Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hunting old school. Tracking/Sill hunting/stalking

I track exclusively once we have any snow & will get tags for surrounding states and watch their weather too. Really tried to like tree stands but for me they are my least favorite - nearly undesirable way to hunt. I’ve been a back country backpack hunter for my whole life so the contraptions seem unnatural plus cold as hell.

This year was my first to hunt deer with a decoy. A cow. This on a flatazz 8000 acre ranch in far north Texas. I did enjoy the failed sneaks and, in the end, it proved effective. Just different.

never seen that. How does a cow decoy work?

Spot and stalk or still hunt. Is there any other way to actually hunt?

We are lucky I guess. Those guys in the east hunt from stands. I love to be out there still hunting, tracking and reading sign. I don't just get on a track though, sometimes you have to try to anticipate where they are going and then get there before they do. That all depends on the time of day though. Elk always watch their backtrack so you can't just get on a track and follow it... No other way for me..

A whole lot of mining activity...Both past and present around here. The woods are criscrossed with old overgrown mining and logging roads.

I just can't stand to sit in one place too long. I'm always wondering what might be right over that next rise or on the other side of that thicket.

I generally just park my vehicle down low....near the creek or railroad tracks and start sneaking along some of those old roads. Always hunting uphill and into the wind.

Sometimes it works out, Most of the time it don't but when I do kill one, I have a downhill drag.

One other thing, I'm only 52 years old but dragging deer is getting tougher each and every year so I have been holding out for the smaller ones. Got me a trophy doe a week and a half ago.....Got tenderloins, backstraps , 2 roasts and 17 pounds of burger out of her....Very easy to drag.

(though truck hunting is the least enjoyable, IMO).

As a rancher friend said to me once after helping me get a backcountry bull out; for me anymore, a hardship hunt is manual windows!

Yes, you are lucky. I would have loved to have spent my deer hunting life tracking, still hunting, or stalking. However, conditions in the South don't allow it. Flat, too much underbrush, and ground covered with woody debris all combine to make silent movement, however slow, impossible. Some very local exceptions may exist, but I haven't seen them in person.

By the way, most southerners misuse the term still hunt. They really mean "stand hunt". It's been my understanding that to still hunt means to move so slowly as to appear to be still.

I have never done it that wat for deer but, I do it that way each summer for G-hogs. I use a 22 mag rifle and pistol. I love to stalk them my max distance for a shot is 100 yards. I can often get much closer. I have killed one g-hog at 3yards with a Ruger single six. Getting closer makes me work for my shots and it is exciting. I think stalking them makes me a better hunter and the results are way more rewarding. The investment in effort is well worth the reward!

HA! Now that is a good one!

That is funny!

Similarly, I had an older friend named Warren who had the ability to book numerous guided hunts all over the west. We (our little band of hardcore hunting geeks) used to tease him about the last thing a particular bull, buck etc heard was the sound of his power window going down. His response was that it stopped them in their tracks every time lol.

He always tagged out earlier than everyone else.

Warren cooked a lot.

Warren. Cool guy & miss him.

Well said POC... Couldn't agree more!

I don’t see myself hunting any other way until I’m too old and feeble that I can’t physically do it anymore. At that point I’ll likely off load my guns and buy bird feeders so I can sit in front of the picture window and watch them from the lazy boy like an invalid.

We still hunt that way in Adirondacks Brinky and even a little in our area if we have snow and can hunt the larger pieces Of state owned land. One of our favorite ways to get on deer. We hunt from stands as well. Pretty much equal opportunity hunters mostly.

Same here, albeit without stands.

Deer density in the Adirondacks is so low the chance a buck wanders past a stand is skin to winning the lottery.

In Oregon we have lots of public land. In my estimation about 5% of tag holders are hunters who wear out boots. The other 95% wear out tires.

Yeah. I wouldn’t wanna take that bet on when a buck wanders past.

As a rancher friend said to me once after helping me get a backcountry bull out; for me anymore, a hardship hunt is manual windows!

