Another trick i found with using binos is to scan from your right to your left. I seem to pick up more this way. Its the same logic with proof reading something. When you go right to left you pick out the individual words instead of going with the usual flow of L-R.
Hunters with super senses?
- Thread starter norlandgeese
- Start date
Some people have stronger senses than others but most good hunters are simply tuned in to the environment, have learned to pay attention to small details, and have learned about the animals and terrain.
Move slowly on a trail taking only a couple slow paces at a time then pause to scan back and forth. It is possible to walk in close on deer, moose, and elk along the trails. Spend time learning how to see the animals. Most people spend too much time moving and covering as much ground as possible. Spend time glassing the distant areas.
Pay attention to your own scent. Eliminate the perfumes, soaps, laundry detergents, cigarette smoke, and other chemical scents. These scents block our own sense of smell. Hunt into the wind and the scent of the quarry can be detected, then use the slow process of a few paces and scanning the trees closely. Learn to trust your nose. Personally, I find whitetails and elk to be rather clean smelling, or undetectable by scent for me however, I find that mulies, moose, and bear have a very strong scent and I have been able to follow my nose in the early season when the foliage blocks my view.
Trust the sounds and be proactive. I hunt whitetails in the thick bush by rattling and grunting. Once we hear the twig snap, a footfall, a snort, even a squirrel suddenly chittering, I stop rattling and grunting as there is likely a buck circling around to find the source of the sound.
Move slowly on a trail taking only a couple slow paces at a time then pause to scan back and forth. It is possible to walk in close on deer, moose, and elk along the trails. Spend time learning how to see the animals. Most people spend too much time moving and covering as much ground as possible. Spend time glassing the distant areas.
Pay attention to your own scent. Eliminate the perfumes, soaps, laundry detergents, cigarette smoke, and other chemical scents. These scents block our own sense of smell. Hunt into the wind and the scent of the quarry can be detected, then use the slow process of a few paces and scanning the trees closely. Learn to trust your nose. Personally, I find whitetails and elk to be rather clean smelling, or undetectable by scent for me however, I find that mulies, moose, and bear have a very strong scent and I have been able to follow my nose in the early season when the foliage blocks my view.
Trust the sounds and be proactive. I hunt whitetails in the thick bush by rattling and grunting. Once we hear the twig snap, a footfall, a snort, even a squirrel suddenly chittering, I stop rattling and grunting as there is likely a buck circling around to find the source of the sound.
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
I’m much similar. To the point where most people simply don’t believe me as even with accurate descriptions and attempting to point out the game or trails I am seeing they still cannot see what I am looking at. It’s normal for me to be driving and notice all sorts of game from near to far, even while driving at highway speeds. In the bush it’s almost like trails are glowing and game have neon signs above saying “here I am”. As for trail cameras and stands, the number of each I find on public land is unbelievable. Fortunately, most people don’t have this ability. If so, there’d be far more thefts.
It’s very frustrating hunting with others sometimes as most are extremely noisy, cannot spot trails, sign or game, and seemingly have zero clue despite them being relatively good hunters.
I believe this lack of hunting skill is what has contributed to the trend of long range “hunting”. These people realize they cannot effectively hunt game and get within ethical range for a shot so they resort to long range shooting because they don’t know how to hunt.
Be out there in the forest or mountains ... observe ... and learn! Try things .... observe the outcome .... perceive the patterns ... and learn ... !
It is a very long process .....
And you have to spend lots and lots of time out there ....
This is a great discussion point and Question-- the above quoted is precise.
i feel i may be one of the 10% of the fisherman who bring home 90% of the fish.... an at times throughout this journey, some times i cannot help but think to myself after hearing others experiences-- "what in the fark is so difficult about this".... then it opens can of about 400 worms ... they all go down their own rabbit hole.
an possibly i come to the conclusion- Time Poor.... and "just scratchin around" ...
ya gotta immerse yaself.
