thick timber - how quiet are you?

[twoSevenO]

If you are too loud, they will up and move ahead of you. If you are too quiet, you might sneak in too close and they flush out like grouse and sprint away.
I've always preferred as quiet as possible, as that allows me to hear movement better. But lately, i've bumped a couple of blacktails out of their beds at close range and had no shot opportunity as they sprint away.

Curious to hear from those that prefer to NOT stay as quiet as possible. What is your tactic for hiking thick timber.

Thanks!

[walks with deer]

quite as you can go slower and look more once you know your in the zone.

[Wild Images]

Go noisy across the bottom then circle up and sneak back across
you will be amazed at what you catch looking down

It works

[Wild one]

Silent as can be unless I am calling. Natural noise is not the end of the world but human noise metal/plastic is bad.We all snap twigs but in my opinion even when a hunter tries to be silent you are only reaching average animal silent. Calling is a valuable tool most deer hunters neglect. It can help prevent bumping deer in my opinion

Everyone who still hunts will bump game but if you’re too noisy you are now hunting alert game that is less likely to stick around for a shot. Mule deer you can get away with more because they have a habit of being more curious to what made a noise. WT often run first without judging if you’re a threat or not and blacktail are kinda in between and often sneak off before resorting to running. I would never intentionally be noisy but some deer are more forgiving

This is my opinion but I do know a good MD hunter who swears by making a little noise because he believes it causes bucks to come try and figure out what he is. He is successful so he might be onto something.

[twoSevenO]

Dana has always advocated that making some noise is better, as trying to be too silent might make you seem like an obvious predator .... that's why i'm curious to hear from those who adopt that tactic successfully to get more tips from them.

[dapesche]

For elk,
I don't worry about noise too much in thick timber. I do worry about the size of sticks that I brake as I don't want them thinking there is a big bear cruising in their area. If I brake something noisy I definitely will pause and take a breather.
When I have been scouting and cutting trail, I have had elk come in to check me out.
My friend who was a timber cruiser always had elk come in when he was cruising.

For deer, I haven't focused on them too much. In my opinion, if you are looking for deer in the thick timber, you better know where their beds area. For example, I saw a WT buck last fall and had a good idea where he was moving. I went in to see if I can learn more about his bedding area for a future ambush and I bumped him. I was moving slow and not making a bunch of noise. For the first 40 yds down the slope he did not bump. Wasn't until I got to the bench that he bumped. That tells me he was ok with my sound until he visually saw me. I did not see him until the tail was flagging. Probably another 25-30 yds from me when he bolted. So again, I don't think I'd still hunt deer in thick timber unless I had cams and I knew the movement times and approx bed locations.

[ghost]

Even when we are quiet I suspect we still are noisy. I go as quiet as possible but don’t sweat it to much when I step on a branch. One thing I do and I don’t know if it does any thing is I wear a full face balaclava. I quite often have state downs with does and bucks.

[Arctic Lake]

This is a good topic !
Arctic Lake

[todbartell]

https://i.imgur.com/1R0usuz.jpg

[dapesche]

Dana has always advocated that making some noise is better, as trying to be too silent might make you seem like an obvious predator .... that's why i'm curious to hear from those who adopt that tactic successfully to get more tips from them.

with the bull I killed in October, I came out of the timber to a bench where I then intended to setup. As I worked towards the bench I was on the left side of the decommissioned road and the bull came out of the timber on the same side of the road. He saw movement from me and hung up. I sat down and thought about being quiet knowing it would like scare him, just like twoseven0 alluded to. Would probably get scared with the lack of movement and the silence.
I aimed my bugle tube the other way and let one rip. He walked in broadside at ~15yds. Maybe even closer (was just across the old logging road).

I don't think he would've come in if I stayed quiet and sat there. So me thinks the noise needs to make sense to the ungulate.

If you wanted to go over the top, slowly cruise the timber, avoid the loud breaks and pull leaves off brush like you're a deer feeding...hahahaha.

