I've never been hunting, how do I start?
11-16-2018, 04:39 AM
#12
Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: texas
Posts: 1,201
"find someone to show you!"
be well aware of the fact that the majority of people who claim to be knowledgeable and experienced "HUNTERS"
may have decades of experience wondering aimlessly around in the woods, and occasionally shooting game,
but theres a select, maybe 15%-to- 20% who actually have the skill and experience to consistently find game and actually keep a freezer fairly well stocked, with meat.
the majority enjoy comradeship, getting out and camping the scenery , and wondering around, and having a week or so in the woods,
(not a damn thing wrong with that) many plan all year for "the 5-14 days they spend hunting"
but its that smaller more skilled and experienced group , from which youll learn much faster and more info from, and from which group youll ideally want to find as a mentor
Id say about 60% of the guys I hunt with look on " hunting" as a chance or reason to get out, wear camo,
cook over a camp fire and B.S. in the evenings with a cooler full of cold beer while they cook over a camp fire.
most of that group may be fun, helpful guys but most won,t get more than a 1/2 mile from where they park a camper or truck, and consider the 15%-20%,
that walk into steep canyon country or guys that get up pre-dawn, walk a climbing tree stand into the woods and spend day after day placing in up in game rich areas,
and spending enough time so they are seldom back at camp before dark, as ...well, odd and obsessed,
and when those guys consistently fill tags and they only rarely do so, its all due to.. LUCK!
Now I'm not suggesting that hunting needs to be hard work, but knowing what your doing,
taking the effort to know how to read game sign, topo maps and recognize what the game feed on,
where the water sources and escape routes are, where road access makes it less likely youll see game,
and how you can use the movement of the vast majority of "hunters" to limit the areas youll need to concentrate looking through,
helps your chances of success a great deal.
And if you only practice shooting tight groups of a bench rest , with your rifle and can,t punch holes in a coke can from a sitting position at 100 yards
or place all your arrows in a 3" x 5" post card at 25 yards , your at a big disadvantage.
you gain skills by reading, and watching, and questioning the more successful hunters, getting out in the field and observing game, and practicing with your equipment
a couple days sitting in a good climbing tree stand in a good area, may seem boring to some guys but it can be very helpful if your observant, hunting is not just about filling the freezer,
its more about learning to be observant of everything going on around you and knowing where the games likely to be and why its there.
be well aware of the fact that the majority of people who claim to be knowledgeable and experienced "HUNTERS"
may have decades of experience wondering aimlessly around in the woods, and occasionally shooting game,
but theres a select, maybe 15%-to- 20% who actually have the skill and experience to consistently find game and actually keep a freezer fairly well stocked, with meat.
the majority enjoy comradeship, getting out and camping the scenery , and wondering around, and having a week or so in the woods,
(not a damn thing wrong with that) many plan all year for "the 5-14 days they spend hunting"
but its that smaller more skilled and experienced group , from which youll learn much faster and more info from, and from which group youll ideally want to find as a mentor
Id say about 60% of the guys I hunt with look on " hunting" as a chance or reason to get out, wear camo,
cook over a camp fire and B.S. in the evenings with a cooler full of cold beer while they cook over a camp fire.
most of that group may be fun, helpful guys but most won,t get more than a 1/2 mile from where they park a camper or truck, and consider the 15%-20%,
that walk into steep canyon country or guys that get up pre-dawn, walk a climbing tree stand into the woods and spend day after day placing in up in game rich areas,
and spending enough time so they are seldom back at camp before dark, as ...well, odd and obsessed,
and when those guys consistently fill tags and they only rarely do so, its all due to.. LUCK!
Now I'm not suggesting that hunting needs to be hard work, but knowing what your doing,
taking the effort to know how to read game sign, topo maps and recognize what the game feed on,
where the water sources and escape routes are, where road access makes it less likely youll see game,
and how you can use the movement of the vast majority of "hunters" to limit the areas youll need to concentrate looking through,
helps your chances of success a great deal.
And if you only practice shooting tight groups of a bench rest , with your rifle and can,t punch holes in a coke can from a sitting position at 100 yards
or place all your arrows in a 3" x 5" post card at 25 yards , your at a big disadvantage.
you gain skills by reading, and watching, and questioning the more successful hunters, getting out in the field and observing game, and practicing with your equipment
a couple days sitting in a good climbing tree stand in a good area, may seem boring to some guys but it can be very helpful if your observant, hunting is not just about filling the freezer,
its more about learning to be observant of everything going on around you and knowing where the games likely to be and why its there.
11-18-2018, 07:31 AM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Marriottsville, Maryland
Posts: 1,058
Say you spend all of this money on a fine rifle & equipment on a hunt in steep canyon country, where the average wind speed is 15 mph. It won't have much effect, if you don't know how to dope the wind.
First...get a wind speed indicator that'll teach you what a certain mph wind feels like. I don't like the Cadwell wind speed indicator too much, though I prefer a Kestrel that can be bought for as low as $80.
First...get a wind speed indicator that'll teach you what a certain mph wind feels like. I don't like the Cadwell wind speed indicator too much, though I prefer a Kestrel that can be bought for as low as $80.