Off topic but do any of you belong to or know anything about BHA Backwoods Hunting and Angling. Heard about it on a podcast.

I used to still hunt a lot when I was younger. I liked to do it on rainy days and windy afternoons. I did it in thick woods and have shot deer at less than 20 yards walking. It requires patience to do it well. You have to hunt hard with your eyes seeing everything before you move and moving slowly enough and moving the right way. So you spot them before they see you.

This year was my first to hunt deer with a decoy. A cow. This on a flatazz 8000 acre ranch in far north Texas. I did enjoy the failed sneaks and, in the end, it proved effective. Just different.

Still hunting in the classic sense around here is practically impossible. I’ve done it on occasion but only in larger creek bottoms. Even there a foot of sycamore, oak and other hardwood leaves makes it really tough unless it’s after a rain or pretty windy.
Most hunting land is owned by paper companies and consists of pine plantations at varying stages of growth. Cutovers where you can see hundreds of yards but covered with logging debris or saplings so thick you can’t see ten yards. Oh, and no snow.
Food plots, shooting houses and tree stands are the way to go.
Do a search for NAS Meridian, MS. on google earth or your favorite app with aerial photos. Then go about 3-4 miles WNW and check out the timber. Still hunting ain’t happening there.

Do share. All I heard was that they were for “public access” and working for getting more accessibility. I’m sure there’s more to it. I did see the thread on corner crossing and some things about BHA after I posted this. Are there any trustworthy organizations for hunters doing anything for public access and public lands that aren’t a bunch of shisters? The closer I get to freedom/retirement the more I’m looking into public access and public lands across the country. Just looking for solid information on who’s on the up and up and who to avoid. Hunting, fishing and public lands and access are what mean the most to me and always have. Sifting through the bullshit is always a pain.

As a rancher friend said to me once after helping me get a backcountry bull out; for me anymore, a hardship hunt is manual windows!

Still hunting, spot-and-stalk, tracking, stand hunting, calling, drive hunting; I adapt to the conditions, terrain, and game behaviour.

Brinky72,

Howdy.

Don't know of any groups doing what you ask about, sounds like you need one of the modern map apps for hunting/fishing public land on a phone or GPS.
Something definitely needs to be done about landlocked public land that can't be accessed.

Who else does it old school and how?

The mention of old school and still hunting takes me back to my most memorable hunt. Technically, I was still hunting when I spotted him and then spent most of the day trying to get from 1/2 mile to 150 yds in open timber to be able to lob a 540 grain cast bullet loaded over blackpowder in this 45-70. Nearly 100% of my hunting is still hunting...

Just curious who still does it. I’m fortunate to Lunt in an area where there are large tracts of federal,state and, corporate land open to the public. I can go for miles on a track and never see a boot print or other human sign. I do a mix of hunting styles depending on snow cover,sign and weather. And, if my ass is really wore out I just might sit for a minute or two. Typical day on which is November 15 th here in Michigan I usually go to known areas that have good sign and go above 12-15 miles that day. If I have good snow I’ll cut a good track and run it. If the snow is light and old it’s a bit tougher but I’ll still run a track. No snow? Well that is where still hunting plays in and I might sit on the side of a ridge during prime time overlooking a good looking area with sign. If I come up on a cut while looking for a good track I’ll glass it for a while and if I happen to see a shooter then the stalking game is on. Sometimes this ends in a situation of just getting in a good position for a shot or it can turn into a track if the buck moves on. This is my preferred way of hunting and rarely sit. Again if I’m whooped from the day I’ll slow up at the end of day and bust out my portable hammock chair I carry in my pack. Or if I’m sitting on a tag at the end of the season I’ll blast a doe from a blind to fill the larder.

Who else does it old school and how?

This year was my first to hunt deer with a decoy. A cow. This on a flatazz 8000 acre ranch in far north Texas. I did enjoy the failed sneaks and, in the end, it proved effective. Just different.