One piece of advice?

[sniper14]

I love to hunt. I have been trying to do it for 20 years. In that time I have come to the realization that I am not very good at it. In 20 years I have never seen a bull elk during hunting season, and my deer hunting has been better but not by much. It seems everyone I know is successful but me. I always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you were to give me some advise on how to better my success what would it be.

 

[MTSHEDHEDZ]

Find some new spots

 

[3blade]

and slow down, get behind the glasses and use em. If you can't find or hear any elk in a couple days, move. Sometimes you gotta move 10 miles or more to find em.

 

[model700]

Get out in the woods. Act like you have a tag even when you don't. Just spend as much time in the hunting environment as you can.

 

[nmwapiti]

Get out before the sun comes up. Slow down. Keep the wind in your face. Apply for units with more animals, get out of your comfort zone!

 

[2lumpy]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-07-11 AT 10:03PM (MST)[p]Everyone's experience is different, of course. My hunting has always been be on public lands except for 3 CWMU tags I've drawn. On public land I've always had to do most of my hunting (scouting) at least 2 weeks (sometimes longer) before the season opens. I try to know where the animals I'm going to try to kill are the night before the season opens and then try to be as close as the wind and the noise will allow me to be when the season opens in the morning. Sometimes that means a long hike in the pitch black dark or a long night laying in the dirt trying to sleep and trying to keep warm. Sometimes I've even driven up to them in my vehicle, it just depends where I've put them to bed the night before.

Does it always work out, no, stuff happens over night. Other hunters move in. Weather conditions change. They smell you. They hear you. etc. etc. But, on average, over the 50 years I've been at it, putting them to bed gives you a better chance at finding them in the morning.

It means a lot of hunting (scouting) before the season. Lots of miles on your boots and tires. Lots of nights on the mountain. Lots of, up at 3 A.M. and home after Leno.

Once you've invested a few years you'll start to learn where these critters like to live and what they do under various conditions, where they move to under pressure, which path they generally use to escape, where they feed, water and sleep. You'll know how long they stay in the open after daylight and what time they come back out in the evening.

If you hunt (scout) enough, your eyes begin to notice critter colors and shapes and even likely looking feeding and bedding spots and you start see game that you didn't see when you first start. It's amazing how your eye and your brain get conditioned to see even the slightest out of place thing in the terrain after you've done it enough. I wouldn't call it practice, it's just a natural thing that happens over time.

Back to my first point. Find them early (weeks before at times) and try to stay as close as possible to them right up until it's time to shoot.

Trying to find them after the hunt starts is difficult for all of us.

DC

 

[sniper14]

Great advice. Keep it coming

 

[travishunter3006]

A new pair of boots, nice binos and gas in your truck. find mas of public and private and hit the road buddy. thats how i did it.





It was a big bodied 2 point.

 

[KNOTFERSAIL]

"better my success",,,,,,,,,,,SPOTLIGHT.
iv'e never tried it but i hear it works wonders!!!

"if you want some get some...if your bad enough come take some"

 

[Foreman4x4]

I have a cousin who is close to 50 years old and has killed exactly one deer his entire life, and he hunts quite a bit. His problem is he sees an area he wants to get to and he bee-lines it there without hunting on the way. He never stops to listen, never looks behind him, and rarely even carries a pair of binos.

The best suggestions I can give are, buy the best optics you can afford, get up early, stay out late, stop, look, listen, hunt areas where game is, and has been stated, if you're not seeing game within a day or two, move somewhere else.

 

[marley]

The farther you get away from the road the more animals you will see. Strap a pack on your back, get in there a few days early, find a glassing point and sit there with the glass to your face.

 

[mntman]

1.Positive attitude

2.Scouting (spring, summer, fall, winter) doesn't have to be 10 days each month but make it a point to get out once a month, learn new areas. You can still see where the "FALL" sign is during all the other months.

3.Hard work, to be successful year in year out it takes determination and lots of effort.

4.Hunt with people who have the same goals, style, etc... as you.

5.Hunt ALL day! Be in your spot at least an hour prior to sunrise. This gives the animals a chance to settle down and forget a person came by in the dark. Animals are naturally more confident and let things "slide" by in the dark that they wouldn't in the day light. Still try to be as stealthy as possible though.
Don't head back to camp to get a "head start" on the sunset, stay in the prime area until it is DARK. What does it matter if you have to walk back 3 miles in the dark???

6. Never give up.

7. It is good to slow down and use your glass but there are times that you need to move, move! I have learned where the elk like to be in my areas and when I am there it is SLOW moving. When I check that area out and it is time to get to the next spot, I don't waste time gettig there though. Yes I am still hunting but I don't glass up every twig. Why waste precious hunting time in an area where your chances of seeing an elk are 10% when you could be in an 50-80% area?

8.Get in shape, don't lie to your self either.

9. Don't be afraid of the weather, prepare for it. Just because it is raining cats and dogs or snowing a couple inches per hour. Stay out and hunt, the animals just don't bury them selves under ground, they are still there doing what you want to be doing. Staying dry and warm.

