using this method.

I'm 63 years old and this is the first year I've set up blinds and feeders. The reason is two grandsons age 9 and 11. I've bow hunted for decades spot and stalk. Mostly Texas panhandle mule deer with whitetail mixed in. We didn't have pigs in my area. My most memorial spot and stalk was on the Texas state record non-typical mule deer. Took me around four hours from first seeing him through the spotting scope to getting the 27 yard shot. Anytime I think back on that hunt, my fondest memory is about the stalk, not the kill.

My new lease has pigs so after the grandsons get their deer, I'm going back to my roots and spot and stalk some bacon.

At 69 I would say this is the purest form of hunting. As a young man hunting large tracts of land in Up Sate NY, the Adirondacks, Catskills and in Colorado I found it so satisfying to get within bow range or rifle range of an animal whose senses were so superior to mine. Only shot a few but they are some of the most memorable.

I'll get out of my blind when it's dead and make a 5 minute walk back to my truck take over an hour. Like Flash, I grew up taking 5 steps, then waiting 15 minutes, then taking 5 more steps. Not as many deer up there, but when you get one close, it's amazing.

I do it most times I'm out. With a bow is my favorite but there are times you just need to sit. Dry leaves, extremely calm days, bright sunshine, will usually make for hard still hunting.

Part of being a good hunter is improvising. Sometimes I sit in a stand looking at a feeder, sometimes I sit on the ground in a different location looking at a feeder, sometimes I sit overlooking a trail or a valley out west, sometimes I spot and stalk. I would hate to limit myself to one type of hunting especially if what I'm doing isn't working.

I still-hunt on public land, and shot a big hog that way. But not in the early part of deer season. Too many trigger-happy yahoos out there for me to be moving around.

The difference between still-hunting and spot-and-stalk: With still-hunting, you creep quietly across the terrain hoping to walk up on an unsuspecting animal. With spot-and-stalk, you glass an area from a high vantage point, and when you spot something, you go intercept it to get a shot.

Harrier,
thanks for the explanation. That is how we hunted since I was little. We just called it "hunting.". Nice to learn some new terms.

Very true.

I can't stand to sit in a blind when I can see all the wide open spaces out there. Like Mark, spot and stalk works really well in the country that I prefer to hunt. I mount the Swagger Bipods on my rifle which leaves my hands free for glassing and moving through brush. When I spot deer, I look for dog pear, prickly pear, mesquite thorns or any thing that puncture the hide and sit flat on my seat. In this fashion, I am able to rest my binos on my knees to give me a better view of the critter. If I am going to take a shot, I raise my knee so that the arm that is on the grip is supported, reducing wiggle. If hunting where grass or brush is too tall to do this, then I generally look for an object that will allow me to stand while getting some support.
Adios,
Gary

The term came from the book "The Still Hunter" by Theodore S. Van Dyke; it was originally published in 1904 and discusses the technique in great detail. Even more than hunting, it emphasizes the value of being a good woodsman and knowledgeable outdoorsman who is attuned and in tune with nature.

The book is old-fashioned, but still very well worth reading.