putting down others' styles of hunting

[john keyes]

okay I'm getting tired of all the comments about the evil lazy  deer ambushers....

I live in East Texas and hunt in a place that would take a week to find a downed 747.  yes it is thick.
I would love nothing more than to have some open plains, ridges, mountains, bluffs, cliffs and stuff to hang out on.  But I don't.
If I could take long walks glassing and stalking, pausing to breathe the clean air, admiring the sun and clouds or a threatening thunderstorm,  I surely would.  But most of the place is 100% saturated with vegetation. if there is even a crack of space for something to grow, it is growing, be it a vine or sticker or weed or sapling or big tree.  5 feet into it you are tangled up and completely immobilized.  I've even tried the pygmy crawling tactic to no avail.  You have to cut your own trails, and maintain them or they will be impassable very soon due to new growth.  You also are not going to sneak up on any of those animals without alerting them and they heading to the adjacent county.

I bust my tail working on my lease all year round in stifling humidity and when I put up a stand I prebuild it at my house, dissassemble it and hump each piece a few hundred yards into the crap and put it together. Everything I use I carry back there, come alongs, tools, I have even wheeled a little generator back there.  I sweat my ass off and heat up to the point of chills frequently despite precautions.
I also like climbing stands.  When I hunt, it is work. I'll probably die hunting, of a heart attack some day tromping around in the cold mud carrying a bunch of gear or dragging my deer.

Now if you think I am trying to sound like a badass, you are wrong.  Because I am the biggest wussy ever when it comes to cold. Just mention the word freeze and I cringe.  So my hats off to you guys that do it in the snow.   

to put it bluntly, I ambush deer.  I agree that it is not for everybody.  I'm free to move wherever i want to.  To each his own. 

[charles p]

Sounds a little like Eastern NC, though we do have lots of cropland adjacent to our brambles.  I enjoy hunting lanes we cut into the woods.  Deer show there earlier in the day.  

I wish NC didn't allow dog hunting.  Nothing ruins a morning or afternoon on a stand like a few dogs backing a cold track.  Only thing worse is when their owner drives onto you land to look for his dogs.  He has waited all afternoon with his tracking devices by the roadside and now he wants to go home, so he drives on posted land right at the hour the deer might show in the fields, in order to look for his hounds.  His answer, "I didn't know anybody was hunting here today".

[Swampman]

I'm willing to use any legal method to put meat in the freezer.  Hunting in FL is tough as heck.

[Land_Owner]

You will find sympathizers here.  We're all about hunting deer, however you get it done.  Hard work pays off.  Some are lucky to own their land.  Others, like you, lease.  There is a lot NOT to be taken for granted on a lease.  At any given time the land owner could snatch defeat (for you) right out from under your good works.  Sure hope that does not happen to you.

As a Land Owner, I also have risks.  I DO NOT WANT TO BE SHOT AND I PREFER NOT TO SHOOT SOMEONE.  When I tell my hunting buddies to give me the courtesy of a call prior to their outing, to  coordinate with me before they go, and they show up unannounced in the dark on top of MY HUNT with MY INVITED GUESTS I pull their plug right then and there and change the gate lock.  Depending on (to me) who it is, they're told not to return.  It is at my privilege they are there.  Disrespect that and they're gone. 

[jhm]

    As long as your METHOD or STYLE of hunting is LEGAL in your state it is fine here, some people think their states law croses state lines and so their opinion should, well NEITHER are further from the truth hunt as you like as long as it is LEGAL in your state, remember the hunt is the enjoyable part not the HARVEST, some will learn that as they GROW UP and get a little hair under their ARMS.   Jim

[Daman]

My preferred method is to take a seat by a tree that is close to where I know deer and hogs travel and wait til one passes. I also enjoy hunting creek and river bottoms out of ladder stands, but when the wife says we are about out of deer meat I grab a rifle I can shoot 3-400 yards and ride over to the pastures get out of the truck prop up on a post and kill a big doe. I call that ambush yes, but it puts meat on the table for my family. There is no shame in how anyone hunts deer as long as it is legal.

Daman

[Old Fart]

I always felt how someone hunts is a personal thing.
As long as they aren't breaking any laws and not ruining it for everyone else in the woods to each thier own.

I have at times shared experiences with some people who apparently had to training.
But for the most part I keep my nose in my business.

