Wanting to get Good at Glassing

[MuggyMan]

I’ve only been seriously glassing about a year and still have a lot to learn. Hoping some of you experienced glassers can answer a few questions for me.

 

Just finished my deer hunt – tag soup for me. My young friend Adrian tagged his first deer (his first big game animal actually), a little fork-horn at sunset on day 2, and he and I both couldn’t be more thrilled.

 

Spent about 12 days in the field scouting preseason and found a fair amount of bucks, including these 2 that we glassed up from about ¾ mile away back in September. They were in the open and seemed to come out of nowhere.

 

Two days before opening day, they were nowhere to be found. Don’t know if they got taken in the early hunt, if they had moved out of the area, or if I just couldn’t find them. In addition to these two bucks, I’d found one other nice buck, and half-a-dozen smaller bucks during preseason scouting. But during the week of our hunt, all I saw was does. I couldn’t find a buck to save my life.

 

Opening day I glassed all day and didn’t see anything but cattle. We knew there were bucks in the area because we’d seen 3 the Monday before while checking out the area. Also, someone shot a little 1x2 on the other side of the ridge from Adrian.

 

Morning of day 2, got a text from Adrian that he had spooked a buck before he could get a shot and that it was headed my way. I looked and looked but couldn’t see any deer moving anywhere. I snuck through a wash to a spot where I could see on the other side of a ridge. Found a neat place, a flat spot surrounded by waist-high to shoulder-high boulders –a natural kind of parapet that overlooked a nice little valley. I started looking around and quickly spotted 3 does on a little shelf 280 yards away. They were in a patch of scrub oak and I watched them bed down. Once they were bedded, I could see one of the does in the shadow between 2 bushes, but couldn’t see the other does even though I knew they were there. I searched the rest of the valley, but couldn’t find any other deer. I quietly backed out to a point over 600 yards away and had just sat down when I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye through a gap in the ridge. I took a look through my 10x42s and saw a man and a girl walking toward the shelf where those does had bedded down. They were both dressed in camo coats and blue jeans; the man carried a rifle slung over his shoulder, the girl was unarmed. Man those blue jeans sure stood out like a neon sign. I watched as the man and girl walked up on the patch of scrub and those does busted out of there. The man and girl watched the does run off, then the man and girl turned around and walked back the way they came. I don’t know why they did that.

 

Evening of day 5 near sunset, glassed up a doe at 400 yards in a little draw choked with scrub on the side of a ridge. I glassed the surrounding scrub in the area hard for 30 minutes but only saw that one doe.

Morning of last day at sunrise, glassed up 3 does at 650 yards in some scrub two ridges to the east. Hard to make out details looking into the sun. Bumped some does hiking up a ridge mid-day. That’s all the deer I saw during the hunt.

 

Other highlights: from ½ mile away through spotting scope, watched a huge javelina square off against a massive longhorn steer. The javi ended up backing off. From the same spot on a different day, watched a coyote making his rounds, covered over a mile of territory. He never knew I was there until we bumped into each other as I was coming down off the mountain. It’s fun watching other hunters who have no idea you’re there. I imagine at some point someone was watching me that I didn’t know was there, and I always wonder when I take a bathroom break if someone is looking at me through a scope.

 

Other than one doe bedded in the shadow between two scrub oaks, I was unable to glass any bedded deer. Once they bedded down behind a bush, I was unable to see them even when I knew they were there. Yes, I know I’m supposed to look for antler tips of ear flicking, but haven’t been successful yet.

 

From what I saw this hunt, the deer were only moving til about 9AM (unless bumped), and they didn’t start moving until an hour before dark. Seeing as how I couldn’t find them at all while bedded – for example, the one doe I glassed in the evening, I had looked at that spot hard numerous times without seeing anything before she got up and moved a little – is it worthwhile glassing in the mid-day hours while they are bedded and not moving?

 

How long does one glass an area without seeing anything before moving on?

Any other insights or comments?

 

 

[DesertBull]

Deer move at all times of the day. Mid day is a great time to glass because you concentrate in shady areas. You are not going to glass up many bedded Coues deer just because of there size and the fact that the grass is so tall this year.

[Big Browns]

Give me a call and I will tell you what I know about glassing.

 

Adam

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[GJMauro12]

I'm definitely not a glassing expert but I have glassed for a few years now and I have glassed up some animals that seemed nearly impossible to see wether it's an antler tip, ear twitch or head turn but those don't happen every time I glass the hot part of the day but they are the reason I keep glassing through out the day.

 

Basically my point is just keep glassing. You'll find bucks eventually. I always tell myself there's a monster right out there I just haven't seen him yet.

[maximus]

there was a glassing topic on the forum a while ago and Coach gave a great inside, look it up.

[AZbowhntr]

I have glassed quite a bit through the years. But until I took Dwayne Adams glassing class I was only OK at it. He teaches how, where and when to glass. It was definitely worth the money spent. That said this year was harder than most to glass bedded deer. I watched mule deer up on the Kaibab bed down and completely disappear because of the grass and cover being so tall from all the rain. I knew they were there but couldn't even see a antler tip.

