My favorite TYPE of hunt is spot and stalk in relatively open country. I have hunted both whitetails and muleys this way. It gets the adreneline up and keeps it up because you first spot your goal, then plan an attack, and then its just you against him (and the wind, and the sun, and other animals in the way, and other hunters blowing your stalk, and a million other things). It is a blast. One time I crawled on my belly with my bow through 12 inches of snow for 300 yards only to find that although I was close enough for a shot, there was no way I could shoot from a prone position, and there was no way the deer was going to watch me stand, draw and shoot. Great frustration, but great fun.
My favorite hunt was a couple years ago. I went to visit my father in my home state of MT. He had a cow tag and I was just tagging along. We went to a spot where he had previously found a lot of elk in bow season. We left the truck before light and began walking through a couple small canyons. A couple minutes after it was light enough to shoot I heard something just above us in the trees. I raised my binos to look and saw nothing. Just as I was bring the binos down I heard the roar of my dad's rifle and felt his shoulder hit mine. I about jumped out of my skin. When I had looked up the hill, he had looked down. He saw a cow and smoked her before I had a clue. We spent the rest of the day packing it back to the truck, talking and laughing. It was at a time when we both needed to get out of the city and away from its stresses. There was no huge trophy, and no bragging about the monster when we got back to town. It was just a fun hunt and is now a great memory. There is something about being out there that just helps put life back into its proper perspective. I am very grateful my dad shared this hunt with me.
