Tell my why, if you step on a stick every deer in the county runs away, but if you’re rattling down the road in a 2001 Dodge Cummins diesel truck, they’re coming at you from every direction.
Easy, as a comparison. Which of these things would get your attention more? A TV you hear in the next room or a knock on your front door? I reckon a car never has drove through miles of trees to mercilessly destroy a Buck lookin to fuk. But that branch snapping could be a mountain lion. Which is a little more realistic and has also been a natural predator in the wilds before recorded history.
I was taught this 45 years ago by a couple of young Cherokee boys. You don't have to be quiet in the woods. Just avoid sounding like a human. Even walk on your toes, to prevent that double, heal-toe sound. You can prance, sound like a deer, or shuffle, stop, shuffle, stop, sounding like a squirrel. The best way to approach this, is go up a tree early morning, and sit very quietly for hours, listening to every critter in woods, and watching them to see what they are paying attention to. You'll see deer glance towards noisy squirrels, but they know by the sound they are no threat so they ignore them. Skunks and possums have patterns too. Learn them all. After all, there's no way to walk quietly through a 3 inch thick bed of dry leafs.
Another good trick to walking through the woods is to have a diaphragm turkey call in your mouth and cluck as you walk along following all these other great techniques as well.
Exactly. You can't be quiet, but you can walk like an animal. They don't march like storm troopers. This is the difference between hikers and real hunters.
My dad did four tours in Vietnam, voluntarily. He knew how to be quiet. Even in crunchy leaves with twigs all around. He was like a ghost. I grew up watching him from the ripe old age of 6 to when I Enlisted. I’ve been with people out going to the hunting grounds and the bozo behind me sounded like he was raking leaves. I stopped and said in a calm voice, “Are you hunting or Driving? Look where you’re going to put your feet. This isn’t a race!” I watched my dad in front of me and he’d rest each step slightly on the leaves and put a little pressure and I guess if he liked the way the ground felt, he’d put his foot down all the way. BUT... If he didn’t like what he felt, and there where no other better spots to step he’d use the side of his boot and push some of the leaves away to the side and walk on the wet leaves on the bottom. He was behind me one time in the woods, rabbit hunting and we came to a fork on the path. I asked, “Which way? (I turned and....) Dad? Dad?! Where’d ya go?” Tapped me on the shoulder and knowing the job he had when he was “In”, I pissed myself right then and there!! He had this smirk on his face too 😏 I miss my dad.
You just solved a riddle for me I've had since I was 13. My buddy's dad was a war vet and whenever he took us deer hunting he could slip through the woods EXACTLY how you just described; Guy was a friggin' ghost. Dry leaves all around & I tried to be as quiet as I could but this cat.... He'd just "appear"-LOL Rules he was sure to make us repeat: don't piss, don't miss, and for God's sake-PLEASE DON"T (mistakenly) shoot somebody's cow!
Reminds of our Boy scout leader, he'd take guys hunting. One time he had to take a crap, suddenly a eight point buck came into the clearing. The two young guys froze( buck fever) , Blackie the scout leader came out from behind the bushes, pants still down, poop still coming out, yelling shoot it , shoot it, shoot the damn buck. Blackie got a few shots off but considering his predicament he missed. LOL.
@@markcolby2927 Same thing when I was 12 w/a .410 takin' a leak squirrel huntin' 2 come running by-I shot, missed, and fell flat on my ass! Did my brother shoot? NO! He was too busy laughin at me!
Man, that is extremely interesting. I have always noticed that moist layer down there, but never put two and two together to step even more silently. Thank you for that golden nugget of information.
Best man I have ever know to sneak through the woods was a 6'10 400LB man who grew up in the woods. He use to walk on his toes and wear Indian moccasins. He was and is a legend in our hunting community. Snuck up on every hunter and never got busted. I wish I could walk in the woods like that man could. He use to sneak up on us and ask if we saw anything as he was leaning on the tree stand. Freaky a.f. but impressive.
He's a monster lol but joking aside I'm 300 pound and 6'7 and yes I walk quietly with a awareness of my surroundings. I put this down to being barefoot as a kid and having grown up with our own woods butting on to forest. I say to my kids if quiet you'll see so much more .
Lol, my ex played football & wrestled in highschool-collage. 6'4, 350 lbs. At his lightest. He also tip toes & quick, light on his feet, sneaky as heck.
They damn sure are sounds like a damn wild hog rutting around and coming through the woods worked cattle a big part of my life and I grew to hate em a dildo can ruin a horse for ever
My departed uncle was a very successful deer hunter here in the Carolina woods . He would slowly walk trails while smoking cigarettes. He believed that deer were more used to smelling smoke than human scent . He told me that when he alerted a deer by making an unnatural sound he would grunt like a buck . This may have caused lesser bucks to run , but a dominant buck would respond to the challenge and give him an opportunity to shoot . He said that he always carried his rifle loaded and ready to take a shot . He claimed that he harvested as many deer to and from the stand as when he was in his stand . He didn't believe in walking to his stand before daylight , as it was illegal to shoot deer in the darkness , and he considered being in the woods when it was illegal to shoot game a waste of his time . His job required that he worked until daylight , so he mostly hunted after sunrise , usually in his workclothes with a safety orange vest . He believed that camoflage clothing wasn't very important .
I have been hunting by myself for 35 years and I have never killed a deer from a stand, always walking or sitting in the woods. I have killed some laying on top of round bales of hay. I fell asleep one afternoon on top of those bales and when I woke up there were six deer feeding within 10 feet of me. All I could do was watch them...lol
My pop pop was the same way he claimed if you can get deep in big woods places where the deer can live and die without crossing paths with humans or domestic animals, that cigarette smoke will actually bring bucks in to investigate what they are smelling he swore that he shot lots of deer that way. I've seen him take a nice 8 pointer while smoking his corn cob pipe once. I myself have shot a few while smoking or just after but in my experience I have without a doubt been busted smoking way more than I have taken deer while smoking and usually will chew while deer hunting Not that I condone poaching but he also told me that during the depression his one brother and him used to use a pair of screw on shed antlers to up the odds of getting a shot on a "legal" buck and said that one time the wardens were trying to catch em in the act and every time they would see their truck parked somewhere they would try to sneak up on em and trail em at a distance and watch em so they had my great g-ma drop em off and pick em up in the morning at various spots and they even went as far as taking the soles off old pairs of boots and nailing them on the soles of their good boots backwards to mess with the game warden! Pop pop said they caught his brother with the screw on antlers though eventually warden said that it was awful funny how he shot a six point buck for four years in a row opening day and always back at the truck within an hour or two of sunrise and legal shooting time said when he finally got caught he didn't even have a gun to shoot it with just a six pointer with bullet hole through the lungs on a drag rope and his knife that's because he shot it the night before but the warden took his screw in six point rack and he had to pay fines and they suspended his license and when he went to the courthouse he said that he didn't know how they could suspend his license because he didn't ever have one but believe it or not they let him have the deer!
He's right about camo. Most "camo" is drenched in UV brighteners which make the clothing glow bright white to deer. Useful in the snow on a sunny day I guess haha
I was in the infantry in the army in Georgia. I used to be pointmen a lot. I would move calm and picking up your feet like he said. I would do a lot of stopping to hear and see. One day I was pointman. I was moving very slow. I felt a thin line on my ankle as I slowly moved forward. I froze and looked down. It was a boomie trap line connected to a smoke grenade. I looked around and moved back. I stopped the two squads and called my Sgt up. It was awesome.
Ive been a deer hunter since I was a teenager. One of the things I was taught early on was to approach your stand in the same way a deer would and mimic the sound and pace of a deer. Slow steps with a pause every few steps. It takes a lot longer to get to your stand doing this but it has paid off tremendously. I have also at times during the rut paused and would make a soft grunt with my grunt tube. This paid off for me Bigtime a few years ago. 10 min after being seated in my blind I had a buck in the field to my right which taking all factors into consideration, wind and distance , the likelihood that the buck heard my approach and soft grunts was very high. I believe I triggered this bucks curiosity… needless to say the story had a good ending.
@@domosrage5434 there is no shame in taking a life In an ethical way and hunting is far more ethical than raising animals who are inhumanly slaughtered . At the end of the day unless you are a vegetarian or vegan who chooses not to eat animals and of whom I have nothing against , It is safe say that the meat you eat was a life that was taken. So if I’m going to eat meat , i would much rather eat that which I have had the privilege to process myself in the most humane and ethical way possible. While I respect that there are many opinions and views on hunting and hunters , I do not disrespect animals and am greatful when I am privileged with an opportunity to harvest an animal for the sake of feeding my family.
I learned how to walk quietly in the woods as a kid by watching how cats move in leaf litter (basically toe first). It became such a reflex that throughout the years people have threatened to put cat bells on me. When I was in training for the army it would drive me nuts how the city boys were completely clueless about how to move stealthily in the woods and the instructors never touched on the subject. This is a skill every outdoorsperson and hunter should be encouraged to learn to better enjoy the nature around them with causing a minimal disturbance.
That's crazy lol. I learned to walk like this BECAUSE of the city. For non-descript reasons, it helps a lot when people can't see you coming to Strategically Take Equipment to Alternate Locations.
sonoran desert. cholla and other cactus stands offer expert classes in locomotion. and there's that one grove of saguaros that teaches divine boxing if you smoke enough weed :)
I've got zero bush craft skills, but thanks to a mindset of always trying to reduce 'signatures' I'm pretty quiet. Indoors I can sprint without making any noise, outdoors it's quite a bit harder because of hard soled shoes but I might want to see how quiet I can be in moccasins.
When I walk in the woods I use the sounds of nature to cover my noise when possible, a gust of wind, a motor running from planes or vehicles and so on. Move while the noise is present and stop when it isn't. I have had great success doing this and have eased in on game of all sorts that way.
I was taught to snap off a handful of twigs before stalking anything. If you mess up and snap a limb, toss a smaller one at the ground. Its a much more natural pace than a snap with no impact. My Grandpa had island hopped in WWII, and his injuries gave him even worse neuropathy than I have now, But I see why he was so prone to stumble.
