ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
10-08-2005, 10:01 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 9
ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
Never been hunting but Im going this year in a month or 2 and I have to clue on what to do. If I went now Id just pick any random spot and just sit and hope a deer comes along.. No friends or family hunts so Im stuck asking you guys.. Are there any websites out there that takes you from start to finish.. Explains what rut is etc what to look for. I handled guns all my life and can shoot straight but I never shot anything real, and the only bucks I ever saw are the couple I saw run across the road for a split second. Anyways whats it like when you see and get that first one? Thanks
10-09-2005, 12:19 AM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: ne bama
Posts: 6,340
RE: ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
welcome swamped, you can find out everything you need to know here, great bunch of guys, i will post more later but i must get some sleep, i have an early apointment tomorrow
10-09-2005, 01:19 AM
#3
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 15,452
RE: ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
Welcome. You should start with your states hunting ed class. Then maybe try and find a old timer willing to help in your area. time and experience in the woods even in off season is very beneficial. What is rut? A horny buck looking for horny does. What is it like to get your first deer ? Sex
10-09-2005, 03:36 AM
#4
Typical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Chambersburg, PA
Posts: 812
RE: ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
cardeer always a pleasure reading what you type. Some really fun stuff. Really true though on this post. Biggest thing to do is spend time in the woods. Watch what the deer do and act. Why are you attempting to take this up? Hunting is a pleasure so don't get discouraged when you miss or spook your game away. I love sitting in the woods and listening to the sounds of nature, but I also love the sound of my 30-06 ringing out! Talk to some people, ask them what they think. Ask as many questions on here that you can.
10-09-2005, 06:04 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 1,498
RE: ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
You can learn a lot by listening to others but your going to have just spend time in the woods and learn a lot of it yourself.Justfind where they eat and sleep and don't over hunt a spot too much. Most of all plan your stands so that your down wind of the trails or food source. Most of all have fun and don't get too discouraged.
10-09-2005, 06:50 AM
#6
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 186
RE: ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
You can learn a lot by talking to more experienced hunters in your area. Also just keep aking questions on here and people will answer them. Last, spend time in the woods (scout). Look for signs of deer; trails, rubs, scrapes, anything. Good luck and be safe.
10-09-2005, 09:08 AM
#7
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
RE: ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
You will need to learn what the regulations for deer hunting are in your area. As pointed out by someone already, you may need to take a hunter's education class. Even if not required by law, this is a very good idea and you should do it -- though maybe don't skip hunting this year if you can't get into the class at this late time and it isn't required by law.
You will need to find a place to legally hunt deer and find out what the rules and regulations are about that place. If you hunt public land, you need to find out a little about how many other people are liable to be hunting on this land. Hunting on public land ALWAYS assume there are people crawling around the woods and be sure you are shooting at a deer and that there is a backstop behind your bullet if you miss your target.
You will need a suitable rifle that you have sighted in just before the hunt and hopefully have practiced with during the month or two months before the hunt to determine what your limits are and to become familiar with handling your rifle (or shotgun in some places).
Typically deer eat in the dark, bed down out of sight and sit still during daylight hours, and move between eating places and bedding places during the twilight hours. Thus, you want to be in position to ambush deer moving from feeding areas to bedding areas about 60 minutes before sun-up, or even earlier (shooting light may be defined to be 30 minutes before sun-up) and in position about 3 hours before sun-down to 30 minutes after sun-down (shooting light may be defined to be to 30 minutes after sun-down). During these twilight hours you can expect greater deer movement than at other times of the day. While there are exceptions -- including the period of the rut when horny bucks walk around quite boldly in mid-day looking for horny does -- this is not a bad generalization to make to a first time deer hunter, IMHO.
Deer are a prey species -- other animals eat deer, deer do not eat other animals. Consequently their nature is to be cautious and skulkish. They don't like to move out in the open. They prefer to walk along the edge of cover rather than in an open field. They will cross an open field, if they must, at the narrowest gap between cover on one side of the open field and cover on the opposite side of the open field. Do not set up overlooking a large expanse of open field. Sure, this provides a wide field of fire for you . . . but precious few deer are going to offer themselves up for you to shoot at them in this unprotected area. A little thinking about this nature of deer -- they are a prey species and are cautious -- will provide you with a lot of help in choosing ambush sites.
When you sit on an ambush waiting for deer be very still. This is hard to do. It helps if you are comfortable -- wear clothes that will keep you warm even after you cool off from walking in to your ambush site. If you are cold you won't stay still. When you do move, move slowly. Try to use natural cover to your advantage. Place yourself in the shadows. Choose a place with brush in front your feet and legs-- but not in the way of your shooting -- to help break up your human form. Have things behind you also to break up your outline. You may choose to wear a camoflage face net to hide your face. The human face as it turns reflects light and provides a flashing appearance. There fore turn your head slowly and wear a head net. Your hands too can "flash" so wearing gloves is a good idea. I find I have plenty of trigger sensitivity wearing gloves, though that had once been a fear of mine -- "I won't be able to feel the trigger!" Do not look directly into a deer's eyes, avert your eyes. Our eyes -- narrow together and directed forwards -- look like predators's eyes.
