“Glassing” in the Adks?

[Cedar+Canvas]

I’ve been hunting in/around a lot of pretty high cliff-y areas this season and started wondering if there’d be any value in spending more time just sitting with my binos during the course of a day. Specifically finding open areas with high ridges/cliffs and glassing up hill for deer later in the day as cool air starts coming down hill. Anyone here do much dedicated “glassing time” like spot and stalk guys do out West?
 
 
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[Salmon_Run]

Where I am it's hard to do any appreciable glassing and I mostly utilize still hunting and sitting on watch in some know travel corridors. It's always good to try new techniques however and if you have ledges in that side of Route 8 I'd give it some time to try. I have several trail cameras out and the mature bucks are nocturnal by this time of the year. There are always exceptions and give glassing a try for a afternoon or two.

It looks like we may be gaining some snow cover in the coming days. I like still hunting with a light snow cover mostly. Glassing might be a great option on some of the cold mornings if you can find some bedding areas and have snow cover. Then one could utilize spot and stalk after glassing.

Nothing ventured - nothing gained or learned at least. 

I just find the deer especially hard to pattern until very late season when they begin to herd up and head towards thick cover for the winter. Their food supply varies year to year and this year the beech nuts seem pretty prevalent. This places them out in the open hardwoods to feed and I se does in the open feeding and being relaxed right near my cabin. Hopefully this draws a rut crazed buck out into the open.

Best of luck and keep us informed of your experiences.

[Cedar+Canvas]

Where I am it's hard to do any appreciable glassing and I mostly utilize still hunting and sitting on watch in some know travel corridors. It's always good to try new techniques however and if you have ledges in that side of Route 8 I'd give it some time to try. I have several trail cameras out and the mature bucks are nocturnal by this time of the year. There are always exceptions and give glassing a try for a afternoon or two.
It looks like we may be gaining some snow cover in the coming days. I like still hunting with a light snow cover mostly. Glassing might be a great option on some of the cold mornings if you can find some bedding areas and have snow cover. Then one could utilize spot and stalk after glassing.
Nothing ventured - nothing gained or learned at least. 
I just find the deer especially hard to pattern until very late season when they begin to herd up and head towards thick cover for the winter. Their food supply varies year to year and this year the beech nuts seem pretty prevalent. This places them out in the open hardwoods to feed and I se does in the open feeding and being relaxed right near my cabin. Hopefully this draws a rut crazed buck out into the open.
Best of luck and keep us informed of your experiences.

That’s our basic method as well. Still hunting consistent travel corridors mixed with watches, certainly informed by the beech nuts this year. I’ve got a few high gnarly spots with fairly compelling bedding sign and major runways going in and out. I️ may just add in some time with the binoculars in the afternoon. Not a hugely different process than just sitting a watch below a shelf, but might be a nice novelty. Will share any news if anything exciting happens...


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[Cedar+Canvas]

Also, don’t know if you’re in Morehouse yet but sounds like snow’s already in. My dad’s already out cruising in the snow camo!


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[Salmon_Run]

I'm headed up Wednesday hopefully till seasons end....(snow camo added)

Last year, the weekend before Thanksgiving my son and I were up there trapping/hunting and the rest of the family was due to come up Thanksgiving. We got nearly 3 feet of wet snow and we had to pull traps and head out. I was soaked to the waist and exhausted from pulling traps,  packing and dragging all the weeks food and supplies to the roadway.   We got to Speculator and no snow!!

It sucked and ended our season early. Driving home my son says "dad, those people must like our truck, they keep pointing at us".

Nope, it was because our truck and flat bed trailer were covered in 3 feet of wet snow.....

Stay well and hope to see you in the area...

[Cedar+Canvas]

I'm headed up Wednesday hopefully till seasons end....(snow camo added)
Last year, the weekend before Thanksgiving my son and I were up there trapping/hunting and the rest of the family was due to come up Thanksgiving. We got nearly 3 feet of wet snow and we had to pull traps and head out. I was soaked to the waist and exhausted from pulling traps,  packing and dragging all the weeks food and supplies to the roadway.   We got to Speculator and no snow!!
It sucked and ended our season early. Driving home my son says "dad, those people must like our truck, they keep pointing at us".
Nope, it was because our truck and flat bed trailer were covered in 3 feet of wet snow.....
Stay well and hope to see you in the area...

Yeah I’ll be headed up Saturday for a few days, sadly not straight through. Not quite there yet haha. Hoping for some big splayed tracks in the snow! Likewise, hope to catch you guys up North sometime.


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[sailinghudson25]

IT could work....   IF something ain't working try something else.

I find good travel cooridors and hunt the frist 2 or 3 hours of the day, then still hunt.  Then stand hunt closer to the cabin the last hour or so.

Summer scouting, keeping to one or two general areas, and a jorunal pays of dearly.  Id spots where there's good mast potential.  A nice spot of beech trees.   What parts of the swamp edges have good soft mast. etc....  