[Pine Donkey]

1) you must have quality optics

2) get some elevation on the animal

3) practice year around. Glassing is a skill that needs to be developed, then honed to keep sharp.

4) don't glass for the animal, glass for parts of the animal. Anyone can spot a deer feeding on a glassy hillside, but you need to be able to spot the white on the inside of a coues leg while he stands still in a patch of ocotillo, or the flicker of an ear from a bedded buck as he rests in the shade of a mesquite.

5) slow down your glassing speed. Once you think you are glassing slowly enough, slow down even more.

[Lv2hnt]

+1 on taking glassing instruction with Duwane Adams ...

[trphyhntr]

you take your time, and you look at everything. is there more to it than that?

[Guest 300ultramag.]

for me some days I turn up a lot and some days not. I think all of us could slow down while glassing. Lastly, when it slows down and you cant glass anymore go put some boots on the ground and look for sign. it helps when glassing knowing they were there once and your not glassing a ghost town.

[Big Browns]

Even the best glasser in the world can't find Deer that don't exist. Sometimes, a lot of times an area looks Awesome, but is void of life. Could be the area or most likely your timing. Some spots are better in the morning than the evening or the other way around. Sometimes knowing when to give up on a spot is just as important as knowing how to glass well.

 

 

 

Time & experance is hard earned...........

[PelaPapas]

I like what Pine Donkey posted for #5 on his list...

 

If you think you are glassing slow enough, slow it down even more.

 

 

 

This is one of the things I had to tell myself to do more and more. I used to do a quick once-over a few times and if nothing was spotted I figured there was no game. So I would move onto another spot. Who knows how much I've missed in the past from doing that. It was a bad habit, that I've learned not to do anymore. Slow it down, take your time and you will find bucks. I also glass in a grid type way, to make sure I've covered everything. I go over the same hillside several times and very slow.

 

Some days are good that could turn up 20+ deer and some days could be slow with only 2 does or nothing at all. Keep at it and it will only get better...

[Becker]

I am not sure that there is any set method, style, technique, or whatever you want to call it. Probably a mixture of everything wrapped into one. Simply put IMO there is no wrong way to glass. Your looking through binoculars at a chunk of country trying to find deer. Simple as that. What I take from your post is are you supposed to be slow and methodical vs fast, and looking at/for something in particular to look at. My answer to that is NO.

 

My general thoughts.........A deer can be anywhere. Steep rocky stuff, low rollers, thick, open, you name it. At the end of the day I have found simple as it sounds, "Deer are where you find them" I mean they could have been bumped out of their normal stuff up into something nasty, or feeding on some new blooming plant that sprouted up from the last rain somewhere where they don't normally hang out. There are sooooooo many variables.

 

I hunt a lot with 2 friends in particular. If you were to look at us 3 on a day to day basis. Some days I glass up the most deer some days I get my butt kicked. Why? Is it because one was not as good of glasser. NOPE. Just they looked at the right places that day. My one friend glasses super fast. I don't know how he sees anything but he always does. He also glasses stuff that I normally wouldn't look at much right off the bat and picks up deer that I probably wouldn't have seen. My other friend could pick out an antler point literally a mile away, just cause, blows my mind how he sees stuff. It actually pays to have a good hunting buddy or two. You will help each other in the long run by finding deer the other wouldn't have and visa versa. expands your knowledge of places you might look because you have seen deer there before.

 

Another key factor is realizing that you can only see so much of the country. Trees, rocks, grass, hills, etc. Just because you didn't see a deer in there that day doesn't mean there weren't any. Plus deer are sneaky, eg they know how to hide.

 

If you were going out time and time again and never seeing a deer I would be thinking you're doing something wrong. However you "ARE" seeing deer so you are doing something right. Like mentioned above you can't see deer if they aren't even there. Knowing how deer act, what they are feeding on, times of day they are going to be active, where they are watering, just general deer habits in generally will greatly aid in sightings. I am not sure that you can teach that without going out and seeing it for yourself. Some people have a knack for finding deer, others struggle. Just have to stick to it a be open minded to learn every time you see a deer. Like I said sounds like you are on the right track.

[Big Browns]

^ Well said!!!!

[Green Bullet]

what works for me: make sure you have a tripod (a decent one but you don't need to blow $600 to be effective....), comfortable seat ( i use a butt pad and where it around my waist like a belt...no hassels moving around with it), and i sometimes glass the same country 5 or 6 times studying it from different angles (glass, walk 100 yds, glass, etc etc). use a grid pattern..one field of vision block at a time...study the entire frame....stay disciplined on that. my first passes are typically quicker than the last ones....aside from that, just practice. once your eyes get dialed in, you start finding them faster and easier.

 

case in point, i was at canyon lake yesterday and spotted a ram 500 yards away with my bare eyes....shooter too lol. if i haven't hunted in a while i'll be rusty at finding deer...i recognize that fact and don't get discouraged when i'm "warming up" but i know once i find the first one or two the "computer" in my brain starts processing the images faster and more robustly and it becomes much easier (Assuming there is something to see lol).

 

Good luck!