Spot & Stalk Techniques - Help

[JLS]

Some outstanding advise.  Some I've learned the hard way too RadSav, including the cam hitting the rock , which cost me a P&Y class muley a few years ago.

And yes, trusting your equipment.

Smossy, you can ambush deer going to get food, water, etc, but you're not too apt to lure them in per se like you would an antelope buck with a decoy. 

I just use a regular flashlight for bloodtrailing.

Spot and stalk is just like cooking ribs, LOW & SLOW.  Try and speed up the process and you're guaranteed to screw it up.

[RadSav]

With following a blood trail, Do you and or others on here use a RGB Flashlight or whatever they're called for following/muting colors when It starts to get darker? Ive never had any experience with it at all "go figure" but I do own a semi cheap one.

I tracked a poorly shot bear in the dark a few years ago and the shooter had one of those from Primos.  Took about three minutes before I took it from him and threw it in the pack.  I like most everything from Primos but that thing was a POS waste of money.  Five battery MagLite has been my go to for years.  Haven't found anything better.  Though I did find an insulator about 15 years ago that goes in the MagLite and gives you twice the battery life.  Never seen one since.  I should have bought every one I could find.  Makes no difference in light output yet improves the life of the batteries.  Beyond my comprehension on how it works, but dang is it nice for those long nights.

Until last year I had never used an LED light that was as good as the Krypton (I think that's what it is called) bulb MagLite.  But last year our cardboard supplier sent me a MagLite LED XL50.  Super Small, uses three AAA batteries, long battery life and puts out as much light as the 5D big boy.  It's quite impressive!  I haven't used it to track a real animal yet.  But I did make my own blood trail after tagging my deer last year just to see how it worked.  My eyes don't like the LED brightness as much, but I could follow the blood trail very easily.  I now have one of those XL50's in every car, the RV, every pack and every fanny bag.  Nice thing about them is they use the same battery as my head lamp and I can carry about 20 battery replacements with the same weight as one change of the 5D light.  Sweetest part is I get one free with every $750.00 of cardboard I order   Since we buy about $5,000 in cardbard each year we're sitting pretty on them

[uplandhunter870]

ive read all the posts and as all the info here is great and really spot on im surprised no one has mentioned the one thing i think is key.

plan your stalk route out before you move.

once you spot a bedded deer odds are its knows youre there but feels no threat cause youre at a safe distance, dont rush into the stalk sit a moment or two and evaluate several routes to its location, once you decide on the best route make mental waypoints, sneak to that tree drop over the back side of the ridge (this is where the next paragraph becomes important, keep reading) loop around using the land to hide you and find a draw that will crest near the deers location and make the final stalk to the killing zone.

get to know the land where youll be doing the spot and stalk, know whats on the other side of the ridges and hills, know what draws will crest a ridge and where they crest the ridge, google earth works wonders here you obviously have access to the net and a computer google earth is free and though not as good as time on the ground you can get a real good feel of whats where. im a huge fan of getting out of sight, using the landscape to hide me and loop around hills to pop up above a spotted deer. this technique has proved successful for me in the past (two years ago i bow hunted in NE montana in the short grass prairie and trust me there isnt anything to hide behind but was inside of 20 yards on multiple nice mature mulies), try and sneak up behind the deer from its blind spots, and if possible from a higher point of elevation.

pay attention to the wind and where the sun is your shadow can spook just as hard as a snapped twig. move slow plan every step literally every step be patient and when in doubt move slower and channel your inner ninja. when, yes when, you get busted dont lose the ninja mind set you never know where a deer is sitting that you didnt see, have had this happen to me several times get busted and stand up and start to walk off normally only to spook another deer i never even saw.

[JLS]

Good point on the route planning.  Also, to add to that, use your digital camera and take photos of the route and critical landmarks, or else draw a sketch.  Things look very different when you rotate them 180 degrees and small things like the second rock or the third rock become very important.

[JM]

This is all great advice from people that I am sure have a lot more experience than me. One thing that I would add is don't rush the stalk and never assume that your stalk is blown. Something that many new hunters do is assume that their stalk is blown and they start to get a little careless ( not picking their feet up, not looking where they step, or exposing themselves to see if the animal is still there). So always assume that the stalk is still on until you are completelly positive the animal blew out. It takes alot of patience and discipline, but it will pay off one day.

[Special T]

I know its blackies not mule deer but Boyd Iversons "Blacktail Trophy tactics 2" is a must read for anyone hunting washington. I see WAY more deer after i read that book, becasue I went SLOW!

Some things i really like while bow hunting.
Bino harness, I use a big 10x50 and it never gets in my way
Nikon Rifle hunter range finder... Not too spendy and not too many modes, just an agle compensator.

UV blocker spray, OR wash all your gear un "All Fee and Clear" detergent for babies. It has no extra brightners, or scents and is much cheeper than all the other stuff

1.5 day pack with water bladder, stays out of the way and carries all my gear.

[hike2hunt]

So much great advise here.

In addition to the wind, I found a wearing some knee pads when crawling really helps; as well as when stalking and having the wind in your favor, still try to keep some type of vegetation or tree in between you and the prey. I try to stalk in from bush to tree/tree to tree, etc.