[twoSevenO]

https://i.imgur.com/1R0usuz.jpg

that's not even thick timber. Can't you read?

[Wild one]

Dana has always advocated that making some noise is better, as trying to be too silent might make you seem like an obvious predator .... that's why i'm curious to hear from those who adopt that tactic successfully to get more tips from them.

That was for MD if I remember correct he changes his tactic when still hunting WT. I know a few guys who agree with noise for MD. WT and BT are where my effort has been most and they are definitely different then MD when still hunting

Blacktail are definitely different in my opinion and found they will stay ahead of you or hide until they had enough then bolt. But if you keep your noise to deer level and add a kmeer deer or deer talker (might be deer stopper stupid rubber band call) blacktail will hang around to see what you are or come to you

This what works for me anyway

[mpotzold]

As quiet as I can be when hunting in thick timber!
When alone I usually have one in the chamber in my GG & ready to shoot asap.
From my experience when shooting the deer/moose before it's aware of your presence it drops immediately with a well placed shot.When full of adrenaline it may run a long distance even with a heart shot.

[todbartell]

that's not even thick timber. Can't you read?

It gets thick like your mama

[twoSevenO]

It gets thick like your mama

couldn't possibly be THAT thick.

[Big Lew]

Even when we are quiet I suspect we still are noisy. I go as quiet as possible but don’t sweat it to much when I step on a branch. One thing I do and I don’t know if it does any thing is I wear a full face balaclava. I quite often have state downs with does and bucks.

One of the most overlooked or not thought of parts of still hunting, especially in relatively close quarters,
is a person's white face and hands. Think about it...what's often the first thing you see when spotting a
deer in bush...it's their white rump, tail, or white muzzle. Add their incredibly good eyesight to that.
Many use camo to break up their image yet they forget that big lightbulb of a white face and moving hands.

[todbartell]

couldn't possibly be THAT thick.

hah. Thick timber, I drive right by that shit

[twoSevenO]

One of the most overlooked or not thought of parts of still hunting, especially in relatively close quarters,
is a person's white face and hands. Think about it...what's often the first thing you see when spotting a
deer in bush...it's their white rump, tail, or white muzzle. Add their incredibly good eyesight to that.
Many use camo to break up their image yet they forget that big lightbulb of a white face and moving hands.

balaclava is a great idea when it's typical mule deer hunting in November at -10.
These fricken lower mainland blacktails are t-shirt weather even in November this year. If i wore a balaclava i'd get heat stroke. LOL.

[Big Lew]

balaclava is a great idea when it's typical mule deer hunting in November at -10.
These fricken lower mainland blacktails are t-shirt weather even in November this year. If i wore a balaclava i'd get heat stroke. LOL.
It's messy, but the camo paint a lot of bow hunters use works very well.

[happyhunter]

I don’t purposely hunt thick timber but when I have to move through it I don’t even try to mask my sound. Often I will make a whua whua bull moose sound. I have bumped many curious animals that way.

[Kill-da-wabbit]

I give out a fawn bleat or moose grunt if I make too much noise. I have found movement alerts deer more than noise. If you just sit in the woods, you can hear all kinds of noise, so small cracks and crunches don't alarm the deer. But move when they are looking your way, and it's all over, even if you are perfectly silent.

[Redthies]

Why do we call tracking and moving “still” hunting. You sure as shit are not standing still! Is it because you probably bump so much game, you’ll “still” be hunting on the last day of the season??

[Leaseman]

....because you are still more than moving, or should be if you want to do it properly!

[Walksalot]

I carry binoculars and use them often. Many times, with my binoculars, I have picked out animals I probably would not have seen with my naked eye. In most of the mountainous regions in our areas there are different stands of timber in close proximity and one can go from open areas to thick bush in a very short distance. In very thick timber your shooting distance is such that, unless you are hunting from a stand or blind, a 40 yard shot is a long shot. In thick bush one cannot go too slow. In any hunting situation having a pack and clothing that does not make a sound when rubbed against branches is an absolute necessity.