Ooh. I like this one. I vaguely remember seeing someone do this somewhere but for the life of me can't remember where - this ideas going in the toolbox for sure.
@@NSWvet83 by throwing another small stick on the ground it gives the illusion that a small twig branch broke and fell out of a tree as opposed to it sounding like one that was just stepped on.
@@NSWvet83 I mean literally just tossing it at the ground so it makes a more natural noise. If a twig snaps and there isnt an immediate crash afterward, it stands out has having been stepped on and not naturally broken and fallen from the tree. It essentially masks the noise without having to quiet it.
I learned from my dad stepping in his actual foot step. More than once I've accidentally run into his butt lol. But I have learned. He doesn't call me a hunter he calls me a killer lol I learned from the best shout out to my dad. He's not going good at the age of 78 so. I so glad to have a dad father mentor. When he goes he will be missed but his knowledge will be forever engraved in my soul. Great video
@J.C. Kohle My dad sure is proud of me and the deer I've killed. There has been a couple of time I told him I'm late. But ill be calling to get some help dragging one home n about 30 minutes later after coming up behi6them and phone rings I need some help its a big one and he would tell my big brother where I was n I needed help. Here would come my brother. Big brother died operating a tractor. But I learned to watch the deer and their pattern. Shout out to all the dads that raised use deer slayers.
@john ME109 yeah if this younger generation would listen to what we learned it would be nice. I took my fiance this year was her first ever hunt seen deer every time we went but she wanted the old man on the mountain and she got him a very heavy and beautiful 8 point. He was looking straight at us. So I ask her can you see him she said just his head. I told her when he looked back up at use put that bullet right under the white patch in the center and he folded never move after that 😂🤣😂. Hammer down on the ol 3030 hollow point n dropped him in his tracks.
@john ME109 my first deer was a button buck maybe 60 lbs lol but I shot him in the neck at around 225 yards with a 270. I was about 15 years old. After that he let me loose with the gun deer hunting lol. He said if I can drop one that small from that far away then I'm old enough and good enough that I can do it all by my self lol. It wasn't even my gun it was the guy who took me n dad. So I knew nothing about how it shot or how the scope was set. Must have been set on kill lol.
I was a band geek once and learned what was called the glide step, high knees and toes touching the ground first with a roll to the heel. It works for hunting very well. Just leave the trombone in the truck.
When I was kid, back in the 60's, Deer hunting was a BIG thing in my family. Asing around the adults, from my father to my grandfather and all my uncles, who the best hunter was, They ALL responded with the same answer. My Great Grandmother. Imagine Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies with a hump on her back. That was my Granny. Every year, there was ALWAYS fresh Venison, steaks, sausages, etc... And that was a big thing back in the 60's. So one day, when she was feeding me a cup of black sludge that she called coffee (her version) I asked her what made her such a successful huntress. After swearing me to secrecy for the next 20 years, she divulged her secret: I don't "Hunt" at ALL. Hunting is for suckers. What I do isn't hunting. It's more like harvesting. I feed them in the back yard, that's the safe area. When it's time, I just put one down there, I only use a knife. No guns needed..."
Heard a story about an Indian and french canadian trapper. The Indian always had his traps full, the french canadian not so much. The frenchie asked the Indian why this was so, the Indian said smarts, the frenchie said how did you get these smarts, the Indian gave him some little brown balls, said take two a day will see results in a week. After the week was up the frenchie said, " hey these are nothing but rabbit turds", the Indian said " see you're getting smarter already".
This reminded me of some fun I had when I first enlisted. I grew up in the country. Trapped more than hunted, but I was out every morning well before school. (This was 45 years ago.) For the first couple of years, I startled most of my NCO's, as I walked quietly even in my new combat boots. It wasn't intentional, just natural at that point. I got yelled at a lot, but it was all in fun. (Aviation units, not infantry. Thus unusual for folks to be quiet.) Thanks for bringing back an old memory.
Great video. A Cherokee hunting guide taught me to begin your hunt just before sunrise and walk gently, slowly over damp leaves covered in morning dew as well as between trees beyond reach of fallen limbs and it works great.
Used to practice walking quietly through the woods when I was a kid. I grew up still hunting. I would try and imitate the way a deer walks, taking 3-5 steps & then pause. I will also pick a few leaves off a tree and crinkle them in my hand,imitating feeding. You are going to make some noise,might as well make it sound more natural.About the only thing I have ever seen walk non-stop in a constant gait in the woods is Man.In the following years. I have killed alot of deer on the way to my stand. It helps to leave a little earlier & slowly hunt your way to your stand or blind. Also learned that a does natural instict is to flee away from you(to divert your attention away from fawns) a buck's instict is to lay their and hide like they did when they were fawns. Big one's will lay there most times and let you walk right past them. So walk slow or you could be passing right by a monster.
A lot of good info. My wife constantly thinks I'm sneaking up on her, and gets pretty steamed when I scare her. I walk in the woods like I walk anywhere else. With the exceptions of using background noise to mask your movements. Also, if you are ground standing, scrape your blind, or stand, to bare ground. No sticks, leaves or anything to make noise. Plus, the scent of bare earth masks your scent.
Walking to stand without breaking sticks is the only thing to worry about. I believe the sound of leaves crunching travels with you and not out through the woods. Like when you hear any animal in the woods you don't hear them until they are very close to you. There's been many times where I'm late to the stand so I'm speed walking making all kinds of noise and end up walking right up on deer like they never heard me coming
Depends on where you are. Like coastal Alaska with lots of thick brush and elevated rock outcroppings is going to be very different from interior Alaska that's only hills with very limited trees.
Way back when the Boy Scouts was still a great way for a young boy to learn great skills, we learned to walk putting your toes down first and feeling for any sticks before letting the rest of your weight come down. Always worked for me. Thanks for your video work.
I lose my balance walking on my tip toes, I do the exact opposite. Back of heel down first then I slowly roll my foot down flat, if I feel a stick I stop, so to not snap it. Just walk slow, take 10-20 steps and stop for 20-30 sec to listen.
I am a new hunter and this is the first time anyone has gone into the amount of detail I need to learn. Thank you, thank you! I will be checking out all of your videos. When I make my first game stew, I'll think of you!
So many times I’ve had deer follow me to my stand after walking in. More often than not I’ll have them come running towards me if I try to run to my stand like a deer. I’ll double my step to mimick 4 instead of two feet. Just something I developed in my travels. I’ve mimicked squirrels also. I’m glad you posted this….seems like lots of good hunters think alike. I pretty much gave up trying to walk in with buddies. They always drag their feet and want to talk on the way in. I hate that.
For years I would go to my stand site 6 to 8 weeks before the season started and spend a little time one morning raking the path to the stand. I would rake the path about 18" wide, so it was wide enough to walk on but didn't look like an airplane runway. By the time opening day arrived there would be a small amount of leaf litter back on the path but usually no sticks. It allowed for almost silent entry to my stand site. If you dedicate just a little time to a project like this it pays off in big rewards.
I've been doing this for years. Just a 12 inch path make s world of difference and it makes it easier to see the sticks. Do it once a year and its easy to maintain throughout the season without make alot of noise.
I walk on the outside of my feet. It doesn't hurt that my feet have a natural over pronation. I often scare people by walking up on them quietly without meaning to. My kids and wife sound like a herd of drunk cows in the woods.
Stalking is almost an art. Noise is your enemy. Sudden movement is your enemy. Silence and slow fluid movement are key. On those once in a while occasions where the weather has gotten unseasonably warm, I've actually stalked in bare feet. It will make you look where you are about to step, step gently, and allow you to feel sticks under the leaves before you break them. If you happen to have soft soled moccasins, they're almost as good. That together with good camo and I've snuck up on deer to within 15 yards. Use shadows, keep trees/brush/terrain in between you and the deer, and be mindful of the wind/air currents. When they move, you move. When they stop, you stop. It's a fun game to play and if you get up close on the deer, it's hilarious when they finally notice you because at first they don't know what to think you are, then they don't know whether to shit or go blind. It'll leave a smile on your face.
Yes, you can disguise what you are by how you walk. Last year the leaves were as crunchy as they could be and I had to walk about 300 yards to my stand. This was the 1st week of December. I tried to sound like a squirrel the best I could. Besides how I walked, I carried a long branch stick and I used that to lightly stir the leaves now and then as I walked. I got up in my stand and about 2 minutes later a nice 7 pt came right in thinking I may have been a doe or another buck. I also keep my trail to my stand as stick free as possible.
It's no BS. While indisposed in such a way - I had a large doe come out of nowhere, and walk within 6 feet. I was afraid it was going to charge. Put the fear of the almighty in me.
Years ago(60) I read a book about how to walk quietly in the woods. It stressed foot placement, using the edge of the foot, ball to heel, instead of heel to ball, sometimes curling your foot inside your boots(sounds dumb, but try it). I don't know if it was good, or bad information, but my family's always saying I am too quiet. I'm constantly scaring them, I know they aren't deer but, they can hear a bag open at 50 yards,lol.
Push, wiggle, and dig slightly into the leaves with your toe in a forward direction. It moves sticks out of the way. Rolling your foot from heel to toe cracks sticks that you can't see under the blanket of dead leaves.
Daddy taught me this when I first started hunting. Also a good point to remember is don't walk with your heels. It makes way more noise and ups the chance of breaking a stick from all the weight being put on a smaller surface area. A floater footed walk distributes weight over the entire foot.When I've located game I switch to toe first as much as possible. I can feel anything hard with my toe and arch before I set my heel down. I've taken dozens of whitetail and hogs with archery equipment slip hunting and spot n stalk this way. Hope this helps someone on their next hunt.
Great video! This is most of the reason I don't like hunting with people that I've never walked out there with. I grew up hunting deer in the prairie grass of SD. It can be so tall you can't see through, and I'm 6'2. Most of my deer, i''ve just heard by walking quietly, and stopping and listening. Breathing must be quiet as well. Open your mouth and breathe gently when you're listening. They can hear better than you, but they may not know what you are.
