Do you Have Any Odd Hunting methods or Hablts? With Pic

May not be the best title in the world but I think you will get the point. Back in the early years of my hunting adventures I came up with this sought...as I was walking about looking for deer to hunt I heard the chattering of squirals as I got near them, oh I heard them many, many, many times before and I would say "shut up" you pest. Then a question came to me, "why are they making such a racket when I invade their space"?, As I walked I thought well because perhaps there nerves, perhaps they are saying beat it buddy, and that it is a warning to all other squirals and perhaps animals. So I thought well if the squiral is upset with my persence, perhaps it would chatter if a animal was to invade the squirals space as well. So early the next morning I set out to test my theory and heard nothing for the first hour, shortly afterwards I heard the chattering of a couple of squirals a little ways off so I made hast to the area where the noise was. The chattering grow loader and I looked up the hill side near some trees where the chattering was and low and behold there was some big game animals(moose..1 cow and 2 bulls) and there was nothing I could do about it. But I wasn't truly convinced so I set out again to prove my thoery, and I heard chattering off in the distance but no chance of making to the spot. But as years marched on the chattering of the squirals lead me to other hunters, deer and even such animals as bear and wild dogs. The chattering of squirals lead me to deer but I was never close enought to actually get a shot off, or when I was close enough they saw me and took off. To be honest with you I haven't tried this method all that offen but when I did it lead me to something if I could reach the area before the squiral stopped chattering.

There are other strange methods I have seen used but lets see where this goes 1st.

If I'm deer hunting and facing a lot of open country and not sure where to start - I always glass for magpie activity. They just seem to like hanging around deer.

And when the ravens are acting strange, like a super slow motion 'soaring' just over the tree-tops, it's often when they're following coyotes or wolves. They used to follow my dog the same way - like a kite on a string.

Don't know why, but ravens seem to like to eat dead coyotes above all else. When you see a dead deer hit by traffic, and an unlucky coyote that also got schmucked trying to eat the deer - the ravens will always choose to eat the the coyote first. When you're looking for yodel-dogs, pay attention to the ravens.

I've always wished I could train one to 'spot' moose for me!

Squirrels making a fuss sometimes means game, but often it's just 2 squirrels dissing each other - they're very territorial.

Just my observations
Andrew

I chase moose down on foot. Most of them stand there wondering what the hell is that thing...then they go to sleep.
And I yell at deer, and sing to Elk. Works for me...
G

I like to call coyotes with the wind at my back.

Grandzillaa are you trying to tell us you can hear squirils at the other end of a cut line.

I have a theory just like Canmoron's when hunting deer in farming / prairie country I often pay attention to magpies. (not flocks of them mostly just singles or pairs of birds)
(bunched up magpies usually indicates a carcass) I often find a magpie or two follow deer around waiting for their guts to fall out (waiting for someone to shoot them) or following coyotes in their travels, I've seen it proven too many times just to be a coincedence.

cowboyal, I too also listen for magpies and search an area throughly when I hear one. From my experince they follow moose and deer. They don't call them "****e eaters" for nothing. any one have any experince with blue jays? I hate em with there constant squaking when I am near.

on a side note to go along with this thread, does anyone have any strange rituals they perform after harvesting a animal. I tend to thank the animal for giving his life so that my family may eat. If I have any I tend to put a bit of salt on their tongues as well.
lol ya I can be strange at times.

i always cut the beard off the moose and hang it in a tree!!dont know why but there such a magical animal it seems that i have to pay my respects to the ones i harvest...always by bow!!
rob:hat

Just the "Fat guy" Happy dance
Its kinda funny

:rollin :rollin :rollin

Jamie

Once at camp wainwright primative weapons season, One fellow was tagged out and myself and another fellow had deer tags left. So we went out in the morning and the "not hunting" fellow set up in between us and rattled. A buck circled him and walked by me but I could not get off my chair and swing around to make the shot. He was TOOOO close and bolted when I tryed to move.

Then as per our plan, the fellow who had been rattling got up and started moving slowly south (the breeze was from the west). He rattled a bit every once in awhile (fairly often) so that myself and the fellow on the otherside of him could keep track of his progress and location. We tryed to keep off to the side and a little behind him. We hoped any deer he bumped would circle to his right or left and we would get a shot. Any bucks hearing the rattling may have come in from any direction and given us a shot.

It didn't produce any venison that morning, but in theory I figured it was a good method to try.

Robin

Hey Bearbait,

I don't hang the moose beard in a tree, but I usually hang some fat in the branches for the chickadees and gray jays.
Neither species seem to like feeding off the ground if they can avoid it - but are usually pigging out on high calorie fat before I'm finished cleaning my animal.

Andrew

Home Wreaker how did you come to that thought? I never mentioned anything about cut lines. If I hear any chattering going on I (although I don't do it all that often anymore) head to where the chattering is.

As for magpies I never gave that any thought until some of you mentioned it. I had a couple of magpies bug my small dog about 9years back. As for the ravens or they may have been crows, but all they ever did for me was to lead me to some disgusting dead animals, in the bush. But I will try the magpie thing this coming fall if I remember to do so.

