# How do you hunt deer?



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

In about 17 years of hunting deer I have been sadly unsuccessful most years, by choice passing on the younger bucks. I have decided to make a better effort and finally get a keeper in the next few years. I have a rifle that will definitely do its part and I spend a fair amount of time studying and reading those who are successful. My latest reading is the newest book by Mike Eastman (personalized autograph to my sons 8) ). It is no news to me as I have read on here and other places that I likely do way too much brush busting as that is how I was taught to hunt and I really enjoy seeing the territory and the feeling of conquering the mountain. I plan to get a better spotting scope and spend more time behind the glass to find the mature bucks. We recently purchased a family cabin, from which we now hunt, involving learning a newer area a few miles from where we normally hunt. 
My point of discussion is this-how do you narrow down your spots where to spot? Do you seek out north facing slopes in the summer? if so, what areas in October? The area where we found the deer this last year was in fairly open country, but there is very rugged thick stuff very nearby. I do have a trail cam and will be using it actively to see if there is anything worth chasing all summer. Another key that Eastman hits on repeatedly is time and experience in the area, so I guess I am just trying to figure out how to make the most of our early years learning an area. The snow was kind last year in letting us see where the active trails are and I will start with those trails that lead to the thick/steep stuff. Thanks in advance for any input!


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Huge, I've actually thought about having a post this year in which I'll keep a jounal of my scouting trips and hunting a brand new area. Hopefully helping out people like you with new tips and ideas on being more successful.

Right now, before I have a tag in hand. It's all about google earth and looking at areas that should hold deer. Looking for good "high spots" to glass from. If you can get out in the next couple months and look at those areas you want to scout, look at where the snow in holding the best. Even take pictures to help you remember in July and August. In general, those areas still holding snow in May and early June, will be good feeding spots for the deer in July and August.


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

There is a lot of information out there dealing with your questions, lot of it is good, some not so. Over the years I’ve learned a couple of things that remain fairly constant when hunting mature bucks. The first things have to do with the hunter.

Frame of Mind: Going after a mature mulie requires a certain mindset, and it’s not the same one hunters have when they are just “going hunting”. You have to concentrate and focus on the task at hand: That’s dang hard to do when you’re thinking about the job, or the bills, or the wife’s birthday coming up. You are the top predator on the mountain, think like one every second you’re hunting. Keep the ‘hope’ factor out of the equation; ‘know’ that there is a big buck somewhere in your area, and keep positive you will find him.

Fear: I know there was a period of time when I chose not to hunt where I knew big bucks would be, for fear of getting him out of there once down. Have a plan to get the meat and antlers out of the worst place you can think of, so you don’t have second thoughts of hunting that nasty he$$ hole he is hiding out in. Overcome the fear of staying out till dark and making your way back to the truck. GPS, compass and map, whatever it takes to give you the confidence to come back when the boogy man is roaming about. I had to do a few practice runs before the hunting season to be comfortable with that one, but it’s not hard to do. Spending the night out on the mountain by yourself can be both physically and mentally very challenging. Carry with you what you need to do that as comfortably as you can. If you haven’t done it before, take a couple of days during the summer and head on out and spend the night by your self. You’ll be surprised the confidence it will give you when you find yourself in late October having to do it when you’ve ventured too far from the truck to make it back safely.

Weapon: It can’t be stated strongly enough that you need to be ‘automatic’ with your weapon when it comes time to do the deed. It’s one thing to shoot a dime out at a hundred yards from a rest at the range. It’s quite another to do the same thing from a kneeling position, shooting uphill in a wind. Take the time to shoot in all the various positions until you are so familiar with it, when you pull the trigger you don’t even think about it. Having a big buck in the cross hairs for the first time can un-nerve anyone.

Big bucks don’t think like the youngsters. For the most part they’re solitary. They like to be able to see well from a vantage point, which usually means up high, but not always. They will bed with cover at their back, whether it is a cliff, a boulder, or a tree. If you are seeing many doe and immature bucks, you are in the wrong place. During the October hunt, the big bucks are just starting to think about the rut, but not enough to cause them to mingle with the ladies and the kids.

Weather, as you know, is a huge factor. Wildlife isn’t much different than people. When it’s hot, they want to be cool. When it’s cold, they want to be warm. On warm/hot days, look to the north side of the mountain, especially in the timber. On cold days, look to the south slopes where they can catch the morning sun.