When a deer goes gih or low to get around a cliff section, they still enjoy cover or atleast like walking through it for browse.   Knowing that, I think it would be hard to find them.   I would hunt the edge sections atleast.  Where a deer deciedes to go go up or below.

IF you do deciede to hunt low and glass high.  I would definitely prep that spot with shooting and viewing lanes.  Bumping into a lucky spot might be tough.

KNowing the deer on my logging lease.  They will take advantage of every little low drip, track of young brush, even a natural culvert drain edge.   

I do appreciate you trying to stay low to hunt high.  Going high without any weather advantages usually just means they gonna bust you.  

[nyantler]

Glassing could be fun. But, unless your prepared to take very long risky shots your chance of success will be about the same as just walking through the woods willy-nilly. Without snow or wet leaves to keep your footfalls hidden walking in the big woods is like strapping an amplifier to your back and cranking rap music. Try still hunting as quietly as possible and using a deer call every now and then. Stay on top of the ridges for the best view and shot opportunities unless you know of a dark, dank hemlock piece where the big bucks might hole up. I have rousted many a big buck in those hemlocks with my grunt tube.

 

[Cedar+Canvas]

Thanks [mention=525]nyantler[/mention] and [mention=3087]sailinghudson25[/mention]. Really appreciate your insight. I’ve been of a pretty similar mind as what you both suggest. If I’m going to hunt high, I prefer to do it zero dark and with soft ground and still hunt down hill. Just sort of stumbled on some shelves this season that made me think “hmm, maybe I could camp out in a little brush blind below this sucker and catch something coming out bed late in the day.” Certainly raises questions of shot quality though. I may still try sitting low and keeping an eye on runways coming off shelves, but I suspect the binos may just be to keep my head in the game.

 

 

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[nyantler]

15 hours ago, Cedar+Canvas said:

Thanks [mention=525]nyantler[/mention] and [mention=3087]sailinghudson25[/mention]. Really appreciate your insight. I’ve been of a pretty similar mind as what you both suggest. If I’m going to hunt high, I prefer to do it zero dark and with soft ground and still hunt down hill. Just sort of stumbled on some shelves this season that made me think “hmm, maybe I could camp out in a little brush blind below this sucker and catch something coming out bed late in the day.” Certainly raises questions of shot quality though. I may still try sitting low and keeping an eye on runways coming off shelves, but I suspect the binos may just be to keep my head in the game.

 

 

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Unless the deer density is very high in that area or you have done some significant scouting on deer travel patterns there... you might sit the rest of your life before you see a deer. Take it from someone who has hunted the ADK big woods for 35 years... waiting for a whitetail in the ADK's is the least productive way to deer hunt. Believe me when I say you may be their the rest of your life before you see a deer, let alone a buck. Walking and glassing is probably your best bet.

[Cedar+Canvas]

Unless the deer density is very high in that area or you have done some significant scouting on deer travel patterns there... you might sit the rest of your life before you see a deer. Take it from someone who has hunted the ADK big woods for 35 years... waiting for a whitetail in the ADK's is the least productive way to deer hunt. Believe me when I say you may be their the rest of your life before you see a deer, let alone a buck. Walking and glassing is probably your best bet.

Oh I’m definitely not talking about going in at random. These are spots I’ve been working since I was kid (and my dad’s been working since he was a kid). Produced many wall-hangers. I’m mostly a still hunter mixing in watches on confirmed corridors. Was just curious if “pounding glass” is something many guys up here do, as I’ve never really invested much time in it. Sounds like we’re all pretty much working the same methods in the Adks from what I’m reading...


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[Buckmaster7600]

There are spots it could be done but I couldn't get myself to sit that long. The reason why it's a popular method out west is because you can see miles at a time and can be mobile. This is just not possible in the dacks.


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[Padre86]

I never saw much benefit to glassing (with spot-and-stalk methods) in the ADK's.  The forest is normally too dense and the deer normally don't have much of a reason to hang out in the open areas, unlike out west.  I suppose if you could find an open beaver meadow that has signs of deer traffic, you could give it a shot, but you would need to find a suitable tree to put up a stand (and you'd have to hike the damn thing out there depending on the land classification).

[sailinghudson25]

Glassing is an important part of being a successful ADK hunter.  Deer blend in so well and are very quiet.  We do not blend in well, or are very quiet. So, being able to see them easier helps a ton.   Glass all the time.  I take about 10 steps and glass all around me.  

Open areas I glass so I can travel a bit faster to denser areas.  Dense areas need to be closely checked out.   I'd easily say my binos are on my eyes almost 2 hours a day in the ADK's.  

Not the best, but certainly not the worst......   I use steiner marine 8x30 binos.  Pretty decent optics, a generous ability to focus well on closer distances like 30 yards or so, but can see farther out clearly too.  The binos are very light, and they come in olive green to boot.

Without binos, your gun is just about useless in my opinion.  

