As I sit here at my archery bench, working away. I can not help but sit and think about spot and stalk hunting. It is by far my favorite method of hunting because it is so mentally stimulating. In today's article, I want to talk about some of the things I have learned over the last few years: spot and stalk hunting out west. Hopefully, you can get closer to animals in the field. Just this last season I used these tips and tricks and got to sub 20 yards 5 different times! That's what will get the heart pumping.
USE THE TOPOGRAPHY
This one is talked about a ton when the conversation of spot and stalk occurs, but I never feel like it is explained mostly impart to it can vary so much depending on the area. I'll cover my rules of thumb for traveling around the landscape and moving in on my intended target.
The first thing about topography is that everything looks a little different than it does in your spotter. I'm sure we have all been there, bedded an animal, started working our way in get to 250 yards, and it looks like you've never seen this country in your life and you feel lost, and like you're going to lose a shot opportunity. Don't panic the easiest way to overcome this is to find defining landmarks before you embark on your journey. Some key things I look for before beginning my stalk are large rocks, clumps of oddly shaped sagebrush, how many drainages the animal is away from your position, and identifiable features that the landscape has to offer. After I locate a few of these features within a hundred yards of the animal I intend to stalk I then open my mapping system and attempt to mark the animal as well as the landmarks I have discovered to help aid me as I close the distance.
After you have picked apart your landscape and decided this is a stalk you want to take. I will now try to get within 500 yards and put eyes on the animal if I can get to 500 yards as well as have eyes on the animal, or the area that animal is in I will have the opportunity to sit down and analyze the landscape yet again. Finding a route that both gives me the wind advantage and the terrain advantage over my quarry. I always try to keep some piece of topography between me and the animal for a majority of my stalk. I do this because, in my past experiences, the majority of my stalks that fail are due to the animals catching my movement. Using the land to conceal my movements has allowed me to get much closer than the previous methods that I have tried. Once I get within my maximum effective range, I start to slow down even more and make my moves methodically.
GAMEPLAN & SLOW DOWN
In the heat of the moment, it can be very difficult to slow down and take your time. the voices in the back of your head are screaming hurry up the buck won't stay there forever, or something along those lines. Subsequently, you end up making a mistake and losing your opportunity because you moved too quickly.
This becomes increasingly more vital when you get to 250 yards or less. TAKE YOUR TIME. Once I'm within what I call the red zone (250 yards and less) the reality that a shot might be presented to you starts to weigh on me. I take this opportunity to sit down, drop my pack mark it on my map, get a drink of water maybe eat a snack. After I have calmed myself down, and mentally reset my brain into KILL mode. I start to plan my route to my maximum effective range. I start embarking on this final descent on my quarry I like to move with the wind gusts, and other noises around me to further mask my movements and sounds. I am normally very aggressive in my hunting habits and like to take risks to get in close. I am fortunate enough to get a considerable amount of opportunities to fill my tag per year. However, this aggressive tendency is not random it is calculated. I always try to position myself as close as possible to the animal in a situation where I can see the animal and monitor his body language. Then it becomes a waiting game. I wait for the animal's body language to give me signals that he might stand and I draw before them standing. sometimes this means I draw 2 or more times and that animal doesn't stand. In that situation, I let down and waited for my time to strike.
STAY AWARE
Once you embark on your journey towards your quarry make sure you stay aware of your surroundings. Often times it is very easy to get fixated on the animal you are after, and you end up bumping or busting other animals along the way ultimately ending your opportunity and stalk. Make sure you stay focused on not only your intended target but the surrounding area incase you need to make a mid stalk adjustment to avoid bumping other deer.
TRUST YOURSELF
Throughout the entire process it is important to make sure to stick to your guns. trust yourself , fall back on previous experiences. As well as stay present in the moment so you can blueprint in your mind what transpires so you can repeat it over and over in the future.
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