Big buck’s think nothing of traveling a mile or more to food and water, so they don’t usually bed down close to either, for the most part. They will be in those places you train yourself not to worry about entering, well away from the rest of the herd and human travel. Learn patience. When you find a place you can glass, sit down and glass and not just for a half hour. Search in quadrants until you cover the area, and then do it again. Then do it again. Then do it again. I think it would blow many hunters minds if they really knew how many mature bucks they missed by just not having patience, and walking right by them.

Don’t forget the not so obvious places too. Big bucks don’t get that way by being dumb. They KNOW where hunters go, and they know what areas hunters just pass right by to get to the “good stuff”. Small areas with just enough cover to hide a buck out in the middle of nothingness have produced critters hanging on many a wall.

There’s more to it, but I’m sure you will get lots of good advice and conversation that might put you on a mature buck this year from the good folks here on the forum. I’d listen to what Ridge has to say, realllllly close! _(O)_ Best of luck Huge!


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

I used to get to my place while it was still dark. Sit very quietly and be patient. I watched many a hunter drive past or walk past many deer.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Being a successful deer hunter can be summed up in one word. Patience.

When I was a youngster I spent all my time hiking over every mountain to see what was on the other side. All I did was see a lot of country... Then my Grandpa told me once while hunting many years ago that you'll kill a lot more deer if you wear out the seat of yer britches than you will wearing out yer boots.


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

+1 Tex.
I used to think I had to cover alot of ground. I finally hunted with a guy who taught me to slow down.
I don't sit much, but I love to just wander around in an area that I usually see animals.
It's not how much ground you cover, it's how you cover the ground you travel.
In the last ten years, I've killed my 4 biggest bucks.


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Tex is right on with what his Grandpa said...from my own experience just last year on the UWC Youth Turkey hunt...I was allowed to be a spotter and while sitting in one place all day long, I saw animals in those woods that would have other wise not been seen, just by sitting and glassing. Just when I thought I had account of every bush, tree and rock, suddenly there stood a moose or a deer or a coyote or yes...even a turkey.


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## Iron Bear (Nov 19, 2008)

Or you can wear out the seat of your britches and cover a lot of ground and see a ton of country road hunting.  

Which is coincidentally better when you slow down also. :mrgreen:


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Iron Bear said:


> Or you can wear out the seat of your britches and cover a lot of ground and see a ton of country road hunting.
> 
> Which is coincidentally better when you slow down also. :mrgreen:


 :mrgreen:

Don't I know it! One year while in Kansas hunting birds we were suffering through a hot day with zero wind. The birds were just impossible to get on and the dogs were worn out and tired by nine in the morning. On our way back to town I had the windows in the truck down as we drove a dirt road back out the the main highway. Suddenly I heard something scurrying through the grass in the road ditch out my window. A light bulb went off in my head so I stopped the truck, stepped out, stuffed two shells in my gun and walked into the grass by the road where I'd heard the rustling noises. Not one, but THREE roosters came boiling out of there and I doubled on two of em. From then on were were driving down those roads with the windows down and our ears tuned to the sounds in the road ditches. I'll be damned if we didn't kill our limits that day using this technique. Not my favorite way of hunting pheasants, but **** sure effective! :twisted: We now call em "Rustle****s"


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Work smarter not harder.

You wont kill a big buck by your cabin if there aren't any big bucks there. No matter how much you beat the brush your odds are just as likley your going to get hit by lightning then you will kill a big buck if they dont exists.

So you want to increase your odds at seeing a buck with more age. 
You have to hunt areas that limit hunters or weapons effective range. Meaning physically limit hunters by: restrictions le units, weapon choice "extended archery only areas", physical terrain, privite property. Ect

Now most people in utah are all becoming back country BA's so its hard to get away from the masses on general land. So the next best thing is hunt edges. Edges of privite, edges of le units, edges of indian land, edges of national parks closed to hunting ect. You still wont be alone hunting these edges but at least you up your % to finding a deer that makes it one more year.

If it were me and i wanted to kill a big buck with a rifle id apply in good areas in other states and skip the general rifle areas in utah.