My grandfather taught me the same pretty much. He would say be as quiet as leaves allow you to be and nothing more. He would walk very slowly from toe to heel and just a few steps a minute. We never hunted in the stand, it was either laying prone in the hay field or stalking in the woods or sometimes setting at the trunk of an old oak tree for a couple of hours at a time.
Nice tips for sure. I too have noticed some tend to drag their feet. I was outsmarted by a squirrel and a buck once few years back. Was at a stand and a pesky squirrel had been barking at me and making all kinds of ruckus behind me. It subsided and started up again and when I turned around the largest spiked deer buck I had ever seen had walked up right behind me. Needless to say when I moved he bolted. The spikes had massive girth to them and in my mind he was a unique and unusual trophy. Never saw him again.
Initiate every step with the outside of your boot. The smaller surface area creates less noise, and the leverage gained, allows a slow controlled placement of the boot. This technique creates an automatic slow cadence walk. Nice tips man.
Except logs or downed trees. Always step on the tree, log, whatever you find that could possibly harbor a snake below. By stepping on the tree/log you have a chance if either crushing the snake, frightening it so it tries to escape, or cause it to possibly make a noise or move enough that you can see it. If you just stepped over a tree or log on the ground, as soon as your foot hits the leaves it could be two or more extra holes added to your lower leg. The worse case scenario would be finding yourself very far from civilization and help after being bit by a poisonous snake. You'll just wind up becoming a blow up doll for Bigfoot. Lol
I have literally walked up on squirrels and deer when I walk slowly taking just three to four steps at a times, pausing for several seconds, then continuing. I try to mimic other animals as they are foraging the woods and I’m amazed at the activity of other animals versus when I walk at a steady pace, regardless of how fast I walk.
This was good advice and it also brought back memories of when my dad taught me this when I first started hunting with him almost 50 years ago. One other thing that I do is when I step, I land my heel first and slowly roll my foot forward. I know it might seem counterintuitive, but it helps stop those sudden sharp noises which, as you stated, are your enemy.
When I walk to my stand (especially in the mornings) I carry a stick. Between each step I touch that stick to the ground simulating the pace of a dear. I’ve had deer (and other animals) just yards away and so long as I stop, they commonly remain unalarmed. Still though, I never, ever attempt to stalk a deer unless it’s windy, the wind is in my favor and I know exactly where that deer is. Being a land owner I typically mow, rake or use a leaf blower to clear a path to my stands just before the rut approaches. Even if leaves fall on that path you can be relatively confident that you won’t break a stick on your approach. Btw, have you noticed that mature bucks often have a more pronounced gate.
If you are trying to be really quiet always step with the toe landing first. Especially if you’re in water or mud and yes stoping quite often is imperative. I learned all this at a young age from my Vietnam vet / turkey killing father. The military calls it conducting (SLLS) stop, look, listen, smell.
The great traditional bow hunter, Fred Asbell showed me and a few others how to walk in dry leaves. You walk toe to heal not the other way around. This technique makes your foot falls sound like a quadruped rather than what we are, biped. Move in no discernible pattern starting and stopping as though you were stopping to nibble on something.
Great video ! Thank you. After watching numerous videos and being a hunter myself, ( mostly archery ), what I think most people don’t realize is how much work it is to walk the way you’re telling us to. It’s not normal when you walk to keep your body weight on one foot for any length of time and when you start to do this, your legs get tired quickly even on level ground…. how much level ground do you come across when hunting in the mountains ? My point is that we hunters need to get/stay in shape for hunting…. Hope this helps…Good luck out there ! Be safe. 🦌
Absolutely true ,being a wildlife cameraman . I choose early morning 8-10am when the dew dampens leaves . And avoid twigs , toes down first on flat stuff the thud of heels realy reverberates , toes down first really dampens sound
GREAT VIDEO! I've had great luck still hunting wearing nothing but thick hunting socks moving slowly while mimicking grazing noises on vegetation as I go. I once surprised a herd of bedded mule deer as I grazed my way through a oak brush thicket.
Breaking sticks has a lot to do with surface area of the foots print contact. Quadrupeds have two extra feet to distribute the load and as such have a smaller print contact area, breaking less sticks. Also, with more than 2 points of contact they don’t have to worry about tipping over mid stride, so their feet don’t need as large a pad to maintain upright stability and pointy little hooves work fine. Would you rather walk through a minefield with stilts or clown shoes… Best analogy I got.
That was a GREAT VIDEO!!! Beginner or old vet hunters can get info or a reminder. I must say about bears... Those suckers can be the ABSOLUTE quietest animals in the woods!! I had one come in 15 yards from me, in super dry and thick dead leaves and I never heard him! He was so big it looked like his belly was dragging and his head looked like tick's head when it's body is full of blood. That bear was all of 350lbs or more.
I have cleared a path to my stand well before deer season and carefully remove sticks and fallen branches. I then mark the path with flagging tape on branches when getting to my stand in the early morning when its dark. One year I raked a path to remove any leaves to quiet my approach. A few days later when getting to my stand I saw deer tracks on the path where I raked the leaves.
You did an excellent presentation. It's a real challenge here in Florida with all the dry Palmetto stalks. It seems to take forever to get to my stand. If you see them but they're unaware, you've caught on. The comments are great too. Thanks to all.
I think that the message hes trying to get across is that animals aint dumb. They live in the woods so they hear "nature" every minute of everyday. Just like you can hear every part of your house. You cant just come stomping into their house without them being like "ay wtf was that?"
Nerd here. This vid was fascinating to watch because I immediately thought of "Dune", the sci-fi book/movie. The story takes place on a desert world where enormous man-eating worms lurk in the sand. The natives teach the main character how to walk through the desert without drawing the worms. The trick was to step with an irregular rhythm, and make your steps sound like typical sounds in the desert. Very cool to see the real world connection in this vid
I’m beginning to recognize DD could also be Doctor Doolittle 😜😉 no matter what, there’s nothing more interesting than paying attention and learning how to blend in, even if you’re carrying a camera or a bow, or rifle.... David, you’re so blessed to have such a special place to live, and learn. Thanks for teaching 👍💯👍
Good information. Someone told me to lead with the toe. Sensitive boots would help (or moccasins or squatchin it). There's a rhythm. I watched a cousin of mine walk in a small ravine with a bunch of dry leaf litter and he was quieter than the two turkeys that ambled out in front of him. Definitely a skill set. Thanks for the share.
It's a good idea to also maintain your trails to your dear stands. Get rid of everything that makes noise. Like the leaves and twigs get the path down to dirt and you will be quiet like a ninja LOL a little extra work goes a long ways!! And you need to have good scent control. And you need to make sure that you are hunting with the wind in your favor or you will lose every time.
At this point in the hunting season I think I would wait to next year. This is something that you have to do your round. Especially after all the leaves fall off the trees you have to do at least once or twice and I would do it in the middle of the day when the deer are more likely to be bedded down. Usually on a day that I have determined would not be a good hunting day anyways. Good luck hunting!!!
I walk my woods almost everyday all year long and have incorporated into my exercise routine to kick and toss sticks off the trail , for the reasons above but also safety. Especially the nice round ones that can roll under your feet ,especially in the dark. Getting old now so always thinking about things to fall over.
Thanks for the clear explanation of what I have been doing my whole life. I don't remember anyone teaching me. Maybe I can teach it better now. This s what is meant by "watch your step". I was lucky to be able to run through the woods growing up. Boy Scouts was a great avenue to get out there too.
I had to laugh when you said you had to keep telling newbies "pick up your feet." My Dad used to tell me that even when I thought I was being quiet. One his favorite things to do during deer season was to what he called sneak hunt. The second favorite thing was to figure out where I was sitting and sneak up on me with in a few feet and then blow like a buck and see how high I would come of the ground. I finally learned some of his tactics and what you just went over. Thanks
Growing up I use to be so light on my feet I could run through dry leaves without a sound. I grew up in the woods on our farm and our Dad taught us how to track and be soft on our feet. Flippen cows can walk so quietly and if you're not looking you could literally walk right passed them. Even today on the city streets I can approach people with little to no sound.
That's a pretty good tip, I never thought about rhythm before even though I've watched deer not react to squirrels. My dad taught me to always pick up my feet, step heel first, slowly lower your foot to feel, and then either adjust or continue with the other foot. Stop every so many steps to look around. I also do my own adjusting like walking on the side of the sole just because there's less surface area. Hard to explain really but doing this for years you just get the feel of how to maneuver over crunchy leaves and sticks without making much noise, if any at all. I've jumped deer before that scared the hell out of me just from practicing what my dad taught me and adding my own walking methods in there. I've also had them come in not even 5 minutes after I got settled in my blind.
Everybody knows deer watch TH-cam. They're on to you bud, great job giving away the stealth ninja technique! Things are different here in the desert southwest- involving long range spotting, and a lot of stalking from behind various features to shield your movements. Expect a longer range shot on whitetail.
I'm not a hunter so I don't really have much experience but a thing that I did when in the woods was walk on bigger sticks and fallen trees when they are around so I didn't have to step on the dry leaves as much. That has helped me watch deer from closer up, but I think the most import thing is to go slow and steady.
Great info. I was in the woods today hunting deer (i'm a newbie), but couldn't spot any. I could hear them when I stood still though. I broke a few twigs and sticks, but will be extra careful next time. Thanks for the information.
It's all about the rhythm. My cousin grew up in the woods and walking behind him is like watching a ghost. Stop, go, step on the rocks and moss (if there is any), and planning yr approach. Truth to be said it is an art of sort, and some people will never be able to do it. I do anvy my cousin ;)
When you sat on the log, your legs were gone. ;) simplist tip is walk like a deer. you dont need to be quiet.. just walk at a pace of the game you're after. Good video.
Good stuff. Thanks! If I want to keep my eyes scanning ahead and I'm walking slow enough, I'll keep my weight on my back foot while my front foot "feels" for any twigs or branches underneath before I shift my weight to that foot.