Last edited by Erno86; 11-18-2018 at 07:33 AM. Reason: added a word
11-18-2018, 10:17 AM
#16
Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: texas
Posts: 1,201
I received several private messages, related to the above post, I made,one was mostly inquiring about basic equipment ,
it should be rather obvious that the area you hunt, the game you hunt,
the most likely temp range and weather conditions and the terrain and distance you need to cover, and how willing you may be to spend a good deal of your time,
far away from your base camp or truck ,will have a major effect on how you'll want to equip yourself.
youll increase the odds of success by finding at least a couple different mentors,and asking questions and watching what works, and trying to gain skill from several sources.
each will have different skills.
lets look at the basics , and I'll assume that like most guys you'll intend to either day hunt
(sleep at home or at a local motel, or camp near where you park your truck)
Now Ive done this, and Ive also spent many days living out of a back-pack only returning to the camp site or truck every second or third day for resupply until I had game down.
you'll obviously need decent warm, weather proof clothing and boots with decent traction, and a day pack, or back pack,and a few basic tools of the trade.
don,t worry about your rifle or caliber, yes some choices,do provide advantages,
but just about all choices in the hands of a decent shot will work,
you would rarely find anything from a 270 win, to a 300 mag to not be a great choice,
and Id have zero issues with a 257 roberts to a 458 mag, with proper handloads.
my later hunting partner used a 358 win BLR, loaded with a 250 grain speer bullet over 44 grains of IMR 4064 for three decades with zero problems.
I used a 340 wby for 50 years and feel its ideal..in my hands, one guy I hunt with has used a single shot 270 win for 5 decades successfully.
if your not seeing game at least occasionally,where your hunting, you need to change areas and / or how your hunting!
after you gain experience you can look at topo maps and aerial photos of your hunt area and rather easily locate potential game travel restrictions, potential, feed, cover, bedding areas
ranges seldom exceed 250 yards,
the issue is not killing game its locating game!
every year thousand of deer and elk get shot by guys that just get lucky,
guys that see a deer or elk running or walking away from some unseen threat,
that they would most likely have never seen, other wise.
they are not generally the guys who consistently fill their tags.
if you want to be consistently successful you need to understand terrain, cover,
what the game needs in food sources and how its likely to avoid threats,
where its likely to take cover, or move if it feels threatened.
wondering aimlessly in any area that has a decent deer population does occasionally result in guys getting a chance at a deer
,Yet, you can significantly increase the odds if you have aerial photos and topo maps of the area you hunt,
and spend the time and effort to walk the area taking notes.
it should be rather obvious that the area you hunt, the game you hunt,
the most likely temp range and weather conditions and the terrain and distance you need to cover, and how willing you may be to spend a good deal of your time,
far away from your base camp or truck ,will have a major effect on how you'll want to equip yourself.
youll increase the odds of success by finding at least a couple different mentors,and asking questions and watching what works, and trying to gain skill from several sources.
each will have different skills.
lets look at the basics , and I'll assume that like most guys you'll intend to either day hunt
(sleep at home or at a local motel, or camp near where you park your truck)
Now Ive done this, and Ive also spent many days living out of a back-pack only returning to the camp site or truck every second or third day for resupply until I had game down.
you'll obviously need decent warm, weather proof clothing and boots with decent traction, and a day pack, or back pack,and a few basic tools of the trade.
don,t worry about your rifle or caliber, yes some choices,do provide advantages,
but just about all choices in the hands of a decent shot will work,
you would rarely find anything from a 270 win, to a 300 mag to not be a great choice,
and Id have zero issues with a 257 roberts to a 458 mag, with proper handloads.
my later hunting partner used a 358 win BLR, loaded with a 250 grain speer bullet over 44 grains of IMR 4064 for three decades with zero problems.
I used a 340 wby for 50 years and feel its ideal..in my hands, one guy I hunt with has used a single shot 270 win for 5 decades successfully.
if your not seeing game at least occasionally,where your hunting, you need to change areas and / or how your hunting!
after you gain experience you can look at topo maps and aerial photos of your hunt area and rather easily locate potential game travel restrictions, potential, feed, cover, bedding areas
ranges seldom exceed 250 yards,
the issue is not killing game its locating game!
every year thousand of deer and elk get shot by guys that just get lucky,
guys that see a deer or elk running or walking away from some unseen threat,
that they would most likely have never seen, other wise.
they are not generally the guys who consistently fill their tags.
if you want to be consistently successful you need to understand terrain, cover,
what the game needs in food sources and how its likely to avoid threats,
where its likely to take cover, or move if it feels threatened.
wondering aimlessly in any area that has a decent deer population does occasionally result in guys getting a chance at a deer
,Yet, you can significantly increase the odds if you have aerial photos and topo maps of the area you hunt,
and spend the time and effort to walk the area taking notes.
Last edited by hardcastonly; 11-18-2018 at 11:45 AM.
11-18-2018, 10:20 AM
#17
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Marriottsville, Maryland
Posts: 1,058
I'd probably be more effective if I really knew how to cut an paste. All I know is how to post a YouTube video. Call me a "dummy" if you want ---But one way too learn how to dope the wind, is to start off shooting outdoors at small steel targets at 100 or 200 yards with a 22.
11-18-2018, 11:17 AM
#18
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: south eastern PA
Posts: 15,429