Deer need food and water. They want to avoid being seen and hence stalked and eaten. This can help you figure out where to ambush deer. Walk around your hunting area looking for sign of deer -- footprints around water holes, deer poop (may be difficult for a beginner to distinguish deer poop), rubs on trees (antlered deer will rub their antlers on small trees of about 2" to 4" diameter trunk and rub off the bark in a sort of oval pattern).
Deer have acute senses. Avoid making noise, particularly unnatural noise -- sound of velcro, nylon brushing against nylon, metal zipper jingling, talking, etc. Deer have very sensitive sense of smell. Take note of the direction of the wind and choose an ambush site that will place the deer upwind or at worst crosswind of your position so there is less chance of their smelling you -- "winding you" in deer hunter parlance.
If you use a tree stand be very careful. People commonly fall out of tree stands falling a sleep and die from a broken neck. People will improperly use safey harnesses, fall out of tree stands, and die from asphixiation -- unable to breath because of the improperly used safety harness. If you use a tree stand be very careful and be sure you use a safety harness properly.
Know where to shoot your deer. The best shot is from the side, just behind the front shoulder blade, vertically about 1/2 way between the back and the belly of the deer. This should send your bullet through the right and the left lung and pass out the other side. Lung shots are typically fatal rather quickly. A pass through typically will leave blood sign if the animal flees. A shot through the shoulder blade will splinter the bone and damage more meat. Additionally, depending on your cartridge and bullet, the bullet may not pass through and tracking may be more difficult. Avoid hitting too far back -- towards the rear -- of the deer, as this may pierce the stomach and cause stomach contents to taint some of the meat. Deer typically won't stand around for a long time waiting for you to set up and take your shot. Don't rush your shot, but don't delay either. Follow up all shots with a search. Just because the deer runs off doesn't mean you didn't hit the deer.
Know how to handle your dead deer. You will want to field dress the deer on the spot -- remove the insides of the deer to the purpose of contributing to the rapid cooling down of the deer meat to avoid spoilage. Once a deer is dead, the immune system is no longer keeping the population of bacteria in check and they can increase rapidly and damage the meat. You will want to have a plan for getting the deer out of the woods. Some people drag their deer to a place where they can easily get the deer into their truck. If you are going to drag, you might carry some rope to tie onto the neck of the deer or antlers. If you carry the deer on your back -- the deer might be small enough to allow this -- you may want to consider tieing red florescent tape on several points of the deer so some hunter does not shoot at you. No kidding. Once field dressed, you will want to quickly get your deer checked at a check station, if required by law, and then stored for processing. You may pay someone to process your deer, in which case you will want to have identified one or two processors that you can use and what their hours of operation are during deer season.
What would be best is if someone who is experienced could walk around your hunting ground with you pointing out deer sign and providing their advice on best places to ambush deer. Of course, don't expect that advice will work in all instances, but it is better than going out without any expert advice.
Others can provide other details.
You will need to find a place to legally hunt deer and find out what the rules and regulations are about that place. If you hunt public land, you need to find out a little about how many other people are liable to be hunting on this land. Hunting on public land ALWAYS assume there are people crawling around the woods and be sure you are shooting at a deer and that there is a backstop behind your bullet if you miss your target.
You will need a suitable rifle that you have sighted in just before the hunt and hopefully have practiced with during the month or two months before the hunt to determine what your limits are and to become familiar with handling your rifle (or shotgun in some places).
Typically deer eat in the dark, bed down out of sight and sit still during daylight hours, and move between eating places and bedding places during the twilight hours. Thus, you want to be in position to ambush deer moving from feeding areas to bedding areas about 60 minutes before sun-up, or even earlier (shooting light may be defined to be 30 minutes before sun-up) and in position about 3 hours before sun-down to 30 minutes after sun-down (shooting light may be defined to be to 30 minutes after sun-down). During these twilight hours you can expect greater deer movement than at other times of the day. While there are exceptions -- including the period of the rut when horny bucks walk around quite boldly in mid-day looking for horny does -- this is not a bad generalization to make to a first time deer hunter, IMHO.
Deer are a prey species -- other animals eat deer, deer do not eat other animals. Consequently their nature is to be cautious and skulkish. They don't like to move out in the open. They prefer to walk along the edge of cover rather than in an open field. They will cross an open field, if they must, at the narrowest gap between cover on one side of the open field and cover on the opposite side of the open field. Do not set up overlooking a large expanse of open field. Sure, this provides a wide field of fire for you . . . but precious few deer are going to offer themselves up for you to shoot at them in this unprotected area. A little thinking about this nature of deer -- they are a prey species and are cautious -- will provide you with a lot of help in choosing ambush sites.
