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what about noise- specifically when setting sticks?

thanks to everyone- the "getting in your own head" and obsessing over the details that maaay not matter is definitely happening to this newbie. i've got 1000000x more time that i can be on the internet than in the field (job, toddlers, etc) and have been spending many of those hours here.
 
bj139 said:
That's what I keep thinking. The people that say they sneak into a deer bedding area and the deer don't know they are there are not correct, IMHO. I used to still hunt and when I was doing it right it would take me 10 minutes to walk 10 feet without making a sound that I could hear. The deer probably heard something. It would take me all day to walk to my stand at that pace. LOL.
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We must have read the same story lol, can't remember the book I read about still hunting years ago but his advice was 40 mins to go 40 yds. I tried it a few times, though I didn't get a shot I was within 40yds a few times
 
Buckkillr said:
We must have read the same story lol, can't remember the book I read about still hunting years ago but his advice was 40 mins to go 40 yds. I tried it a few times, though I didn't get a shot I was within 40yds a few times
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Years ago, after a week and half of just "being there" in the woods and walking step by step, inch by inch, I walked up behind a feeding doe and shot her. She never knew I was there. It took me a week to learn to walk that way, 8 hours a day, every day. Wherever I was standing silently was my deer stand.
 
bj139 said:
Years ago, after a week and half of just "being there" in the woods and walking step by step, inch by inch, I walked up behind a feeding doe and shot her. She never knew I was there. It took me a week to learn to walk that way, 8 hours a day, every day. Wherever I was standing silently was my deer stand.
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It's a fun way to hunt
 
thedutchtouch said:
so with all the lengths many hunters go to silence metal on metal, be stealthy when walking in etc... how does the noise that setting a stick makes factor in? not as big of a deal because it's a slightly more natural sound than metal on metal? seems like the scraping of the stand-offs against the bark when initially setting the stick is the loudest part of the whole process but i dont have enough experience to know how much it matters.

PLEASE: no SRT/DRT suggestions (i think it has it's place, and may try in the future though i suck at throwing), we're assuming we'll be using sticks (and potentially platform) for this discussion.
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I suck at throwing also. So ill just bring a rope along in my pack. Use my sticks to climb and hunt and then before I climb down I set the rope for the next trip. Usually have 3-4 presets on my private land during the season and usually 1-2 on public. Really makes for an easy walk in. I use DRT as its a much smoother climb over SRT in my experience.
 
swampdonkey said:
The swamp Island I happened to be on was almost 100% large Cedar trees. The entire island is covered in a thick mat of old fallen cedar needles/leaves or whatever you call em. Its like walking on a thick comforter, completely silent and with the low hanging branches you can approach this buck bed completely unseen and unheard.

When the buck got up at 2:58 I assure you he was not spooked or had any idea I was there. The breeze was straight from him to me and he walked slowly and deliberately right to me on his well established trail, nibbling on this and that as he slowly worked his way past me to the main woods. He had no idea I was there.

Id have a picture of him here if he had literally moved another 2 minutes later as I would have had my bow up the tree with me instead of lying on the ground. Just dumb luck on his part. His trail brought him by broadside at 15 yards and he was totally relaxed, he would have been dead.

Now, im not saying its easy to set up that close or that I always want to but with the super hot weather, lack of deer movement in the hardwoods, and my vacation coming to an end I pushed the envelope and it almost paid off, so close!
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Cut tether and atomic elbow is the only solution.
 
IMHO
Get your rope as tight as you can before setting it.
Climb with everything for your hunt.
Slow and deliberate

I try to walk to a tree set my first stick and climb. Spending as little time as possible on the ground leaving scent and disturbing the area.
Last week I went on my draw hunt I climbed a tree 50 yards from a buck. I seen him standing at the edge of the field. When I got to my tree I set my sticks down on the ground, hung the first stick and hung the other two on my saddle and started climbing. I did decide to use a platform on this hunt so I used a pull rope for my weapon. I climbed successfully quite enough. Got set and started pulling up my rope when a second deer I hadn’t seen stood up and bounded off taking the buck with her. I think she seen the shotgun getting pulled up the tree.