Work smarter nor harder


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## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

I've changed how I've hunted in recent years in an attempt to chase more mature (3pt or better) bucks & I’ve learned a bunch compared to my years cruising around on ATVs.
I like to put the boot leather down scouting and checking trail cameras in the spring & summer. I look for water sources and game trails then, it's easier for me to see those kinds of things early before the brush gets high & thick. That said, I spend most of that time walking around looking at the ground seeing where trails go, etc. I really don't care about personally spotting animals on these expeditions. I'm just trying to get a lay of the land. I let my cameras take care of letting me know what critters are in the area. I added one new wrinkle to my scouting last year… I have been hunting a great area for a couple yearas so I asked myself, “where would be the best place to sit.” It may sound crazy, but with a muzzleloader tag I felt I had to carefully consider where I should sit because of the limitations to my weapon of choice. I scouted for comfortable rocks or logs for sitting with good shooting lanes out to 120-ish yards. I found a couple promising places so I would go to those spots each time I checked my cameras & sit briefly. It was interesting to see how the mountain changed over the summer and how visibility of certain areas increased or decreased based upon where I sat. 
Once the season opens, I have abandoned hard core hiking and have turned to sitting. I've never actually sat a whole day in one spot because I’ve found certain places to be more productive in the morning while others are better in the evening... so I'll sit in one place until lunch then sneak out for a bite to eat then head over to my evening spot. My morning spot changes but my evening spot stays the same. I now have one spot that I've scouted and hunted for a couple years & I know the bowl well. I know the primary trails leading to bottom and I know that right after lunch is when I need to be to my glassing point (three 4 pts came to water at 4:30 in the afternoon on day 2 last year and my plan ALMOST came together).
I think the trickiest part is combining everything that I've learned and bringing it all together resulting in success... this has been the part that has eluded me so far.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

I hunt a couple ways.I sit in the morning and watch a clearing in tell about 10:30. Then I get up and make a big circle to get out. Then I do spot and stalk. Later in the week I do a little road hunting midday and after noon with the family.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Hunt in Montana, in mid-November.


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## Duckholla (Sep 24, 2007)

I’d echo what’s been said before and I’d add a little. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes, and learned the hard way many times. A big mistake that I used to make in my youth, that would frustrate me to no end was that I hunted the same way I scouted. It wasn’t until I was older and somewhat wiser that the light bulb went off, and I learned that the two things are different, and should be treated as such. Now days, when I scout, I take powerful optics and glass from a good distance. 500-1000 yards and sometimes even further distances. All I am trying to learn is where the deer are first, and hopefully I can even uncover some headgear. I even look from miles above…Google Earth, and familiarize myself with the terrain. You can learn a lot from glassing at that distance with patience, and sticktoitiveness. However, most people cannot effectively hunt from those distances. I know, I know, now days people are shooting the dime out of a target from 1K yards. I've done that, and it's neat to do, but its unsettling for me. Too many variables. I wouldn't do that on a trophy deer hunt, so my hunting routine is different. When I hunt, I am positioning myself within an effective shooting distance of the animals I glassed up earlier in the season. I don’t spend time glassing hillsides that are for all intents and purposes, out of my reach. I’m not going to glass on the other side of an impassible grand canyon, while I am hunting. What’s the point? I would however, glass across that impassible canyon while I am scouting, and if I find more deer there, then I would figure out how to get across before the start hunts. I find myself thinking, and sometimes saying out-loud to my hunting friends, “Are we scouting, or are we hunting?”

It’s a lot like goose hunting. I can chase geese all day long, and watch where they land, and I will spend all day long watching geese. Is it fun, yes. Will I kill any, probably not. I need to be IN THE FIELD where the geese want to be, and 90% of my work is done. Deer hunting is the same way. Be where the deer want to be. Find this out prior to the hunt, scouting, but when the hunt starts you need to stop scouting, and hunt! Scouting is a broad perspective the hunter is obtaining, and it’s critical. When the hunt starts, that perspective needs to be focused tighter, on attainable, reasonable hunting objectives.


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## stablebuck (Nov 22, 2007)

My deer hunting plan is to hunt elk and then kill a deer if one is stupid enough to let me...
But in all seriousness...I like to hunt the lay of the land...more of a short range weapon strategy, but knowing where deer are and where they want to be is a huge part of being successful. Deer are lazy just like people...figure out where deer are at that particular time of the year and where they like to go during that particular time of the year and visualize the easiest route between the two and that's where you'll find deer moving.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

There has been some really good advise give but I would have to differ with a few comments. I have known some guys that do really well and take big bucks every few years by putting a lot of miles on their boots. I have done the same in the past but now I have a hard time going too far with bad knees and a stress fracture in my foot. 
Huge, with your physique. I would spend more time behind the glass and follow Tex's advise. :O•-: 
Also, Utah has plenty of good areas to find a mature buck. Well, maybe not so many after last years banner year. 
I just got into using trail cameras the last couple years and it does take some time to figure how and where they will be most affective. You will have a lot of fun with them. Just keep a lock on it in easy access areas. 
Duckholla hit my biggest problem right on. I tend to stay in the scouting mode throughout the hunting season and I really need to be more agressive and confine my hunting to a little smaller area.


