New to hunting, a couple questions
 

Hi all.

As the title states I am new to hunting but am very interested in learning. Unfortunately I do not know anyone that I know of that hunts so I come bearing a few questions.

I have done some reading online and other than the basic safety course a lot of advice I have seen for new hunters is to start with small game. That is fine with me as I also love to cook and am interested in trying new meats. Eventually I would like to get into Deer and possibly Hog hunting, but as I said everything I have read says start small and work up.

My main question is in regards to firearm, I know that eventually when I get to the bigger game I would like to use a shotgun but was curious if it would be a good decision to start with that for small game, or if I should invest in a .22 rifle and then get the shotgun. Also if a shotgun is recommended what gauge would you recommend? Was thinking 20 ga maybe with bird shot for small game but am unsure and any help in that area would be appreciated.

Also in addition to the class and choosing a firearm what is a good way to get into small game hunting? As I said I don't know of anyone that I know who is a hunter ( could be but just quiet about it ). I know that experience is the main teacher but is there any experience to be gained by reading up before I set out?

Thanks for your help,

Derek

First it depends on where you live and where you are gonna hunt. I use 12, 20, and .22 for small game just depends on where I'm hunting and what I feel like shooting. .22 is a little more challenging so I use it a lot but if I'm hunting near some houses ill use shotgun to avoid any possible extra bullet travel. If you want to move up in game choice I would get a 12 that way you can a little heavier gun for the bigger game but a 20 would work just as fine. As far as starting get your safety course done get your license. Walk into the woods look for some squirrel nests and sit next to a tree. Clear out the leaves underneath to avoid a lot of sound if you have to move around to get a better shot and wait. The squirrels will be coming in the evening to nest and catch em on the way in. If you get one down go pick him up, come back and sit down and wait. They will move again in about 10 min

Go to your local shooting range.

Find the ranges that feature mostly shotguns & rifles.

trap, skeet, 5 stand, sporting clays.

Indoor 100 yard rifle range.


Those are the people you want to ask...........................

look into hunting clubs in your area. call and find out what it takes to join. i've hunted my whole life but was raised in a hunting family. if you join one of these clubs rather it is a bird club or whatever these people should be willing to help you learn some things and help guide you down the right path. chances are that if they hunt one thing i.e. quail they probably hunt other game as well like squirrels and rabbits and deer. good luck. a shotgun would be my choice if i were to buy one gun to start out with because you can all sorts of upland game with fine shot, then hunt waterfowl with steel shot, and then hunt deer with slugs or buck shot all out of the same gun. whether you choose 12 or 20 gauge it really doesn't matter. look into a gun club or hunting club they can help answer a lot of your questions and hel get you on the right track. believe me hunting is more fun with buddies.

Welcome,
Sounds like you did some research and are on the right path,
I would recommend what you stated,
Start with small game,
If you didn't get your license/permits yet,
Can still spend time hiking the woods you plan on hunting, learning your way around and learning patterns of the animals.
Even if just hiking, I reccomend wearing orange during hunting season, and stick close to the trails.

For first gun, 20ga is probably most versatile,
Can be used for small game, turkey and deer,
As you get additional firearms can get ones more suited for specific type of hunting you will be doing.
You can go out and learn on your own.
But if you let others know you plan on hunting.
Going out with an experienced hunter can teach you things quickly that may otherwise take you years to figure out on your own.

So, here's my question back at you:

What do you want to hunt?

If you just want to be a "hunter", where you might hunt anything on any given year, then you'll need to be equipped for it, and starting out as a small-game hunter is a good opportunity to 1) learn and 2) get started for cheap.

If you just want to be a "hunter", in most states that means you'll want a .22lr rifle, a shotgun, I'd recommend a 12ga pump action, and a medium sized game rifle, I'd recommend a bolt action in .243win, .308win, or the like. Those 3 weapons will cover anything from bunnies to birds to whitetails. You'll need camo clothing, blaze orange vest and hat for deer, good boots, and a few different game calls, scents, etc, depending on what you're hunting that season.

BUT

The reality of it is that most of us end up specializing in one thing or another.

