ROOKIE HUNTERS’ CLASS

FROM FIELD...

Still-hunting is actually a form of slowly moving through the woods, looking for animals and sign and carefully listening as you go. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

PUT STOCK IN STILL-HUNTING SLOWLY MOVING THROUGH BIG GAME HABITAT A GREAT TACTIC FOR TAGGING OUT

By Scott Haugen

If you’re new to big game hunting, there’s a lot to learn, and a good starting point is with the actual hunting approach.

When it comes to deciding how to hunt, there are multiple options, but narrowing them down to simply sitting in one place or slowly moving through an area helps to simplify things.

In this first installment of a twopart series, we’re going to look at “still” hunting. Next month, we’ll detail the value of hunting from ground blinds.

GREAT STARTER COURSE Still-hunting is the most common approach to big game hunting, but the literal translation may not accurately depict the definition. Still-hunting is not being totally still all the time. Still-hunting is when a hunter slowly moves through a habitat, frequently stopping to glass and search for deer, elk or other game animals as they proceed. Still-hunting is all about patience and paying very close attention to your surroundings while looking for sign, as well as game.

Before heading into the woods, check the wind direction to make sure you’re either moving into it, or against a steady crosswind. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon or evening, cool, denser air falls from higher elevations. In an effort to keep the wind in your face so deer and elk don’t smell you, hunt uphill early and late in the day.

As thermal currents shift – rising uphill when temperatures increase

... TO FIRE

Ground venison can really make a Latin American-inspired tostada dish exciting. Tiffany Haugen shows you how. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

CREATE TERRIFIC TOSTADAS FROM WILD GAME In a small bowl, mix sour cream or Greek By Tiffany Haugen 1 cup refried beans yogurt with hot sauce, and then set aside. Four slices pepper jack cheese In a large skillet, fry burger patties in olive

Ground venison is very versatile Four eggs oil over medium-high heat until cooked to meat to cook with, and tastes ½ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt desired doneness. Warm refried beans and delicious. The key to a juicy venison 1 tablespoon chipotle hot sauce tortillas. burger of any kind is not to overcook the Fresh cilantro for garnish In another skillet, fry eggs over easy. lean meat. Many choose to add a bit of Assemble tostadas by placing a warm ground pork, ground beef or even bacon Form ground meat into four equal patties. tortilla on the plate. Top tortilla with beans, to their burger patties, but they can also be burger patty, a slice of cheese and the used as 100-percent lean meat. over-easy egg. Top with chipotle cream

Depending on the flavor profile sauce and fresh cilantro. you’re looking for, burgers can be simply seasoned with salt and pepper or dry Editor’s note: For spices like cumin, paprika, chili powder signed copies of or oregano; ginger can also be added to Tiffany Haugen's enhance your dish. Enjoy your wild game p o p u l a r for breakfast or any time of day with these c o o k b o o k , tasty breakfast tostadas. Cooking Big

This recipe works well with any deer, Game, send a elk, pronghorn or bear meat. It’s also check for $20 delicious with wild boar. to Haugen E n t e r p r i s e s , 1 pound ground venison or other wild P.O. Box 275, game Walterville, OR 1 tablespoon olive oil 97489, or visit scotthaugen.com for this Four small corn or flour tortillas and other titles.

A wind-check bottle is an important tool for still hunters because it allows you to know which direction the breeze is blowing. You’ll never fool the nose of a big game animal; if they smell you, the gig is up. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

during the day – hunts should begin on the high ground. Moving downhill into the wind will help keep your scent away from animals below. Big game animals have an astounding sense of smell, and if they catch wind of you it’s likely you won’t get a shot.

Two important items a still hunter will want to have are a wind-check bottle and binoculars. The windcheck will allow you to regularly monitor wind direction so you can be sure to keep the wind in your favor at all times. Should the wind change and begin blowing from you toward the area you’re headed, back out and come in from another angle, wait and let the thermals stabilize, or return another day.

SEEING IS BELIEVING Binoculars are a valuable hunting tool, even in heavy timber and dense brush. While many hunters rely on binoculars for spotting game from great distances in open terrain, they are also ideal for locating parts of animals in thick habitat.

Search for a horizontal back or belly line of an animal amid the vertical growing foliage. Look for the flicker of an ear, the black or white color of a tail and the moist, shiny nose of an animal.

White throat patches of deer, and lightly colored rump patches of both deer and elk, for example, can often be seen in surprisingly thick habitat. Antlers of bedded bucks and bulls can also be detected with binoculars, as can the shining black fur of a wild pig that has recently wallowed.

TRACKING MOVEMENT The rate at which a still hunter moves is dictated by wind direction, weather, forest floor conditions, the amount of sign being seen and how far the hunter wants to travel.