As far as foot noise is concerned yes pick up your feet but also walk heel to toe and try to keep your weight on the outside of your foot which is a little difficult to do with all footwear but not impossible. Just look at your bare foot and how it has evolved. It is designed to displace air slowly out the inside of the foot so on hard surfaces there is no clomping sound and it minimizes actual contact with the ground without sacrificing traction. If you walk with boots like you would while walking barefoot you get a similar effect. The downside is that I have learned to walk that way all of my life and I tend to wear out boots fast because the outsides of my treads wear more than the rest of my boot. Slowly displacing the air under your feet and the heel to toe motion makes more of a low volume crunching sound on leaves and small twigs and not a clomping sound that gives away your gate. Also wearing boots that have deep treads allows air to escape from under your feet more quietly but other than the old school military boots most now tend to pick up pebbles which can make a scritching sounds on hard surfaces. The old military boots with the zig zag treads the treads were V shaped and would not pick up pebbles. Another thing is birds. I grew up as a mean little kid with an assortment of BB and pellet guns and used to hunt birds just for the hell of it. Yeah it was mean but I learned a lot about different bird species behavior and birds are real tricky to sneak up on further improving my stealth skills. If you spook birds either with noise, bright color clothes or movement they will put out an alarm call and every other critter in the woods will disappear. Many birds like blue jays and crows will follow you if they spot you and keep squawking alarm calls so you might as well call it a day. Even if birds are not alarmed by your presence their behavior will change to the point prey animals in the area can become concerned such as if they were happily chirping and going about their mating calls and such then suddenly go silent or split. I monitor the birds and make every effort to not be detected by them. If I can work my way into an area where the birds are going about their birdie business without them detecting me and they continue about their business that is typically a good area to settle into to watch and wait for other game to show up. Squirrels, rabbits and deer tend to feel safer where there are plenty of happy birds. Like in the Disney movies. That's also why I never wear hunters orange. Birds see color very well and will give away your presence. Hikers should be the ones required to wear hunters orange while hiking during hunting season if safety was the real issue.
I use to rake a path. The day or 2 before. Leaves will still fill the path, but not enough to skip around most of them. When at final hunting destination, silently tip toe 10 yards or so slowly without noise, and then make deer like crunching of leaves and break a few sticks, and rattling antlers at the same time and jog slowly back to original spot, while grunting at the same time, And wait! This absolutely works in the dusk hours, as the bucks think it's a doe and another buck in his vicinity. Biggest deer I ever got , was with this technique. But for walking in , your advice is very good. DONT HUNT FOR SPORT, HUNT, AND GIVE THANKS TO CHRIST JESUS FOR EVERYTHING! And WHAT HE ALLOWS US TO EAT, OR USE OF THE ANIMAL WITH RESPECT, AND OBEY HIM BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!
This is great advice. Haven't thought about doing this for deer. Tried to "sound like a turkey" this past spring after shooting hours on a quick scout and had a Jake walk over and check me out
I use the Indian stalk method when stalking game while hunting, my steps are done in a methodical way. I set my foot down on the outside edge then roll the rest of my foot slowly to the ground. I observe the ground and place my feet according to what is on the ground. Using the Indian stalk method I have gotten within 20 to 30 yards of wild turkeys.
i do somethin similar to this when hunting turkeys but its more of crawl but esentiall i never pressdown first i kind of nestle my hands and knees down slowly ive crawled up to many turkeys my dad still dont get how i do it lmao
Crawling would work but if you are trying to cover a large area it would be very time consuming. When I was on a year around deer lease some of the hunting areas were as large as 300 acres of heavy woods. However on occasion I had to get in an open area, I went prone position if turkey’s were in the same open area.
Great video man! Thanks for the amazing content! I just go in the early morning just before sunrise, and stay in the woods all day if possible! Being in the woods, makes a man really experience what God has given to use. We naturally learn things from the animals, when we sit in the woods! Hunting really is the solution to being one with nature! You nailed the “how to walk parts”! Again, great video!
If you are hunting property that you own or have ready access to, just train the deer that your normal noises mean food. On group of deer at my dad's property learned to come to the sound of the chain opening the metal gate. He was there to feed the cows, but for months he'd throw sweet feed over the fence at the same location. Eventually, the deer started waiting just out of sight after hearing the gate. He would throw out the feed and head toward the gate about 100 yards away and before he closed it there would be deer eating. Timed feeders(where legal) have the same effect. All this is out the window on less accessible or public property. Be quiet and be early.
I have found that the "toe then heel" step is best. It makes a 2 part sound that is similar to a deer walking and also doesn't break near as many small twigs. Step out, toes down, then heel. Also as in the army I learned to roll my foot slowly, using the side of my foot. Several methods are good but the worst is stepping flat footed or dragging. Something I have still yet to make my son do..LOL...he sounds like a buffalo walking thru the forest.
It's always nice to be out stalking deer and hear crunch crunch when you walk . Where i hunt it's all pine needle's which make a unique crunch that you can hear 50 yards away.
Lol, what can break a limb..? Well, I was in my stand one time and it sounded like someone was rolling a Blazer down the hill in neutral with the motor off. I was straining to see what goofball was doing this as the sound was getting closer. Only to see a large cow moose with her nose up and chest out breaking limbs the size of my arm just walking like she was saying “These pesky trees”. Yup that definitely got my attention! I was about 16 and hadn’t even been around livestock let alone wild animals of that size. I was 😅😅😅 big time.
When I go out in the morning it’s still pitch black, I don’t worry too much about my steps, people assume deer will run if they hear you it’s simple not true, they will stand still and look around, when the noise ends they will go back to what they were doing, it’s more important to keep quiet and still in your blind/stand than to get out there quietly
it took me 45 years to learn what you just explained in this video I try an use the lightest boots I can weather permiting , and step so slowly that u can feel a stick under your feet before you crack it , then re step until you feel no sticks under your feet . cracking sticks and branches screws up the entire hunt damp quiet leaves are best
Oh good! I've been doing this correctly. In my case, it's because of my stealth camp that I go to on my days off to relax and I don't want people coming to where I am so I'm hiding from people. I also listen for people and I listen for exactly the sorts of things you are describing. One thing I would add to this is that, if you're passing through more densely vegetated areas, you have to look out that you don't break branches while moving through the foliage. When I go, that's a major concern, especially since those branches seem to be a lot louder when they break than the ones that are already on the ground. I've broken some and heard people back up on the official trail make some comment about how there must be donkeys in the woods. lol Nope, it was me.
Great tips for the inexperienced hunter Dave... there are even a lot of "experienced" hunters out there that have bad habits that alert the deer to their presence... attention to detail would definitely improve their hunting skills and how you walk through the woods is one of the most important details
Great video. Shew shewshew shew........shewshew. loved it. I live in the black hills, not a lot of leafs, but tall grass that hids limbs and sticks. Ill be more aware and walk like a drunk ballerina
Then transfer your weight from one foot to another while feeling for that hidden twig before you put all your weight down on that foot. All the while scanning near and far between every tree. If you get spotted..slowly pull a white paper towel from your back pocket..hold it out a little from behind you and wiggle it just a little then hide it in your back pocket. Alot of times they get curious enough to come to you thinking it was another deers tail shake while their feeding along and everything is good.
Tell my why, if you step on a stick every deer in the county runs away, but if you’re rattling down the road in a 2001 Dodge Cummins diesel truck, they’re coming at you from every direction.
Easy, as a comparison. Which of these things would get your attention more? A TV you hear in the next room or a knock on your front door? I reckon a car never has drove through miles of trees to mercilessly destroy a Buck lookin to fuk. But that branch snapping could be a mountain lion. Which is a little more realistic and has also been a natural predator in the wilds before recorded history.
😅🤣😁🙌
@@norwoodcraftandforge2950 I was going to say instinct from millions of years of evolution, but you just said the same thing in a different way.
Oh God you have got good a point!
They know that truck is gonna stay on the road like the thousands before it. If you rattled your truck into the woods they would go running.
I was taught this 45 years ago by a couple of young Cherokee boys. You don't have to be quiet in the woods. Just avoid sounding like a human. Even walk on your toes, to prevent that double, heal-toe sound. You can prance, sound like a deer, or shuffle, stop, shuffle, stop, sounding like a squirrel. The best way to approach this, is go up a tree early morning, and sit very quietly for hours, listening to every critter in woods, and watching them to see what they are paying attention to. You'll see deer glance towards noisy squirrels, but they know by the sound they are no threat so they ignore them. Skunks and possums have patterns too. Learn them all. After all, there's no way to walk quietly through a 3 inch thick bed of dry leafs.
Another good trick to walking through the woods is to have a diaphragm turkey call in your mouth and cluck as you walk along following all these other great techniques as well.
@@codyglad5966, now that's a good idea!
@@democratsuck yeah not my idea originally, I can't remember where I read it but I've done it and it seems to work.
Ha I was taught this 27 yrs ago by my dad.
Exactly. You can't be quiet, but you can walk like an animal. They don't march like storm troopers. This is the difference between hikers and real hunters.
My dad did four tours in Vietnam, voluntarily. He knew how to be quiet. Even in crunchy leaves with twigs all around. He was like a ghost. I grew up watching him from the ripe old age of 6 to when I Enlisted. I’ve been with people out going to the hunting grounds and the bozo behind me sounded like he was raking leaves. I stopped and said in a calm voice, “Are you hunting or Driving? Look where you’re going to put your feet. This isn’t a race!” I watched my dad in front of me and he’d rest each step slightly on the leaves and put a little pressure and I guess if he liked the way the ground felt, he’d put his foot down all the way. BUT... If he didn’t like what he felt, and there where no other better spots to step he’d use the side of his boot and push some of the leaves away to the side and walk on the wet leaves on the bottom. He was behind me one time in the woods, rabbit hunting and we came to a fork on the path. I asked, “Which way? (I turned and....) Dad? Dad?! Where’d ya go?” Tapped me on the shoulder and knowing the job he had when he was “In”, I pissed myself right then and there!! He had this smirk on his face too 😏 I miss my dad.
You just solved a riddle for me I've had since I was 13. My buddy's dad was a war vet and whenever he took us deer hunting he could slip through the woods EXACTLY how you just described; Guy was a friggin' ghost. Dry leaves all around & I tried to be as quiet as I could but this cat.... He'd just "appear"-LOL Rules he was sure to make us repeat: don't piss, don't miss, and for God's sake-PLEASE DON"T (mistakenly) shoot somebody's cow!
