Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Shooting and Hunting => Topic started by: Jesse on September 27, 2007, 10:14:26 pm
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I know everyone has there own favorite but I was wondering which type was most involved in successful hunts. ???
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For many years I hunted almost solely out of a climbing stand. I liked the flexibility it provided. Most of the bowhunters I know have been hunting their spots for quite some time in most cases. Through scouting and hunting you learn an area and are able to pinpoint the best locations to hunt. For 5-6 years now I've been using mostly lock-on stands with climbing sticks that hug and strap against the tree. I typically hunt at around 16', and try to have cover around me. We might pull in and tie off a young beech sapling against the stand for instance, or pull up cover we cut and attach to the stand/tree. Sometimes we'll place a stand in a large cedar which offers a lot of cover. But the most attention is given to the placement of the stands themselves, because we're setting up for close shots due to the equipment we're using. Natural funnels in the woods such as the woods narrowing to a bottleneck, or a ditch crossing are some of the type locations we'll hunt. We also put out food plots which we may hunt the edge of in the afternoon hunts, and between the foodplots and bedding area's during the morning hunts.
I still use a climbing stand at times to try out a new area, or maybe hunt an oak that I've found dropping acorns with feeding sign during the season. Also rutting sign will sometimes move me to a climbing stand, although a lot of our lock-ons are covering excellant travel area's that would be also used by bucks. :)
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Do you want to know which stand type we have harvested game from or which type we have harvested more game out of?
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I personally have had the most success with ground blinds. In the last 30 years probably 60% of my kills from them. I have used tree stands, fixed ( about 12 kills) and did a lot of stalking (6 kills). The ground blinds have allowed me to get about 34 deer in that manner. They were usually set up near food plots and natural funnels.
Dick
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A plastic bucket sprayed camo flipped upside down to set down. Good for carrying urine, grunt calls & such. Setting on a rock ledge looking down a 10 to 15 ft cliff. Bet stand sets up faster tham yours. like as fast as flipping a bucket over.
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makete I guess I wanted to know which stand has been most succesfull.
D Bernier Wow that is a lot of deer. Are those all bow Kills? I I have only 3 deer with my longbow now and this will be my first year with a bow I made. I used to hunt on the ground and I really liked it and I saw a lot of deer. Then I got a tree stand and have been using one since but am thinking about going back to it. This will be my 14th straight year hunting with a longbow. 3 deer thats not the best but the last two deer I got in the last two seasons so I am getting better lol. ;D
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WIBOWYER, not by a long shot. I used a model 94 Winchester, shotgun and a bow starting in 1957 to hunt deer. There were not very many deer in Conn. then so we went to Maine, around the Greenville area of Moosehead. I started using a bow there in 1964, a Bear 65# re curve. Attached is a photo of my Uncle who shot this deer the day after I missed it with a bow shot. Had so much fun been doing it ever since. ;D
Dick
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What a beauty. Sounds like you are a man with a lot of years experience in the woods. You were out bow hunting 17 years before I was born.
Jesse
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i use a stand in the morning till the light comes up. if there is something under me i shoot it if not i get down and still hunt. i go batty sittin in the stand. :P
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I managed about 15 minutes in a 2X4 and plywood stand once. Then I climbed down and went hunting. ;) Justin
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Since I started turkey hunting like a fanatic,camoed and sitting still,I started having deer almost step on me.So I figured it would work bowhunting.I fall asleep in trees.
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I managed about 15 minutes in a 2X4 and plywood stand once. Then I climbed down and went hunting. Wink Justin
I'm not even going to touch that one...although I'm tempted... :)
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I managed about 15 minutes in a 2X4 and plywood stand once. Then I climbed down and went hunting. Wink Justin
The first time I read that I had a similar thought. ;D
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Spot & Stalk!!! It was good enough for the indains itz good enough for me. Besides thatz real primitive hunting
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I just cant imagine getting close to deer that way. Where I hunt its all dry leaves and twigs and thick woods. the deer usualy run away if I get within 100 yards. Maybe after a rain. It does sound a lot more fun though.
Jesse
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jesse next time your in the woods try walking toe to heal rather than heal to toe. or better yet place the outside edge of your foot down first and slowly lay the rest down. when stalking the pinky toe should always be the first part of the foot to hit the ground. if you wear big pack boots you can still stalk just not as effectively as with a softer , thinner flat sole. peace
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I prefer my climbing tree stand do to the comfort factor which enables me to stay in the woods longer which in turn puts more meat on the table.