[Dave in WV]

It's not that thick here but I ambush my quarry or try to. I thought that's one of the proper ways to hunt.

[bilmac]

Hunters badmouthing each other just gives ammo to the anti's. There is all kinds of different terrain in these here United States and you have to do what works in the terrain you hunt.

 Here in the west we can see for miles but wildlife populations per square mile are very low. One thing we do out here that would probably shock eastern hunters is spend a lot of time in vehicles. Especially hunting antelope you could walk for hours and see very little. A typical antelope hunt is to drive back roads until you spot something, then get out and stalk. I often walk into places where vehicles don't go, but it is a wearying way to hunt and not the most productive.

[spruce]

As long as we respect the animal, obey the laws, and respect our fellow hunters there should be no criticism of the methods we choose.

There are some (legal) methods I don't enjoy, but if you do then go for it and don't worry about what other people think.

[burntmuch]

As long as we respect the animal, obey the laws, and respect our fellow hunters there should be no criticism of the methods we choose.

There are some (legal) methods I don't enjoy, but if you do then go for it and don't worry about what other people think.

That sums it up right there. But theirs always gonna be someone who doesnt approve of your methods. 

[Ron 1]

ok well i hide in a tree and shoot the animal when it is not looking so it wont know what or who did it or even what happened if it is not dead instantly.the spine shot makes it quick.
                                                                         rw

[saddlebum]

I am an ambusher too, but I also put some work into it. I like to scout the badlands in Wyo. on the fringes of grassy bottoms or farmland. The ghosts of the badlands,(Mule Dear), travel back and forth in the morning and evening from their beds in the ridges to food and water. I have pre-season fun scouting out deer trails and finding bedding grounds. Sometimes I can pick the buck I want to try for before the season opens. I pick out a good spot to,"ambush", the deer along the trail and sit and wait for them to come to me. I think it works out better if I pick out the place to drop one for best removal of my meat. I have been fooled enough times while pursuing Mule deer in the badlands that I had to change my strategy. The ghosts will lay down behind a rock and wait for you to walk by and get up and leave. I once went after three small bucks after they saw me in my pickup and took off. There was about 8 or 10 inches of snow on the ground. I lost their tracks when they mingled in with a whole lot of other tracks. When I walked back to my pickup I saw where one of them doubled back and trotted past my truck at about 50yds. When I got back to the truck there was another set of tracks a little over 3ft from the front tire, trotting past my truck. They weren't afraid of my truck cause they knew they had left me on the other side of the hill. I had to laugh. I caught up with one of them later in his bed in the ridges, the fattest juicest deer I ever ate.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

 ;)While I am sure comments about ambushing deer bothers some folks, I have hunted that way on the east coast numerous times, but on the other hand, comments about sniping deer at long distance irritate me greatly,as much of the deer hunting in the west is at long distance...As folks have stated how you prefer to hunt as long as it is legal is a personal thing...Last season in Pa. I picked a stand where I could shoot up to 350 yards..deer cross there just like they do in the woods.. The shot is longer, but it was basically and ambush...I do get a bit steamed when folks say shooting deer at a distance is sniping, but knocking them off at 35 yards is ok...I have done both, and enjoy both..My prefered shooting is long distance..that is what my mentors praticed....but each to his own..this fall I have a stand selected in the timber..the shot will not be long, unless I get drawn back to that open ridge stand....,As for dog hunting deer in the southland, while I am sure  it is bothersome to the land owners, it is one thing I would love to try sometime...I have read about it for 50 or 60 years, ops, not 60, I couldn't read at 3... Good point and good discussion..but keep the other side of the coin in mind when we talk about sniping deer...

[squirrellluck]

I have stalked em, ambushed em, sniped em, and chased em with dogs so I got it all covered! Oops, forgot baited em. Done that too uh and hunted em in a corn field, thats hunting a baited field ain't it? Dang, I guess I'm a bad guy Oh well, I can live with that Meat taste the same.

[spikehorn]

Over the years I've learned where the travel routes so I sit at the same tree and ambush them as they come through.

