You're the owl guy, for sure. How are you managing to get so close? I average about 1 owl photo per year, and that's only by luck. They spot me coming from a week away.
Noise. I find it shocking how many people (and some photographers) that stomp along the trail, and when they do find an owl, they just make even more noise by crushing twigs/branches/dried leaves = owl flies away. Other times it's the groups of people or photographers talking.
What works for me: 1) Go alone 2) last 2 hours of the day you'll hear them call 3) once you find their fave 4-6 perching places, you simply go back to those, they very much follow the same habits 4) don't tell everyone where they are, because of the noise issue 5) Adults vs. Juve: I've noticed the adults are more difficult to find consistently vs. the Juve. 6) Shapes = I look at trees and look for shapes that don't belong in them, and certain types of trees with snags provide perches. They tend to like a shaded horizontal branch 15-40' up....
I've only been consistent with finding owls for about 8 months as there were two nests in two locations. I'd say overall the biggest thing is the noise. If there's noise, you won't hear them call, but once ya do, then you'll never forget the sound and know where to go. As far as the photos. Once you know how to approach, the owls tend to stay perched if you're not moving around suddently or making noise. I'd say up to around 15-20' is the closest I've gotten without a blind. These owls may just be more used to people around compared to others.
I'm sure there are some longtime experts on here for this species that have knowledge FAR beyond mine however...
