Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game "Still hunting" Who knows the true meaning???????

Down here in the southern part of Australia the technique you are talking about we use for hunting most of the available deer species we have here. We refer to it as "Stalking" as opposed to hunting with hounds.

Still hunting or longrange hunting is the modern terminology down here,and has been described as sitting on a ridge and glassing with high power spotting scopes and when spotting a deer over on the next ridge or open plain using a laser range finder to determine the range and then using a rifle - the type of which would not be out of place in a 1000yds shooting comp - and take the shot on the deer.

There is a divided culture on this type of hunting whereby one side states it is unethical and the other say it is a means of hunting for the less fit or handicapped to hunt deer -Though I am not too sure how they would go about the recovery.

Most times when stalking deer in Victoria the species will be Sambar deer which is the heaviest and hardiest of all our deer species.
The absolute maximum range a sambar deer would be taken at is 100yds. Occasionaly a cross gully shot may go longer but that is very rare.

In Victoria on sambar deer we have a legal minimum calibre of .270" and a case length of 2.00" So anything from .270 up can and has been used.

My Grandpa called it "pussyfooting."

My brother in law who got me out of the shooting houses, and into the woods about a 6 or 7 years ago is the best I know at it. He introduced me to it and I now enjoy 'hunting' much more than when I waited in shooting houses overlooking greenfields.

Couple of PLANNED steps, the wait for at least a minute watching, gun in the low ready. I will hunt this way after a rain, or following a creek's path as the running water muffles my sound.

Most of the time I will sit in a pre scouted area till lunch, still hunt till about two and finish the day sitting in another planned location. I can't still hunt all day yet. I get to ready to pick up the pace and cover more ground which is a no no.

We call it slippin through the woods and it works well in our national forrests. A lever action or pump gun works well. You need a rifle that swings and points like a good shotgun.

I use several strategies and "Still Hunting" is my preferred method of hunting.

I sit point a lot. That's a lot like sitting in a tree stand or ground blind. It's simply sitting in one place overlooking a meadow with a good field of fire where I know there are game trails and animals are likely to walk in front of me. It takes lots of patience and it works best when I know that someone is sneaking through the dark timber.

To me "Still Hunting" is only a little more active than sitting point because I move very, very slowly. I may not cover more than 100 yards in an hour. I spend most of my time standing, looking and listening. I only take one or two steps at a time and after each step, I stand, look and listen. I also carry a pair of binoculars and try to peer through the intermediate vegetation by adjusting the focus, looking for an ear, butt or leg.

We ocasionally try to drive the animals. This strategy is the same as you might use when huntinmg pheasants where there are "drivers" and "blockers/shooters". It hasn't been too efective because there may be no animals in the grove that you are driving and the animals never seem to run where you anticipated they would.

I also do lots of "spot and stalk" hunting. I sit on a good vantage point where I can see lots of territory with some groves and open meadows. I use a pair of 16x50 binoculars on a tripod and meticulously-systematically inspect the territory consentrating on the edges where groves and meadows meet. It may take an hour or two to properly inspect what I can see. If after one complete visual sweep I see nothing, I start the sweep again. Once I spot an animal that I like, I use the terrain to get closer, then switch to still hunting.

KC

Slip hunting is what I call it.