Do you hunt for the hunt?

[Rich M]

Prepping for a trip - if we get pulled and have multiple options on how to do this. Not a high mountain thing, more mid elevation, level land.

get up high & glass
walk and glass coulees and drainages
sit in area with lots of tracks
sit water
sit near food source

Would you rather just sit water for say 3-5 days if you knew you'd ultimately get one, or would you rather spot & stalk, or walk one up?

Are you chasing the kill or the experience?

 

[BluMtn]

I am ADD. I know there is something just over the next ridge. I will glass canyons and coulees until I feel that I have glassed everything, then it is time to move and find new area to glass. Have I missed some, yes but I have also found some that nobody knew about because they had never looked in that specific area before. But as with everything hunting, I don't think there is a right way or wrong way. Its just how much effort you want to put into it.

 

[Born2bhunting]

I enjoy glassing. My home state doesn't have vast expanses to sit and pick apart like western states do. I get enough still hunting in on whitetails at home. My vote is with spot and stalk.

 

[Rich M]

I enjoy glassing. My home state doesn't have vast expanses to sit and pick apart like western states do. I get enough still hunting in on whitetails at home. My vote is with spot and stalk.

I'm usually 12-15 ft up a tree - nice to be able to see further and walk around some.

 

[Tayler Wayne]

IMO mule deer hunting requires a mix of everything to find success. Glassing creates a lot of opportunities, but you still have to figure out how you’re going to kill the deer once you spot it. Spot and stalk, set up an ambush, slow hunting the cover, etc. Lots of interrelated ways to get it done. Just sitting water or just hunting on the move, without folding in other methods puts too many eggs in one basket.


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[Southforkguy]

Last year i had opportunities at two great mule deer. The first i spotted at 1.5 miles out, stalked in and jumped him at 40 yards with no shot archery. Second one i was still hunting at 9500 feet and caught movement, had just enough time for a quick snap shot. Terrain determines what strategy works best. I do love to spot and stalk, but then again im from wisconsin and growing up still hunting whitetail i feel at home when i can work thick cover with a rifle.

 

[Born2bhunting]

I'm usually 12-15 ft up a tree - nice to be able to see further and walk around some.

I will say I struggled to get back in the grove of still hunting back home after I've been out west. Its definitely a change of pace.

 

[Whip]

I sit in a tree or ground blind for whitetails for most of my fall. When I get a chance to hunt out west I like to get out and see some country. Even glassing I often tend not to be patient enough and end up moving to explore. Still hunting slowly through good areas is what I find myself doing more often than not.

 

[MIedge]

For me personally, I have stand/ambush hunted MI my entire life. So when I am lucky enough to head out west for a trip, the novelty of a spot and stalk hunt is what it is all about. We sit and glass high points in the early AM but if we don't bed anything down then I like to go sneaking. With that said, if I've observed a particular pattern, I have no problem sitting a spot for an evening or something like that. But I am not sitting a spot or even multiple spots for 5 days when that's what I do all the time at home. Spot and stalk is as primal as it gets and I absolutely love it!

 

[Mike 338]

I tend to move around but I'd probably do better if I just sat and waited. I've bow hunted Arizona desert and I was amazed how much game I saw when I just sat down and didn't move.

 

[OFFHNTN]

I will do either. I prefer and really love the game of spot and stalk, but if the deer and terrain dictate sitting all day for a much better chance at punching a tag, that is what I will do.

 

[Netherman]

For me personally, I have stand/ambush hunted MI my entire life. So when I am lucky enough to head out west for a trip, the novelty of a spot and stalk hunt is what it is all about. We sit and glass high points in the early AM but if we don't bed anything down then I like to go sneaking. With that said, if I've observed a particular pattern, I have no problem sitting a spot for an evening or something like that. But I am not sitting a spot or even multiple spots for 5 days when that's what I do all the time at home. Spot and stalk is as primal as it gets and I absolutely love it!

Exactly this ^^^. While I love a treestand hunting back home, trips out west are about seeing new country and "exotic" species. Glassing and hiking are what make western hunts special for me.

In your shoes I would be glassing mornings and evenings and walking around midday looking for sign or animals to confirm that they are in the area. If I see what I am after and there appears to be a pattern I will try and position myself in a good spot and wait, but the experience ahead of that is what really drives me.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I hunt to kill what I'm after. If I wasn't worried about killing anything, I'd just go hiking.

 

[hutty]

where we hunt in Wyoming I like to ridge run. Hike up, sit, and glass coulees and ravines for 20-30 minutes and then on to the next. For the terrain we hunt it works.

 

[ruttedup]

I let the animals tell me what to do...Improvise, adapt, and overcome