Deer Hunting, How To Start?

[charleskieffner]

deer hunting 101:

get up early make coffee.

take a dump.

load rifle.

walk 1/2 mile from camp.

sit on ass and GLASS.

no deer? move on.

sit on ass and glass.

eat pre prepared sandwich or MRE.

glass for deer.

no deer? move on.

repeat until deer found in quality binos or spotting scope.

when you find deer estimate correctly range or use range finder.

SHOOT THE JUAN WITH BIGGEST RACK!

go with people that have been before. pick their brain and examine their gear. learn how to shoot short and long range. know range estimation. know yer ballistics like back of hand. bring toilet paper and a sharp knife!

[peppy]

Not really related to helping with deer hunting, but in North Carolina I can get my son a lifetime hunting & fishing license for $275 if I do it before his first birthday. I thought that was pretty neat.

[vash]

first step, find out if the state you plan on hunting in requires a hunter ed course. i drove my dumbarse all the way to colorado one year, just to watch others hunt. hunt ed required.

a 30.06 is the greatest choice! moderate kick, cheap ammo (so you can practice alot)...

hard to hunt public land, if you are a newb.

[9dreizig]

Originally Posted by charleskieffner

deer hunting 101:

get up early make coffee.

take a dump.

load rifle.

walk 1/2 mile from camp.

sit on ass and GLASS.

no deer? move on.

sit on ass and glass.

NAP

eat pre prepared sandwich or MRE.

glass for deer.

NAP

no deer? move on.

repeat until deer found in quality binos or spotting scope.

when you find deer estimate correctly range or use range finder.

SHOOT THE JUAN WITH BIGGEST RACK!

go with people that have been before. pick their brain and examine their gear. learn how to shoot short and long range. know range estimation. know yer ballistics like back of hand. bring toilet paper GOOD ROPE and a sharp knife!

Good list Charles, I added a couple things you forgot
T

[SlowToady]

There has been good advice posted already, so I'll merely wish you good luck. Hunting is now beginning to be a rich mans sport, and as a consequence is getting very expensive. Public lands, generally, suck, are over hunted, and unless you are quite good at reading the land, topo maps, terrain, weather, etc, the chances are bagging something isn't too good. Plus, most states have the lottery (which legion alluded to) draw for tags for public land hunts. With few exceptions, public is no longer the way to go. So what do you do?

You can lease land from someone else, but that's $$. You can buy land, but that's even more $$ and you really need to know a thing or two about deer and about land. You can cruise around farm country and ask people if they'd be kind enough to let you hunt there. I do this for coyote, because often times they are complete nuisances to farmers and they'll love you to come in and harvest some. With deer it's harder because that's what "everyone" wants to hunt. Still, it's worth a try. Hell, you could even trespass (on good land); as long as everything else is legal, it's a $75 trespassing ticket (at least here in IL). Obviously I would advise against this....I'd try and make hunter friends somehow, and if they're nice, they might let you hunt their spots.

The push of Quality Deer Management by hunting companies, magazines, and so on is also making it more expensive. This is related to the "rich guy sport" I mentioned above. Private guys are buying up large chunks of prime land and not hunting them (or hunting them seldomly). Same thing with leases. For example, a guy I hunt with leased a few surrounding farms to give him control of over 800 acres in the area. Not so that he could hunt them, but so that other people COULDN'T. He never once hunted there. Real estate developers and big companies are buying up the rest of the land, leaving less for you. What was my point about QDM? Oh yea. Basically the idea is the grow herds of nice, large, good gene carrying deer, to produce good offspring, but it's expensive, and makes it harder for the "little guy" to start out.

Hmmm...check out a gun/conservation club near you. They tend to have large chunks of land for members to hunt and the resources for learning should be ample.

Keep in mind there are also numerous books out there to teach you the basics and even advanced craft. "Bow Hunting the Back Country" is a good one, as is "Shotgunning for Deer." Check out your local book store for more.