For instance, blacktail deer hunters along the Northern California coast may take two hours to cover 100 yards when still-hunting in prime habitat. If hunting these deer closer to Interstate 5 in more open terrain, a mile might be covered in an hour.

With still-hunting, use the terrain and foliage to your advantage. Don’t be tempted to move through open areas where you can easily be seen. In still-hunting, the objective is to use the element of surprise to locate game and hopefully take a shot without an animal even knowing you are near.

When slowly covering ground, utilize low spots in the land. Never skyline yourself when still-hunting, as that makes it easy for game to spot you. The idea is to remain hidden enough so as not to be spotted by game, but keep yourself in a position to locate animals.

HIDE AND SEEK When pausing to look for game, use trees, brush, foliage and shadows as cover to hide you. Ideally you’ll stop behind cover, then slowly move forward as you walk and glass the area. On sunny days, stop in the shade when you want to glass for game.

Don’t be tempted to rush to a high, open piece of land, and then stand there hoping to locate the game you’re hunting. You might see an animal, but the game is likely on high alert by then and will spook before a shot can be taken.

A CHESS GAME Still-hunting is a mentally engaging form of hunting, for you’re constantly monitoring the wind, searching for game, reading sign and anticipating your next move. Still-hunting could be the most effective hunting approach there is, and the more time you spend in the woods, the more proficient you’ll become with this method. CS

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s popular DVD, Field Dressing, Skinning & Caping Big Game, send a check for $20 (free S&H), to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489, or order online at scotthaugen.com.

When executed correctly, stillhunting allows you to sneak up on a big game animal without it knowing you’re there. Author Scott Haugen moved in close enough to make a clean, oneshot kill on this bull elk. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

Past and present, Art Isberg has hunted mule deer in his home state of California and throughout the West for half a century, so he has learned a trick or two over the years for how to successfully bag bucks. (ART ISBERG)

TAP INTO 50 YEARS OF MULEY KNOW-HOW VETERAN CALIFORNIA DEER HUNTER SHARES TIPS FOR BAGGING BUCKS IN DIVERSE HABITATS

By Art Isberg

After half a century hunting mule deer in California and many places across the West, I’ve learned one thing I can always hang my hat on: Mule deer can be the most unpredictable big game animals on the planet – bar none. Even veteran hunters who believe they know them can be caught flatfooted. I number myself among them. Because these big deer inhabit such a vast sweep of completely differing types of country, cover and elevation, in California they cannot be pigeonholed into one simple formula for success. From lower grassy buttes in foothills fronting higher country down to smoking-hot deserts in the southeastern part of the state, and from rimrock and mesa lands to the high Sierra Nevada and portions of the Cascade Range, they are different animals in each region and as such they react differently to pressure, weather and cover.

It’s also important to understand that these deer are, and always have been, wilderness animals. They never do well close to man and his heavy hand on the land. California’s more numerous blacktail deer can dine on your front lawn shrubbery and flower garden. Not mule deer. This important lesson means you must go into the deer’s domain to learn his habits and lifestyle in each area to be successful.

DEEP INTO THE BACKCOUNTRY Because my three sons and I have always been long-range foot hunters,

we made it a rule to penetrate far back into wild lands – areas where few other hunters Are willing to go.

We’ve taken some dandy bucks through the years doing it this way. That long experience taught me three basic rules that any rifleman can follow. Most importantly, these three can be applied to the vastly different environments mule deer call home in the Golden State. Here’s what I’ve learned.

START AT THE TOP Because West Coast mule deer season generally opens in late summer, much of the deer’s range is still experiencing mild weather and often warm temperatures. The deer are higher up to be comfortable and cooler, coupled

Isberg prefers to hunt toward the end of most deer seasons, when higher elevations sometimes see fall’s first snows. This will put deer on the move and tracks can tell the story of how many bucks there are, at what elevation and where they are moving to. Always hunt around new snow if it’s on the ground. (ART ISBERG)

with better feeding opportunities. This means bucks, which are still off by themselves or sometimes keeping company with other antlered animals, are often in the topmost country during opening days of deer season.

When I say top country, I mean that quite literally, whether it’s just volcanic rock piles in deserts, tabletop plateaus or timber-clad mountains. Bucks may be widely scattered, but they’ll still be in the tops.

The best way to find bucks is plan your hunts starting at the highest elevations in any given area. Work through top country timber leads, grassy parks in greensward basins, ridges and saddles at the top of canyons.

Mesa and plateau lands find bucks bedded up against rocky walls

just under the tabletops. They are in shade – with elevation – and can choose a quick way out unseen if trouble shows up.