[ihookem]

I hunt over trails and over bait in northern Wisconsin. I do ok either way. Corn on the ground gives me more time and a better shot. Hunting in a tree overlooking trails is more fun. I see the same amount of deer either way but seeing deer over trails is more sporatic when baited stands are mostly 1/2 hr. before dark. Baiting can have a bad rap here because every slob hunter I ever met was a baiter, but not every baiter is a slob hunter. Keep it legal.

[SHOOTALL]

Man hunt like you want/have to. In Va. we have open woods , pine woods so thick you have to lay down to lokk under them , open fields that would put pressure on the best bean field rifle and swamps that are impossible to decribe . We can't use bait but can plant and hunt over food plots . We have deer numbers that make them a nussiance . We hunt them any legal way , shoot does as well as bucks . We use bow , shotgun , rifle and handgun . We use DOGS also ( best way to move them out of the thick stuff ) . Anyone who looks down at this is a snob in my book ! Hell we fish with worms too !

[Land_Owner]

Hell we fish with worms too !

No matter what, it always seems to go bad for the bait!

[Spanky]

Hunting deer with dogs ain't legal here. I wouldn't do it anyway.
If we see dogs running deer here we shoot 'em.



Spanky

[Badnews Bob]

I am getting to crippled up to walk very far and have to drag out a carcass. I shoot'em as close to the truck as I can, I use bait sometime and I use ladder stands or find a comfy tree to nap  I mean sit against. Ambush is the way I hunt but another mans hunting habits are his own, None of my concern as long as it's legal.

BTW I am a meat hunter not a rack hunter so I'll shoot a doe first, But if mister tall rack walks to close he might catch a round too.

Did ya ever notice that no matter how much hot sauce ya use them racks still taste bad and are hard to chew.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  bob I agree racks may taste horrible, but they are beautiful works of art, every one large or small have a place on my wall.....pretty good verse... I love horns, but have shot dozens of does..nothing wrong with that...the one thing I have not tried is dog hunting for deer...may give that a whirl sometime.if I get a chance..sounds like fun..I am reading the stories of Henry Davis, called A Southern Sportsman, he wrote the classic THE AMERICAN WILD TURKEY....in this book he talks of hunting deer Southern style with dogs and buckshot...as much a part of American culture as the model 94 .30-30...when I was a kid in Pa. one of my very old friends was in his late 80's...I spent several evenings with him in the winter listening to hunting stories of the "old days" he said when he started hunting,I suppose it might have been the 1880's or 1890's they hunted deer with dogs and 10 bores with # 1 buckshot...by my time dogs we illegal, and buckshot also..only slugs and rifles were legal....the stories were great....

[jackruff]

Wyoming coyote hunter,
It's interesting that you are reading the Southern Sportsman book.  I just started reading it myself.  Hunting deer with dogs was how I and most of my friends started years ago and killed my first deer that way with a 12 gauge shotgun - number 4 buckshot.  It was the first and the last deer I ever shot with a shotgun.  It was a lot of fun.  People here called it and still call it dog hunting.  The joke is that you turn out the dogs on a deer track and then you hunt the dogs the rest of the day and well into the night.  There are very few who do it now, though.  What has changed is land use.  Thousands of acres belonging to timber companies were open to public hunting 30 years ago but are now leased to hunting clubs.  The club members now tend to do what they call still hunting - sitting in shooting houses and waiting for deer.  Most I expect are shot over bait (corn).  That is illegal here but accounts for many of the deer that are killed.     

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Bummer, times change and usually not for the better...that is what is happening here also...even have guided praire dogs hunts...or hunt on you own for $250. per day...used to be  free....That Southern Sportsman is neat...I have the turkey book also...he talks a bunchabout deer hunting in it...I just finished the section on rifles for wild turkey...very interesting reading a  different time to be sure....

[okieshooter]

I can remember the days of the dogs around here. About the only way my dad or uncles could kill anything.LOL I remember my uncle shooting 3 times with a pump 30 one day. When we got to him he had a deer in the center of the road and one in each bar ditch, that was some shooting. I remember once when I was about 12 my dad and uncle had bow hunted for several days with no luck. My grandmother came out with a 22 magnum and told me she wanted me to go sit in a certain spot. About time I got sit down she turned her beagles loose. My dad and uncle weren't real happy but they did both get running shots with their bows, they couldn't have hit one standing anyway. My granny was happy cause she had fresh venison that night. Things have changed a lot in the last 20 years.