[Wild one]

....because you are still more than moving, or should be if you want to do it properly!

what this guy says lol

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

Do you find (or believe) that "silent"/"quiet" clothing matters in thicker brush?

[Weatherby Fan]

I find when Im hunting Mule Deer in the thick stuff I move slowly and quietly and stop lots, if not you jump a lot more than you see which you will do anyway, they just see, hear and smell better than humans do so your at a disadvantage before you start hunting in that shit, one thing I have found is at times in the Rut they will hold and wait to see what you are or if you pose a threat,

Either way you have to have lots of patience and accept the fact that in most cases you'll get busted by a crafty old buck more often than not.

The last decent buck I shot in the thick stuff was at 15 yards and he held behind some jack pines until curiosity got the better of him !

Last year in the rut with 6" of fresh snow I snuck up behind a bedded 4pt, he new something was there but never seen or winded me, he slowly got up and walked away, funny thing the 4 doe's he was with walked away and he stayed bedded for a Cpl minutes before following them.

[twoSevenO]

....because you are still more than moving, or should be if you want to do it properly!

X2. Especially for blacktails. Theres time to move, but theres time when you gotta really slow down. Sometimes if I sit down for 30 mins I'll see deer moving slowly just seem to appear out of nowhere.

It is tough to sit still if you are not seeing much. You always have the feeling they're not there and you're missing out by not covering more ground.

This year has been a bit slower than usual. The dry and warm weather seems to have them rutting and moving around mainly at night.

Having said that some nice BTs have already been killed in a few other spots. I've seen some pics of record book BTs only about 15km from one of my spots.

[Wild one]

Do you find (or believe) that "silent"/"quiet" clothing matters in thicker brush?

First thing I do when shopping for hunting clothes is test to see how noisy it is when I rub the fabric together. Metal, plastic, fabric, Velcro, zippers and any none natural sound is bad. The odd twig snap, vegetation/branch hitting together, leaves, and even crunchy snow is not that bad in moderation

I have threatened to burn partners noisy camo a few times

[twoSevenO]

First thing I do when shopping for hunting clothes is test to see how noisy it is when I rub the fabric together. Metal, plastic, fabric, Velcro, zippers and any none natural sound is bad. The odd twig snap, vegetation/branch hitting together, leaves, and even crunchy snow is not that bad in moderation

I have threatened to burn partners noisy camo a few times

I cant stand even the sound of a water bottle sloshing in my pack. And when the woods are deathly silent you hear everything.

It's why I never hike for BTs in a rain jacket. I just bring a change of clothes and swap out. No rain gear is silent enough compared to a fleece shirt.

Also dont just click the buckles on your pack. Hold them in your hand, insert fully, then slowly release. No click!!!

But if I'm hunting the alpine or open country I dont care. I wear whatever I want so i dont really choose my clothes at the store based on how quiet they are. I just get picky about what I take on my blacktail hunts in thick timber close quarter hunts.

[Wild one]

I cant stand even the sound of a water bottle sloshing in my pack. And when the woods are deathly silent you hear everything.

It's why I never hike for BTs in a rain jacket. I just bring a change of clothes and swap out. No rain gear is silent enough compared to a fleece shirt.

Also dont just click the buckles on your pack. Hold them in your hand, insert fully, then slowly release. No click!!!

But if I'm hunting the alpine or open country I dont care. I wear whatever I want so i dont really choose my clothes at the store based on how quiet they are. I just get picky about what I take on my blacktail hunts in thick timber close quarter hunts.

sloshing water drives me nuts lol

95% of my hunting is close quarters bush hunting ambush or still hunting so my gear is focused on silence. Alpine open country hunting where you are 100-400yard shots I agree silence is less off an issue

for rain the under armour water resident stuff with a thin fleece outer layer is what I use. Probably other good combinations that work I just found this works so stuck with it. Not going to stay 100% all day in the rain but good enough to tough it out

[Treed]

My pack drives me nuts when branches rub on it. I wish I could find a fleece pack cover. Might have to make one. Anyone ever try using cattle calls when hunting in an area where cattle are common. Of course they aren’t there when I hunt those areas!

