If you’re asking yourself “How can I be stealthier while hunting” Georgia Landsource can help you out! Don’t make any noise while walking, tread lightly, and always walk softly. No matter how you put it, every hunter would benefit from being stealthier in the woods. The snap of a twig or the splash of a boot in a puddle reveals our incompetence, and we cringe.
Our footwear or the way we walk aren’t the only factors to consider. Whether we pack our backpacks in a noisy way or how we wear our clothes can make a difference. When you walk through a wooded area on a quiet day, you will hear the rustle of your outerwear or hear the movement of your coat as it rubs against a tree. Without practice, it’s impossible to be silent always in the wilderness. Nevertheless, you need to learn how to remain silent. Taking that into account, we’ve come up with five things to keep in mind when weaving through the trees.
- Creep, Don’t March
The most important step we can take towards becoming more inconspicuous to our quarry is to learn how to walk through the woods quietly. Choosing lightweight boots or soft-soled shoes would help keep your feet warm in winter, but the latter isn’t always possible.
It is, therefore, necessary to improve your gait. Our advice is to walk heel-to-toe while bending your knees. Placing your foot on its outer edge is a good rule of thumb. Ensure that you don’t hear any crunching sounds as you roll the rest of your sole down to the ground.
You have a better chance of staying quiet if you slow down and remain attentive to your surroundings. Keeping your toes pointing to the ground while raising your foot will prevent you from snagging anything. As a result, you’ll be able to anticipate it before it occurs.
- Quiet Your Body
The process begins with breathing. Mouth breathing is quieter than inhaling through your nose. However, everyone breathes differently. Don’t overexert yourself by walking too fast or breathing too heavily.
Give yourself enough time to walk to your stand or blind and finish the task without overexerting yourself. Avoid low-hanging branches and brushy areas where snags can occur by keeping away from those areas. The backpack you will be wearing will hook and drag over vegetation as you carry an archery bow, rifle, or shotgun. Be sure to bring only the essentials and don’t overpack.
- Wear Quiet Clothing
Wearing obnoxious loud rain gear used to be the only way we could hunt in wet conditions. Many waterproof hunting clothes have been available for many years now, and multiple brands are competing for our hard-earned dollars, so they are continuously improving. GORE-TEX, polar fleece, and other products provide us not only with warmth and dryness but also with great noise reduction. Those products that can withstand thorny underbrush and survive without tearing are useful for some hunting situations but only for some.
- Control Your Scent
Taking this tip into consideration is just as significant as considering the method of how we walk. It’s essential to keep your scent under wraps during hunting season so that whitetail deer won’t bust you out of cover and tell the surrounding animals you’re around. Whether you’re hunting or scouting, your scent is crucial. It is critical to practice scent control when going into the woods if we want to become invisible.
- Consider Everything Else!
In the same way, we watch fields, old logging roads, and other apparent trails; deer do as well. If you find yourself out in the open or these types of situations, you should exercise more patience and move slower. Additionally, keep the sun behind you whenever you can to maximize its benefits. If you want to keep your silhouette hidden, spend some time in the shadows.
Ensure you cover all possible parts of your body with camouflage, including your face, hands, and weapon, so that you become less evident in the wood. This will provide you the privilege of hiding yourself entirely in the woods to make a perfect hunt without regretting it.
For a successful stealth hunt, it is important to keep all options on the table and take them into consideration beforehand.