Hi folks, as the title stated, I have never been hunting. I am a grown adult that grew up in a household that didn't value outdoor activities, so hunting was never something we did. Turns out I ended up being the conservative of the family and as such one of the things I got involved with was target shooting, and just general plinking out on BLM land in the high deserts of Colorado.
I have recently moved to Mid-Missouri for my job, but I don't know anyone here and no one I work with is a hunter. I have always wanted to go hunting, and the deer here are fairly plentiful as I understand it. Due to my age and income, I am looking to become more self-reliant and I would like to be able to put some meat in the freezer too help reduce our overall expenses. I already own several hunting rifles (I only ever used for ranged target practice) and am very comfortable with all types of firearms, but other than purchasing a tag, I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to hunting. Where to go, how to field-dress the animal, proper etiquette and other rules I should probably know.
I know for many it is a right of passage to go out hunting with their father or as a group, but I never had that opportunity and was never exposed to that life. So here I am, an adult on the outside looking in, and I have no idea where to go from here. So any advice is appreciated. Is there any reasonable way a noob such as myself can get into this by themselves or would you not even recommend someone like me even try unless they find someone who has enough pity on me to be willing to drag me along?
Thanks in advance!