*edit- theres certainly merrit in the mentality going into the hunt... a deer knows when someone wants to KILL, has that kill vibe... whereas u hear of story of people who have not got the kill vibe . aka hiker, whatever, they see 12 pt monster bull 30 yards for 30 minutes.... "hiker" never sent off a Kill Vibe.
Broski walking around the Woods REEKS of kill vibe... i've trialled this several occaisons whilst hunting- "lets just go for a look" as opposed to. "ima sneak in a pop that mfkr"
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I was sitting in my spot in the afternoon. I know that ridge after lunch the winds move up the hill. I was sitting in front of this big tree with my rifle across my lap.i was watching a few does about say 50 yards away I didnt move a muscle then all of a sudden the doe looks at me and then just bolted out of there fast. it made me curious why she went so fast. I'm thinking it was the stainless steel barrel color on my rifle that did it.
Some hunters also just have that...luck, for lack of a better word.
I hunted many frustrating years with my uncle.
I would wear as much camp as I could, practice scent control, work the winds, hunt from stands, blinds etc. Do all the "textbook" things that should make me a stealth monster in the bush.
He would toss on his everyday work boots, grab his flannel work jacket from the hall closet and a rifle and then stomp out into the bush following a recent deer track looking every bit as much of Elmer Fudd as he could.
He'd tag out in an hour and I'd eat tag soup for the winter.
I hunted many frustrating years with my uncle.
I would wear as much camp as I could, practice scent control, work the winds, hunt from stands, blinds etc. Do all the "textbook" things that should make me a stealth monster in the bush.
He would toss on his everyday work boots, grab his flannel work jacket from the hall closet and a rifle and then stomp out into the bush following a recent deer track looking every bit as much of Elmer Fudd as he could.
He'd tag out in an hour and I'd eat tag soup for the winter.
Yup, camo is for hunters and not the deer. They see in a grey spectrum. Similar story, I had to use my old 12 Valve Cummins throughout the winter one year. I thought I was going to scare everything out of site for miles, I had never seen so many deer as I did driving the Cummins. When I stopped to talk to the farmer, he said, they probably think it's me coming in with the tractor.....
One of the old guys I know packs a coffee pot, a new pouch of pipe tobacco, and a new western Novel as his main hunting gear.
Lights a fire, loads his pipe and coffee pot up, and reads his book. Sooner or later, a buck comes wandering by to see what this is all about... He does well.
I had one whitetail buck come in to me after I blew on my deer call like an ADD kid blowing his noisemaker at his very first ever New Years Eve Party. I was sore and tired, and just didn't really care any more that day, and figured at worst, the noise might kick something up from it's bedding in the river flat below me. A few minutes later, this buck comes wandering up a cut, ears forward, and looking for the source of the noise! If I held off for a couple minutes more, he would have been darn near to standing by my truck when I shot him. As it was, it was a super short drag!
A friend of mine was an avid bowhunter, and he would occasionally string a set of antlers up on some cord and a couple pulleys, to use to rattle for the bucks. He said that he would sometimes just go spastic and beat the living hells outta the ground and the two antlers, and the strange noises would draw in a lot of the deer that otherwise were not paying that much attention.
I also recall reading an article written by a guy that was running late, and decided to do a Bull-in-a-China-Shop run in to his stand, and he said he had at lest two bucks home in on the noise, before he really could get settled in...
Cats are not the only 'curious' creatures out there.
And, you really do have to adapt your style, to the local conditions! In North/Central Alberta, there were people bloody everywhere (oil patch), so the deer were well and truly used to stepping aside, and then carrying on with their day when the people went on past. They had their favored comfy spots to bed down, they had their favored food sources, and paths to and from, which become fairly easy to see at some times of the year.
Spot & stalk hunting is about the best day you can have in the bush. Learning what to pack, what to watch for & how to walk properly are the things you can always learn to improve. Marksmanship is probably less than half of the equation for a successful hunt. Knowing when not to shoot is even more important.
coleman1495
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Whitecourt
I don’t know about super senses but I’ve met hunters with super patience.
