What do you do after spotting an animal?

dank

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Dec 9, 2019
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66
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Wyoming
I'm curious what strategies and tactics you all employ after spotting an animal you want to kill. I have gotten pretty decent at finding areas and spotting bucks and bulls but once I spot them I'm never really sure what to do. It's like, okay cool.. there they are a few thousand yards away but now what? Unless the animal is bedded, they arn't usually going to feed in that area long enough for me to get there to kill them.

Say I glass them last thing in the evening, should I just plan on being in rifle or archery range of that area I saw them in first thing in the morning and hope they show up? Say it's in the morning and they move into thick cover. Should I get set up in range of where I saw them in the morning and hope they feed in the same area that night?

Obviously the answer differs by situation but I'm wondering if anyone has a system/process they kind of stick to barring the occasional situation dependent exception of course.

It seems like spotting the animal is one thing, but closing several thousand yards and hoping to relocate them involves a lot of chance. Of course, if they are bedded that's different. I'm more talking about finding them in prime time morning/evening sessions when they are obviously going to move by the time I could close the distance.

Really curious to hear from some of you successful guys who often spot deer or elk and then kill them maybe the next day or later in the evening.

Thanks!

P.S. Idk if I should post this under "Mule Deer" or "Elk" specific threads to get more traction but maybe moderators can help out with that.
 
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dank

dank

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Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
66
Location
Wyoming
I guess I'll add the country I'm talking about hunting is western mountains with timbered slopes and open sage areas where I usually spot game on the edges during prime time. They then usually bed in the thick timber.

I'm intentionally trying to keep this somewhat generic as I want a system/process as opposed to an answer for a specific situation ya know?

Thanks!
 
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The primary consideration is time. What time of day is it and how long will it take to get within shot distance?

The secondary consideration is what the animal is doing. If it just bedded down then that is more promising than if the animal is causing in the opposite direction and there are no roads.

I'll lump some things into a third consideration. What's the weather? What is the wind doing? What is the terrain like? What is the vegetation like? Are there other animals between me and my target (ex: cattle)? What is the prevalence of predators in the area?

Take everything into account, and if you deem it "show time", then you figure out how to make the stalk.
 
OP
dank

dank

FNG
Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
66
Location
Wyoming
The primary consideration is time. What time of day is it and how long will it take to get within shot distance?

The secondary consideration is what the animal is doing. If it just bedded down then that is more promising than if the animal is causing in the opposite direction and there are no roads.

I'll lump some things into a third consideration. What's the weather? What is the wind doing? What is the terrain like? What is the vegetation like? Are there other animals between me and my target (ex: cattle)? What is the prevalence of predators in the area?

Take everything into account, and if you deem it "show time", then you figure out how to make the stalk.
Thanks AZ_Hunter. So I guess the situation I typically run into is there is no time to get there because they will either go into cover (found them in morning) or I will be out of shooting light (found them in evening). So with that, my question is how to increase odds relocating them with an opportunity to kill later in the evening (if spotted in morning) or the next morning (if spotted in the evening).
 

Hnthrdr

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Jan 29, 2022
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Co
I archery hunt elk mostly so I typically hunt timber and never have a chance to glass them. As for deer, after I find I buck I want, I will note the time of day, and wind, and then hopefully watch him bed. If it is early morning you have to remember that often muleys can have two beds. If he seems to be settled in I would cut distance in half or more, and then try to relocate the animal if I watch them go into heavy cover the I would cut some of the distance and try to make sure they don’t leave it, assuming it’s an island of cover, if it is solid forest… that’s tough. But I wouldn’t get into shooting range until I know for sure my scent is not going to blow over to that buck or bull.
 

Macintosh

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Feb 17, 2018
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I guess I'll add the country I'm talking about hunting is western mountains with timbered slopes and open sage areas where I usually spot game on the edges during prime time. They then usually bed in the thick timber.

I'm intentionally trying to keep this somewhat generic as I want a system/process as opposed to an answer for a specific situation ya know?

Thanks!
It sounds like you are saying the animals you see in the AM head into a large expanse of heavy timber to bed, so you dont have the opportunity to watch them bed. Is that correct?
 

Macintosh

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Feb 17, 2018
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Remove the word “western” and “Sage” and you just described hunting ag land in the east. If thats the case, you might consider patterning the animals via glassing and scouting to figure out travel routes and where they are bedding, and actually hunt them somewhere in between. Sounds like you could do worse than to show up when thermals switch and still-hunt just downwind of game trails toward bedding, or set up to watch a game trail or wallow/water where critters will stop before going out in the open at dusk.
 

Stalker69

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Apr 12, 2019
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I screw on my 48 inch stabilizer with 10 Oz of weight out front, then screw In my back bar, counter weighted with 12 Oz. Of weight. Dial my sight, and judge hold over ( ain't no fun it it ain't over 100 yards) and let that 650 grain, with 30% weight forward missle fly. Ten ring every time, this is archery talk, right, everybody here does it. At least that's the impression I get. Actually I try and figure out a rout that will get me within 30 yards or closer, down wind. But that's boring as he'll to read ain't it.
 
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