10. Keep the wind in your face.

11. If something isn't working, don't be afraid to change it up and try something different. If its BROKE, FIX it.

12. Luck always seems to help too ;-)


Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"

 

[eyeguard]

Snipe,

First and foremost... if you enjoy hunting, then the best piece of advice I'd offer is not to ever give it up! Success is measured differently by everyone. Although you feel you haven't tasted much success (YET), the fact that hunting is still very much a passion for you tells me you're doing something right! I can relate to this somewhat in that I've eaten tag soup more than I've been able to punch it... sometimes by my choice, and other times due to wrong place at the wrong time, etc. But the memories I've made with family and friends in the outdoors doing something that I too have a passion for... truly are priceless in my mind. That's my take FWIW...

EG

"A man can be hard to find in the mountains, but you're welcome at my fire anytime."

 

[AZWALKER]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-08-11 AT 08:58AM (MST)[p]Its hard to know what you're doing wrong if we don't know what you're doing. Give an example of your average hunt.

I'm spitballing here because I don't know what you are doing now but... when I see guys having little success year in and year out its because they aren't changing things up. BUT... I can't imagine after 20 years that you haven't tried to change things up. The first thing that comes to mind is glassing. If you spend more time on your feet than on your butt, you're gonna see less animals. If you're hunting bull elk with a rifle after the rut, glassing is essential.

Do you feel rushed on a hunt? Its never mentioned but its something I've dealt with. We get into a groove in our daily lives that makes us want to be in a hurry all the time. When we get in the feild, that feeling stays in our head. Have you ever been driving on a dirt road on the way to your camp site and get behind a big trailer and get frustrated? You even think of passing him. SLOW DOWN, there's no hurry! Thats when you know you need to go on a walk and just "be". Get your brain to change gears, down shift, hit the breaks. Its usually takes me between 1-3 days to slow down after being in my "city/work" groove. Once you do that you'll notice you senses become more accute. You hear more, see more and smell more. If you don't change gears you'll get out on your hunt and your brain will still be in a rush. You won't hear or see near as much. You could be doing everything right but if your mind is in city mode, you'll miss 90% of whats going on out there.

If you want a signed copy of AZWALKER's "Zen Hunting" send an e-mail to BuddahWalker@FullofSh!t.org. Other titles include "I broke my chee at 50 yards... Zen Bowhunting" and "Long Range Zen... shooting in Yoga positions"

All joking aside... try what I mentoined, I promise it will help. If you don't see more animals and have more success at least you be relaxed!

"The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle." General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, US Army
"Most men go through life wondering if they made a difference, Marines don't have that problem." President Ronald Regan

 

[mmwb]

I don't know that I have much to add but will reinforce some of what has been said. When I started hunting deer with optics, I started seeing and getting opportunities at significantly more deer.

Generally I don't hunt elk and deer the same way. If the area is conducive to it, I'll glass for elk, but generally I am hunting timbered areas with relatively small openings. I still glass, as I still hunt. I will cover a lot more ground hunting elk until I find where they are at and then slow way down.

As stated above, don't get so focused on your goal of where you want to go and when that it hinders your hunt. I shot the biggest buck I've ever killed, this year, running about 30 minutes late and 30 minutes short of where I had planned to be at sunup. When the shooting light arrived, I slowed down and got a shot at a nice buck that I would have just blown out of the area if I'd kept busting through to where I was supposed to be. Successful people often plan, make goals, and meet them. They also tend to be resilient, can go with the flow and adapt. I've killed a number of deer and elk running behind to where I was going.

Do hunt all day. I've killed in the neighborhood of a dozen and half elk and only one was in the morning (that one was at 10:30 am) and only three after 6:30 pm. That isn't to say early morning or late night are not the best times. They are great times, but I've just happened to kill more elk during the day. Glassing, I also tend to see deer out feeding later than the literature says they will. The animals don't read the hunting magazines and break some of the rules. The "rules" tend to apply more to world class trophies.

Hunt in all types of weather unless visibility becomes an safety issue. Hunting tends to average better with a bit of rain or snow about.

Read all you can get a hold of. I learned a lot on my own with out a childhood background of big game hunting and no mentor to teach me by reading all of the magazine articles I could get a hold of. There are some excellent books out there, new and old, that are well worth the read. No use reinventing the wheel. I'm not an exceptional hunter, but tend to fill the freezer every year, hunting public land, without taking weeks of vacation time to do it (though I'd love more time hunt more). I will advocate for preseason scouting though I've not done much myself (the time factor again). What little I have done has been beneficial. During season scouting is very beneficial as well.

As suggested above, share a bit of how you have been doing it. Are you trophy hunting, meat hunting, both...?

 

[BLooDTRaCKeR]

When I elk hunt, I leave camp 2 hours before light and do not return to camp until about 2 hours after dark. I am in my area when the sun first comes up, and I stay on the mountain until that magical time of of day comes which is about 6:00 pm till dark. I stay in my hunting area until I cannot see any more. I have had some neat experiences with bugling bulls after dark up close and personal. Even though I could not pull the trigger, I learned where they live, come out to feed, where they might be just before dark and have been able to enter their home and beat them at thier own game.

