John.Starks

Jesus, get over yourself. This isn't like Harvard or the Green Berets or something. Millions of people of shoot deer every year. Children shoot deer. Cripples shoot deer. Drunks shoot deer. It's not the selective club you think it is so stop trying to play up your meager life accomplishments.

I'm just looking for advice on something I'm interested in. Jesus, why do there have to be fools like you trying to play gate-keeper at every new path in life. Just be glad someone consulted you for advice or shut the **** up. You have a lot of growing up to do young man.

WV Hunter

First thing I would recommend is a hunters safety course. I don't know if its req'd where you live or not, either way I would take one. You should get alot out of it.

You can certainly learn on your own... I did also. BUT, if you can find someone with experience willing to take you, it will likely shorten the learning curve for you.

Big Uncle

"This is the sport where men that are 50, 60, 70 lbs overweight can go into the woods with a 30-rack of Coors and an ounce of marijuana and still be successful, right? "

Is this really your attitude towards hunters? Safety is the most important thing. Lawbreakers and drunks are not welcome and will end up talking with a LEO.

To answer your first question:
!) Take a hunter safety course
2) Make sure you have permission to hunt on the property
3) Find a place where deer move through and sit quietly downwind
4) Forget about gadgets and pay attention to noises and the wind
5) Respect the traditions of hunting, other hunters, and the game

Skinbasket

I would recommend hunting from a stand to start. Walk the area, find the mystical "funnels," which usually means finding totally obvious deer paths that converge, best near water or in low lying areas. Find a place where you're not sticking out like a boner and put your stand up where you have a good view of this area and are within whatever is a comfortable shooting distance for you. Get out there half an hour or better before day break and sit and watch. I smoke and fart and wear clothes fresh out of the laundry, and yes, occasionally I'll screw off on my phone for a few minutes every hour or two to give my mind something else to do. But you probably shouldn't do those things unless you've got a lot of deer around and are willing to accept you may be missing out on one here or there.

It would be great to have the advice and experience of someone who's done it before and knows what they're doing, but I don't think it's necessary. It's not rocket science and it's not some secret lore handed down through the generations. A lot of it is common sense, patience, and attention to detail. I'm assuming you've taken a hunter safety course. Don't do anything stupid or dangerous and you'll be fine. The worst that happens is you enjoy a quiet day in the woods watching critters and you'll get a better idea where the deer move to make adjustments the next season.

You should get some help from someone with experience when gutting and/or skinning your deer, should you happen to kill one though. Seen a lot of terrible examples of people who didn't know what they were doing or didn't care or thought it would be great to shoot a deer but are afraid to put their hands in their kill. It's fairly simple to learn by watching and lending a hand once or twice.

troutbum

John, Did you take a hunter safety course to get your Lic. Reason I ask is that they usually teach you the basics. I was a teacher of H.S. back in the 70's in Delaware. Do you hunt with a rifle, shotgun, bow. Read book's on hunting, learn the terminology of the language. Go to bow shop's gun stores, and ask questions. I became a better hunter after I left the crowd. You can learn to hunt from reading , doing it. Learn from your mistakes, we all do them. But I hope you were kidding about the beer and the dope, they have no place in Hunting. I learned a lot , When I would go away to other places, stay on a deer till i killed it, sleep outside at night on the trail, pick up the chase the next morning till i got my deer or Elk. Just ask for help if you want. Good hunting.

jerry d

Hi John,
First off I'd take Ridge Runners advice, he's a knowledgeable guy. If you stick around here for a while you'll figure that out quickly.
Definitely take your hunters safety course (probably required).If you got a some common sense you'll be able to hunt.
Lastly DO NOT dowse yourself in doe pee ,some buck might find you hard to resist and well I think you know the rest!

cammogunner

hi and welcome to hunting net i hope you will stick around.but back to your questions.putting doe pee or fox urine on yourself might not be a great idea imo i would by some scent wicks you can buy them at walmart for 3 bucks and dunk them in the doe pee bottle and hang them on a branch where the deer will smell them.and as for the hunters ed course i went and picked up most everything i needed im not sure what state you hunt in or how old you are so i dont know if you actually need to go to hunt deer. and if you like to move around still hunt take 10 steps and then wait 30 seconds however i find the best results come from sitting down wind of where you think the deer will come and wait for them. hope this helps

Wilcam47

Apart from the arguing theres a lot of good info on this site. Search is your friend, heres some threads to read.

