spot+ stalk or sit+wait.

Deer.......spot-n-stalk is my preference......put them to bed, get the wind in my face.....then close the gap close enough to see their eyelashes.

Elk.........I use a modified version of above.......I try and sneak in undetected and get between the herd bull and his cows. If not, I cow call only a few times, get the wind right, and sneak in on the bugles. That method has worked fairly well for me in AZ where the bulls can be call-shy.

I prefer spot and stock unless you have patterned the deer and have an idea as to where they will be.

I prefer spot and stalk also, probably just because it's more fun to me. I tend to struggle a bit with sitting and waiting, I like trying to get in on top of them.

Sit and wait is for thick woods White Tails.

When Muley hunting for me it's time to put on the miles. I hunt mostly big canyon and badlands type country. I work the country, see lots of deer. Sooner or later getting a shot. Then for sure every so often from a good vantage point, stop sit for a while and use the binos.
Elk the same.

I have never been one to sit down and glass for hours upon end. I have always just started walking and never stopped long enough to start glassin.. Although this last year i changed it up a bit and i hiked into some places i know of and sat. Pulled the binos and spotting scope out and just covered the mountains for hours. I will say i seen more deer than ever before and some real bruisers. Its amazing how many deer you will pass up while focused on the trail

It's really hard to spot in the canyon I hunt, as it is thick. I usually hike around as quiet as I can and try to find a spot that doesn't have too many other public hunters.

One year I told myself I'm going to sit at a spot named for my brother, "Kendall Rock". I sat for five hours and shot a three point that came by. The 5 hours about did me in. I don't think I'd make much of a eastern whitetail guy as the sitting isn't my thing.

Last year on the muzzy I decided to glass a different canyon with a good friend of mine. We started glassing about an hour and a half before dark. We watched a couple of does with fawns in the canyon while glassing for about an hour. They were about 500 yards down the canyon. With about a half hour of light left, four bucks popped up about 300 yards below us. They'd been bedded in the thick stuff the whole time. My buddy spotted the biggest one first so I stayed up high to keep their attention while he put a stalk on. It was too close to dark and the stalk got rushed resulting in a missed shot. Hind sight we should have waited til morning.

I have to say that type of hunting is much more appealing than walking through trees hoping to jump shoot something or sitting in a stand hoping something good while come by.

I'm hoping to find some out of the way canyons this year to try more "spot and stalk" instead of "walk and scare".

I've posted this before but this was the buck we were trying to get. Best of luck to you growinbuck.

Glass, glass, glass - Spot and stalk deer. Unless I scout a bunch and know exactly where they will be headed. Pretty much the same for Elk. Good thread.

I'm a mule deer hunter and spot and stalk is my favorite way of hunting. I generally hunt places where that style of hunting works, so I do't do thick timber or oak brush. I'll slide around and use a favorable wind. Then get to a good spot and glass. Roy said it right. I generally dont' hunt elk in the rut, so the game's the same as for deer. Rut hunting makes all the rules change.

If you get a chance, you should pick up David Longs "Public Land Mulies" and Dwight Schuh's "Hunting open country mule Deer"

They are both worthwhile reads and discuss both methods of hunting.

I have tried with little success to hunt mulies from blinds, but after reading these books, this year will be different :thumb

When I lived back East tree stand hunting was the preferred method of hunting as well as using dogs for deer hunting. Now I've lived in the West for 15 years and it took me a while to get away from the truck hunters and learn to hunt out of a back pack. But for the last 7 years thats been my preferred method of hunting and in 2007 I took up the bow. Nothing is more satisfying to me than to stalk within' close bow range and making a lethal shot. My heart really pumps hard when I'm close to a nice buck and I'm trying to pull back the bow undetected. I don't even realize how on edge I am until I make a good shot and I'm able to let all of my emotions and senses back down to normal. Optics totally changed my rate of success at finding game. In my opinion, the hunting just doesn't get any better than spot and stalk. fatrooster.