09-25-2011, 12:54 AM
I wanted to start a thread to discuss the different hunting styles. The first rule of this thread is behave yourself. If you don't particularly like a certain hunting style then that's just fine. But, it doesn't give anyone the right to disrespect someone else.
What many or maybe some are failing to understand, is that different areas of the country have different needs and different terrain. There is also (like someone said in the other thread) the hunters needs/abilities that need to be taken into account.
I grew up in Illinois. 99 percent of Illinois is flat as can be. There aren't alot of trees and when the corn and beans are harvested, there isn't any cover to speak of. Most times, in Illinois we would have to either walk tree lines near the fields and try to catch a deer out in the field picking at the left overs from the harvest. Or, you would watch an area and spot where the deer come and go from the woods to the field/watering hole/whatever. You lay in wait and as the sun comes up or goes down, you get your one and only shot at the deer. Unfortunately, when hunting in farm country, the animal can see you coming a mile away because everything is so flat. I imagine it's about the same hunting in Texas and those other states with similar terrain.
Now I live in North West Washington State. This is the big woods. I had to laugh when I saw the post in the other thread that said "people come from the city to hunt in thier blinds" ...... I'm about as far from city life as a person can get. There are many ways to hunt here. But, stalking a deer in my local wilderness is very hard to do here. The terrain (at least where I am) is fairly severe. Steep hills, very thick forest and underbrush. It goes from ocean to mountain fairly quickly. The preferred method here is to walk along the edge of clear cuts or stalk the game trails. Set up early in the morning and try to get yourself in a good spot when they move at sun up or dusk. If you try to stalk your game in North West Washington, the underbrush and terrain alone make it near impossible. Plus, I haven't had a hunting season yet that it wasn't raining like hell, which makes moving in the woods even that much harder.
But, in Eastern Washington it's high desert and you can see much farther than you can shoot. It's a completely different kind of hunt there also.
I've spent time at a friends house in Montana. He tells of deer hunts where they split up into two groups. One groups sits atop a ridge as the other group beats the brush in the valley. The deer move up the valley and eventually come into the kill zone. The shooters can pick and choose the deer they want. The next day, the groups trade places and the others get thier tags full. From hearing them tell it, the deer in montana almost run in herds.
Lastly, there is the fact that I have no cartilage in either knee and have back problems. I can't simply go stomping through the woods and climbing hills and dropping down into gullies. I'm just not physically able. There are many more disabled hunters out there than you realize. I prefer to sit at high ground at my buddies house. He is surrounded by BLM land and has a pond on his property. The deer typically cut through his property coming and going from the pond. There are several well used game trails in the are. I like to set up on high ground and watch and wait where I can see a couple of game trails. I wouldn't mind sitting in a lawn chair a tent blind with my shooting sticks. It would be comfortable out of the rain and wind. I still have to remain quite, put in the effort to hunt to begin with, sit for long periods of time, shot placement, tracking after the shot (if need be), gutting skinning and all the other stuff that goes along with hunting. The cold and damp make my knees and back hurt even worse. But, I am not going to stop hunting just because I can't run through the woods. I just change the method I use to hunt to fit my abilities.
I'm not preaching here. I'm just explaining why I hunt the way I hunt.
So, tell us where you hunt and how. Why you have to hunt that way in your area of the country and what works well.
What many or maybe some are failing to understand, is that different areas of the country have different needs and different terrain. There is also (like someone said in the other thread) the hunters needs/abilities that need to be taken into account.
I grew up in Illinois. 99 percent of Illinois is flat as can be. There aren't alot of trees and when the corn and beans are harvested, there isn't any cover to speak of. Most times, in Illinois we would have to either walk tree lines near the fields and try to catch a deer out in the field picking at the left overs from the harvest. Or, you would watch an area and spot where the deer come and go from the woods to the field/watering hole/whatever. You lay in wait and as the sun comes up or goes down, you get your one and only shot at the deer. Unfortunately, when hunting in farm country, the animal can see you coming a mile away because everything is so flat. I imagine it's about the same hunting in Texas and those other states with similar terrain.
Now I live in North West Washington State. This is the big woods. I had to laugh when I saw the post in the other thread that said "people come from the city to hunt in thier blinds" ...... I'm about as far from city life as a person can get. There are many ways to hunt here. But, stalking a deer in my local wilderness is very hard to do here. The terrain (at least where I am) is fairly severe. Steep hills, very thick forest and underbrush. It goes from ocean to mountain fairly quickly. The preferred method here is to walk along the edge of clear cuts or stalk the game trails. Set up early in the morning and try to get yourself in a good spot when they move at sun up or dusk. If you try to stalk your game in North West Washington, the underbrush and terrain alone make it near impossible. Plus, I haven't had a hunting season yet that it wasn't raining like hell, which makes moving in the woods even that much harder.
But, in Eastern Washington it's high desert and you can see much farther than you can shoot. It's a completely different kind of hunt there also.
I've spent time at a friends house in Montana. He tells of deer hunts where they split up into two groups. One groups sits atop a ridge as the other group beats the brush in the valley. The deer move up the valley and eventually come into the kill zone. The shooters can pick and choose the deer they want. The next day, the groups trade places and the others get thier tags full. From hearing them tell it, the deer in montana almost run in herds.
Lastly, there is the fact that I have no cartilage in either knee and have back problems. I can't simply go stomping through the woods and climbing hills and dropping down into gullies. I'm just not physically able. There are many more disabled hunters out there than you realize. I prefer to sit at high ground at my buddies house. He is surrounded by BLM land and has a pond on his property. The deer typically cut through his property coming and going from the pond. There are several well used game trails in the are. I like to set up on high ground and watch and wait where I can see a couple of game trails. I wouldn't mind sitting in a lawn chair a tent blind with my shooting sticks. It would be comfortable out of the rain and wind. I still have to remain quite, put in the effort to hunt to begin with, sit for long periods of time, shot placement, tracking after the shot (if need be), gutting skinning and all the other stuff that goes along with hunting. The cold and damp make my knees and back hurt even worse. But, I am not going to stop hunting just because I can't run through the woods. I just change the method I use to hunt to fit my abilities.
I'm not preaching here. I'm just explaining why I hunt the way I hunt.
So, tell us where you hunt and how. Why you have to hunt that way in your area of the country and what works well.