Reminds of our Boy scout leader, he'd take guys hunting. One time he had to take a crap, suddenly a eight point buck came into the clearing. The two young guys froze( buck fever) , Blackie the scout leader came out from behind the bushes, pants still down, poop still coming out, yelling shoot it , shoot it, shoot the damn buck. Blackie got a few shots off but considering his predicament he missed. LOL.
@@markcolby2927 Same thing when I was 12 w/a .410 takin' a leak squirrel huntin' 2 come running by-I shot, missed, and fell flat on my ass! Did my brother shoot? NO! He was too busy laughin at me!
@@markcolby2927 and I've STILL got that .410 after 35 years!
Man, that is extremely interesting. I have always noticed that moist layer down there, but never put two and two together to step even more silently. Thank you for that golden nugget of information.
Best man I have ever know to sneak through the woods was a 6'10 400LB man who grew up in the woods. He use to walk on his toes and wear Indian moccasins. He was and is a legend in our hunting community. Snuck up on every hunter and never got busted. I wish I could walk in the woods like that man could. He use to sneak up on us and ask if we saw anything as he was leaning on the tree stand. Freaky a.f. but impressive.
He's a monster lol but joking aside I'm 300 pound and 6'7 and yes I walk quietly with a awareness of my surroundings. I put this down to being barefoot as a kid and having grown up with our own woods butting on to forest.
I say to my kids if quiet you'll see so much more .
Thats talent and experience!
I always wanted to learn how to melt into the woods like Teddy on Crocodillian Dundee "click click", look the other way "click click" gandhi! Hahahaha
He was a sasquatch!
Lol, my ex played football & wrestled in highschool-collage. 6'4, 350 lbs. At his lightest. He also tip toes & quick, light on his feet, sneaky as heck.
I tend to imitate the sound of an Armadillo moving through the woods, it’s a little louder than a Sherman Tank.👍
Lol same here I just roll through the woods like I got bart Simpson megaphone daisy chain attached to my feet.
😂😂😂🇺🇲👍
It's funny because they are loud af
They damn sure are sounds like a damn wild hog rutting around and coming through the woods worked cattle a big part of my life and I grew to hate em a dildo can ruin a horse for ever
@@calvinlayport3127 not to mention stepping in a borrow!
They are actually new to Kansas
Theyv migrated though here in approx the last 10-15 years
My departed uncle was a very successful deer hunter here in the Carolina woods . He would slowly walk trails while smoking cigarettes. He believed that deer were more used to smelling smoke than human scent . He told me that when he alerted a deer by making an unnatural sound he would grunt like a buck . This may have caused lesser bucks to run , but a dominant buck would respond to the challenge and give him an opportunity to shoot . He said that he always carried his rifle loaded and ready to take a shot . He claimed that he harvested as many deer to and from the stand as when he was in his stand . He didn't believe in walking to his stand before daylight , as it was illegal to shoot deer in the darkness , and he considered being in the woods when it was illegal to shoot game a waste of his time . His job required that he worked until daylight , so he mostly hunted after sunrise , usually in his workclothes with a safety orange vest . He believed that camoflage clothing wasn't very important .
I have been hunting by myself for 35 years and I have never killed a deer from a stand, always walking or sitting in the woods. I have killed some laying on top of round bales of hay. I fell asleep one afternoon on top of those bales and when I woke up there were six deer feeding within 10 feet of me. All I could do was watch them...lol
@@Brett235 Cool .
My pop pop was the same way he claimed if you can get deep in big woods places where the deer can live and die without crossing paths with humans or domestic animals, that cigarette smoke will actually bring bucks in to investigate what they are smelling he swore that he shot lots of deer that way. I've seen him take a nice 8 pointer while smoking his corn cob pipe once. I myself have shot a few while smoking or just after but in my experience I have without a doubt been busted smoking way more than I have taken deer while smoking and usually will chew while deer hunting Not that I condone poaching but he also told me that during the depression his one brother and him used to use a pair of screw on shed antlers to up the odds of getting a shot on a "legal" buck and said that one time the wardens were trying to catch em in the act and every time they would see their truck parked somewhere they would try to sneak up on em and trail em at a distance and watch em so they had my great g-ma drop em off and pick em up in the morning at various spots and they even went as far as taking the soles off old pairs of boots and nailing them on the soles of their good boots backwards to mess with the game warden! Pop pop said they caught his brother with the screw on antlers though eventually warden said that it was awful funny how he shot a six point buck for four years in a row opening day and always back at the truck within an hour or two of sunrise and legal shooting time said when he finally got caught he didn't even have a gun to shoot it with just a six pointer with bullet hole through the lungs on a drag rope and his knife that's because he shot it the night before but the warden took his screw in six point rack and he had to pay fines and they suspended his license and when he went to the courthouse he said that he didn't know how they could suspend his license because he didn't ever have one but believe it or not they let him have the deer!
He's right about camo. Most "camo" is drenched in UV brighteners which make the clothing glow bright white to deer. Useful in the snow on a sunny day I guess haha
....except cigarette smoke smells nothing like leaves and wood smoke. Pretty sure your uncle just wanted a cigarette.
I was in the infantry in the army in Georgia. I used to be pointmen a lot. I would move calm and picking up your feet like he said. I would do a lot of stopping to hear and see. One day I was pointman. I was moving very slow. I felt a thin line on my ankle as I slowly moved forward. I froze and looked down. It was a boomie trap line connected to a smoke grenade. I looked around and moved back. I stopped the two squads and called my Sgt up. It was awesome.
Georgia?
@@tvrskkngdm2333 Ft. Benning. Training.
Ive been a deer hunter since I was a teenager. One of the things I was taught early on was to approach your stand in the same way a deer would and mimic the sound and pace of a deer. Slow steps with a pause every few steps. It takes a lot longer to get to your stand doing this but it has paid off tremendously. I have also at times during the rut paused and would make a soft grunt with my grunt tube. This paid off for me Bigtime a few years ago. 10 min after being seated in my blind I had a buck in the field to my right which taking all factors into consideration, wind and distance , the likelihood that the buck heard my approach and soft grunts was very high. I believe I triggered this bucks curiosity… needless to say the story had a good ending.
A good ending for you, perhaps. Nothing against hunting, but that last bit seemed to forget that you took a life. I hope he was tasty, at the least
@@domosrage5434 there is no shame in taking a life In an ethical way and hunting is far more ethical than raising animals who are inhumanly slaughtered . At the end of the day unless you are a vegetarian or vegan who chooses not to eat animals and of whom I have nothing against , It is safe say that the meat you eat was a life that was taken. So if I’m going to eat meat , i would much rather eat that which I have had the privilege to process myself in the most humane and ethical way possible. While I respect that there are many opinions and views on hunting and hunters , I do not disrespect animals and am greatful when I am privileged with an opportunity to harvest an animal for the sake of feeding my family.
@@robraimondo1319 Very well said
@@robraimondo1319 Additionally it's not like deer tend to die in particularly pleasant ways in the wild
I learned how to walk quietly in the woods as a kid by watching how cats move in leaf litter (basically toe first). It became such a reflex that throughout the years people have threatened to put cat bells on me. When I was in training for the army it would drive me nuts how the city boys were completely clueless about how to move stealthily in the woods and the instructors never touched on the subject. This is a skill every outdoorsperson and hunter should be encouraged to learn to better enjoy the nature around them with causing a minimal disturbance.
That's crazy lol. I learned to walk like this BECAUSE of the city. For non-descript reasons, it helps a lot when people can't see you coming to Strategically Take Equipment to Alternate Locations.
@@okamiexe1501 ah yes the famous S.T.E.A.L.
sonoran desert. cholla and other cactus stands offer expert classes in locomotion.
and there's that one grove of saguaros that teaches divine boxing if you smoke enough weed :)
I've got zero bush craft skills, but thanks to a mindset of always trying to reduce 'signatures' I'm pretty quiet. Indoors I can sprint without making any noise, outdoors it's quite a bit harder because of hard soled shoes but I might want to see how quiet I can be in moccasins.
To move quietly through the woods you have to be able to get into the outdoors. If you can move quietly through the woods you'll know what I mean.
When I walk in the woods I use the sounds of nature to cover my noise when possible, a gust of wind, a motor running from planes or vehicles and so on. Move while the noise is present and stop when it isn't. I have had great success doing this and have eased in on game of all sorts that way.
You could carry a trumpet too. You know, for those awkward silent bits)))
@@jimmymcjimmyvich9052 LOL, I'll leave that to you.
Yep, wind is great cover. Unfortunately if the wind is too high, the deer stay down, because they know they can't hear or smell predators as well.
Lsu sucks
If you know where they bed, you can likely walk almost on top of them.
I was taught to snap off a handful of twigs before stalking anything. If you mess up and snap a limb, toss a smaller one at the ground. Its a much more natural pace than a snap with no impact. My Grandpa had island hopped in WWII, and his injuries gave him even worse neuropathy than I have now, But I see why he was so prone to stumble.
Ooh. I like this one. I vaguely remember seeing someone do this somewhere but for the life of me can't remember where - this ideas going in the toolbox for sure.
I'm not understanding what you mean by throwing a stick on the ground.
@@NSWvet83 by throwing another small stick on the ground it gives the illusion that a small twig branch broke and fell out of a tree as opposed to it sounding like one that was just stepped on.
@@HughMansonMD ahhh ok. Makes sense thx
@@NSWvet83 I mean literally just tossing it at the ground so it makes a more natural noise. If a twig snaps and there isnt an immediate crash afterward, it stands out has having been stepped on and not naturally broken and fallen from the tree. It essentially masks the noise without having to quiet it.
I learned from my dad stepping in his actual foot step. More than once I've accidentally run into his butt lol. But I have learned. He doesn't call me a hunter he calls me a killer lol I learned from the best shout out to my dad. He's not going good at the age of 78 so. I so glad to have a dad father mentor. When he goes he will be missed but his knowledge will be forever engraved in my soul. Great video
Same here!!!
