The importance of that can't be overstated. If you're going to go the sneaky route, carry a pair of shooting sticks or try very hard to remember to take a solid rest. The first I shot off-hand, which is always a bad idea. The key to the second shot versus the first, was that I took a careful rest while lying prone on a rock outcropping. It was the only time I've ever shot a whitetail in its bed. A doe was bedded 35 yards away, oblivious to my presence. Later, I crested a ridge and looked at the valley below me. I missed her clean and thought my season was over. The first time I did this, I hunted during a crazy storm and spotted a doe and fawn 50 yards from me. If you believe any minute you'll spot a doe or buck slipping through the timber, you'll hunt with the wind in your favor and your eyes peeled for a flash of brown. The key to a successful still-hunt is to hunt in a place where you have confidence the deer will be. Very few people can do that, and who only wants to see 100 yards of the woods during a three-hour sneak? I try to move slowly, and stop a lot to glass but I don't go so slow that moss grows in my beard. Ditto for any rain in the forecast.Ĭonventional wisdom says you are supposed to move so slow you'll make a sloth look like Usain Bolt, but that's silly. I keep my eyes glued to the weather and if there some fresh snow on the way, or it's going to be super windy, I plan a sneak. This tactic, which hasn't been popular in a long, long time, is a lot of fun with a muzzleloader.

It doesn't take much to get late-season deer to move, and the goal is to get them up and walking - not sprinting for the next county. Just make sure to be quiet, and keep it slow and simple. If you've got a situation where you can make a mini-push, plan it out and go for it. Several does and fawns had trotted by, and one long-nosed doe had made the mistake of stopping 15 yards from him. Within about one minute of stepping into the thick stuff I heard him shoot. It was a narrow stretch of cover that was too thick to set up in, so I posted my dad on one end and circled wide. If you've got the cover and the right situation, a small drive can work well to put a deer in front of a stander.Ī few years ago, while hunting public land in Minnesota, I found a river-bottom that was covered in beds and deer sign.

Muzzle loader season