Woodsmanship skills and hunting

[100%TtId]

I never had a chance to meet Tuthdoc, but one of the things I would have liked to ask him about is what he thought were the essential woodsmanship skills for the successful hunter.

I've always admired the hunters from years past who got the job done without using trail cams, GPS, aerial photos, scent control, and other high-tech wizardry that I rely on today.

Below is a partial list, but I'm interested in what other skills you recognize from your grandfathers, relatives, the old-timers on your lease, etc. who did it old-school.

Let's save the basic outdoor skills like first aid and survival skills for another thread. In no particular order:

1. animal track identification and interpretation
2. plant ID and understanding of what your quarry eats and when
3. predator vs. prey relationships
4. effect of weather on animals behavior
5. calling strategies
6. blood trailing
7. rapid scouting
8. topo map reading

Anything else you can think of to improve your odds?

[Sparkles]

understanding the moon phases as how it relates to animals.

[atombomb]

understanding animal signs, bedding, feed routes, feed areas

[Ricky T]

All of those things play a small part in WHERE YOU PUT A PROPER STAND and undetected entry and exit.

[atexx2]

Learning how to use a compass, finding your way outdoors, got lost once and the stars is what got us to the road that the truck was on.

Sharpening a knife.

[Legdog]

wind / scent control

[ckuehl]

Good thread.

[Archery1st]

I believe above everything else: Time Spent - IN THE STAND/WOODS!

[MEsquivel]

Aging and scoring on the hoof.

[Tubby]

Learned from Dad:

-gun safety
-proper way to clean a firearm
-how to walk thru the woods without sounding like a bull in a china closet
-red sky in the morning.... you know the rest
-respect for God's creation
-cleaning and storing game
-how to "read" a deer's reactions to different things. i.e. watching the tail, ears, what gets their attention
-finding your own bait for fishing
-animal identification (species, tracks, droppings, markings)
-which leaves can be used for "necessity"
-building a fire
-life is too short to have a dull pocket knife

I wish he were still here. He taught me everything I know but not everything he knew!

[100%TtId]

Learned from Dad:

-gun safety
-proper way to clean a firearm
-how to walk thru the woods without sounding like a bull in a china closet
-red sky in the morning.... you know the rest
-respect for God's creation
-cleaning and storing game
-how to "read" a deer's reactions to different things. i.e. watching the tail, ears, what gets their attention-finding your own bait for fishing
-animal identification (species, tracks, droppings, markings)
-which leaves can be used for "necessity"
-building a fire
-life is too short to have a dull pocket knife

I wish he were still here. He taught me everything I know but not everything he knew!

Outstanding, keep 'em coming

[Tubby]

^^^

[J-Bone]

I believe above everything else: Time Spent - IN THE STAND/WOODS!

This! I start my scouting (as in getting my hind end in the woods) in late July, so I have had 2 solid months of "hunting" before the season even starts. Before the season starts, I will have had approximately 25-35 hunts in for scouting.

[Loneaggie]

Re: Woodsmanship skills and hunting

Lots of good stuff already mentioned but I'd like to add patience and respect for our hunting areas and the game we pursue.


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[cosmiccowboy]

Learn how to walk quietly. Pick your knees up, point your toes down and in and set your foot down quietly as it rolls from your toes to your heel. NEVER drag your heels. Pay attention to obstacles and move brush/vines out of the way quietly with your hands as you move.

If you are still hunting and move more than two hundred yards in an hour you are moving too fast. Take a few quiet steps and glass with binoculars looking for tiny parts of deer. Look behind you as well as in front of you.

You CAN walk up on a sleeping deer/elk if you are careful.