Glassing

[juliuscesar]

I'm new to coues deer hunting, never put in yet because i'll like to have an idea of what i'm doing, have been glassing a lot of times and have no problem in the morning or evening but during the day is very difficult for me because don't know where to be, i have read Jim heffelfinger's articles about glassin, read the book how to hunt coues deer, have been reading this website for a year now but during the day if my back is to the sun i glass south and east facing slopes if i glass north and west facing slopes the sun is on my face and can't see much, my question is how the really expert glassers do it? and what method do you use?

i'm sure i have more questions but they don't come to my mind right now.

if some peole with experinence here can give some advice.

thank you.

 

Giulio

[firstcoueswas80]

I suck at glassing bedded deer, but glass the shade. Put your face in the sun and look for them in the shade of trees etc.

[Tines]

Use a shirt or something to throw over your head and part of the binos. It helps a lot.

[DesertBull]

The general rule is south and east facing slopes in the morning and north and west slope during times you expect deer to be bedded. A good time to be glassing bedding areas is just after the sun goes to the west of straight up. That's when the shade start changing and the deer often get up to reposition for the afternoon.

 

Sometimes bucks will surprise you and bed right out in the open, especially if it is very cold.

 

 

[Simple Hunter]

First of all - I am not an expert glasser - but what has worked for me is focusing on the sunny hills in the AM and once I am sure I have scoured the sunny hills, I may glass the shady side of hills if it has warmed up enough to where the bucks need to find some shade...or if it is windy out, I will glass the thicker stuff (shady or sunny) to try to find the deer holed up.

 

Depending on the hunt, I will try to determine when the bed down time is by watching what the does do. If the does are starting to bed, the bucks will probably follow or may already be bedded.

 

...But most importantly - when I have scoured the hills side multiple times and see nothing - I always fit in a 15 minute power nap. When I get back to glassing, my eyes are refreshed and sometimes I'll pick up a deer that may have just stood up for a second to stretch its legs before quickly bedding back down. Nothing like a power nap in the sun on a cold day.

[Coach]

Lots of great information here. A lot of people glass hard early and late, but while they are back at camp eating lunch seems to be one of the best glassing hours - from noon to 1. I've definately seen more deer right around noon getting up from beds, stretching their legs and repositioning than between 8 and 11 or 2 to 4.

 

Bedded bucks can be really hard to pick up, especially the older smarter ones. One year I was looking for a particular buck that seemed to only move into the open stuff at dark, and was already back into thick bedding country by sunup. I got positioned to glass the bedding area on the back side of the mountain early in the afternoon - this was a rut hunt, btw. I picked up only one doe bedded in a relatively open area all afternoon. I just kept watching her, and just as the final 30 minutes of hunting light approached she got up and walked up the hill. Sure enough, the buck I was after stepped out of some really thick nasty oak/scrub brush maybe 30 yards below her and followed her up the hill. Now he's hanging on the wall -

 

Point being, no matter what angle I had, there was no way I could have ever seen him bedded although I had been within 250 yards of him all afternoon. In the rut, glass does. In October, November and early December, well I won't be much help. I can't seem to ever find them on early hunts.

 

Just be meticulous, focus on shadowy areas, and ask yourself where you would be if you were the deer. Slow your glassing down to a snail's pace, and then some. If your glass is moving, you can't catch movement. Sometimes, you'll hold your glass on one spot and be sure there is nothing there, and all of a sudden, something moves, maybe an ear twitch, maybe a rack that looked like branches turns a little...

 

IMO, and I'm by no means a great glasser, the key seems to be patience. When I'm not seeing anything, I try to force myself to work a grid on a single hillside moving the glass just a little bit, overlapping the last area I looked at by at least 20 yards and each time I stop the binocs either counting to 15 slowly, or imagining myself walking over and identifying everything I can see in the binocs - focusing not on what I can see, but where in the picture a deer *could be* that I can't see and watching those hidden areas for any type of movement.

 

90% of the time I'm not seeing anything, it's because I'm trying to look at too much area, too fast. I'm looking for deer standing out in the open or moving around in the obvious spots. Those are the times, as I'm trying to teach myself, slow down, work a grid, let the optics sit perfectly still and pick apart every rock, blade of grass, limb, shadow, etc. Once I'm sure that little patch has nothing, move the glass just a little bit along the grid I've decided on and repeat.

 

The best glassers I've hunted with are masters of self control and patience, and that's why they end up finding deer that most of us pass over.

 

One more tidbit I've learned that seems to help in glassing situations. If you are glassing and pick up a doe or whatever, watch that deer intently. You'll see that if you watch for maybe 15 minutes, once or twice it's out in the open and clearly visible. The majority of the time, if you didn't already know exactly where it is, you would pan right past it. You can pick out a little bit of a leg, maybe the horizontal line of a back, maybe an ear, or a moving shadow behind a tree. For me, this helps to remember that even if there is a deer in my field of vision, it is probably only obvious around 5% of the time. The rest of the time it is partially or fully obstructed from view. Knowing this helps me to slow down and focus on details.

 

Godspeed,

Jason

 

 

[RAM]

WOW coach, you summed up alot of what I base my glassing on. I too don't claim to be an expert glasser, and must admit what your wrote is some great advise for all the readers. If I could add anything onto your post would be for the hunter or huntress to have confidence. Trusting in what your doing will always produce the game your looking for.

 

-Ryan

[juliuscesar]

Thank you , this is great information, now my next question is: when you are glassing in the am and you see them go over the ridge to cover and shade how long do you wait before you go around and star glassing the thick areas?