If you want to be a deer hunter, then getting a shotgun to shoot bunnies to learn really isn't helping you. You don't play soccer to become a football player. Yes, in most states, you can hunt small game year 'round, so you could 'practice more' as a small game hunter on your way to becoming a deer hunter, but for what it's worth, if you KNOW what you want to hunt, focus on learning how to hunt THAT ANIMAL, and getting gear that's useful to hunt THAT ANIMAL.

For example: Personally, I consider myself a coyote hunter, and a deer hunter second. I LOVE calling coyotes, and our season here is year round, so I spend way more time calling coyotes than I do hunting deer. I have been upland bird hunting about 5 times in the last decade, I only turkey hunt with my wife because she likes turkey hunting (I use a bow for turkeys), I don't dove hunt anymore, don't duck/goose hunt anymore.

Yes, I own all of the equipment, calls, decoys, clothing, shotgun, ammo, etc (except bird dogs or water dogs) that I can go duck hunting, dove hunting, or pheasant hunting at the drop of a hat. I support the conservation effort, so I buy my HIP stamp for migratory birds every year too. BUT, I really don't NEED a wingshooting shotgun. I own a dozen shotguns, and really only need ONE that I use for coyotes.

Moral of the story: If you know what you want to hunt, then get the gear and learn to hunt THAT ANIMAL. If you just want to be a "hunter", then hunt whatever you have interest in. But realize, a "hunter" has a lot of money in gear and guns he may not use very often than a specialized hunter has in his dedicated set up.

Thanks everyone for the advice I really appreciate it. Currently I am in Florida but am considering moving back to Texas in the near future. While I am open to trying different types of hunting, I think the only types that I am less than eager to try would be the ones that involved owning a dog, mostly because the apartments I live in won't allow them and even if they did, there is not a lot of room for one. I figured small game would be a good place to start learning the fundamentals and I could figure out from there what I wanted to do.

Made me sad Nomercy to hear that you don't care to "hunt" anymore.

"One" of my favorites, will always be hunting coyotes.

...............but it's like that Ole' Sayin, "If you have steak every night you want lobster........".


Any "good" hunt is GREAT (IMO) !

Congratulations in your interest to become an educated hunter.

Here is where the internet shines.

Go online and find a good state specific website (most states have at least one good one). You will find people happy to assist you in getting started.

Congratulations in your interest to become an educated hunter.

Here is where the internet shines.

Go online and find a good state specific website (most states have at least one good one). You will find people happy to assist you in getting started.

Don't worry amigo, I'm still a "hunter", I've just been really focused in the last few years on coyotes and deer.

"Care to hunt?" You bet I do. Have time or opportunity to hunt everything I'd like to hunt? Not so much. I travel 180+ days a year for work, so getting out onto EVERYTHING anymore is a challenge, and I flat LOVE rifle hunting, which is basically coyotes and deer, and I flat LOVE coyote calling (ironically much of this winter has been dedicated to taking coyotes with a bow). Wingshooting has just been an on again/off again relationship the last few years.

Ducks/Geese: With our severe drought, most of our smaller honey holes have dried up. I don't have waterdogs anymore, and frankly, there are guys out there that LIVE TO CALL WATERFOWL (same way I LIVE to call coyotes), that are losing their honey holes too. I've given up some of my hunting spots to these guys so they can have their fun, sorta traded off "if you can call ducks over here, I wanna call coyotes over there" type deals.

Upland: 'round about 2005 we hit a bad year for birds. When I was younger, we could limit out with 10 guys in 2hrs or less. After that dry, hot summer, we could walk every saturday and sunday for a month and not see 10 birds. I've gone a few times since then with friends/family or on out of state "customer appreciation" hunts, and about 2009/10 was getting pretty decent again, but after the last two years of drought and hot weather, we're back down to the poorest populations I've seen. If we can find a spot with birds, I love to go walk them down, but there just aren't many that aren't farm raised these days. Same type of deal here, there are guys that LIVE for opening day, I'll walk or block for those guys, but I wanna make sure that those guys get the resource. And again, I trade with some guys, if they let me call coyotes (protecting their limited bird supply), I'll let them walk down some of my properties.