Not exactly a strange method, but probably the strangest Hunt success I've ever had.
The wife and I were packed in up Ranger creek. We had been out all week without any success. One night,we returned to camp to find our pack horse had gotten into the bag of oats my wife had stashed in the woods. Naturally, this called for a reprimand and while we were having an animated husband wife discussion, I heard the unmistakable sounds of a deer running about 30 feet behind me. The words that came out of my mouth were, What the F----, as I grabbed my rifle out of the scabbard, ran after the buck and gunned him down in the middle of the creek below us.:rollin
Grizz

I fall asleep. Guaranteed when i wake up, I'll be seen a white tail flagging as he is taking off.

instead of using a bipod i find using a vehicle mirror to be a much steadier rest lol :rollin :rollin :rollin just joking everyone. i peronally keep to more conventional methods but have heard of people buying a -40 sleeping bag which is waterproof and sneaking into a field where a large buck is often found feeding. they will sneak into the field during the afternoon when the deer are out of the field and will stay in the field for the remainder of the day and sleep in the field all the while staying motionless and then that person will using his internal clock wake up just before dawn and shoot the buck. This is a lot too "sniper training" for me, i dont think i could sit for 12 hours or more to take a deer.

This isn't really a strange method but it is something strange and funny that happened when hunting.

I've got an article from the Northern News Service that a friend of mine sent down from the Yukon. It describes a guy that curled up in a freshly skinned caribou hide in front of a fire when he got separated from his hunting party. The fire eventually went out in the middle of the night and the hide froze around him. I guess when his friends found him he looked like a huge sausage roll with his arms down his sides and not being able to get out. He was okay but cold and embarrassed.

I have a friend that we call the "coyote whisperer".
Long ago he quit hunting coyotes with a gun...not exciting enough!!

Now he sneaks up and lets the air out of them while they are sleeping. :eek :eek :eek :eek



Then I come long and turn them into fur.




They usually "Keep an Eye Out" for me.:rollin :rollin

"Just the "Fat guy" Happy dance
Its kinda funny". I bet:rollin :rollin :rollin

Then a question came to me, "why are they making such a racket when I invade their space"?

Because you were wearing clothes that were washed with detergent containing UV brighteners!

Hi:

My two cents. I would rather choose to rifle hunt deer with the sun at my back than worry about wind direction. It really screws up their vision and makes them think, I have walked downwind on a lot of deer and were content to let me approach as long as theirs noses had me pegged. As soon as they saw me the got scarce quickly.

In addition, if it is really windy I hunt on foot walking between little pothole slough bottoms (with willows, less than 250 sq feet). I find bucks bed down in these places when they are caught by daylight during the rut. It seems the wind really messes up their hearing and so I can appraoch these places to within a hundred yards or so. In hilly country, with a quiet appraoch, you can usually saunter up to these places and catch them leaving. Don't be in too much of a rush go into the "hole", instead hang back and stomp you feet and when they get going you have to decide and shoot your target quick.

If you don't like moving deer shooting, then keep a predator call, or elk cow call (seriously) or a call called the "Deer Stopper" clenched in your teeth, sit down and get ready. As they come running out of their "hole" you squawk on the call and sometimes they hammer on the brakes. You have only a couple seconds to hit the deer before it starts moving again (thats why you get ready before they detect you, you can also use the call to get them going). BTW, Whitetail Bucks have rarely stopped for the call, but Muley bucks are a little more curious.

With elk, keep the cow call in your mouth rifle hunting all the time in any season, cow call lots as you still hunt though good bedding area. You will either get a response or they will hang around a few more seconds to figure you out. If they start to run you can sometimes stop them with the cow call. If you plug a bull, call immediately he may stop running, allowing you a second follow up shot (this actually worked in Cypress hills this year, I shot the cow but stopped a small 5x5 a few times before he got tired of waiting for his expired girlfriend, kind of sad really)

All this stuff has worked for me, I hope it helps you as well.

Hoopi

Yep! I beat my chest in the same fashion as the grouse do with their wings, to attract a mate. I call this my "grouse call'. Laugh if you will but it works and I get the grouse every time.

Ellen from Ontario---that is odd for sure.

Thanks for the reply Grand. Don't you know who I am?

Did you read about the deer swimming in river?

Yes I know who you are, but you should have kept (onehitandmiss) a much better handle. You should still come out here this fall and hunt. Then you can use your odd hunting methods out here. It is to bad you didn't get any pictures of it as it was swimming. Did it make it to the other shore?

Hi
I forgot what the old handle was that's why I took Ontario ellen.

I have a picture of the deer in river and as soon as i figure out how to put t on the web site I'll do so.

Bro, we are never going out there. It just cost too much money. I'm sorry.

Understandable. Use Photobucket to post your pictures.

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I must honestly say that I never saw a deer swimming before. That is an awesome picture. I did see a member of the deer family swimming, it was a moose out in 936, in the Islet staging area. That was cool.