[Xman2000]

I would have to say there is much merit and a weath of awesome information from these seasoned hunters on this thred .The one thing I would ad is if you are not used to spotting deer it helps alot if you have a second person glassing with you once you find a coues deer (doe or buck) focus on that deer like a laser beam watch that deer every movment it makes streaching , flaging , bedding , sniffing ,twiching ect while the other person keeps scanning for more deer what you are doing is training your brain and eyes to pick up deer and all it's features (this is key) and is great practice scouting in the off season I do this with a couple of friends and we trade off watching the deer while the other person scans pretty soon you start picking out deer out of the wierdest spots and amaze your self and others in the process just my $.02

[azslim]

make yourself comfortable, I pack an old throw pillow and 5$ fleece blanket - cold rocks get old fast - along with a scarf that I can cover my head with and block out the sun depending on the direction I am glassing. If I pick up deer I will remember the general area and keep going back to check on it/them, occasionally a new one will pop up. Same if I THINK I see something but not sure I will move on then keep going back to see any position changes. Give your eyes breaks!

 

And concerning where to glass, if you are hot in the sun and need to shade up to glass then that is where you look for game, same if you're cold and want to sit in the sun.

[Red Rabbit]

Instead of the black cloth over the head which may be hot in the early seasons, consider the Eyeshields for your binos. They are pretty nice to block out side light.

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/bookstore/eye_shield.htm

 

Besides glassing the shady bedding areas typically on a cooler north-facing slope around noon, also watch any trail heading to water.

[firstcoueswas80]

Something I have always done while hunting is if I or anyone else glasses up a deer, even if it is known to be a doe we will guide each other in to the deer for a couple reasons.

 

A. Coues deer are usually not alone, and any other eyes you can get on that deer ups your chances of finding the other ones with it.

 

B. It is good practice to guide each other in for when it is time to shoot.

[COOSEFAN]

There is TONS of great info in this thread!

 

If I were to add my advice I would only be re-iterating what has already been said.

 

Key points that have already been said but are important and basically sums it all up for me are:

 

-Patience is probably the most important thing

-Confidence is equally as important and will help with your Patience

-Staying comfortable will help with your Patience and Confidence

-You'll never go wrong glassing with the Sun in your face, on any hunt

-You'll never go wrong glassing with the Wind in your face, on any hunt

 

Also, I would copy and paste Coach's reply into my brain, great info! JIM>

[mason a]

Lots of great information here. A lot of people glass hard early and late, but while they are back at camp eating lunch seems to be one of the best glassing hours - from noon to 1. I've definately seen more deer right around noon getting up from beds, stretching their legs and repositioning than between 8 and 11 or 2 to 4.

 

Bedded bucks can be really hard to pick up, especially the older smarter ones. One year I was looking for a particular buck that seemed to only move into the open stuff at dark, and was already back into thick bedding country by sunup. I got positioned to glass the bedding area on the back side of the mountain early in the afternoon - this was a rut hunt, btw. I picked up only one doe bedded in a relatively open area all afternoon. I just kept watching her, and just as the final 30 minutes of hunting light approached she got up and walked up the hill. Sure enough, the buck I was after stepped out of some really thick nasty oak/scrub brush maybe 30 yards below her and followed her up the hill. Now he's hanging on the wall -

 

Point being, no matter what angle I had, there was no way I could have ever seen him bedded although I had been within 250 yards of him all afternoon. In the rut, glass does. In October, November and early December, well I won't be much help. I can't seem to ever find them on early hunts.

 

Just be meticulous, focus on shadowy areas, and ask yourself where you would be if you were the deer. Slow your glassing down to a snail's pace, and then some. If your glass is moving, you can't catch movement. Sometimes, you'll hold your glass on one spot and be sure there is nothing there, and all of a sudden, something moves, maybe an ear twitch, maybe a rack that looked like branches turns a little...

 

IMO, and I'm by no means a great glasser, the key seems to be patience. When I'm not seeing anything, I try to force myself to work a grid on a single hillside moving the glass just a little bit, overlapping the last area I looked at by at least 20 yards and each time I stop the binocs either counting to 15 slowly, or imagining myself walking over and identifying everything I can see in the binocs - focusing not on what I can see, but where in the picture a deer *could be* that I can't see and watching those hidden areas for any type of movement.

 

90% of the time I'm not seeing anything, it's because I'm trying to look at too much area, too fast. I'm looking for deer standing out in the open or moving around in the obvious spots. Those are the times, as I'm trying to teach myself, slow down, work a grid, let the optics sit perfectly still and pick apart every rock, blade of grass, limb, shadow, etc. Once I'm sure that little patch has nothing, move the glass just a little bit along the grid I've decided on and repeat.

 

The best glassers I've hunted with are masters of self control and patience, and that's why they end up finding deer that most of us pass over.

 

One more tidbit I've learned that seems to help in glassing situations. If you are glassing and pick up a doe or whatever, watch that deer intently. You'll see that if you watch for maybe 15 minutes, once or twice it's out in the open and clearly visible. The majority of the time, if you didn't already know exactly where it is, you would pan right past it. You can pick out a little bit of a leg, maybe the horizontal line of a back, maybe an ear, or a moving shadow behind a tree. For me, this helps to remember that even if there is a deer in my field of vision, it is probably only obvious around 5% of the time. The rest of the time it is partially or fully obstructed from view. Knowing this helps me to slow down and focus on details.

 

Godspeed,

Jason

Very well said ,

Someone mentioned a shirt or something over your head, I use and adult bib with velcro where you attach it around your neck. but instead of wearing it as a bib , you wear it like a superman cape , then while glassing pull in up over your head onto the binos, And when not glassing just flip it behind your head out of the way.I would recommend, trying to find one in camo.

[azslim]

You look very stylish in baby blue........

 

A buddy that was in Afganistan sent me the scarf, it is green & black and I look darling in it.........