Dove: Dove are always kinda a side-hunt anyway, and we're having the same problem with Dove as we do with Ducks/geese. There's just no water around this year. I did get out this year a few times, me and a buddy took our wives out for the first time, made a day of it, it was pretty mellow, and a lot of fun to get the ladies their first birds.

I do take a few of my younger cousins out a few times each year with my .410's after bunnies (or me and my brother-in-law go blast them with our Glocks), and taking the kids out with BB gun's after pigeons in the barns is a holiday regular every Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

So don't feel too bad for this guy! I still hunt around 70+ days a year, I just keep my focus on the stuff I LIVE to hunt, and then let the other guys focus on their stuff too.

Silly question from a new hunter to "Nomercy".... What do you do with coyotes after you shoot them? Do you hunt them to resell the pelts????

Not a silly question. There are a lot of reasons I hunt coyotes:

Yes, I do sell the hides. Sometimes I don't, most times I do. Depends on what I'm hunting them for, what time of year it is, what the hide will be worth, what rifle I'm using, etc.

A lot of my hunting these days is depredation control (or rather, it always has been, but more for other guys now than for my own livestock like it used to be). Where I live, and also where I grew up (about an hour and a half apart), the coyotes are very thick, and have been hitting livestock pretty hard in recent years. All of my local ranchers know I call coyotes, and a few years back, a few that had never given me permission to call coyotes on their property (for fear I would stir up their cows) started calling me in to deal with their coyote problems and it spread from those few to their neighbors. Sometimes I take a heavier rifle out, which generally ruins my hide values, but dang sure puts coyotes in the dirt. These ranchers like to see dead coyotes, so recovering a coyote cut in half is better than having one run off with a 22caliber hole in a perfect hide.

When I'm fur hunting mid-late winter, I either use that .223rem AR, or a .22WMR to keep my pelts in good shape.

I also have a few guys that have recently started letting me hunt coyotes on and around their deer leases to help improve the deer populations on their hunting grounds. A couple guys have also hinted that I "need to hunt" their pheasant hunting ground to help their pheasant populations too. Frankly, I can't do anything about drought, but if they're gonna give me hunting rights for coyotes because they think it will help their populations, I'll take it.

I ALSO got permission on about 10 properties on the edges of towns that have issues with coyotes coming in their yards after their small pets.

Hides are only worth about $5-25, depending on size, quality, damage, and time of year. Not really worth the effort it takes to put them up, but it helps buy some new gear from time to time. Prevention of depredation is the biggest reason I call, hide value is the biggest reason I use a .223rem.

So, that's the long story about why I hunt coyotes, other than the fact that I enjoy getting out and calling coyotes.

I didnt see how old you are but you seem like you are a very wise fellow already. You have gotten soem greta advice from the jury I really like what Nomercy448 and a few others had said. My 2 cents worth is if money is a concern then start with a 12 gauge it is very versitile, whether it be smallgame,trap,waterfowl or deer. And if I were to recommend a rifle it would have to be the old 30-06 also very veristile, from deer to elk and bear. Shot shells and rounds for both are very common and easy to find. As far as what model thats self preference but as Nomercy said a pump would be a great start.There is so much out there to learn from these days especially the videos. I was lucky, born on a dairy farm and a hunting crazy families both sides, I had no choice ! LOL Take in a local outdoor show with outfitters and retailers and dont be afraid to ask.

Start
 

Small.
Buy a scoped .22 and go for squirrels & bunnies.

They're cheap and so is the ammo.

If you find you like it, get a 12ga pump (Like a Remington 870) and go for quail, dove, pheasant, partridge (grouse if you have them) and maybe afterwards, ducks & geese. You can also go after turkey in the fall AND spring.

If you become good at squirrel hunting and have come to love hunting, get a rifled slug barrel for that 870, put a scope on it and get your deer tags... if you can successfully hunt squirrels, you can successfully hunt deer.
To understand why, read a lot of posts here on these pages. Basically, it 'ain't easy sneaking up on a squirrel'.

Welcome to hunting! I wish you the best of luck & God Bless You!