I think it's a dying art. Many of the younger hunters have grown up with such a short attention span, a "microwave" type mentality if you will, that the concept of still hunting is lost on them.
My Father & Grandparents were all from Minnesota, so stands and deer drives were what they knew. We were living on the foothills of the Cascades in Southern Oregon, so hunting west was for blacktail or heading east was mule deer. I had to learn much from reading Outdoor Life, JOC, Fred Bear, etc. My Dad's skill set wasn't working out so well.
One summer I did some odd jobs for an elderly neighbor. It started out me stopping to help him when passing by and seeing him struggling to push a wheelbarrow. He started asking me to come by and offered money. At first I refused to accept the cash, enjoying his tales of hunting the area. Over time he wanted to "hire" me and insisted on payment. The more I was around the more he revealed.
His most valuable lesson was probably about still hunting deer. He had much to say and when that fall came around I started using his tips. I blew a few chances, but bagged the biggest Blacktail I've seen in the area two years later. Still hunting, emulating his storied examples as closely as possible. I was not only proud of the animal, but of the way I had gotten it.
This fall my Son shot his best Whitetail so far still hunting in heavy timber. To me it was a proud accomplishment.
His
buck as posted in the deer hunting forum.
