Basic gear for deer hunting?
 

I am wondering what basic gear for a beginner hunter, I know I need to get a hunter license, and got to take the Alabama hunter education course.

The weapon you will be using (gun, bow) plus ammo or arrows. A knife, good boots, jacket and pants, compass if you don't know the area. Rope to drag out your animal. That should get you started.

You need whatever you intend to shoot at the animal with. Gun and ammo, Bow and arrow... you need a knife to gut it and a rope to drag it. Those are the only real essentials. An orange vest if required by the law, Good boots, comfortable (warm and dry) clothing helps. Lots of other things help, treestands, a stool to sit on, maps, compass, gps, calls, But the only real essentials are what you need to shoot the game with and what you need to get it out of the woods successfully. A hunter Ed course will teach you allot of good stuff. That's definitely a good place to start.
-Jake

My suggestion would be first to get into a club of some sort and try to get some mentoring hands on help, as it sounds like you're getting into hunting cold with no help if you're asking this basic question out on a website.

That's my plan is to get with a mentor, some of my coworkers hunt so I may get with on of them.

That would be a very good start along with a Hunters Ed Course.

Clothing & boots to keep you warm and safe during the season in the area you intend to hunt. Sure helps when people at least put the state they live in on their profile. No boggie man has knocked on my door yet!
Clothing in lower SE Michigan is a far cry from what is needed in the far upper Of Michigan's UP during the same fire arm season.

The equipment to dispach the critter during the season you choose to hunt, and a knife to field dress the deer. As for the drag rope that again depends on where you hunt. I myself just go to the house or cabin and get my ATV and trailer to haul the deer from the woods even in the UP.

Sportsman clubs are a good place to find a mentor.

:D Al

I went to the thrift store and bought some old army camo to start with. It put me back all of $5 and honestly every deer I've asked hasn't cared a bit that I wasn't wearing the latest and greatest designer camo.

Alabama requires the least amount of orange in the eastern US; we can wear either a hat or cap or a vest. I've got both, and use them for different applications. If you're hunting from an enclosed blind or from a stand that's 12' or higher off the ground, no orange is required.

Pretty much the basic things are gun or bow, ammo or arrows, a knife, a rope, an orange hat or vest, and clothes that don't have blue or white in them. If you're hunting from a stand I'd add a safety harness that is in good, working condition -- though you may can borrow this at first, I'd be saving my pennies to buy one as soon as you know you're going to stick with this hunting thing. Also, I wear boots now but I haven't always, and I'm not convinced they're 100% necessary for all situations. If you're not going to be in an area that's muddy or wet, then you can probably get away with some good hiking shoes or trail runners, so long as they're not brightly colored. I basically used my backpacking gear for hunting my first season.

Good luck. What part of Alabama are you hunting? I'm up in the Free State of Winston, and mainly hunt Bankhead NF.

Clothes for the expected weather, good boots, a rifle/bow/muzzleloader, ammo/arrows, a knife and a tag/license would be the basics.

If you live in Alabama, you already know what to expect from the weather. Of course you'll be doing more than just going from the house to the car. I wear mostly military surplus from around the world. It's good stuff and cheap. The stuff doesn't come in sizes to fit my wife and daughters so I've had to lay out lots of dollars to get them set up.

You don't need to spend a pile of money on equipment. My wife hunts with a Proline youth bow we bought at a yard sale for twenty bucks. She's taken at least one deer a year with it. But if you have lots of money, go for it.

You can learn a lot from books. I really like "Big Bucks the Benoit Way." We spend a whole lot more time in the woods scouting than we do hunting. It's like a year 'round thing.

If you live in Alabama this is coming from a NW Florida Panhandle hunter. I hunt public land and hour from my house so I don't have a camp to drive back to. If you have money invest in quality stuff the first time so you don't have to keep buying new stuff:

Archery Season:

Bow, arrows, release aid if you use one

Don't need it but it helps.... Rangefinder

Treestand preferably a climber

I carry three flashlights two handle held one head lamp

50 ft of paracord for a pull up rope

two knives in case you loose one

hoodie and rain gear

Binos

Toilet paper comes in handy for the main reason and tracking game

Rifle season:

Rifle and ammo

rangefinder if you sit them clear cuts and get a 300 yard+ shot

Treestand and keep a chair in the back of your truck for if you sit planted pines or a crossing on a dirt road and there is not a tree to climb

three flashlights two handheld one a head lamp

orange vest and hat

50 ft a paracord

two knives

Gloves and a beanie for colds morning

Toilet paper

binos

Rain Gear keep that in the truck if it calls for rain for the evening then put it in your backpack

During rifle season I invested in a pair of artic shield bibs and artic shield jacket (onyx) line and all I wear to the stand in the morning when it is under 40 degrees is one pair of long johns, pants, one pair of long john shirt a hoodie. Keep my onyx gear in my back pack. Put the bids on before climbing and jacket when I get in the stand. I am toasty warm until I get down. It makes being on stand a lot more comfortable and I can sit a lot longer.

MOST IMPORTANT THING IF YOU HUNT FROM A TREESTAND BUY A QUALITY SAFETY HARNESS

One last thing for both seasons and you don't need it but sure as heck help especially if you walk in a mile to a stand...... A deer cart.

Two of the more important things IMO are a good pair of boots and a pair of binoculars. Hundreds of things you can learn just by walking and watching.

Next most important is proficiency in whatever firearm (or Bow) you decide on.