I recommend creating a hunting journal. I have recorded every hunt I have been on for the last 15 years and the information has proven to be worth more than gold to me because I can read it before the hunt or during the hunt and learn when the sun came up, what the critters did when it snowed or when the temps were unusually warm. The mistakes I made are recorded and are also learned from. It is a great tool to hone in on your hunting skills. There has been some great advice give above, You seem like you have the passion, take all this advice and run with it.

 

[DoeNob]

2 things, one mentioned already.

The more you look the more you see.

The second thing I would suggest is go on a guided hunt or two. Soak up knowledge, take notes on how the professionals do things, ask a lot of questions. Figure out what equipment your guide has and how he uses it. That or buddy up to someone who is successful and just offer to go and help pack, but be just as observant.

 

[kingfish]

What ever state your hunting in contact the area Biologist for that area and pick his brain. I have had great success getting info fron those guys. Call your local game department and ask for the Biologist for the unit / area your hunting in and ask him if it's worth while hunting? He might even suggest an area. Once you have done that and picked an area get up early, be on top before light and glass, glass, and glass some more. Hunt with the wind in your favor and stay out all day....Dark to dark! Good luck.


Government doesn't fix anything and has spent trillions proving it!!!
Let's face it...After Monday and Tuesday, even the calender says WTF!

 

[trophyhunter]

PM Sent

 

[NVBighorn]

Hunt where there are deer and/or elk.

Sounds too simple but its true.

[Font][Font color = "green"]Here's my
signature. It's green so no one will think I am
actually saying something related to this post.
[font/]

 

[Zeke]

Wow! Loads of GREAT advice already posted for you.
If you put 10% of the advice into action you'd be 90% better.

A few points that resonated with me:

Get into the country early and stay late (dark to dark, not dawn to dusk).
Slow down when moving around.
Always LOOK.... use great optics and learn what to look for.
Look at the "edge".... tree line, rock line etc
Keep the wind in your face when stalking.
Be quite, don't talk above a whisper....ever.
Use your ears and nose too.
And my favorite idea posted so far; hunt where there are actually animals!

Good luck to us all, we can ALL improve our skills

Zeke

 

[swbuckmaster]

Do you hunt out of a trailer, off a wheeler, or out of a truck?
Don't and your odds will go up.

 

[ForkWest]

I was, where you are, about 8 years ago. I had hunted big game every year since I was 14 and had only killed a couple small bucks in many years of hunting. I don't know what triggered it exactly, but I hit a tipping point and drastically changed how I hunted and thought about hunting. Since then my success has skyrocketed. As crazy as it sounds, and I don't say this to boast by any means, but nearly 100% success each year on animals that I'm happy with. Plus, the whole hunting experience has changed for me, not because of the kills, just the adventure as a whole has been so much more rewarding.

So, with that said, this is what I can you tell has been my recipe for success:

1-Passion. I know, sounds corny. But you have got to WANT it. I always have, but I can tell you I have had to really turn it to capitalize on many occasions.

2-Time. You need to give more than an opening weekend effort. I typically use two weeks of vacation and many weekends through the 3 months hunting season. Most success I've found is mid week, by the way. Don?t forget preseason scouting.

3-Educate Yourself. I stumbled on Monster Muleys years ago and devoured the info I found here. Subscribed to some great western hunting mags that have great info and bought a bunch of the Eastman books. All these mediums provided solid info that changed my hunting style drastically for the better.

Those were the three big foundational changes. From those came many ,many smaller technical changes. Many more specific changes than I want to list. Unquestionably, though, the single most impactful technical change I made was glassing. Binos and spotting scope, and how much time you use them, are directly linked to consistent success.

Hope that helps, PM me if you would like more info

 

[c86man3]

Don't ever assume "There isnt a (deer, elk, antelope, etc) there, I already looked there". Obviously don't just look at one spot all day, but realize that when you look at an area from different angles, animals seem to pop out of nowhere.

Also, don't hunt in huge parties (unless your party consists of 5 guides leading you to the animal). I never like to hunt with more than one other person. Big parties make more noise and multiple tag holders hunting together automatically decreases the probability that you will be the lucky one to shoot the animal.

 

[kawboy]

Don't walk past where the deer are,
to get to where you think the deer might be.

Works for anything your hunting



I'll tell you who it was . . . it was that D@MN Sasquatch!

 

[Trail]

There's saying, People find time for the things they want to. Every year when hunting season rolls around I get calls from family and friends wanting me to show them some spots or take them and I often do help. The reason I'm able to help is I make time to hunt and scout all year. So get up early stay out late and look through out the year.

 

[tx_packmule]

If a unit has a good road system, use it. Google Earth, is your friend. Choose your elevations carefully... just bc there isn't snow up high doesn't mean that's your best option to go look at.

 

[gznokes]

1. hunt w some people who know how to hunt
2. Get some tags for good areas
3. if all that fails, give up deer and elk and hunt antelope. I guarantee you can get one of those!