Thread: Bush stalking - not my best skill

Hi all,

So I am a wee bit frustrated with my recent attempts at bush stalking, Was out in the rain sunday just gone, found some good sign, proceeded up this wee track following the fresh (ish) tracks.

Up the hill about 500 meters (rather steep country I might add) when I decided given the shit conditions i doubt very much any animal is going to be up in the exposed hill side sitting in the rain and wind.

Sat there for probably 20 minutes looking for any good spots in the lower ground i thought they might be hiding and proceeded back down the track...

Here is the frustrating part, Between finding the tracks and following them up the hill to coming back down there is band new tracks heading back down ... Thinking the fucker was watching me having a good old laugh before coming out of his hiding place

This has happened to me probably 3 times to me in this particular spot over the past few months. Get onto some really good fresh sign, find zip zero nudda.

In short i think my bush stalking techniques leave a little something to be desired... think ill try a new approach and head back to this wee part of the track for first light on Friday and wait all day for them bastards to come back out so I can smash em over... (this is not really what i want to do, id like to develop my stalking techniques)

We are talking about old logging tracks/plantations that have now re-generated into native scrub since being milled many years ago, its quite thick stuff, very steep terrain.

My usual approcah is obviously not working very well as i continue to come out empty handed. Does anyone have any tips they might like to share...? I usually find fresh sign and follow the direction it was heading till i come across more. I would imagine i am just going around in circles doing this ....

Help out a novice bush stalker ... hahaha

Set up a trail camera and find their movement patterns once you get the sorted then go up before the usual time the come out and wait, that should work.

Watch the wind. Hunting with the wind from behind is pretty much a waste of time.
Tread lightly, put the ball of your foot down first rather than your heel.
Don't look at the trees, look through them.
Don't look for a whole deer, look for part of a deer.
Before you head out look at the map, try and work out where the deer might be, Shelter from the wind, food, water, cover, sunshine.

One thing that worked for me mate was comming up onto fresh sighn stop go to a knee and wait look listen, buy not moving your the quiet one. Then if you fell youve waited long enough really go as slow as you can while tracking them move ten meters stop look listen again and so on its worked for me.Good luck there will be plenty more good ideas to come on this thread im sure.

Check the wind, check the wind, check the wind. I can't stress enough the importance of checking the wind. Clearly you are in an area with animals so you need to work out where they are going to and from, where they hunker down, where they cross ridges and streams, where the fodder is. Dawn and dusk will be most productive but that doesn't mean you won't find them at other times. It is coming up to the time that the hinds will start birthing so they will be about to (or will have already) push last years fawns (now young spikers) away from them and these young inexperienced deer will be away from mum for the first time and not as smart as older deer. Check around the heads of streams and good grazing areas. They won't be far away if there is fresh sign.

WOW excellent response already, and no piss taking yet hahaha,

this particular area does not have a great deal of grazing pasture... if there is any grass type feed to be had its usually on the tracks and is very minimal, 3mx3m patches.

checking the wind ... ok i usually do this with a common old bic lighter, just see what direction the flame goes, I usually try and keep this to a minimum due to the noise it makes.. i would have thought the noise if in a stalking situation would scare it off.

Ok Rushy, so you mentioned figuring out where they travel to and from... It appears they often use the tracks already there, assume they do it because its just easier... without a trail cam (im too cheap to buy one) where would one look initally for spots they would use for sleeping etc? bottom of gullies in the shelter etc?

Please excuse some of the dumb questions most of the hunting I usually do is across nice pasture on the edge's of bush (some may call this gentleman's hunting), Hardly ever do I bush stalk but this spot is nice and close to home so if I can learn afew things here might help out

Originally Posted by tikka 7/08

and no piss taking yet hahaha

Rushy's slacking

You will only get the piss taken out of ya if you ask smart intellegent question

Originally Posted by tikka 7/08

checking the wind ... ok i usually do this with a common old bic lighter, just see what direction the flame goes, I usually try and keep this to a minimum due to the noise it makes.. i would have thought the noise if in a stalking situation would scare it off.

flame/light and mechanical/ratcheting noise both not common in the bush...

lick your finger, stick it up in the air. the side that feels colder is where the wind is coming from. K.I.S.S.
alternatively (1) take a small length of light wool and use it to check wind direction, better yet, tie it close to the front of your barrel
alternatively (2) get some non-scented powder/chalk etc, and a little bottle you can squirt out a puff of powder into the breeze, check archery shops.

Originally Posted by ebf

flame/light and mechanical/ratcheting noise both not common in the bush...

lick your finger, stick it up in the air. the side that feels colder is where the wind is coming from. K.I.S.S.
alternatively (1) take a small length of light wool and use it to check wind direction, better yet, tie it close to the front of your barrel
alternatively (2) get some non-scented powder/chalk etc, and a little bottle you can squirt out a puff of powder into the breeze, check archery shops.

An old sock filled with some ash from the fire works too when you give it a shake!

Originally Posted by Spudattack

An old sock filled with some ash from the fire works too when you give it a shake!

boer maak n plan

tikka 7/08 old plastic nasal spray bottle works like a charm. chalk, sawdust (superfine), ash, whatever you prefer.

Persistance. And slow down. If you think your going slow enough go slower. Your in the right spot soon things will start clicking you will evolve and start knocken em ova. Dont over hunt the area and spookem off and usually after a good rain when things are fresh and the deer need a feed. Keep it up

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Originally Posted by CreepingDeath

Persistance. And slow down. If you think your going slow enough go slower. Your in the right spot soon things will start clicking you will evolve and start knocken em ova. Dont over hunt the area and spookem off and usually after a good rain when things are fresh and the deer need a feed. Keep it up

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

okidoki, common theme thus far 'slow the fuck down and check the wind'

Slow down, then slow down even more. If you think you're going slow, you're not slow enough.

Stop, stand, watch and listen regulary. Its amazing what you'll hear if you're still. Deer muching leaves, twigs snapping, birds sqawking, the brush of fur through bushes or the knock of an antler on wood.

A piece of cotton taped to the end of your barrel is ideal for a wind indicator, and is silent.

Travel through areas with no sign quickly, and slow down only when you hit fresh sign. You'll cover more ground this way.

Look through the bush at different heights, ie climb onto a log, or get on hands and knees and look underneather the low scrub. Its amazing how often you'll pick up on a set of skinny brown legs but not see its body!

Sunny faces-focus on them. You can hunt areas like this all hours of the day. If you hit a nice gut or "clearing" with fresh sign, sit tight for half an hour and watch.

Follow trails, not only will you be more likely to hit a animal travelling, the trail is there because it is the "easiest" or most direct route.

If the wind is swirling for you, it is swirling for the deer. Remember that.

Hunting in the bush in shitty cold weather is often more productive than on a nice day.

Get a low powered pair of binos, or a monocular (I used to carry a cheap 4x scope on a string round my neck, but then bought some 6x leupy yosemites for in the bush). Its surprising what you'll pick up using binos in the bush over your naked eye.

If you "hear" or "see" a deer in the bush it can be pretty exciting. Be sure that you identify your target before closing the bolt and squeezing the trigger. You can't pull bullets back.

Get out there, sitting on the computer or couch wont get you a deer. The more you're hunting, the more chances you'll get to see one or shoot one.

Slow down.

I'm afraid you need to get off the tracks, you don't normally find deer living on tracks or ridges. I would use tracks to get easy access to gullys and headwaters/basins (as also the deer will be), you can go really slowly but wind is better to get right. Go slow when you see fresh sign but make sure it is fresh, like hours old not days