@J.C. Kohle My dad sure is proud of me and the deer I've killed. There has been a couple of time I told him I'm late. But ill be calling to get some help dragging one home n about 30 minutes later after coming up behi6them and phone rings I need some help its a big one and he would tell my big brother where I was n I needed help. Here would come my brother. Big brother died operating a tractor. But I learned to watch the deer and their pattern. Shout out to all the dads that raised use deer slayers.
@john ME109 yeah if this younger generation would listen to what we learned it would be nice. I took my fiance this year was her first ever hunt seen deer every time we went but she wanted the old man on the mountain and she got him a very heavy and beautiful 8 point. He was looking straight at us. So I ask her can you see him she said just his head. I told her when he looked back up at use put that bullet right under the white patch in the center and he folded never move after that 😂🤣😂. Hammer down on the ol 3030 hollow point n dropped him in his tracks.
@john ME109 my first deer was a button buck maybe 60 lbs lol but I shot him in the neck at around 225 yards with a 270. I was about 15 years old. After that he let me loose with the gun deer hunting lol. He said if I can drop one that small from that far away then I'm old enough and good enough that I can do it all by my self lol. It wasn't even my gun it was the guy who took me n dad. So I knew nothing about how it shot or how the scope was set. Must have been set on kill lol.
@john ME109 yep
I was a band geek once and learned what was called the glide step, high knees and toes touching the ground first with a roll to the heel. It works for hunting very well. Just leave the trombone in the truck.
leave one instrument, bring another.
"...leave the trombone in the truck" - I knew I was doing something wrong :)
When I was kid, back in the 60's, Deer hunting was a BIG thing in my family. Asing around the adults, from my father to my grandfather and all my uncles, who the best hunter was, They ALL responded with the same answer. My Great Grandmother.
Imagine Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies with a hump on her back. That was my Granny. Every year, there was ALWAYS fresh Venison, steaks, sausages, etc... And that was a big thing back in the 60's. So one day, when she was feeding me a cup of black sludge that she called coffee (her version) I asked her what made her such a successful huntress. After swearing me to secrecy for the next 20 years, she divulged her secret: I don't "Hunt" at ALL. Hunting is for suckers. What I do isn't hunting. It's more like harvesting. I feed them in the back yard, that's the safe area. When it's time, I just put one down there, I only use a knife. No guns needed..."
I tie squirrels to the soles of my hunting boots and ride them like furry forest roller skates.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Well ya.. I mean who doesn't do this. Every one I know ties cute furry critters to there boots.
I ride a deer. I have no idea how he can look his deer wife in the eyes.
I need to get me some sugar gliders, Gorilla tape, and peanuts to feed my new winged boots.
Aaaaaaahahahahaha good one
I learned how to walk silently in the woods by an old Indian. When I asked him how he did it, "He said, " I look where I'm walking".
So he carried a lamp or just stopped at night))
LOL.
Heard a story about an Indian and french canadian trapper. The Indian always had his traps full, the french canadian not so much. The frenchie asked the Indian why this was so, the Indian said smarts, the frenchie said how did you get these smarts, the Indian gave him some little brown balls, said take two a day will see results in a week. After the week was up the frenchie said, " hey these are nothing but rabbit turds", the Indian said " see you're getting smarter already".
@@markcolby2927 LOL.
@@jimmymcjimmyvich9052 They didn't hunt at night and they rarely fought at night
This reminded me of some fun I had when I first enlisted. I grew up in the country. Trapped more than hunted, but I was out every morning well before school. (This was 45 years ago.) For the first couple of years, I startled most of my NCO's, as I walked quietly even in my new combat boots. It wasn't intentional, just natural at that point. I got yelled at a lot, but it was all in fun. (Aviation units, not infantry. Thus unusual for folks to be quiet.) Thanks for bringing back an old memory.
Great video. A Cherokee hunting guide taught me to begin your hunt just before sunrise and walk gently, slowly over damp leaves covered in morning dew as well as between trees beyond reach of fallen limbs and it works great.
Used to practice walking quietly through the woods when I was a kid. I grew up still hunting. I would try and imitate the way a deer walks, taking 3-5 steps & then pause. I will also pick a few leaves off a tree and crinkle them in my hand,imitating feeding. You are going to make some noise,might as well make it sound more natural.About the only thing I have ever seen walk non-stop in a constant gait in the woods is Man.In the following years. I have killed alot of deer on the way to my stand. It helps to leave a little earlier & slowly hunt your way to your stand or blind. Also learned that a does natural instict is to flee away from you(to divert your attention away from fawns) a buck's instict is to lay their and hide like they did when they were fawns. Big one's will lay there most times and let you walk right past them. So walk slow or you could be passing right by a monster.
A lot of good info. My wife constantly thinks I'm sneaking up on her, and gets pretty steamed when I scare her. I walk in the woods like I walk anywhere else. With the exceptions of using background noise to mask your movements. Also, if you are ground standing, scrape your blind, or stand, to bare ground. No sticks, leaves or anything to make noise. Plus, the scent of bare earth masks your scent.
Walking to stand without breaking sticks is the only thing to worry about. I believe the sound of leaves crunching travels with you and not out through the woods. Like when you hear any animal in the woods you don't hear them until they are very close to you. There's been many times where I'm late to the stand so I'm speed walking making all kinds of noise and end up walking right up on deer like they never heard me coming
I have found this to be true as well.
Depends on where you are. Like coastal Alaska with lots of thick brush and elevated rock outcroppings is going to be very different from interior Alaska that's only hills with very limited trees.
Way back when the Boy Scouts was still a great way for a young boy to learn great skills, we learned to walk putting your toes down first and feeling for any sticks before letting the rest of your weight come down. Always worked for me. Thanks for your video work.
I lose my balance walking on my tip toes, I do the exact opposite. Back of heel down first then I slowly roll my foot down flat, if I feel a stick I stop, so to not snap it. Just walk slow, take 10-20 steps and stop for 20-30 sec to listen.
I am a new hunter and this is the first time anyone has gone into the amount of detail I need to learn. Thank you, thank you! I will be checking out all of your videos. When I make my first game stew, I'll think of you!
Buy Dr. Ken Nordbergs "whitetail almanac" and watch his videos
So many times I’ve had deer follow me to my stand after walking in.
More often than not I’ll have them come running towards me if I try to run to my stand like a deer.
I’ll double my step to mimick 4 instead of two feet.
Just something I developed in my travels.
I’ve mimicked squirrels also.
I’m glad you posted this….seems like lots of good hunters think alike.
I pretty much gave up trying to walk in with buddies.
They always drag their feet and want to talk on the way in.
I hate that.
I'd pay to see you walking to your stand thru my binos lol
For years I would go to my stand site 6 to 8 weeks before the season started and spend a little time one morning raking the path to the stand. I would rake the path about 18" wide, so it was wide enough to walk on but didn't look like an airplane runway. By the time opening day arrived there would be a small amount of leaf litter back on the path but usually no sticks. It allowed for almost silent entry to my stand site. If you dedicate just a little time to a project like this it pays off in big rewards.
I've been doing this for years. Just a 12 inch path make s world of difference and it makes it easier to see the sticks. Do it once a year and its easy to maintain throughout the season without make alot of noise.
Yep, I probably spend more time cutting and raking a path to my stand than I do anything else pre-season.
In Tai Chi it’s called stepping empty. Full weight is not transferred to the front foot until safe to do so.
I walk on the outside of my feet. It doesn't hurt that my feet have a natural over pronation. I often scare people by walking up on them quietly without meaning to. My kids and wife sound like a herd of drunk cows in the woods.
Stalking is almost an art. Noise is your enemy. Sudden movement is your enemy. Silence and slow fluid movement are key. On those once in a while occasions where the weather has gotten unseasonably warm, I've actually stalked in bare feet. It will make you look where you are about to step, step gently, and allow you to feel sticks under the leaves before you break them. If you happen to have soft soled moccasins, they're almost as good. That together with good camo and I've snuck up on deer to within 15 yards. Use shadows, keep trees/brush/terrain in between you and the deer, and be mindful of the wind/air currents. When they move, you move. When they stop, you stop. It's a fun game to play and if you get up close on the deer, it's hilarious when they finally notice you because at first they don't know what to think you are, then they don't know whether to shit or go blind. It'll leave a smile on your face.
Yes, you can disguise what you are by how you walk. Last year the leaves were as crunchy as they could be and I had to walk about 300 yards to my stand. This was the 1st week of December. I tried to sound like a squirrel the best I could. Besides how I walked, I carried a long branch stick and I used that to lightly stir the leaves now and then as I walked. I got up in my stand and about 2 minutes later a nice 7 pt came right in thinking I may have been a doe or another buck. I also keep my trail to my stand as stick free as possible.
Good stuff David. When I am out in the woods and haven't seen a deer all day I just go over to a lay down log and take a poo. Works every time ;)
I really did LOL we all do that
Your not hunting if that never happened to ya,lol
That has happened to everyone out there at some point! Yup, me.
It's no BS. While indisposed in such a way - I had a large doe come out of nowhere, and walk within 6 feet. I was afraid it was going to charge. Put the fear of the almighty in me.
@@miked.2735 Haha
Years ago(60) I read a book about how to walk quietly in the woods. It stressed foot placement, using the edge of the foot, ball to heel, instead of heel to ball, sometimes curling your foot inside your boots(sounds dumb, but try it). I don't know if it was good, or bad information, but my family's always saying I am too quiet. I'm constantly scaring them, I know they aren't deer but, they can hear a bag open at 50 yards,lol.
Push, wiggle, and dig slightly into the leaves with your toe in a forward direction.
It moves sticks out of the way.
Rolling your foot from heel to toe cracks sticks that you can't see under the blanket of dead leaves.
Like the hoof of a deer.
Thank yous, Doug and Randy.
Wear pointy stilts?