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jesse next time your in the woods try walking toe to heal rather than heal to toe. or better yet place the outside edge of your foot down first and slowly lay the rest down. when stalking the pinky toe should always be the first part of the foot to hit the ground. if you wear big pack boots you can still stalk just not as effectively as with a softer , thinner flat sole. peace
I wear whatever shoes I have, and a pair of dark colored socks. When you get ready to sneak, you take off the white tennis shoes and sneak in the socks. We have a lot of cactus, so you really learn to watch where you put your feet. Justin
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Jamie, I thought I was the only one who walked in the woods like that. :-X My uncle showed me that step when I was a kid following him in the woods. Needed it more in Conn than in Maine. All pine needles in Maine. Still it is a good test of just how quietly you can walk in the woods, especially in Conn.
Dick
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I hunt mainly from stands and no one can make me believe the Indiana's didn't hunt for trees.
Anyway I ant an Indiana.They did what ever it took to take game. :)I am a predator and some predator's hunt from trees. ;)
Pappy
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I like hunting both from trees and stalking on the ground-both are good methods. If the question is which is more productive, I've killed more deer from my climbing stand than on the ground.
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I have extreme respect for those hunting from the ground! I've even taken a few deer from the ground with a bow, but it was on the way to or from my deer stand. I've been busted enough times even from a stand by being smelled or seen to know that trying to stalk one is really difficult.
I think different parts of the country might warrant different techniques for hunting. Where we live with hard woods, dry leaves, etc. would make stalking really difficult I would think. A ground blind would be better from a noise standpoint probably, but still a challenge to beat their smelling you. There are some I'm sure that think we're taking an easier approach by hunting from a stand. Maybe so, even though we put a lot of time and effort into learning and developing the best stand locations. That in itself takes a lot of experience to be good at I think, just as would stalking. I personally believe that hunting from a stand will yield a higher opportunity for success at least in the part of the country where we hunt. It allows you to be within the range we're limited to with our choice of primitive equipment, while also to some degree negating the deers sense of smell, sight, and hearing. I think the Indians would have used these same tactics when the situation called for it. I like putting meat in the freezer, and I think I'm going about it in the best way in my area to accomplish that.
I repeat...I highly respect those that go about it differently, we don't all have the same goals...that's what make us all individuals. ;)
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Jamie-- toe to heel sounds good. Kinda like the moon walk right. :D. I will practice that when going to my stand.
Pappy-- Im also not Indian. But if I was I think I would have no objections to a stand either. I am sure many hunted from trees. Why not. It works pretty good.
Sounds like what everyone is collectively saying is dont think there is one best way. Use what will work best in your situation.
I just remembered the real reason why I stopped hunting on the ground. I had a bear come up to me from behind and I thought it was a deer so I held still untill it was real close. When I turned I saw it coming right for me. I stood up when it was about 15 yds away. It took off the other way but I bought a stand for the next hunt and used one ever since. We have a lot of bears were I hunt and I often see bear more than deer. One of them ripped up my neighbors dog reel bad 2 years ago. I think it was with cubs though. Don't want to go sneaking up on a sow with cubs. Jesse
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Spot & Stalk!!! It was good enough for the indains itz good enough for me. Besides thatz real primitive hunting
The Native Americans used many different types of hunting. They built ground blinds when it was the most effective way to get game close enough for a shot, but they also sat in trees, spotted and stalked, used calls alot. They hunted just like we do today, which ever was the best and easiest and most effective. They even baited in game. They used snares and traps, also use the driven method. I use most all types that are legal, but love to call them in and also stalk when conditions permit.
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stalking game is by far my favorite, but not the most suceessful for me. I live i n ny where there are much hardhoods, dry leaves and sticks. i would say that about half the deer i spot while stalking bust me before i get within 40 yards. out of the other half i would say i kill abouit a third of them. so much goes wrong between 40 and 20 it's unbelievable. so what does that work out to...about a 15% sucess rate? oh wait...i forgot to calculate "half the deer i spot" which doesn't include all the white flags i send up while stalking.-
seriously though, i would say maybe 5% sucess, but i love it so i do it more than stand hunting, sometimes even when it is too dry to really stalk. If i am in a stand, and i have a deer come within the 20 yard mark, it usuually is and should be over. i very very rarely get busted in a tree stand. i would say that i only get busted by about maybe 20%, probably less. trouble is, you have to pick the right spot down to the yard. can't move on deer from a tree
in all fairness though, you have to know the trails and beds and plots stalking too. you don't think we just walk blindly about the woods do you! :D ;D
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As i said Spot n stalk is good enough for me. Please i am not implicating that every body should hunt this way. Treestands are good for comfort. But i can't control wind direction from a stand either. At least with spot n stalk i can change direction with the wind. I am a meat hunter not a deer hunter only person. I hunt what i see that is in season that day i hunt. For me i see more rabbit, squirrel, Crow. dove,turkey & deer, using this method. please use what you feel more comfortable with.