When you sit on an ambush waiting for deer be very still. This is hard to do. It helps if you are comfortable -- wear clothes that will keep you warm even after you cool off from walking in to your ambush site. If you are cold you won't stay still. When you do move, move slowly. Try to use natural cover to your advantage. Place yourself in the shadows. Choose a place with brush in front your feet and legs-- but not in the way of your shooting -- to help break up your human form. Have things behind you also to break up your outline. You may choose to wear a camoflage face net to hide your face. The human face as it turns reflects light and provides a flashing appearance. There fore turn your head slowly and wear a head net. Your hands too can "flash" so wearing gloves is a good idea. I find I have plenty of trigger sensitivity wearing gloves, though that had once been a fear of mine -- "I won't be able to feel the trigger!" Do not look directly into a deer's eyes, avert your eyes. Our eyes -- narrow together and directed forwards -- look like predators's eyes.
Deer need food and water. They want to avoid being seen and hence stalked and eaten. This can help you figure out where to ambush deer. Walk around your hunting area looking for sign of deer -- footprints around water holes, deer poop (may be difficult for a beginner to distinguish deer poop), rubs on trees (antlered deer will rub their antlers on small trees of about 2" to 4" diameter trunk and rub off the bark in a sort of oval pattern).
Deer have acute senses. Avoid making noise, particularly unnatural noise -- sound of velcro, nylon brushing against nylon, metal zipper jingling, talking, etc. Deer have very sensitive sense of smell. Take note of the direction of the wind and choose an ambush site that will place the deer upwind or at worst crosswind of your position so there is less chance of their smelling you -- "winding you" in deer hunter parlance.
If you use a tree stand be very careful. People commonly fall out of tree stands falling a sleep and die from a broken neck. People will improperly use safey harnesses, fall out of tree stands, and die from asphixiation -- unable to breath because of the improperly used safety harness. If you use a tree stand be very careful and be sure you use a safety harness properly.
Know where to shoot your deer. The best shot is from the side, just behind the front shoulder blade, vertically about 1/2 way between the back and the belly of the deer. This should send your bullet through the right and the left lung and pass out the other side. Lung shots are typically fatal rather quickly. A pass through typically will leave blood sign if the animal flees. A shot through the shoulder blade will splinter the bone and damage more meat. Additionally, depending on your cartridge and bullet, the bullet may not pass through and tracking may be more difficult. Avoid hitting too far back -- towards the rear -- of the deer, as this may pierce the stomach and cause stomach contents to taint some of the meat. Deer typically won't stand around for a long time waiting for you to set up and take your shot. Don't rush your shot, but don't delay either. Follow up all shots with a search. Just because the deer runs off doesn't mean you didn't hit the deer.
Know how to handle your dead deer. You will want to field dress the deer on the spot -- remove the insides of the deer to the purpose of contributing to the rapid cooling down of the deer meat to avoid spoilage. Once a deer is dead, the immune system is no longer keeping the population of bacteria in check and they can increase rapidly and damage the meat. You will want to have a plan for getting the deer out of the woods. Some people drag their deer to a place where they can easily get the deer into their truck. If you are going to drag, you might carry some rope to tie onto the neck of the deer or antlers. If you carry the deer on your back -- the deer might be small enough to allow this -- you may want to consider tieing red florescent tape on several points of the deer so some hunter does not shoot at you. No kidding. Once field dressed, you will want to quickly get your deer checked at a check station, if required by law, and then stored for processing. You may pay someone to process your deer, in which case you will want to have identified one or two processors that you can use and what their hours of operation are during deer season.
What would be best is if someone who is experienced could walk around your hunting ground with you pointing out deer sign and providing their advice on best places to ambush deer. Of course, don't expect that advice will work in all instances, but it is better than going out without any expert advice.
Others can provide other details.
10-09-2005, 11:54 AM
#8
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: WC FL
Posts: 26,323
RE: ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
ORIGINAL: cardeer
Welcome. You should start with your states hunting ed class. Then maybe try and find a old timer willing to help in your area. time and experience in the woods even in off season is very beneficial. What is rut? A horny buck looking for horny does. What is it like to get your first deer ? Sex
Welcome. You should start with your states hunting ed class. Then maybe try and find a old timer willing to help in your area. time and experience in the woods even in off season is very beneficial. What is rut? A horny buck looking for horny does. What is it like to get your first deer ? Sex
Good advice! Also learn all your State's hunting
laws!
10-09-2005, 07:20 PM
#9
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Lehigh County PA USA
Posts: 12,157
RE: ABC-s on hunting deer needed please
Great advice above and a trully methodical posting CD.
Hunting takes alot of practice and skill so don't become frustrated if you don't get the hang of it immediately. On the other hand you may be one of those folks that walks into the woods, sits down and takes home a wallhanger.
For actual hunting techniques and understanding whitetails I would also suggest heading to barnes and noble and picking up one of the whitetail hunting books. It should be able to answer alot of your questions.
Hunting takes alot of practice and skill so don't become frustrated if you don't get the hang of it immediately. On the other hand you may be one of those folks that walks into the woods, sits down and takes home a wallhanger.
For actual hunting techniques and understanding whitetails I would also suggest heading to barnes and noble and picking up one of the whitetail hunting books. It should be able to answer alot of your questions.