Thread: Dry, noisy forest floor

Went for a goat hunt yesterday. Put in the hard yards, but no luck. The forest floor was very dry and noisy to walk through. Spooked two goats on separate occasions. Both went off like rockets. They certainly weren't going to stand around waiting to be shot in the head with a subsonic round! How to hunt in these conditions? Go after heavy rainfall? Sit in a likely spot and wait for something to appear?

If there is any stream beds that are dried up they are usually good to cruise slowly down especially ones in thick bush so nice and cool and quiet, usually the wind only runs 1 way down them too so no swirling

Thanks. Good thought. Unfortunately, no significant streams.

The good thing about dry forest litter is when (not if!) you spook the deer you can get a pretty good idea how many there are, because they also make a lot of noise running away. I've got the exact same issue, maybe worse given HB is typically drier than Northland. It makes it pretty hard going, and disheartening to spend hours poking aorund then one mistake and it sounds like half the forest is collapsing as a dozen reds run away.

Deer, goats etc make noise when they are walking in those conditions. Try to simulate what a deer/goat does and walk like them. Go slow, stop every few paces and use your eyes....

Have a look at this.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_C_I8lTsYw

If you do step on a stick and break it, dont move any further........I normally 'freeze' and without moving my head use my eyes to scan the area for any movement. Any deer hearing a stick break will lift its head and move it around trying to locate the source of the noise..........If you keep moving they will run immediately.
I also have a couple of camo hoodies which I had made.......the hood part is a lot bigger than the ones you would buy and I can wear a cap under them. The cap bill keeps the front of the hood off my face and keeps my face in shadow. By stopping immediately I snap a branch I can scan the area with my face hidden using just my eyes.
The most important thing in those conditions is to move slowly in my view.......

Your mileage may vary....

wetsuit boots and take your time when you start smelling them
goats are pretty predictable now you know where they are geographically

goats dont tend to be anywhere shootable when its raining

Originally Posted by mimms2

Although "spooking" two seems you're getting fairly close. You just have to see them before they see you.

Got a purebred dog I could sell you to train up

If it is related to the one I got, they are very fast on their feet and would be great on goats.

When I’m on crunchy ground I kinda just give up or before taking steps (maybe two steps a minute in stalking mode),move leaves to the side a little with my boot, though that still makes noise. It feels easier to stalk quietly on steeper slopes because actively used game trails have fewer leaves and sticks on them. But of course goats beings goats, the trails they leave can be difficult to follow if they tunnel under bushes or hop over boulders. Will be keeping an eye on this thread myself.

Originally Posted by Allgood

Deer, goats etc make noise when they are walking in those conditions. Try to simulate what a deer/goat does and walk like them. Go slow, stop every few paces and use your eyes....

Have a look at this.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_C_I8lTsYw

If you do step on a stick and break it, dont move any further........I normally 'freeze' and without moving my head use my eyes to scan the area for any movement. Any deer hearing a stick break will lift its head and move it around trying to locate the source of the noise..........If you keep moving they will run immediately.
I also have a couple of camo hoodies which I had made.......the hood part is a lot bigger than the ones you would buy and I can wear a cap under them. The cap bill keeps the front of the hood off my face and keeps my face in shadow. By stopping immediately I snap a branch I can scan the area with my face hidden using just my eyes.
The most important thing in those conditions is to move slowly in my view.......

Your mileage may vary....

One of the comments on that video has great advice in it as well. Pretty much what I’ve been trying to do, but it is painfully slow and mentally tiring. Results have been good so far though, been getting closer to animals before they spook.

Originally Posted by Bill999

wetsuit boots and take your time when you start smelling them
goats are pretty predictable now you know where they are geographically

goats dont tend to be anywhere shootable when its raining

Yep what @Bill999 said, also old school Gym Boots (the ankle covering canvas kind, think they are back in fashion now )are good also due to both having very flexible soles ,l have carried Dive Boots as my stream crossing /camp/stalking boot for years & use them a lot when stalking in on Sika in the thick stuff as the flexible soles allow you to feel your way around snappy twigs etc & you find yourself unconsciously moving stuff away with the boot .

When you are getting up close on anything a often over looked stalk buster is metallic/foreign scaping noises from hollowed out Syn stocks ,uncovered suppressors etc .

One block I hunt is really noisy underfoot. The worst are the rewarewa leaves, closely followed by dry punga leaves and stems.
I try to time hunts after a day or two of good rain if possible, a short heavy burst of rain doesn't do much to make it quieter. On the plus side, I hear most of my deer before I see them.
I like piwakawaka's idea of sneaking down the streambeds, especially in summer as they are cooler and probably where the deer will be too. Unfortunately in this block it's also where the supplejack is!

Originally Posted by bunji

When you are getting up close on anything a often over looked stalk buster is metallic/foreign scaping noises from hollowed out Syn stocks ,uncovered suppressors etc .

Yeah my big hollow metal suppressor scraping on a branch has busted me so many times and I got so sick of it. What I’ve done now is wrapped the suppressor in a soft fleece fabric, and then secured it on with cloth tape. Works very well.

If all else fails just wear your gumboots and kick them off when you get in close thick socks are the quietest of the lot

try put your boots somewhere obvious tho as they can be really hard to refind

the other trick is put a salt block in the area without crunchy leaves

Beech leaves... It's like walking on cornflakes. Shoes make it much worse. Ambush may be the best solution on dry crunchy days.

Thanks for all the replies, much more sensible than I thought they would be!