1) GO EXTRA SLOW
When still-hunting, most of us don’t move slowly enough, or stay put long enough. Try using your watch as a guide. Decide on a period of time to stand still, such as five minutes. This way you’ll be forced to remain quiet and silent for a minimum amount of time, longer if necessary.
2) STOP AT THE NOISE
Here’s a saying I came up with to remind me of an animal’s terrific senses. “The sound of a snapped twig is quickly forgotten by the hunter, but long remembered by the quarry.” If you make an unusually loud noise, stop and stand there as long as you can if you suspect animals are close by. A deer might stand a long time and stare in your direction. If it doesn’t see or smell you, it might go back to feeding or whatever else it was doing before it was disturbed.
3) QUICK-STEPPING FOR DEER
A deer is easily alerted to human cadence as we walk through noisy leaves. This might sound like a dumb idea, but try taking quick steps in a short sprint for 10 to 20 yards or so. Stop, and do it again. Keep your footfalls as light as possible; you’ll be surprised at how much you sound like a squirrel scrambling through the leaves.
4) DESIGN A BETTER DRIVE
When putting a drive together, we tend to place standers in front of and alongside the area being driven. If you have enough people in your party, position a stander in the rear where the drive originated. Deer will often wait for hunters to pass and then sneak back and run off in the opposite direction.