Knowledge, learn to track and learn the habits of whatever you want to hunt. I look down and then I look around. You look down to see what is there (game tracks, evidence of feeding etc.) and you look around to try and discern their habits and haunts.

Who, what, where, when and why? Example, Who-Raccoon, what-foraging, where-in a ditch, when-evening, why-it is what they do and there are likely no predators around.

Everyone has given great answers to get you started! A lot of what you carry in your pack will be the basics for whatever weapon you choose to use.
Don't forget food and water, flashlight and a butane lighter or waterproof matches. You can get by without a lot of things. But never go out without toilet paper (for obvious reasons) and it is also great for tracking and temporary marking that you don't have to back track to pick up, as it will disintegrate quickly! TP and a compass, compact enough to always carry!
It's not as hard as you might think to get turned-around, even in smaller patches of woods, specially if the weather turns and/or night falls!
Good luck and be safe! I'm sure with a good start, you'll be hooked for life!
:patriot:

Its amazing what the hunter thinks he needs to carry today. When I started hunting 50 years ago I'd go out wearing long johns, jeans, flannel shirt, wool socks and coat and a good pair of boots. I carried my rifle, ammo, a knife, drag rope, flashlight and a sandwich and apple. I'd be gone from dawn to dusk (unless I got one earlier).
Today it seems you need an ATV with a trailer to haul all the "necessary" gear in! Go out and enjoy yourself. Play the wind right and you'll be fine.

being you are from down south I would suggest a good bug and tick repellant along with the other stuff already mentioned.

Central Alabama, I live in the capital of Alabama; The City of Montgomery.

I'm grinning at this and adding a ditto. Of course it's up to you how complicated you want to make it. I'll add a compass, the type the military uses. I think it's called a lensatic compass. They're not expensive. A small roll of potty paper is probably a good idea. You never know. A sandwich and a small amount of water is probably good too. If we're going to be out for a while, my wife will make sushi rolls with egg and smoked fish inside.

I really advocate getting out in the woods and scouting. You should know the area almost as well as the critters who live there. We've challenged our daughters to lead us back to the parking lot a couple of times and they've succeeded.

I once lived in a place at the end of the road and this mama cat would come around every summer with a litter of kittens. She was friendly, but would not come inside. Anyway, I used to watch her lead her kittens off into the brush to teach them to hunt. So we do that with our girls (eight and almost six). We humans and cats hunt for fun. A cat will leave a full food dish to go hunt. We'll pass a dozen restaurants and grocery stores to hunt. Our family enjoys hunting as a pack. So do wolves.

If you want to get my wife ticked off, just mention all the guys you see hunting (or at the shooting range) without their kids.

Anyway, have fun. And the more time you spend in the woods, even if you're not actually hunting, will build your skills up. Believe me. It'll be a real thrill, the first time you get close enough to a deer for a shot and realize it doesn't know you're there.

all you need is weapon of choice , ammo, tag and license and knife(unless you just plan to gnaw it open to field dress it.). everything else is luxuory items

For a beginner
 

There are more things in a big box store than there is money in most people's bank accounts.
Some learn to hunt with less; some never learn.

I have hunted in SE Alabama since 1974. Good advice already about club membership. That is about the best way to go here these days. GMA's are just OK .... usually very crowded during gun season. The issues with a club are going to be what you get for your $$$ and the personalities of the members. If at all possible, get in with folks you already know well and enjoy being around. And as I have found it to be, keep your expectations reasonable. Do not expect "deer haven" hunting in a club where 1something like 8-10 guys hunt 400-500 acres for a membership fee of $500 each. Good habitat with a high acres/member is not cheap these days. And figure in the cost of the set-up .... does it have a camp house or will you need something to stay in over night. Does is have a skinning shed, a decent internal road system, good food plots, etc. Can you use a truck on the property to get around or are there some restrictions? That sort of stuff can play into the overall cost for sure.

I would suggest you invest a few coins in decent binos. Not berating what anyone has already .... look at a middle of the road Vortex, Nikon, Leupold or something in that $200 price range as a minimum .... 8x40 is good enough.

I see everything is already said on here, but I'd like to repeat again about club membership. It would be really helpful, I think.

Most everything has been mentioned. You can do it with as much or as little gear as you like. The gear junkie in me wakes up when I decide to browse around Cabelas but at the end of the day I like to go in with as little gear as necessary, whatever fits in my pockets.

One thing that was not mentioned, which I think is probably the most important, is making sure you get plenty of range time with whatever weapon you decide to use. I know way too many people that only go to check their sights once a year if even that. Of course they end up missing or worse wounding animals more often than not. Personally I think it's irresonsible to take a shot at an animal if you haven't done all you can to max out your proficiency.

Good luck & have fun!

A pack - as in a ruck style back pack - for a day hunt a half mile from your truck is a waste of weight. Unless you're western hunting and day camping, a big hiking pack doesn't make sense.

For stand hunting - day hunt within a mile or two of my truck - I carry a small "tactical pack" (let's be honest, it's an F'ing purse...) for water/gatorade and food/snacks, plus a drag rope. I have a couple knives, a small first aid kit with Quik-Clot, and my binos inside. All of those could go into my jacket pockets, but I often change jackets during the day, and hate transferring stuff. With the truck so nearby, I really only worry about hauling nourishment and an Oh Schitt Kit. If I take a larger bag on such a short trip, it's because I have a sleeping bag inside planning to keep myself extra warm.

I didn't see many people mention a safety harness. If you're elevated, you need a harness.

"If you're elevated, you need a harness."


Not really.





:D Al