[skibum]

Same thing with my pack rubbing against branches, but is also has a squeak to it that drives me nuts -- I end up dropping it more than I should and then have to hoof it back to pick it up after tracking a deer.

My boot also squeak a little, the leather tongue - I have put some cloth between the tongue and uppers to stop this.

[Treed]

Last weekend it sounded like I had two frogs in my boots! Raaahhh, ruhhhh, raaahhh, ruhhhh. I went back and forth between finding it humorous to maddening. My hunting partner was so happy to split off for the day. I eventually undid my top two laces, may as well been wearing heavy slippers. At least the frogs were gone!

[twoSevenO]

I find changing wind more annoying than anything. Its incredibly infuriating to pick a side based on wind only to have the wind change several times when you're in there.

On a calm day you cant feel it but wind checker into the air shows which way the air current is going. And it changes.

Not much you can do about that, though

[Wild one]

Squeaky boots get down graded to everyday boots.

As for wind just pulled out of my blind and head for one of my trees stands just for that reason. Probably climb up get settled in just to have the wind switch back

[Leaseman]

Do you find (or believe) that "silent"/"quiet" clothing matters in thicker brush?

Yes. I rarely wear clothing that can make noise.

[Wild one]

Another bit of advice for timber hunting. When trying to thread a bullet between a very small gap in the trees don’t focus on the trees you will hit the tree not the deer

This informative post is brought to you from a pissed off hunter

[Wentrot]

I find changing wind more annoying than anything. Its incredibly infuriating to pick a side based on wind only to have the wind change several times when you're in there.

On a calm day you cant feel it but wind checker into the air shows which way the air current is going. And it changes.

Not much you can do about that, though


story of my life, perfect wind until the hike ends and I get to an area I’d like to hunt then the switcheroo occurs.

[Leaseman]

When I am still hunting, I am doing it in areas that are not too far from my access point (road etc)

I will go in 3-400 yards and parallel the road, slash etc.....

I am old school so I go by compass, I have my rifle (loaded), three extra shells, knife and a short length of rope, no pack, nothing to hinder me or make noise. I will spend an hour and a half before heading back out.....


Rarely have I not seen a critter or at the very least, seen a bunch of sign......

[twoSevenO]

Youd be very disappointed in reg 2 hunting, then. Lol.

I've spent 10 hrs hunting a steep mountain side that cant be more than 1km squared and not seen an animal all day ... and done that numerous times.

[BRvalley]

My pack drives me nuts when branches rub on it. I wish I could find a fleece pack cover. Might have to make one. Anyone ever try using cattle calls when hunting in an area where cattle are common. Of course they aren’t there when I hunt those areas!

I've been talking about a fleece backpack for years, been talking about making one/convincing the gf to bust out the sewing machine...but doubtful that will materialize lol

I see sitka has started making a fleece backpack this year, the fanatic pack, looks well designed, no clips, but its also $280 CAD

https://www.sitkagear.com/products/fanatic-pack/elevated-ii

[Wild one]

Youd be very disappointed in reg 2 hunting, then. Lol.

I've spent 10 hrs hunting a steep mountain side that cant be more than 1km squared and not seen an animal all day ... and done that numerous times.

All depends on where you hunt in region 2. But I also abandoned hunting the Mt blacktails for the exact reason you mentioned. Odds are you know MT BT better then I do

There is no doubt a lot of tough hunting in region 2 but also some really good hunting too

[Leaseman]

Youd be very disappointed in reg 2 hunting, then. Lol.

I've spent 10 hrs hunting a steep mountain side that cant be more than 1km squared and not seen an animal all day ... and done that numerous times.

