Episode Details

This one's a little different. I was invited to speak at Hunt Fest, and my talk was all about two things that can make or break a hunt... stalking and shot placement.

I broke stalking down into a framework I've built from eight years of bowhunting, plenty of mistakes, and hundreds of conversations with hunters through the podcast. It's called STALK:

Spot the animal,

Test the wind,

Assess the approach,

Let the animal dictate your pace, and

Know your shot.

From there, I get into wind and thermals, reading animal behaviour, using terrain and shadows to close distance, and knowing when to move versus when to stay completely still. For me, the goal with a bow is always to get close. Ideally, I'm looking for 20 metres or under rather than stretching the shot just because I can.

Then we get into the other half of the Hunt Fest talk... shot placement. I use models of the heart and lungs to show where the vitals actually sit, why shot angle matters, and why I prefer aiming around the vital triangle rather than simply thinking "middle of the lungs." The whole idea is pretty simple: get closer, understand exactly where you're aiming, and give yourself the best chance of making a clean, ethical shot.

🔍 What We Cover:

• The STALK framework: Spot, Test, Assess, Let and Know
• Why my goal is to get within 20 metres before taking a bow shot
• Using a grid system and close-range glassing to find animals
• Why watching an animal for five minutes can completely change your stalk
• Reading herd behaviour and identifying the animals keeping watch
• Testing wind, understanding thermals and recognising how terrain moves your scent
• Using dead ground, trees, bushes and shadows to hide your approach
• Movement can give you away even when an animal hasn't smelt you
• Reading tails, ears, feeding behaviour and tension to know when it's safe to move
• Using a red light, yellow light and green light system during the final approach
• Knowing your effective shooting distance instead of relying on what you can hit at the range
• Heart, lung and vital-triangle shot placement across different shot angles

🧠 Key Takeaway

A good stalk isn't about getting to an animal as quickly as possible. Watch first, understand the wind, build your approach and then let the animal tell you when you can move. The closer you can get while staying in control, the better opportunity you give yourself to make an ethical shot.

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Hosted by: @mattyafter

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