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bj139 said:
That's what I keep thinking. The people that say they sneak into a deer bedding area and the deer don't know they are there are not correct, IMHO. I used to still hunt and when I was doing it right it would take me 10 minutes to walk 10 feet without making a sound that I could hear. The deer probably heard something. It would take me all day to walk to my stand at that pace. LOL.
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I don’t think they don’t hear me, I think in the dark they don’t care. As long as I don’t give them a reason to know it’s a human coming to kill them. Lol.
And walk like a squirrel!! Lol seriously


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thedutchtouch said:
so with all the lengths many hunters go to silence metal on metal, be stealthy when walking in etc... how does the noise that setting a stick makes factor in? not as big of a deal because it's a slightly more natural sound than metal on metal? seems like the scraping of the stand-offs against the bark when initially setting the stick is the loudest part of the whole process but i dont have enough experience to know how much it matters.
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May I suggest next time you hunt and it's a low to no wind hunt do this.
Just sit and concentrate hard and REALLY listen. You will most likely be surprised at just how noisy the woods actually are, especially once the frigging squirrels get busy. Most places I hunt have a very healthy population of raccoons possums and skunks and tree and ground squirrels are thicker than shag carpet and all make a lot of noise as they go about their business.
Unless I make a very unnatural sound like metal on metal banging or scraping metal across metal, I feel snapping the rare twig or scaping bark as i go up a tree is a total non factor.
 
Dutchtuch you're right. If a buck only moves 150 yds in daylight, how are you supposed to get close enough setting sticks. Just better hope its not educated to many many hunters who make that same exact noise. Im right there with you.
 
On still days with dry leaves I will break out the Turkey call and cluck, purr, Yelp as I scratch leaves every ten yards or so. Not sure how much it helps but I don’t think it hurts any. Stick noise against the tree is a pretty natural sound and I don’t worry too much about it. I’ve set up within 50 yards, and sometimes closer, of bedded bucks multiple times and feel like they had no clue I was there. If they heard anything they dismissed it as a non threat pretty quick.


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I think I have more animal encounters during off season scouting when I'm just stomping thru than I do during season trying to be quiet.....maybe they just know they are safe that time of year
 
flinginairos said:
On still days with dry leaves I will break out the Turkey call and cluck, purr, Yelp as I scratch leaves every ten yards or so. Not sure how much it helps but I don’t think it hurts any. Stick noise against the tree is a pretty natural sound and I don’t worry too much about it. I’ve set up within 50 yards, and sometimes closer, of bedded bucks multiple times and feel like they had
flinginairos said:
On still days with dry leaves I will break out the Turkey call and cluck, purr, Yelp as I scratch leaves every ten yards or so. Not sure how much it helps but I don’t think it hurts any. Stick noise against the tree is a pretty natural sound and I don’t worry too much about it. I’ve set up within 50 yards, and sometimes closer, of bedded bucks multiple times and feel like they had no clue I was there. If they heard anything they dismissed it as a non threat pretty quick.


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Aren’t you a spurs guy?
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flinginairos said:
On still days with dry leaves I will break out the Turkey call and cluck, purr, Yelp as I scratch leaves every ten yards or so. Not sure how much it helps but I don’t think it hurts any. Stick noise against the tree is a pretty natural sound and I don’t worry too much about it. I’ve set up within 50 yards, and sometimes closer, of bedded bucks multiple times and feel like they had no clue I was there. If they heard anything they dismissed it as a non threat pretty quick.


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that sounds like a good idea, but i'd be worried that the DNR might fine me for "hunting" turkey out of season if i had turkey calls on me... but the walking like a squrrel/deer (was it @bj139 that uses a stick to fake an extra footfall sound) is a good idea to learn. also perhaps i should trade the jeans for some camo before i get this much in my head. come on christmas presents! (hopefully)
 
thedutchtouch said:
that sounds like a good idea, but i'd be worried that the DNR might fine me for "hunting" turkey out of season if i had turkey calls on me... but the walking like a squrrel/deer (was it @bj139 that uses a stick to fake an extra footfall sound) is a good idea to learn. also perhaps i should trade the jeans for some camo before i get this much in my head. come on christmas presents! (hopefully)
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Nah. I'm old and use the stick to prevent me from falling over on uneven terrain. Someone else posted about using it to make the sound of another leg. I haven't been hunting enough lately to try it.
 
thedutchtouch said:
that sounds like a good idea, but i'd be worried that the DNR might fine me for "hunting" turkey out of season if i had turkey calls on me... but the walking like a squrrel/deer (was it @bj139 that uses a stick to fake an extra footfall sound) is a good idea to learn. also perhaps i should trade the jeans for some camo before i get this much in my head. come on christmas presents! (hopefully)
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I wouldn’t concern myself in the least about using a Turkey call anytime of year. Your not hunting them & jeans are your proof.....
 

I still use sticks quite a bit on public where spurs aren’t allowed.


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