Small Game Hunting And Stealth

Hunting has always been a sport that hearkens back to the time when it was a means of survival. Today, hunting has been transformed into a leisure activity which takes man back to his roots. Great skill and patience are required for this type of sport, especially for the hunting of small game.

The challenge of small game hunting is that the targets are small, and small animals have been created by mother nature to be swift, sensitive to the slightest movement, and especially small. Though small game won’t usually harm you, they can be very fast at getting away from you.

Hunting small game has the same rules as hunting big game, except that it is even more rigorous. Small game like squirrels are very sensitive to their environment and a hunter who can move silently in that environment is a very skilled hunter indeed.

If this sounds like a US Marine sniper training article, remember that in the early days of America, the first snipers were game hunters. These intrepid individuals were the pathfinders for the new settlements and chief negotiators with the native Indian population. These skills of stealth have been passed down for their effectiveness.

Here are a few pointers needed to give you a chance to sneak up close to an animal for the kill:

1. Sound. The basic cardinal rule is don’t make a sound; in other words, don’t act human. Watch where you place your feet and avoid twigs, branches, and dry leaves. Walk on your heels and never make any sudden movements.

2. Smell. Mask your smell with whatever you can smear on you from the environment. The smell of Pine-Sol does not fit into the wilderness background, you know. Don’t forget to mask the smell of your rifle, and your gear as well.

3. Shape. Break up the pattern of your outline. Small animals have learned to run when faced by a larger animal. Wear camouflage and decorate your gear and clothes with bits and pieces of the environment without impeding movement.

4. Sight. Use the same color as your surroundings: wear camouflage that you won’t find when you toss it to one side. Follow the seasons. When the time comes to be still, you’ll practically become invisible.

5. Silhouette. Don’t walk on the edges of cliffs, tops of hills, anything that exposes your body against the skyline. This unnecessarily exposes you visually and alerts an animal. This is good practice for people hunting small game because small animals are always on the lookout for danger.