Whatever you do, don't give up, if you're serious about it. I've spent a good deal of $$$ on equipment, tags, etc and haven't bagged anything for going on the 3rd season now. I *could* have taken one or two, but they weren't ready yet. I bow hunt, which makes it slightly more difficult as well. I'm hoping this season will end my streak; I have until the 8th of January.

Remember that your best chances come with the worst weather. The colder, the crappier out it is, the better your chances of success. For one, the deer come out more, and for two, most of the other guys are inside, watching Monster Bucks volume 21 on DVD instead of through their binos. Get the warmest gear you can, and make use of it. I missed a perfect morning the other day because I wimped out; the wind was blowing good and it was like 17 degrees out and snowing. Perfect for a morning in the stand, but I blew it.

Always think of the tiny details, because they will ruin a hunt. Have you showered recently? Did you use scented shampoo? Scented soap? Did you wash your cammies with scented detergent? Do you use Scent-Lok hunting suits? If so, where do you store them? When is the last time you had it in the dryer? Do you have a suitable path to your stand? Is ALL your gear in order?

Practice shooting as you are going to shoot while hunting. For example, I hunt from a stand, so I shoot off the roof, or at a shop with elevated positions. If you hunt with 3 shirts, coveralls, and a jacket, don't practice in a heated place with a tee shirt on; this especially applies to bow hunting.

I know I'm rambling, I'm sorry, I'm just writing off the top of my head. I love hunting and could talk it all day....

[jyl]

Turns out my brother-in-law's best friend owns some land about 1 hour out of Portland, that is undeveloped, not accessed by anyone, not near any developed areas, heavily wooded, and (per bro-in-law) has lots of game trails on it.

We have permission to hunt it, assuming it is otherwise legal - we are researching if any local ordinances prohibit hunting on your own land up there, I assume probably not. We also have permission to put up blinds, stands, bait, licks, whatever, as long as its legal. More research.

Hmm, interesting. We're thinking of going up there, helping the guy install a gate across the only access road to keep out the kids who drive a couple hundred feet in to party (the "road" is only passable for that far, then it turns into abandoned logging road that supposedly hasn't had a vehicle on it for decades and is undriveable by anything short of an ATV or jeep), cleaning up the trash and bottles that said kids have left, posting the property, and then checking it out.

Anyway, just thinking out loud. Haven't had time to really dig into this, what with XMas and all.

Been out in the rain working on the kids' treehouse every free day, trying to get something playable put together. I'm not really loving the weather right now.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by jyl

My brother-in-law and I are going to make a joint New Years' resolution, to each take a deer in 2008.

He grew up hunting in West VA, has taken deer before, was a Marine, and is a very good shot. But he has been out of hunting for a long time, and will need to get a rifle. I have never hunted and also have no rifle, am a good shot with pistol but will need lots of practice with a rifle. Neither of us know anything about where to hunt in Oregon, both being pretty new to the state.

So, how should we get started? Are there hunting clubs that will show the ropes to two new guys, one being a total newbie? Or would you spend the bucks and hire a guide for a week? Anyone here an Oregon hunter?

And any suggestions for the rifle? I want to get one this winter and start practicing this spring. Not at all averse to buying used, and looking for a solid quality working rifle, not a thing of beauty.

Do you mean in the biblical sense?

[jyl]

No, that would be a sheep. Or so the native Oregonians tell me.

[Buckterrier]

LOL, yeah and that's where STD come from... the pilgrims laying with sheep so I am told. Be sure to where high boots

[9dreizig]

wow I can't believe I"ve had to post this twice in one week!!

[5axis]

Mostly walking our family property, in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. There was not a lot of activity this year. My brother took a doe and my uncle, who lives up there took this monster.. LOL

It kept eating off the bird feeder and payed the price. Any photoshop wizzez wanna put some antlers on the thing for me?