[mcwoodduck]

okay I'm getting tired of all the comments about the evil lazy  deer ambushers....

I live in East Texas and hunt in a place that would take a week to find a downed 747.  yes it is thick.
I would love nothing more than to have some open plains, ridges, mountains, bluffs, cliffs and stuff to hang out on.  But I don't.
If I could take long walks glassing and stalking, pausing to breathe the clean air, admiring the sun and clouds or a threatening thunderstorm,  I surely would.  But most of the place is 100% saturated with vegetation. if there is even a crack of space for something to grow, it is growing, be it a vine or sticker or weed or sapling or big tree.  5 feet into it you are tangled up and completely immobilized.  I've even tried the pygmy crawling tactic to no avail.  You have to cut your own trails, and maintain them or they will be impassable very soon due to new growth.  You also are not going to sneak up on any of those animals without alerting them and they heading to the adjacent county.

I bust my tail working on my lease all year round in stifling humidity and when I put up a stand I prebuild it at my house, dissassemble it and hump each piece a few hundred yards into the crap and put it together. Everything I use I carry back there, come alongs, tools, I have even wheeled a little generator back there.  I sweat my ass off and heat up to the point of chills frequently despite precautions.
I also like climbing stands.  When I hunt, it is work. I'll probably die hunting, of a heart attack some day tromping around in the cold mud carrying a bunch of gear or dragging my deer.

Now if you think I am trying to sound like a badass, you are wrong.  Because I am the biggest wussy ever when it comes to cold. Just mention the word freeze and I cringe.  So my hats off to you guys that do it in the snow.   

to put it bluntly, I ambush deer.  I agree that it is not for everybody.  I'm free to move wherever i want to.  To each his own. 

Having Grown up in the east and hunted there and now living in the west and hunting here there are two very distinct styles.
The east coast is more of an ambush hunt be it you standing at one spot an waiting for a deer to walk by or using others in your hunting party to drive ( in the south they use dogs to run the deer to the standers who ambush the deer.  Single person stand hunting is not just dumb luck, time is spent in scouting deer trails, looking for sign and figuring out where to set the stand to get the buck into your ambush.  While not alerting the deer that you are there.  What I am not in favor of is having a feeder that you maintain and stock on a daily basis and having the think fire off is like ringing a dinner bell and hunting over it.
A food plot is a different story.  But as Swamp man said as long as it "is legal" then there is no problem.
Out west the spot and stalk has you moving a lot.  I like the horse back hunting but am not fond of the pick up driving roads all day.  To me the ambush is more sporting than Road hunting.  But Road hunting works.  To each his own.  Personally Venison is not what I live off of and if I do not shoot a deer every year I will not starve, but I have had friends in NC that with thier 5-6 deer a year as well as the wifes tags, bow, and front stuffer only have Venison as red meat.

[SHOOTALL]

Anyone who shoots a dog for running deer is a real big man !

[saddlebum]

Thank you for the complement. That was very nice of you!   

[Dave in WV]

Shootall, I've hunted property that had a condition, "shoot all dogs running deer and that includes my dogs. If they run deer, they'll run my sheep.  If I find out you didn't shoot a deer running dog you won't hunt my property".  Everyone in that county knows the way it is and keep their dogs at home. You may not agree but that's how business is done in some places. If the farmer knows whose dog they shot they will notify the owner.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Shootall, I generally have a very difficult time with shooting any dog....but here in the west, dogs on the loose can pose a very serious situation for game..especially in winter...when the coal boom hit this country we had people from all over flocking in for big money...fortunately most have left, but during that time, they often let their dogs run free...here in winter all game is very stressed due to limited food resources...they bunch up on winter range, and dogs had a field day until, drastic measures had to be taken....it was the peoples fault not the dogs, but folks couldn't stand by and watch stressed game being chased for fun by a bunch of stray or uncared for dogs...again, much depends on what part of the world we live in....when I was a kid, in Pa.  dogs running deer were shot...I didn't do it then, but many did...I love most dogs, but a few attack types, but all must be cared for by their owners or they cease to be pets and become pests...I have no problem with dogging deer where legal..as I said sometime I would like to try that...what is accepted in W. Va. or Va. is often very illegal somewhere else..in Tx. baiting is fine, here it is a $10,000 fine and lost of license...except for bear...