Daddy taught me this when I first started hunting. Also a good point to remember is don't walk with your heels. It makes way more noise and ups the chance of breaking a stick from all the weight being put on a smaller surface area. A floater footed walk distributes weight over the entire foot.When I've located game I switch to toe first as much as possible. I can feel anything hard with my toe and arch before I set my heel down. I've taken dozens of whitetail and hogs with archery equipment slip hunting and spot n stalk this way. Hope this helps someone on their next hunt.
What shoes do you wear?
Great video! This is most of the reason I don't like hunting with people that I've never walked out there with. I grew up hunting deer in the prairie grass of SD. It can be so tall you can't see through, and I'm 6'2. Most of my deer, i''ve just heard by walking quietly, and stopping and listening. Breathing must be quiet as well. Open your mouth and breathe gently when you're listening. They can hear better than you, but they may not know what you are.
My grandfather taught me the same pretty much. He would say be as quiet as leaves allow you to be and nothing more. He would walk very slowly from toe to heel and just a few steps a minute. We never hunted in the stand, it was either laying prone in the hay field or stalking in the woods or sometimes setting at the trunk of an old oak tree for a couple of hours at a time.
Nice tips for sure. I too have noticed some tend to drag their feet. I was outsmarted by a squirrel and a buck once few years back. Was at a stand and a pesky squirrel had been barking at me and making all kinds of ruckus behind me. It subsided and started up again and when I turned around the largest spiked deer buck I had ever seen had walked up right behind me. Needless to say when I moved he bolted. The spikes had massive girth to them and in my mind he was a unique and unusual trophy. Never saw him again.
Initiate every step with the outside of your boot. The smaller surface area creates less noise, and the leverage gained, allows a slow controlled placement of the boot. This technique creates an automatic slow cadence walk. Nice tips man.
in the wise words of Fred Bear, never step on something you can step over!
Except logs or downed trees. Always step on the tree, log, whatever you find that could possibly harbor a snake below. By stepping on the tree/log you have a chance if either crushing the snake, frightening it so it tries to escape, or cause it to possibly make a noise or move enough that you can see it. If you just stepped over a tree or log on the ground, as soon as your foot hits the leaves it could be two or more extra holes added to your lower leg. The worse case scenario would be finding yourself very far from civilization and help after being bit by a poisonous snake. You'll just wind up becoming a blow up doll for Bigfoot. Lol
I love Fred Bear's quotes, especially his one on the best camouflage...
@@NickVTA “your Grandfather shot deer in bright red plaid…
thank you for telling that, I have never think about walking through the woods with style like that, it helps me alot for hunting to the stand
This is so informative and clever. Thank you sir!
I have literally walked up on squirrels and deer when I walk slowly taking just three to four steps at a times, pausing for several seconds, then continuing. I try to mimic other animals as they are foraging the woods and I’m amazed at the activity of other animals versus when I walk at a steady pace, regardless of how fast I walk.
I typically jump from tree to tree, never worry about dragging my feet.
This was good advice and it also brought back memories of when my dad taught me this when I first started hunting with him almost 50 years ago. One other thing that I do is when I step, I land my heel first and slowly roll my foot forward. I know it might seem counterintuitive, but it helps stop those sudden sharp noises which, as you stated, are your enemy.
When I walk to my stand (especially in the mornings) I carry a stick. Between each step I touch that stick to the ground simulating the pace of a dear. I’ve had deer (and other animals) just yards away and so long as I stop, they commonly remain unalarmed.
Still though, I never, ever attempt to stalk a deer unless it’s windy, the wind is in my favor and I know exactly where that deer is.
Being a land owner I typically mow, rake or use a leaf blower to clear a path to my stands just before the rut approaches. Even if leaves fall on that path you can be relatively confident that you won’t break a stick on your approach.
Btw, have you noticed that mature bucks often have a more pronounced gate.
I do the same with my walking , shooting stick ... doesn't sound like a human walking!
If you are trying to be really quiet always step with the toe landing first. Especially if you’re in water or mud and yes stoping quite often is imperative. I learned all this at a young age from my Vietnam vet / turkey killing father. The military calls it conducting (SLLS) stop, look, listen, smell.
The great traditional bow hunter, Fred Asbell showed me and a few others how to walk in dry leaves. You walk toe to heal not the other way around. This technique makes your foot falls sound like a quadruped rather than what we are, biped. Move in no discernible pattern starting and stopping as though you were stopping to nibble on something.
Great video ! Thank you. After watching numerous videos and being a hunter myself, ( mostly archery ), what I think most people don’t realize is how much work it is to walk the way you’re telling us to. It’s not normal when you walk to keep your body weight on one foot for any length of time and when you start to do this, your legs get tired quickly even on level ground…. how much level ground do you come across when hunting in the mountains ? My point is that we hunters need to get/stay in shape for hunting…. Hope this helps…Good luck out there ! Be safe. 🦌
Learned to walk in the woods at 12 years old. I would walk past deer before thay seen me. I can't do it now at 275 lb and 63 years old. Good video.
Absolutely true ,being a wildlife cameraman . I choose early morning 8-10am when the dew dampens leaves . And avoid twigs , toes down first on flat stuff the thud of heels realy reverberates , toes down first really dampens sound
GREAT VIDEO! I've had great luck still hunting wearing nothing but thick hunting socks moving slowly while mimicking grazing noises on vegetation as I go. I once surprised a herd of bedded mule deer as I grazed my way through a oak brush thicket.
Breaking sticks has a lot to do with surface area of the foots print contact. Quadrupeds have two extra feet to distribute the load and as such have a smaller print contact area, breaking less sticks. Also, with more than 2 points of contact they don’t have to worry about tipping over mid stride, so their feet don’t need as large a pad to maintain upright stability and pointy little hooves work fine. Would you rather walk through a minefield with stilts or clown shoes… Best analogy I got.
That was a GREAT VIDEO!!! Beginner or old vet hunters can get info or a reminder.
I must say about bears... Those suckers can be the ABSOLUTE quietest animals in the woods!! I had one come in 15 yards from me, in super dry and thick dead leaves and I never heard him! He was so big it looked like his belly was dragging and his head looked like tick's head when it's body is full of blood. That bear was all of 350lbs or more.
I have cleared a path to my stand well before deer season and carefully remove sticks and fallen branches. I then mark the path with flagging tape on branches when getting to my stand in the early morning when its dark. One year I raked a path to remove any leaves to quiet my approach. A few days later when getting to my stand I saw deer tracks on the path where I raked the leaves.
You did an excellent presentation. It's a real challenge here in Florida with all the dry Palmetto stalks. It seems to take forever to get to my stand. If you see them but they're unaware, you've caught on.
The comments are great too.
Thanks to all.
10 1/2 minutes and the only point he made is "don't drag your feet or step on sticks"
I bailed at 4:15
Thanks. You saved me a lot of time. I already do this.
I bailed to the comments after the 2nd "Im gonna put logic to this."
He's time wasting to hit 10 mins.
I think that the message hes trying to get across is that animals aint dumb. They live in the woods so they hear "nature" every minute of everyday. Just like you can hear every part of your house. You cant just come stomping into their house without them being like "ay wtf was that?"
i know right🙄 i left after seeing this
Nerd here. This vid was fascinating to watch because I immediately thought of "Dune", the sci-fi book/movie.
The story takes place on a desert world where enormous man-eating worms lurk in the sand. The natives teach the main character how to walk through the desert without drawing the worms.
The trick was to step with an irregular rhythm, and make your steps sound like typical sounds in the desert.
Very cool to see the real world connection in this vid
I’m beginning to recognize DD could also be Doctor Doolittle 😜😉 no matter what, there’s nothing more interesting than paying attention and learning how to blend in, even if you’re carrying a camera or a bow, or rifle.... David, you’re so blessed to have such a special place to live, and learn. Thanks for teaching 👍💯👍
Yes I am very blessed and love the outdoors!
Good information. Someone told me to lead with the toe. Sensitive boots would help (or moccasins or squatchin it). There's a rhythm. I watched a cousin of mine walk in a small ravine with a bunch of dry leaf litter and he was quieter than the two turkeys that ambled out in front of him. Definitely a skill set. Thanks for the share.
It's a good idea to also maintain your trails to your dear stands. Get rid of everything that makes noise. Like the leaves and twigs get the path down to dirt and you will be quiet like a ninja LOL a little extra work goes a long ways!! And you need to have good scent control. And you need to make sure that you are hunting with the wind in your favor or you will lose every time.
At this point in the hunting season I think I would wait to next year. This is something that you have to do your round. Especially after all the leaves fall off the trees you have to do at least once or twice and I would do it in the middle of the day when the deer are more likely to be bedded down. Usually on a day that I have determined would not be a good hunting day anyways. Good luck hunting!!!
I walk my woods almost everyday all year long and have incorporated into my exercise routine to kick and toss sticks off the trail , for the reasons above but also safety. Especially the nice round ones that can roll under your feet ,especially in the dark. Getting old now so always thinking about things to fall over.
if you walk without rhythm, you won't attract the worm
Lol
if you walk without rhythm, you never learn
Funny
Thanks for the clear explanation of what I have been doing my whole life. I don't remember anyone teaching me. Maybe I can teach it better now. This s what is meant by "watch your step". I was lucky to be able to run through the woods growing up. Boy Scouts was a great avenue to get out there too.
First time hunter. Thank you for the advice.
I had to laugh when you said you had to keep telling newbies "pick up your feet." My Dad used to tell me that even when I thought I was being quiet. One his favorite things to do during deer season was to what he called sneak hunt. The second favorite thing was to figure out where I was sitting and sneak up on me with in a few feet and then blow like a buck and see how high I would come of the ground. I finally learned some of his tactics and what you just went over. Thanks
Growing up I use to be so light on my feet I could run through dry leaves without a sound. I grew up in the woods on our farm and our Dad taught us how to track and be soft on our feet. Flippen cows can walk so quietly and if you're not looking you could literally walk right passed them. Even today on the city streets I can approach people with little to no sound.
I remember when I was a kid, my older brother telling me to pick up my feet. He killed way more deer than I did. Thanks for the good advice.
That's a pretty good tip, I never thought about rhythm before even though I've watched deer not react to squirrels.