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

A lot of great advice on this thread. 

I honestly think the biggest thing is scouting. Have a handful or more areas that you know hold deer. Spend time in the off-season and early season checking out every area. I like mornings better than evenings, but both are great. Be in position before it gets light and stay until it's pitch black. Find the bucks you want and watch them, be there before the get pressured and kill them, or learn their escape routes and watch them when you expect them to get pressure.

I'm guilty of hunting the same areas year after year and always see good bucks, but I don't always see great bucks. If you spend time finding new spots and check all of your spots every year you can find the "great" bucks year after year and kill them. Every hunter I know that kills bucks year after year has located them pre-season, and I often hear them say that they found them in a place where they don't typically find the big buck -- so obviously they've been in the area multiple times, know it holds deer and are willing to go back in there looking for the big boy.


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## ntrl_brn_rebel (Sep 7, 2007)

ridgetop said:


> Huge, with your physique. I would spend more time behind the glass and follow Tex's advise. :O•-:


 :lol:

I was going to suggest with the name huge, the first thing I would consider would be a diet...... :mrgreen:


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

ntrl_brn_rebel said:


> ridgetop said:
> 
> 
> > Huge, with your physique. I would spend more time behind the glass and follow Tex's advise. :O•-:
> ...


The belly is just to keep the thunder thighs thunderous, no need to go to the gym; I am always working them! 
Great info stablebuck, ridgetop and Tex among many others. I remembered Tex's quote from years ago and remembered it as I read the book as Mike hits on that a lot. He mentioned many instances in which he saw a hunter walk right by a big buck. A lot of what I have read has already been mentioned here. I did not mean to imply that we are hunting a tiny area near the cabin; we have fairly exclusive access to an area that is public, but some good access to limited access areas and around several CWMU's. They are there, but I am new enough to the area to have not yet figured out where. Thanks again guys! Great info!


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## ARCHER11 (May 26, 2011)

Awesome info! Thanks for starting up the thread Huge! I'll echo what has been said about glassing. In the last couple years that I have really started glassing I have seen more deer than I ever thought possible. Using that glass is KEY!! 

Duckholla, I just had one of those ah-ha moments reading your comment. I'm not sure why I hadn't thought about it like that before.AWESOME advice! Thank you! What duckholla is talking about can pretty much sum up exactly why I don't have any bucks on my wall. The more I think about it, the more I see the correlations with my lack of "success". The times that I have been close have been the times I have been in the hunting mindset! There really is a huge difference between scouting and hunting. I've done a decent job at scouting the past 3 or 4 years. I've even found and patterned some really good bucks, but I just haven't been able to seal the deal. I really think it has been because i'm in scouting mode during hunting season. If I could pick one thing that I think has blown more of my stalks it would be moving too quickly. When i'm in scouting mode, typically i'm glassing from a pretty distant ridge. When I bring that train of thought into the hunt and spot a buck worth going after, I automatically start thinking, whats the fastest way to get over there rather than whats the BEST way to get over there. That speedy mindset makes me rush the stalk and make stupid mistakes. If you are in close on an animal, rather than being worried about making it to that buck before he makes it into the trees or gets up from his bed, you can make smart moves and move a lot slower. Thanks for the great advice guys! Duckholla, I owe you!


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

This discussion brings up the obvious followup question...how much to spend on a spotter? Is a vortex nomad enough? It seems like on rifle scopes $400-500 gets you really good glass and from there the cost goes up quickly with only minimal incremental improvements until you are triple that price, where is that price point and model with spotters? I don't expect to drop more than $500 or so.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

Huge29 said:


> My point of discussion is this-how do you narrow down your spots where to spot? Do you seek out north facing slopes in the summer? if so, what areas in October?


Hmmm...for me it has always been really simple--I pick out a lake or area that I really love fishing and I start looking for deer in the early mornings and evenings. If I don't find anything I am interested in shooting, I fish. If I do find something I want to shoot, I chase it until it has run to hell and gone and then I fish.

Then, I go home and wonder why I can't kill a big buck....before I realize that I would rather catch a big fish anyway!


