Brand New Hunter
 

My Father In Law invited me for a hunt on his lease in Llano, TX last weekend on a guest pass. I have never hunted before & now I'm hooked (dammit) at 38. I have several questions because I am seriously considering joining his lease. I shot a spike & a pig.

1 Are there any tax considerations I need to be aware of? Is the lease deductible? Guns? Bullets? Processing? Gas to the lease? Stop laughing...lol.

2 The feeders are configured to go off at 15 minutes before daylight. Pigs generally get to the feeders minutes before they go off so I am not able to get a good sighting in my scope because it is so dark. There is a huge problem with pigs & tend to spook out the deer. Can I get a flashlight to illuminate things without startling the pigs so I can view through my scope?

3 How effective are deer calls?

4 In case I do in fact get the lease, what else should I expect to be hunting throughout the year?

RE: Brand New Hunter
 

Main thing:have you had your hunter education course? if you dont check with your department of wildlife about it.

To answer your question about what else might be on the lease there could be turkey,bobwhite quail,blue quail,javelina,dove, if theres wheat fields or shallow ponds there could be ducks,geese,and crane and if you want to get very detailed there could be fox squirrels,raccoon,coyote,badger,bobcats if you want to hunt stuff like that

and make sure you know when the seasons are and the limit

(hunting is NOT very simple theres a lot of stuff to get into) what gun for what animal how many yrds to shoot an animal with what gun, ammunition etc.etc.etc.

RE: Brand New Hunter
 

Very, very important: do not EVER use a light to help you shoot. Illegal!

RE: Brand New Hunter
 

ok first this is not true hunting with a light is not illeagl i can hunt at night for yotes or coons at night with a spotlight provided it is not attached to a vehicle so before you discard this check local game regulations

RE: Brand New Hunter
 

Restricted Methods
Artificial light of any form that casts or reflects a beam of light onto or otherwise illuminates a game animal or bird may not be used as an aid to hunt, except that battery-powered scoping devices that project a light or dot only inside the scope and pin sight lights on archery equipment are legal devices. Nonprotected nongame animals and fur-bearing animals may be hunted at night with the aid of an artificial light on private property. If hunting at night, please make a courtesy telephone call to your local game warden.


above taken from the texas online game regs at

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publicat...al/hunt/means/

RE: Brand New Hunter
 

Point taken on the light subject - Big No-No.

Any other comments re the tax stuff &/or Deer Calls?

RE: Brand New Hunter
 

Hard2hold

From what I know from tax class, the aforesaid items will only be tax deductible if they are business expenses. If you and your crew would get together and incorporate (as an outfitter, perhaps??) you could then write off the costs as business costs.

Create a balance sheet where the members pay into the corporation, and let the corporation buy the lease, the guns, the ammo, etc. I know it's a drag, but it's probably the only way.

RE: Brand New Hunter
 

Very smart. Thank you.


Any response re the deer calling subject?

RE: Brand New Hunter
 

Deer calls will work, but they are not the end-all, be-all of deer hunting.

For turkeys, an arsenal of calls is a must, but deer don't quite respond as well.

During the rut, a grunt call is sometimes effecting at getting a buck's attention. Does will sometimes respond to bleats. In sum, scent is probably a bigger key to success in deer hunting.

Deer live in a world of scent, and their olfactory (a sixth, chemical analyzing sense - similar to smell) and their sense of smell make them very very sensitive to different odors and chemicals.

Read and learn about which scents to use and why, learn how to cover your own scent, and you'll be on the fast track to success.