My dad taught me to always pick up my feet, step heel first, slowly lower your foot to feel, and then either adjust or continue with the other foot. Stop every so many steps to look around. I also do my own adjusting like walking on the side of the sole just because there's less surface area. Hard to explain really but doing this for years you just get the feel of how to maneuver over crunchy leaves and sticks without making much noise, if any at all.
I've jumped deer before that scared the hell out of me just from practicing what my dad taught me and adding my own walking methods in there. I've also had them come in not even 5 minutes after I got settled in my blind.
My dad always taught me “plan your steps before you take them”
Everybody knows deer watch TH-cam. They're on to you bud, great job giving away the stealth ninja technique! Things are different here in the desert southwest- involving long range spotting, and a lot of stalking from behind various features to shield your movements. Expect a longer range shot on whitetail.
I'm not a hunter so I don't really have much experience but a thing that I did when in the woods was walk on bigger sticks and fallen trees when they are around so I didn't have to step on the dry leaves as much. That has helped me watch deer from closer up, but I think the most import thing is to go slow and steady.
Great info. I was in the woods today hunting deer (i'm a newbie), but couldn't spot any. I could hear them when I stood still though. I broke a few twigs and sticks, but will be extra careful next time. Thanks for the information.
This video made me smile this is the exact way I tried to teach my son how to sneak through the woods
Toe hits the ground first then heel when sneaking. Just that alone will cut noise in half.
It's all about the rhythm. My cousin grew up in the woods and walking behind him is like watching a ghost. Stop, go, step on the rocks and moss (if there is any), and planning yr approach. Truth to be said it is an art of sort, and some people will never be able to do it. I do anvy my cousin ;)
I'm just constantly screaming to mask my sound.
I can even open my velcro-pouches without anyone hearing it.
When you sat on the log, your legs were gone. ;)
simplist tip is walk like a deer. you dont need to be quiet.. just walk at a pace of the game you're after.
Good video.
I put a pair of large socks over my boots and apply scent to the sock. It muffles sound and covers your scent.
Dad always taught me heel toe stepping and not dragging feet from a young age. I definitely think it made me a better hunter. GREAT Video!!
Good stuff. Thanks! If I want to keep my eyes scanning ahead and I'm walking slow enough, I'll keep my weight on my back foot while my front foot "feels" for any twigs or branches underneath before I shift my weight to that foot.
This guy should read Dune. ‘Make only the sounds of the desert’ ‘walk without rhythm to evade the worm”
As far as foot noise is concerned yes pick up your feet but also walk heel to toe and try to keep your weight on the outside of your foot which is a little difficult to do with all footwear but not impossible. Just look at your bare foot and how it has evolved. It is designed to displace air slowly out the inside of the foot so on hard surfaces there is no clomping sound and it minimizes actual contact with the ground without sacrificing traction. If you walk with boots like you would while walking barefoot you get a similar effect. The downside is that I have learned to walk that way all of my life and I tend to wear out boots fast because the outsides of my treads wear more than the rest of my boot. Slowly displacing the air under your feet and the heel to toe motion makes more of a low volume crunching sound on leaves and small twigs and not a clomping sound that gives away your gate. Also wearing boots that have deep treads allows air to escape from under your feet more quietly but other than the old school military boots most now tend to pick up pebbles which can make a scritching sounds on hard surfaces. The old military boots with the zig zag treads the treads were V shaped and would not pick up pebbles. Another thing is birds. I grew up as a mean little kid with an assortment of BB and pellet guns and used to hunt birds just for the hell of it. Yeah it was mean but I learned a lot about different bird species behavior and birds are real tricky to sneak up on further improving my stealth skills. If you spook birds either with noise, bright color clothes or movement they will put out an alarm call and every other critter in the woods will disappear. Many birds like blue jays and crows will follow you if they spot you and keep squawking alarm calls so you might as well call it a day. Even if birds are not alarmed by your presence their behavior will change to the point prey animals in the area can become concerned such as if they were happily chirping and going about their mating calls and such then suddenly go silent or split. I monitor the birds and make every effort to not be detected by them. If I can work my way into an area where the birds are going about their birdie business without them detecting me and they continue about their business that is typically a good area to settle into to watch and wait for other game to show up. Squirrels, rabbits and deer tend to feel safer where there are plenty of happy birds. Like in the Disney movies. That's also why I never wear hunters orange. Birds see color very well and will give away your presence. Hikers should be the ones required to wear hunters orange while hiking during hunting season if safety was the real issue.
50 years of still hunting with a bow and Wow, I learned. And every thing in this video is spot on !
I use to rake a path. The day or 2 before. Leaves will still fill the path, but not enough to skip around most of them.
When at final hunting destination, silently tip toe 10 yards or so slowly without noise, and then make deer like crunching of leaves and break a few sticks, and rattling antlers at the same time and jog slowly back to original spot, while grunting at the same time, And wait! This absolutely works in the dusk hours, as the bucks think it's a doe and another buck in his vicinity. Biggest deer I ever got , was with this technique.
But for walking in , your advice is very good.
DONT HUNT FOR SPORT, HUNT, AND GIVE THANKS TO CHRIST JESUS FOR EVERYTHING! And WHAT HE ALLOWS US TO EAT, OR USE OF THE ANIMAL WITH RESPECT, AND OBEY HIM BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!
This is great advice. Haven't thought about doing this for deer. Tried to "sound like a turkey" this past spring after shooting hours on a quick scout and had a Jake walk over and check me out
I use the Indian stalk method when stalking game while hunting, my steps are done in a methodical way. I set my foot down on the outside edge then roll the rest of my foot slowly to the ground. I observe the ground and place my feet according to what is on the ground. Using the Indian stalk method I have gotten within 20 to 30 yards of wild turkeys.
i do somethin similar to this when hunting turkeys but its more of crawl but esentiall i never pressdown first i kind of nestle my hands and knees down slowly ive crawled up to many turkeys my dad still dont get how i do it lmao
Crawling would work but if you are trying to cover a large area it would be very time consuming. When I was on a year around deer lease some of the hunting areas were as large as 300 acres of heavy woods. However on occasion I had to get in an open area, I went prone position if turkey’s were in the same open area.
Will you guys stop telling turkey tricks.!
Great video man! Thanks for the amazing content! I just go in the early morning just before sunrise, and stay in the woods all day if possible! Being in the woods, makes a man really experience what God has given to use. We naturally learn things from the animals, when we sit in the woods! Hunting really is the solution to being one with nature! You nailed the “how to walk parts”! Again, great video!
Lazy man grabs leaf blower and walks on clear ground to his stand.....
If you are hunting property that you own or have ready access to, just train the deer that your normal noises mean food. On group of deer at my dad's property learned to come to the sound of the chain opening the metal gate. He was there to feed the cows, but for months he'd throw sweet feed over the fence at the same location. Eventually, the deer started waiting just out of sight after hearing the gate. He would throw out the feed and head toward the gate about 100 yards away and before he closed it there would be deer eating. Timed feeders(where legal) have the same effect.
All this is out the window on less accessible or public property. Be quiet and be early.
I like wearing moccasin boots they are really quiet and you can feel everything on the ground.
Unless you hunt where there is winter. Then your toes turn black.
I have found that the "toe then heel" step is best. It makes a 2 part sound that is similar to a deer walking and also doesn't break near as many small twigs.
Step out, toes down, then heel.
Also as in the army I learned to roll my foot slowly, using the side of my foot.
Several methods are good but the worst is stepping flat footed or dragging. Something I have still yet to make my son do..LOL...he sounds like a buffalo walking thru the forest.
It's always nice to be out stalking deer and hear crunch crunch when you walk . Where i hunt it's all pine needle's which make a unique crunch that you can hear 50 yards away.
I spit my coffee out when he said he was not going to walk like a squirrel...then demonstrated...haha
Lol, what can break a limb..? Well, I was in my stand one time and it sounded like someone was rolling a Blazer down the hill in neutral with the motor off. I was straining to see what goofball was doing this as the sound was getting closer. Only to see a large cow moose with her nose up and chest out breaking limbs the size of my arm just walking like she was saying “These pesky trees”. Yup that definitely got my attention! I was about 16 and hadn’t even been around livestock let alone wild animals of that size. I was 😅😅😅 big time.
When I go out in the morning it’s still pitch black, I don’t worry too much about my steps, people assume deer will run if they hear you it’s simple not true, they will stand still and look around, when the noise ends they will go back to what they were doing, it’s more important to keep quiet and still in your blind/stand than to get out there quietly
it took me 45 years to learn what you just explained in this video I try an use the lightest boots I can weather permiting , and step so slowly that u can feel a stick under your feet before you crack it , then re step until you feel no sticks under your feet . cracking sticks and branches screws up the entire hunt damp quiet leaves are best
I take a rake to my stand and hit my trail after the leaves fall.. I come in like a ninja
Oh good! I've been doing this correctly. In my case, it's because of my stealth camp that I go to on my days off to relax and I don't want people coming to where I am so I'm hiding from people. I also listen for people and I listen for exactly the sorts of things you are describing. One thing I would add to this is that, if you're passing through more densely vegetated areas, you have to look out that you don't break branches while moving through the foliage. When I go, that's a major concern, especially since those branches seem to be a lot louder when they break than the ones that are already on the ground. I've broken some and heard people back up on the official trail make some comment about how there must be donkeys in the woods. lol Nope, it was me.
Great tips for the inexperienced hunter Dave... there are even a lot of "experienced" hunters out there that have bad habits that alert the deer to their presence... attention to detail would definitely improve their hunting skills and how you walk through the woods is one of the most important details
Great video. Shew shewshew shew........shewshew. loved it. I live in the black hills, not a lot of leafs, but tall grass that hids limbs and sticks. Ill be more aware and walk like a drunk ballerina
Then transfer your weight from one foot to another while feeling for that hidden twig before you put all your weight down on that foot.
All the while scanning near and far between every tree.
If you get spotted..slowly pull a white paper towel from your back pocket..hold it out a little from behind you and wiggle it just a little then hide it in your back pocket.
Alot of times they get curious enough to come to you thinking it was another deers tail shake while their feeding along and everything is good.