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

Any spotter with clarity will produce results. I like my Leupold 12-40. You can find the Leupold for around $500 used. Buddy has a Vortex and it works. I used a Bushnell 15-45 for years and was productive with it-- they run around $200. I have used Swaro and Zeiss spotters- and they can help with eye fatigue, but that only occurs with me after 2+ hours of constant glassing- which I don't do often enough to warrant the extra cost.

Look in August and you'll have an idea of where they will be in Oct. Not true everywhere, but most areas it is the case.


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## 10000ft. (Oct 29, 2007)

I grew up doing drives with my dad and brothers through aspen stands and oak brush. Two to four hunters spread, out one hundred yards apart, moving slow. You usually don't see the deer you jump up but he runs into the next guy. We always did a morning drive that usually ended at camp, had lunch, ciesta and then did an evening drive.

When I got older I started hunting with some guys (diffrent area, steeper terain) that were purely spot and stalk. A lot of glassing, a lot of sitting (after a mile or two of steep hiking in the dark that is) hiking in and out with head lamps. 

The drive hunting is more conducive to large groups and young kids/hunters where the terrain is not too steep. The latter is more physically taxing and doesn't accomodate as many hunters in an area. Your hot when you hike, cold when you glass.

Right now mine and my brothers kids are to young to hunt and we tend to do a mix of both. I pack lunch to be gone all day as it takes enough time to get up into good hunting spots it is not worth hiking out during the day (pack a stove, hot lunch is the only way to go if you are gone all day). I get up to where I want to be during the prime first light hours. This is always in a saddle, on a bare ridge, a good vantage point of a South slope. . .etc. The reality is most big bucks have already moved into thick cover before the sun is up. Occasionally weather will keep them out longer and even big bucks get lazy or make mistakes sometimes. This is where luck and timing are the biggest factors.

I find most mature deer are pretty well in cover within 1.5 to 2 hous of shooting light. This is when I cordinate with my other hunting partner or partners to go where we think animals would likely bed and make a few drives during the non productive hours of the day when animals are beded. We always include in our plan where we want to be around 5:00ish when we want to be back in a similar place to where we spent the morning. 

I don't have "nice" optics (3x9 Leopold and 10x50 Bushnell binos) so I don't know how much better optics help. I do imagine I glass more than the average guy with better equipment. My eye sockets become very red and sore by the end of the day from pushing my binos against my face. I don't move more than 100 yards without a thourough scan even when we are on a drive.

I don't pre season scout as I don't have the time and I find deer paterns change to much even from September to October. Every year I get to know the areas I hunt in better, game trails, escape routes, beds, popular feeding areas, seeing bucks too far away to shoot but learing where they are and where they go...

I own a Sportsman 800 but have never used it for hunting. I run over 700 miles a year so I am pretty able to hunt and get to most anywhere I think a buck may be.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

You can find and kill big bucks with 200 spotters, binos, and scopes. I dont own any decent glass and ill bet you a big gulp ill find the bucks in an area before 99% of the guys out. The more expensive ones are like putting gold fillings in your mouth instead of regular fillings. Dont get me wrong id love to have some high end glass but i just cant afford it.

Id say 90% of the rifle hunters out dont use their short season well enough. If i had a 5 day hunt id go out a week before the hunt and locate the best buck i could and move close enough into position so i wont spook it off but far enough away i can watch its every move until its too dark to see it any more. Id then get into position before light and assassinate it soon as its legal. If that plan fails because someone else buggered it up id still use the rest of the week hunting my back up bucks. 

To locate, hunt, and kill big bucks takes a lot if time and money. Money in tag apps, money in fuel and gear, money in time off work and time away from family if they dont go with you.

You had better have an understanding wife or be single! To put it into perspective. I have never hunted a Le unit for deer but ive tagged quite a few mature bucks in the last 10 years of hunting with my bow. The areas i hunt aren't to far away from me but i know them well. Big bucks arent always in the same canyons. So to find the best ones to target takes LOADS of time. Its 360! Im hiking, or driving the areas i hunt one to two days a week year round. Im filming in the winter, shed hunting the spring, locating the best of the best in the summer and hunting every chance i get for 4 month archery season. Then throw in the fact i shoot my weapon of choice at least 1-3 times a week all year long. So to say my wife lets me get away with murder would be an understatement!


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## ntrl_brn_rebel (Sep 7, 2007)

I'd shoot a $100 used rifle before I gave up my swarvo optics...