I have lived in region 2 for my whole life.....learned a long time ago to go further out to enjoy the quiet.....worse part was moving from Aldergrove to south Surrey, day hunts suddenly gained two hours!

Still hunt a fair bit in region 2 though!8-):wink:

[brian]

I’m quiet when I can be, the forest was so dry and noisy this year that I found it more profitable to hike then sit for a spell, then hike again. Sometimes it’s just dependent on whatever the conditions are or where you are. Waist high salaries, forget about it. Mossy bluffs, how can you make noise? Rain is good for quiet. The one good wet day I was out I accidentally still hunted into a little doe. I practically could have reached out and grabbed her... didn’t have a clue I was there until the wind vaguely curled around.

[338win mag]

I call it "sneak hunting" and I have shot my best bucks at extremely close range doing so, Mule deer and Whitetails, I hunt them the same in "thick timbered" area's. Its classic hunting when there is a slight to moderate breeze in your face.
If its really still with no breeze then sometimes you can hear them walking around in the snow or crunching leaves etc

I notice if I'm out for several days it takes a couple days to unwind from lifes bs to really relax enough to aquire the patients for such a hunting style.

[HarryToolips]

Never hunted BT but love still hunting WT...I find i can go quiet enough if the wind is right, otherwise it seems the wind not only carries the scent but the noise to them, all my success still hunting WT has been only when the wind is right...

[REMINGTON JIM]

Running Shoes and or HD Wool socks over them ! :tongue: RJ

[Drillbit]

Just keep your honda under 2000rpm and don't be cracking open cans like the dressing room. (mule deer).

[Camp Cook]

On still dry or frozen days where every leaf crunches as I walk I target areas that have motorcycle/bike trails that have had the leaves ridden on.

Yes this limits me to specific areas that are not my first choice to hunt but doing this has been good to me over the years mind you if I was smart I'd just go fishing instead and wait for rain...

Yes I shoot more blacktail when its raining then any other time like this morning I was sitting quietly on a well used game trail when this spike came along yes he is still out there roaming free just can't bring myself to shoot a spike.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZqpTvnN4/Spike-Blacktail-Nov-15-2019.png (https://postimages.org/)

I was sneaking along a motorcycle trail in the heavy rain when I spotted this old blacktail Oct 21/19.

I bought this T/C Contender carbine in 7-30 Waters off of a fellow here on Hunting BC I believe he lived on Van Is this is the first deer I ever shot with it my load is 139gr SST's @ 2500fps.

https://i.postimg.cc/QxChk076/Oct-21-2019-Blacktail-buck-7-30-Waters-139gr-SST.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[RackStar]

Camp cook...

what a great old buck ^^^

[Camp Cook]

Thanks

What I didn't share was I found him within 200 yards of where I had been seeing a couple does all year and over the years I had seen more does with spikes up this one draw than all other of my areas combined.

First time I had seen a mature buck though but I haven't hunted it that hard that is changing now.

[HarryToolips]

Yup beauty buck there Cook congrats man...

[Wild one]

Nice buck and still like those TCs of yours

[Camp Cook]

Nice buck and still like those TCs of yours

I do over 90% of my hunting with these little T/C Contender carbines.

This is last years buck little 3 point he was actually a lot smaller bodied than the buck that I let walk yesterday first time I've had ground shrinkage on a deer.

The Contender is a 14" barrel chambered in 338JDJ #2 OAL is 28" this short light fast combo loaded with 180gr Accubonds @ 2500fps is 320 yard moose capable.

https://i.postimg.cc/76J4cRgq/Nov-9-2018-Blacktail-Buck.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

It is so accurate that I shoot the heads off grouse @ 100 yards with it when loaded with 200gr SST's @ 2350fps.

https://i.postimg.cc/Xv4csKRm/Grouse-sept-16-2019-338-JDJ-2-200gr-SST-2350fps.jpg (https://postimages.org/)