What's the biggest mistake "new" hunters make.?

[Jimmy S]

This post is designed to help folks new to hunting. Hopefully it may allow them to understand what mistakes others have made when they first started to hunt and were inexperienced.

My thought is many new hunters don't know how to "look" for deer. They expect to see the entire animal standing like he was photographed in an outdoor magazine.

Looking for motion/movement...the flick of the tail, the twitch of the ear, that horizontal line in the woods that suddenlybecomes the back of a deer.....are the things I had to learn early on.

Once I did that, I started to see more deer.

Please add your thoughts.

[PaJack]

Paitence!!! You have to put your time in hunting anything. My son-in-law can't "sit" for more than 2 hours,drives me nut's. I learned many years ago that it's just a waiting game and the longer you can wait,the more game you'll see...

[mallard stalker]

thanks for making this guys it will help me alot.

[chr103yod]

Sitting still, and always paying attention. Everybody gets a little sleepy but you have to stay alert and keep scanning for movement. With gun hunting it would be finding the deer in the rifle scope. Practice looking at something in the woods (like a stump)and then finding it in your scope.

[Ryan Campbell]

One of the biggest mistakes I've seen is overly high expectations. Too many hunting shows on tv make it look easy and every buck is a monster.

The next mistake is buying into the hype that every hunting show/infomercial promotes about the latest gizmo that "you must have" to be a successful hunter. I've seen guys show up with gear bags so full of "gear" that it literally looked like they went to a sporting goods store and bought every deer scent/lure/coverscent made. I asked the guy about it and he pretty much admitted to going to wal-mart (his first mistake) and, not knowing what to buy, he bought everything.

You need a good rifle that you are accurate with, (or bow). A knife, proper clothes and boots. All the rest of it is pretty much extra and a lot of it is BS.

[superstrutter]

Being scent free as possible is important, especially if you are bow hunting. I wash my clothing in scent free detergent and store them in a trash bag or container. I shower before each hunt with scent free soap. I use scent free deodorant. Arm and Hammer baking soda deodorant is cheaper than the other stuff. I will even rub weeds and pine straw on my clothing before I get in my stand. I rarely have a deer bust me. I do all this whether I'm gun or bow hunting. It can make a huge difference. Every little advantage counts.

[kevin1]

Underestimating your opponent , whitetails have given me some pretty humbling moments over the years , and they never fail to find the weaknesses in my technique .

[Serioushunter1]

Exactly what PaJack said.......sit still and sit long.

[Sport 2]

Just enjoy yourself.
Hunting is not a competition, its not a job. Don't make it one. Hunting is about enjoying the outdoors. You don't need to shoot a monster to have it be a trophy. Every deer it a trophy if it makes you happy.

[Charlie P]

Watching too many tv shows and reading too many magazine articlesand not spending time learning the woods you hunt.