If your going to get serious about glassing you can't afford not to buy the best glass you can afford...if you have a 1200.00 rifle and 200.00 binos you got things seriously wrong IMO 

Lots of guys that say they can't see the difference, have never spent 10 consecutive hours behind glass..or they have never glassed the "glory" fifteen minutes of the dusk/dawn period at a distance.....

if your style of hunting is wondering around and glassing five-ten minutes and not to concerned about the low light times...buy cheap optics..


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

for glass i bought the cableas ero and man im one happy guy. I can go and sit for hours and glass hill sides


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## JuddCT (Sep 7, 2007)

Just find out which car ridgetop drives and follow him. That is the best advice I can give!


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

Even if you have the money I can't see justifying the money to purchase Swaro or the like unless hunting is your full time job. if you rate swaro at a 10/10, there's a lot of glass out there for a 3rd of the price that's 9.8/10. I currently run Cabelas Alaskan Guides - not the newest model. They're a fine glass, the Euros are good too - but if I was buying new right now I'd go Vortex Viper HD for both binos and spotters.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

ntrl_brn_rebel said:


> I'd shoot a $100 used rifle before I gave up my swarvo optics...
> 
> If your going to get serious about glassing you can't afford not to buy the best glass you can afford...if you have a 1200.00 rifle and 200.00 binos you got things seriously wrong IMO
> 
> ...


I disagree

All it does is make it a touch more clear. Ive never in 30 years of hunting not been able to find game in any light situation. Not once! Its not a necessity it wont make or break your hunt its simply a luxury item. So buy what you can afford.

Now if your talking about guns and scopes ill agree with you. Id never spend 1200 on a gun and put a wallmart brand scope on top.


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## ntrl_brn_rebel (Sep 7, 2007)

Your high as a kite swbuckmaster...

If you are implying that 150.00 glass is comparible to any other glass you need your eyes checked!! A touch clearer?? Hahaha 

Finding game in a low light situatuon and being able to tell EXACTLY what your looking at are two different things bud...


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

ya my 200.00 glasses are junk compared to anything costing more. Im not debating that but they dont hinder me at finding the deer in any light situation. I can guarantee you ill still see the same bucks you see in any light. So maybe its your eyes that need checked. lol


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## 10000ft. (Oct 29, 2007)

I'm sure better optics can only give you an advantage, like swbuckmaster said, how much is the question? I have some friends and cousins who are a blast to be around the camp fire with but you could handed them a $1,000,000 pair of optics and spend 20 minutes explaing where an amimal is beded in cover far away and they will never see it. Optics I would estimate iare far less than half the glassing battle.


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## ntrl_brn_rebel (Sep 7, 2007)

True 10,000...

Grandpa called it woodsmanship...I think tex does as well...

Some people got it, some wouldn't survive in the wild for five minutes. People in the wild in relationship to animals in the wild are pretty **** dumb if ya think about it...for example..trapping a coyote and bobcat on their terms can be a pretty difficult task..I could trap humans by the boat loads...

To each their own...but outdoorsman in general are "pathetic" IMO...


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

> Grandpa called it woodsmanship...I think tex does as well...


 8) I like your grandpa...


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Huge, when it comes to spotting scopes. Size really matters. I would go with a 50mm or 65mm objective lens if your hiking a lot, just for weight reasons. 30-40x is strong enough for most outings. I have had the Leupold 15-30x-50mm sub-compact and love it. It comes with a soft case you can carry on your belt, which saves pack space. It's light enough to handle a very small, lightweight tri-pod. At 30x you can see detail on bucks out to about 1- 1.5 miles. The 12-40x-60mm scope packout talked about, is a good one too. If your spotting from the truck or a short distance from your truck. Then the bigger 80mm lens is a good choice. Another note, if you go with the bigger scope, then you will need to have a bigger tri-pod and backpack to carry it all. I think the Vortex would be a good mid-range scope to have.


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

in the words of a late great friend of mine. "Big bucks are where you find em, _now go do your homework_"!

His book, "Public Land Mulies" (David Long) is one of the best. 
http://www.amazon.com/Public-Land-Mulie ... 097788371X

-In regard to glass, dont overlook MINOX.


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## Mojo1 (Sep 8, 2007)

ntrl_brn_rebel said:


> True 10,000...
> 
> Grandpa called it woodsmanship...I think tex does as well...
> 
> ...


I have to agree with yah!

Outdoorsmen has become a very generic term these days that is used by the pc crowd, down home we still call them top waters!!!!


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