Still Hunting

[WapitiTalk1]

With any mode of elk hunting (rifle, ML, archery) there are times when plain old fashioned still hunting can and should be deployed. What do successful still hunters do to well, be successful? How fast do you move, how often do you check the wind, is quiet clothing fabric important, is personal scent reduction important, what makes you stop and look/listen/smell while still hunting, etc.? Just curious to hear some tried and true methods that have worked after you switch over to still hunting mode. Thanks in advance for the discussion. RJ

[Swede]

The only time I still hunt is when I believe I am about to come into the elk. I see smoking fresh sign and may even smell them. Then everything slows way down and I am looking, looking and looking. All of my senses are on alert. Where are the critters and which way is the wind blowing? How should I approach this area? Are they bedded or moving? If moving which way, and are they feeding along? Often you can tell they are feeding if you look carefully. Actually elk are pretty sloppy eaters. Parts of their forage may fall out of their mouth.
Success is largely bases on how well you appraise the situation. The worst thing is to just keep on walking. You need to stop about every other pace (sometimes more) and look all around carefully. You are always listening and even smelling. You are not looking just for elk. It may be just an ear or the tip of an antler tine that you can see first if you are careful.

[saddlesore]

Mostly where I hunt, elk could be anywhere.If I am on foot,I move slow as if the next 20 yards could produce and elk and have one bedded. Just about the time person thinks they need to move fast past this spot, to get to a better one, they will jump an elk and miss a shot opportunity. I probably check the wind every 5 minutes or unless I know it is coming down the mountain in the morning or moving up in the afternoon

[Elkduds]

Last fall the trace of snow melted opening day. Midday I hunted slowly along a broad ridge that showed fresh tracks @ 1st light. Reddish birds, squirrels and chipmunks moved through the ponderosas and old logging slash piles as the November day warmed. No breeze to speak of. I stopped every 6 or 7 steps and looked hard for movement or parts of elk, often through binoculars. I noted a rust-colored flash, well above the ground, about 50 yards ahead. A bird, no need to glass. Looked all around, took another step. The rusty movement turned into a cow elk ear, startlingly obvious as she erupted w 2 others and bolted down the slope. No shot, just huge white butts thundering down the ridge and out of view through the trees. I ran after them, duh. That lasted maybe 100 yards, fueled more by adrenaline and memories of keeping elk in sight, than by any chance of getting a shot.

What I did right: hunted where there were elk. My mistakes: several!

[Indian Summer]

Still hunting is great. It pushes elk toward me.

Just kidding. There comes a time where you gotta move. To look for elk and to keep learning your area.

Speed would be slower than molasses on a cold day. I like to be above them. Also as I make my way I pick out things ahead of me for my next destination. A tree or rock etc. Then make sure every step between A & B is calculated. If you take 2 steps in a row you're going way too fast. I'm 90% eyes and ears and only 10% hands and feet as I'm in motion and there's no saying how long each stop between moving will be. I HATE getting busted.

Of course to really do all of that you have to feel confident that there are elk around and that one could be coming into view with the next step.