Most people are not aware of the vast amount of wildlife around them. People venture out into nature, hoping to see…well…see something…anything…and are often disappointed by the lack of what they saw.

The key to seeing more wildlife in natural settings is not to look for animals as they appear in magazines or television specials. Let’s be honest; animals will not pose for you when you enter their domain. Most likely, they will try to avoid you altogether.

As a result of this avoidance behavior, animals will move to places where they are difficult to see, places that provide cover. Look for low areas instead of open spaces. Brambles and brush provide excellent cover for animals, so check those areas when looking for wildlife.

Another great place to see animals are those areas where the forest joins a meadow or stream. These marginal areas provide cover for the animals, yet allow them to take advantage of the adjacent land to find food or water.

When trying to see more wildlife, it’s also important that you don’t look for the whole animal. Remember, the animal sees you as a threat and will most likely avoid your sight. Instead, look for part of an animal. You might see an ear, a tail, or perhaps the lower part of a leg hidden in the brush. The odds of seeing a part of an animal are much better than seeing the whole thing, at least initially.

The time of day is also a factor in seeing wildlife. Keep in mind that animals are usually nocturnal or diurnal. The best time to see lots of animal activity is right at sunrise or just as the sun goes down. Most birds are most active in the morning, while other animals (raccoons, skunks, etc.) prefer to come out at night.

Whether you like to hunt or not, there are some wonderful game calling devices used by hunters that can be used to help you see more wildlife. There are some really compact and inexpensive radio controlled modules that can be used to call the fox or coyote. It is interesting that other types of animals will also come to investigate the sounds that these devices make, so do not think that if you are trying to call a fox using a distress call that a deer or other animal will not come. investigate!

Camouflage is also important when trying to see more wildlife. There are many ways to camouflage, both primitive and modern. The most important thing to remember is to split your outline and remove the straight lines associated with the human body. Typical commercially available camouflage does not do this very well. Instead, consider wearing a ghillie suit or a ghillie wrap (basically a ghillie-style hooded garment, similar to a poncho, that wraps around you).

Ghillie wraps offer comfort as they are easily put on and taken off. Also, they break up the human outline quite well, and people can also incorporate the local foliage into their build.

Make sure that before wearing any type of camouflage, you first check the local hunting season schedule. Some hunters, particularly those who are new and inexperienced, have a philosophy of shooting first and seeing what comes next. We don’t want to be accidentally shot, mistaken for a bear or other animal. I can hear him now, “Hey, honestly officer, I swear I thought it was one of those big legged critters.” Yes… please, let’s avoid this scenario.

Smell is also something one has to worry about when trying to spot more wildlife. You need to mask your scent as much as possible, and there are various methods available on the market to do this. One of the best and easiest ways to descend is to stand in the smoke of a campfire. Contrary to what some people believe, a slight smell of smoke does not bother animals. The amount of smoke you are going to absorb will adequately mask your odor without disturbing wildlife.

One final odor-related issue is the cleanliness of the clothing or ghillie suit. People wash off their camouflage and then go into the woods. Cleanliness is next to godliness and all that, they think it’s a good thing to do. Keep in mind that the scent of detergent announces your presence like a foghorn. It is important to purchase a detergent specially designed for hunting clothing.

Also, you should be aware that any detergent that has color-enhancing components essentially embeds particles that reflect ultraviolet light into your clothes, and some animals see into the ultraviolet range. Deer are included on that list, based on the findings of a 1992 study by researchers at the University of Georgia in Athens. His findings, you ask? Basically, when you wear clothes in the woods that have been washed with color-enhancing detergents, you appear as a huge, bright neon light to those animals that can detect the ultraviolet reflected by the color enhancers. The moral of the story, don’t wash your camouflage or ghillie suit with color-enhancing detergents.

Learning to see wildlife is not a difficult skill. Time, practice, and a little knowledge will give you wonderful experiences and memories of the great outdoors.