Desert deer in the southeastern portion of the state climb the little rock piles, where they have a good view around them, and stay on shaded sides out of heat and light. Learn to be in these special places by first good shooting light. Remember, mule deer are basically night feeders for the safety it affords them.

Once the eastern sky begins to light up, veteran bucks move off toward cover areas for the day to bed down and hide in. They do not want to be spotlighted or opened up to dangers of any kind in full light.

After the sun rises, you may find

does, yearlings and young forkedhorn bucks still out, but rarely spot big mature bucks. They are driven by a much more secretive, warrior lifestyle. That’s why the biggest antlered animals will stay up high even after snow flies, only coming down later either due to the wild urge of the rut or snow too deep for them to paw down to find feed.

And when you start in the top country, you have the options of working down level by level each day if bucks are on the move. If you choose to start hunting lower, you’ll always wonder if you missed something higher up.

HUNTING NEW COUNTRY California is an enormous state in terms of size and diversity of its landscapes. Because of my family’s hunting style, we have traveled to many different parts of the state each fall to hunt mule deer and not return to the same place year after year, as many hunters do.

In each place we face completely different country and circumstances, and we work to dope out productive areas to hunt. I believe this is good for any buck hunter, because he learns so much more and often has to learn it in a very limited amount of time.

That kind of experience often pays solid dividends. Remember that one piece of country can produce excellent hunting for several years running, but that will not last. Mule deer and their numbers are cyclic. Sooner or later, hunters are going to see success rates fall. When that takes place, you must move to try someplace new.

There are options to put you in productive hunting areas in new locations. As I’ve just pointed out, you can rely on past experiences, or do what I’ve also done, which is to contact a local state game warden. If that’s not possible, ring the California Department of Fish and Wildlife at the headquarters level and chat with their biologist in charge of big game.

These officials are always helpful to both residents and even nonresidents,

Craig Isberg, the author’s son, poses with a buck taken in Idaho. This deer was a collaboration of a drive through thick timber. (ART ISBERG)

who pay many times more than instate hunters for the privilege to hunt here. They want you to be successful and to return the following year. They know the numbers of bucks taken in any given area, the antler size of the deer, plus the number of hunters and their success ratios. This kind of information is golden to have, and it can point you to areas you might not find or have time to on your own.

Should you want to try your hand relying on your own powers of observation and experience, there are some pointers we rely on.

First and foremost, look for those elevations or areas where antlers are dropped in late winter – well after deer season has closed. This is lateseason evidence that bucks now

“Having hunted mule deer for 50 years, the pursuit has taken me throughout California on adventures into the backcountry to stir the soul of any man. Simply put, this hunting is in the blood,” Isberg writes. (ART ISBERG)

are above that level and you must move up before beginning to hunt. Understand that in higher elevations such as in the Sierra, a move like that can be a big one, because of the distances involved.

Seeing lots of tracks and fresh deer berries each day really doesn’t mean much, since they are left by herd deer and not single mature bucks. You should move higher and look for single beds in brush coulees and barked-off saplings, where bucks have spared with limbs to rub the velvet off their antlers. That’s buck country. That’s where you want to start hunting.

HUNT IN THE LATE SEASON A final tactic I’ve relied on for many years is to begin my buck hunting the last week of deer season and not always around the opening days. Why? There are many advantages.

First, the hills are nearly empty by then and I have the land largely to myself. The big rush of opening weekend has passed, and middleseason hunters have either filled their buck tags or gone home empty. This serves the dual purpose of not having hunting pressure affecting your hunt, and most valuably the deer have had time to begin going back to their natural timetables, travels and feeding routines. It can be a real game changer.

In mountain areas, the first snows of winter can fall, and you do not need a foot of it. With 2 or 3 inches, it suddenly shows you current tracks, their numbers, what level deer are at, and to where they’re moving.

In lower elevations such as mesa lands and plateaus, the difference between winter and summer range may only be 1,500 or 2,000 feet. Deer here do not make the long, downhill journeys that cover dozens of miles that mountain deer do. They are compressed into much smaller elevations, which makes it easier for you to find them and bucks too. This is important to understand for success.

I’ve also taken advantage of the fact that late in the season when the land is quiet, bucks can begin to move out of cover near sundown before shooting hours are up, then head for areas where they will either feed, drink water or move to a new location.

I have taken several big deer I caught out in the open walking deer trails like this, while I remained still and where I had a good view of opposing hillsides or deer trails. Those animals literally delivered themselves to me.

Having more than one such spot to head for if the first one doesn’t pan out is also a smart backup policy. Late-season buck hunting can open up another completely different world to those who learn to practice and take advantage of it.

Having hunted mule deer for 50 years, the pursuit has taken me throughout California on adventures into the backcountry to stir the soul of any man. Simply put, this hunting is in the blood. CS