[Padre86]

On 12/28/2017 at 10:45 PM, sailinghudson25 said:

Glassing is an important part of being a successful ADK hunter.  Deer blend in so well and are very quiet.  We do not blend in well, or are very quiet. So, being able to see them easier helps a ton.   Glass all the time.  I take about 10 steps and glass all around me.  

Open areas I glass so I can travel a bit faster to denser areas.  Dense areas need to be closely checked out.   I'd easily say my binos are on my eyes almost 2 hours a day in the ADK's.  

Not the best, but certainly not the worst......   I use steiner marine 8x30 binos.  Pretty decent optics, a generous ability to focus well on closer distances like 30 yards or so, but can see farther out clearly too.  The binos are very light, and they come in olive green to boot.

Without binos, your gun is just about useless in my opinion.  

You really use your bino's when hunting in the ADK's?  They don't seem all that useful to that type of terrain.

[Lawdwaz]

3 hours ago, Padre86 said:

You really use your bino's when hunting in the ADK's?  They don't seem all that useful to that type of terrain.

That there is priceless. 

It’s going to be a long winter.......

[Doc]

I'm all for giving anything new a chance. Show the deer something they may have never seen before.

Something that may work well where you hunt is my style of still-hunting. It requires massive amounts of patience and confidence that every log , dip, and blow-down contains a deer. I describe it as a cross between standing and still hunting. It amounts to stepping forward incredibly carefully and slowly for about 20 yards and then standing (or sitting) for about 15 minutes carefully glassing every stump, log, tree-base and patch of ground ahead, then moving another 20 yards and repeating over and over through areas that you have jumped deer before. If done right and with the wind right, this kind of a still-hunt can be quite productive when the deer have shut down daylight activity. It is like slightly  mobile stand hunting. Movements are all done with the same kind of slowness and care that you would use if you were closing in on a deer that you can see. It's damn near painful, but is effective.

[Padre86]

On 1/13/2018 at 5:33 AM, Lawdwaz said:

That there is priceless. 

It’s going to be a long winter.......

I'm quite sincere in my question.  In most areas of the ADK's, you're lucky if you're taking anything longer than 100 yard shots.  This past fall, the foliage was up well into the season and anything beyond 50 yards seemed unlikely.  Bino's, and glassing, just don't seem all too relevant to that type of hunting.  If I have to pick and choose, I can think of other things I'd rather bring on an ADK hunt.

 

Edited January 14, 2018 by Padre86

[Buckmaster7600]

You really use your bino's when hunting in the ADK's?  They don't seem all that useful to that type of terrain.

You're looking at it wrong. I think you're thinking of sitting on a hill glassing the valley, probably the best Adirondack hunter I know of spends most of his days looking through his Binos. He may only be looking 30 or 40yds but through the thick stuff a quality compact pair of Binos can make a huge difference. A deer through the woods at short ranges can be very hard to see with the baked eye but with 6-8 zoom can become easy to see.

I only wish I had the patience to use bino's he can because he shoots almost of of his deer in their beds because he's able to spot them before they know he's there. Where I usually gotta shoot them on the run.


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[Lawdwaz]

55 minutes ago, Padre86 said:

I'm quite sincere in my question.  In most areas of the ADK's, you're lucky if you're taking anything longer than 100 yard shots.  This past fall, the foliage was up well into the season and anything beyond 50 yards seemed unlikely.  Bino's, and glassing, just don't seem all too relevant to that type of hunting.  If I have to pick and choose, I can think of other things I'd rather bring on an ADK hunt.

 

I’ll gladly tote my binoculars on any deer hunt.  

Maybe you’re interested in killing any deer while I’d like to confirm if what I’m looking at is a buck or doe and if a buck, I want to know what I’m shooting. 

YMMV

[Padre86]

20 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

I’ll gladly tote my binoculars on any deer hunt.  

Maybe you’re interested in killing any deer while I’d like to confirm if what I’m looking at is a buck or doe and if a buck, I want to know what I’m shooting. 

YMMV

I like to know what I'm shooting at as well.  At 50 yards, I can usually determine my target well enough with the naked eye.  As well, once I've determined the type of animal I'm looking at, I have a nifty little tool called a scope that I can use to get a magnified view of the animal and assess it for age and gender.

YMMV.

Glassing, as a hunting technique, seems much more suited to the open terrain of western US and Canada.  From what I understand, it involves spending hours, sometimes days, on a high terrain feature looking for quarry, usually with a high power spotting scope or bino.  What you're describing doesn't really sound like 'glassing,' but rather it sounds like you're using your bino's to briefly scan a few areas and maybe confirm a target.  I really don't see any utility in glassing in the ADK's, at least not in the traditional sense of the term.

Edited January 15, 2018 by Padre86

[Lawdwaz]

You keep reading on how things are “done”, I’ll keep “doing”.

 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

21 hours ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

 

 A deer through the woods at short ranges can be very hard to see with the baked eye but with 6-8 zoom can become easy to see.

 

 

I know it was a typo but it sure made me laugh. 

[Buckmaster7600]

I know it was a typo but it sure made me laugh. 

Haha, damn kindle!


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