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/sear...earchid=177770


Big thing is to be legal where you hunt, ie hunters ed, hunting license, tags, correct weapon etc. Pick up your states hunting regs book at walmart or hunting store. read up on basic rules and seasons for the animal (deer) you are hunting. Some dates you can only use rifles, some are bow only, some are muzzle loader only, some are shotgun only etc just have to do some research for your state and county.

When hunting be sure to know your target and whats beyond. It sounds like you are hunting public land so be careful of other hunters. Wear as much hunter orange as your state requires. This is more for your safety. You dont want to get shot. Same goes for the other hunter, you dont want to shoot another hunter. Get your rifle sighted in prior to your hunt.

A DIY hunt is possible but learn from your mistakes, I learned bow hunting this way. Also I had equipment problems the first year I hunted exclusively by myself. ( i didnt take my gun to the range and properly test it) SO consequently my gun didnt shoot like it was supposed to because of some crappy propellant/powder and I missed a chance at a couple deer. Then next year I did much better and got a muzzle loader kill and bow kills.

CTJohnB

hey john I am a self taught hunter as well and i will be honest it is not easy but some of the things I have learned I will gladly share one as far as scent control I leave my cloths on the cloths line and NEVER wear in your truck or car when traveling I keep them in a bag of leaves including boots, when I scout I wear my boots only in the woods and every pile of deer dropping i find i mush my boots in them so my scent is covered , the next best thing I have learned is if you get snow in your area please scout a day or 2 after the snow if you get a morning snow scout the last couple hours of the day and those are typically day time trails. and do this every year the deer do change trails I have found, the next thing is go on ebay and buy some instructional videos on how to hunt !! I am the only hunter in my family so I as well had no one to teach me only a determined mind set to accomplish my goal, hit the fishing and hunting expos and sit in the seminars you will learn alot trust me, and forums are also a great help there are a lot of really good people here that will answer alot of your questions.
as far as where i sit I have found that ground blinds are good but please put a black light to it and make sure it doesnt glow reason I say this is a friend gave me a blind and I got busted 4x in a row from a far I put a black light to it and well it glowed I put the same light to a blind my mother in law bought me and did not glow and have never been busted in it!
if your gonna sit a tree look for one that has a pine tree in front of it to hide your silouete or trees in front to help hide you if thats not possible there are branch holders you can buy that clip to your tree stand to help hide you or fake branches you ca buy from cabellas or bass pro that attach to your stand,
my best sightings came from finding areas with fresh droppings and sitting there so you need to scout a lot
I hope this helps you out
p.s dont waste your money on scents and calls untill your are more skilled and versed especially if your hunting state land, you need to figure if theres 75 people there and 20 are using the same scent the deer know this and avoid those ares I have yet to find a scent that works on state land populated areas
good luck and dont give up itll happen took me 3 years before I shot my first one w a bow

30-06 deerslayer

I think Oldtimr is trying to tell him it would be better to take the effort of trying to find someone who already knows the ropes. Yes anyone can try to learn how to hunt on their own and eventually will but, with a lot of mistakes to go along with it. the problem with no one there to help him he will keep making the same mistakes over and over and get frustrated because he can't change the situation. My dad taught me how to gun hunt for deer but never archery hunted. I had to learn archery on my own and yes I have become a good archery hunter to this day but, I still wish someone would have been there to guide me when I started. so before you find a place to hunt look for a mentor to teach you the ropes as Oldtimr is suggesting.