Stalk or stand?

[XMD70]

A question for all you successful bowhunters. Of the animals you've taken with a bow, deer, moose, elk, or bears, how many were taken from a stand, and how many by spot and stalk? What method do you think works best for each species, and why?

[Mountaintop]

Spot and stalk for black tails because that was how I was taught by a friend of mine. I hate heights that are out in the open such as on ladders. Tall buildings, airplanes and cliffs don't bother me. For me it would be really difficult having to sit in a tree stand as it would be too much like a ladder. I've also heard a lot of stories of guys falling out of stands. I don't heal up as good as I once did

[Big Lew]

All my deer have been taken by spot and stalk, or natural ground blind. It's very seldom I can find a suitable area to contemplate using a tree stand, as normally the well used trails are too far from sizable trees. I don't think I would have enough patience to sit in one spot for hours....I'd rather be moving along and checking various areas.

[Bow Walker]

Spot and Stalk for me as well. Of course, all I've shot so far are Island Blacktail deer, grouse, bunnies, and the like.

[huntwriter]

About 90 % of my hunting, whether it is with bow or firearm, are from treestands. The rest of the time it's a mix of spot and stalk or ground blind hunting.

[jrjonesy]

About 12 whitetails - all but 1 from tree stands. 2 mule deer - spot and stalk.
My opinion is stands are best for whitetails and spot and stalk everything else.

[Archer]

3 bears, 7 mulies, and one young whitetail buck, spot and stalk. This year is gonna be my treestand whitetail year... I've got a couple dynamite spots picked out, and a good whitey on the trailcam.

[pappy]

I have only gotten 3 deer while bow hunting and it was all spot and stalk.

[Ron.C]

taken the majority of my deer "whitetail and blacktail" from treestands, but taken a few while stillhunting on rainy days

shot all my elk while moving/calling,

all my bears were spot and stalk

[Bow Walker]

On another note...

I tried 'hunting' from a homemade ground blind once. My buddy and I were up in the Interior. We gave it two days - this was a week after building the blinds - and never saw a blessed thing. The area was crawling with deer but they managed to avoid us like the plague.

We were in two different blinds, set up about 200 yards apart on a ridge overlooking a meadow that was a favored feeding area. The whole deer population in the area must've decided to go on a herd-wide diet...

I haven't used a blind since. Of course the majority of my hunting has been done here on the Island, after blacktails. I class stand hunting in the same package as bind hunting - in that it is very difficult to do if your quarry is the Island Blacktail.

IMHO, spot n stalk is the way to go, second would be the 'still hunting' method...moving like a ghost through the timber.

[Big Lew]

"Bow Walker" mentioned, 'spot and stalk' as well as 'still hunting'. I might have been a bit misleading when stating I only 'spot and stalk'. I do both, and group both methods together when saying I 'spot and stalk'. For me, and the area I most enjoy to hunt, these 2 methods work very well hand-in-hand, and provide a tremendous challenge as well as exhilarating adrenalin rush.

[huntwriter]

"Bow Walker" mentioned, 'spot and stalk' as well as 'still hunting'. I might have been a bit misleading when stating I only 'spot and stalk'. I do both, and group both methods together when saying I 'spot and stalk'. For me, and the area I most enjoy to hunt, these 2 methods work very well hand-in-hand, and provide a tremendous challenge as well as exhilarating adrenalin rush.

"Spot and stalk" and "still hunting" are actually two separate things.

"Still Hunting" is as Bow Walker stated, "...moving like a ghost through the timber..." I use that method, for example, when I walk from my truck to the stand site from one stand to the next.

"Spot and Stalk" comes after you see (spot) a deer. Then you have to device a plan on how best to stalk it.

[J_T]

A question for all you successful bowhunters. Of the animals you've taken with a bow, deer, moose, elk, or bears, how many were taken from a stand, and how many by spot and stalk? What method do you think works best for each species, and why? It depends on the animal you are pursuing. Ground blind for turkeys, tree stand for whitetail (never a ground blind for whities), mostly on the ground calling and chase for elk but tree stands can be effective. Elk are hard to pattern though. Mulies & Bear are best spot and stalk. Unless you find an agriculture mule deer scenario and can set up between the feeding and bedding locations.

But on the topic of stands, we should all think twice about building permanent type stands. My opinion only and it depends on the location and situation. There is an image issue and a long term safety issue. It is not, no trace hunting. I would suggest that a removal stand is the best way to go. Personally I don't like the self climbers, they are too heavy, too noisy and you have to be in a tree with no limbs, which eliminates cover for you. If you have them a fir tree is best.

If you're young, you have lots of time to try, test and learn a host of approaches. If you're older, hone in on the most efficient method and go with it.

[Big Lew]

I agree with you. I have listened to many negative remarks from people that have seen permanent tree stands....they stand out vividly once the leaves have fallen. Secondly, most permanent platforms are made out of untreated wood, so are quickly prone to rot, which can be disastrous to exploring children, or anyone else not wearing a safety harness.

[Bow Walker]

In "public land" hunting I'd using a climbing tree stand. I'd be too afraid of losing a permanent stand. "Those guys" will steal anything.

Yes, cover is a concern when you have to shinny up a tree with a self-climber, but other than a cover tarp or good camo, there's not much you can do.

My understanding of "Still Hunting" is that a person moves through the bush a step or two at a time - with many long pauses between the steps, listening, looking, smelling, etc. It takes all day to cover a few miles in this manner or it'll take upwards of an hour or more to cover a few hundred yards, plus - this method isn't suited to anywhere that is the least bit open.

[bugler]

Killed many whitetails from portable hang on stands, only one from the ground on a stalk. Muley's by stillhunting/stalking. Several bull elk, all by calling in, mostly by chasing on the ground, but last years was from a tree stand over an active wallow. For elk the wallow is the only place I've had luck sitting. Tried the edge of hay fields to no avail, they always come in somewhere else or some other hunter screws it up. A couple successful spot and stalk for bear also, though hounds seem to be how most bears are killed with a bow around here, especially the bigger ones.

[bwhnter]

One time i built a home made bale blind out of chicken wire and burlap. In the shop it looked awesome so we loaded it up and took it to the field where the mule deer were hanging out. They bucks came out just like they always did but they seemed to know that something was up. we sat in that blind for three afternoons with nothing even coming within a couple of hundred yards. On the fourth evening i forgot my release in the truck so after retrieving it i was headed back to the blind and the sun was setting behind it. no wonder the deer weren't coming closer you could see right through the blind and I could see my partner sitting on his bucket reading his magazine. i started to laugh so hard because we had seen some other guys that were driving by stop and look and we couldn't figure out what they were looking at. needless to say we scrapped that blind.