How do you get into hunting with no experience whatsoever?

[peterk123]

My buddy always said " When the shooting stops , the work starts."

You're not kidding. These past few years hunting out here have been a lesson in pain. Hiking out three miles with an animal on your back, multiple times during the season beats you up. But it beats dragging. Dragging blows.

 

[Dadstoys]

You're not kidding. These past few years hunting out here have been a lesson in pain. Hiking out three miles with an animal on your back, multiple times during the season beats you up. But it beats dragging. Dragging blows.

We decided to worker smarter not harder and got one of those jet sleds .
Thing is a blessing

 

[HorizontalHunter]

We decided to worker smarter not harder and got one of those jet sleds .
Thing is a blessing

Love my jet sled.
I use a big piece of conduit as a handle for my pull rope

I also use a bungee cargo net to “tie” them in the sled and I also use it for strapping them into the cart as well. It does a much better job IMO than roping or strapping them in.

 

[Mark from ?]

My buddy always said " When the shooting stops , the work starts."

This for sure. There are some days in these high number deer areas where I've let deer walk all day long and said.....today's your lucky day, don't need the meat, or don't feel like working/gutting/dragging.....

I'll just sit here high in the tree in the sun, and enjoy the view.

 

[ThePreBanMan]

You don't get the knowledge that comes from decades of experience in the woods without spending decades in the woods. We all started where you are right now. Do some reading and you tubing and go get er done.

 

[peterk123]

This for sure. There are some days in these high number deer areas where I've let deer walk all day long and said.....today's your lucky day, don't need the meat, or don't feel like working/gutting/dragging.....

I'll just sit here high in the tree in the sun, and enjoy the view.

On those days bring a camera. I did that for the first time last year. I tagged out so I just went with my wife because she still had a doe tag she wanted to fill.
But I brought a camera, 600mm zoom and a tripod. I had so much fun taking pics of animals.

 

[HorizontalHunter]

You don't get the knowledge that comes from decades of experience in the woods without spending decades in the woods. We all started where you are right now. Do some reading and you tubing and go get er done.

This. There is no shortcut

 

[EMTDAD]

Lots of woods, not a lot of deer.....kinda sucks...but when you get one, it means something because you work your ass off for and have a lot of time put in.

I like to see deer, so I'd never hunt those places.....but Ill tip my hat to woodsmen that truly kill deer in the North Country legally during the daytime. (There is a lot of night jacking Im sure that goes on by some of these "trackers" on the way in and out running logging roads too)

I learned early on that if you truly want to kill deer and be successful you can do two things....

A) Put a large amount of time in scouting mediocre land/state (MA) , that you know well and monitor thoroughly......

B) Hunt where the deer are thick and populated on good private land in a good hunting state.

While I killed a fair amount of nice bucks doing A.......

I killed a fxckton of deer doing B with a lot less time and effort, and some nice bucks in between....with bow only.

These game cams make everything a lot easier now...didn't have those when I was seriously bowhunting until the very end, and never had the ones that sent to your phone.

the other thing too.. is for the week we go up, it's antlered deer only...

 

[ChevyGuy91]

Take a rifle and all small bottle of whiskey into the woods, find a comfy looking tree to sit against, enjoy the quiet.

I have been hunting for 10 years and still don't know what I'm doing, but I do enjoy my time in the woods, especially now that my kids are into it.

 

[AmeriKHAN]

I use a 12 gauge full choke and high brass #5. Can hit the top of any tree with that setup.

Used to do that until I got one at bear point blank and there wasn't much left lol.

 

[AmeriKHAN]

Take a rifle and all small bottle of whiskey into the woods, find a comfy looking tree to sit against, enjoy the quiet.

I have been hunting for 10 years and still don't know what I'm doing, but I do enjoy my time in the woods, especially now that my kids are into it.

I remember laying down in a bed of pine nettles at Wayne F. Macullum, waiting for squirrels to come down outta the trees just before sunrise. I had maybe 4 hours of sleep in me. I laid my head against the cool receiver of my shotgun. I woke up it was 12:05 PM. Best sleep I ever got.

 

[whacko]

My buddy always said " When the shooting stops , the work starts."

 

[MG2112]

Google for a outfitter. "Maine deer outfitter" or the state in which you want to hunt. You can get guided hunts which will cover
lodging and 3 meals a day, game care, processing, transportation to stand/blind for 800-1000 bucks for a 6-day hunt.

 

[Mark from ?]

the other thing too.. is for the week we go up, it's antlered deer only...

Sounds like you really shouldn't be shooting does in an area with very little deer population anyway. Just cause the state gives tags doesn't mean that you should use them.

 

[Mark from ?]

On those days bring a camera. I did that for the first time last year. I tagged out so I just went with my wife because she still had a doe tag she wanted to fill.
But I brought a camera, 600mm zoom and a tripod. I had so much fun taking pics of animals.

I do that now on a huge WMA I ride the bike on, always a few deer around. Gators....and lizards. An absolute shit ton of bird life down here with everything flying in for the winter.

 

[Sparkey]

the other thing too.. is for the week we go up, it's antlered deer only...

Same thing in NY where I hunt Bucks only.
Half the experience of north country hunting for me is being in deer camp for the week.

 

[EMTDAD]

Same thing in NY where I hunt Bucks only.
Half the experience of north country hunting for me is being in deer camp for the week.

yea.. nothing like getting a half dozen guys together talking about shit..

I would like to come home with some venison someday..

 

[Bigfudge16]

Same thing in NY where I hunt Bucks only.
Half the experience of north country hunting for me is being in deer camp for the week.

This. We hunt the north woods of vermont during deer rifle season and its always stories of who saw what, never who shot what. Its an experience, if you happen to shoot something its a bonus. I fill my tags in SE Mass with a bow pretty regularly so that satiates the blood lust

To the OP the best thing you can ever do is get a friend on call that is willing to walk you through some tracking so you know what to look for for sign, setting up your gear so you're comfortable, and tracking/cleaning your first kill when you get your first shot(this part may take a while). Depending on your location and desired species id be happy to help with this as I'm sure others will too.

Honestly I like to make sure I prep new hunters for what they're in for in regards to deer hunting. Other species can have a lot of action but deer hunting is a combination of experience and patience, the less you have of each the longer it will take to get kills. Its like the extreme version of fishing, you prep and plan as best as you can and just hope the target shows up when you're there. Invest in some good cold weather gear, a good book, a good sandwich, and a good cigar if you're into that sort of thing and learn to enjoy the woods just as much if not more than the kills and it can be a great lifetime hobby that you never stop learning about.

Obligatory photo of my lunch spot in the north woods.

 

[Dadstoys]

Love my jet sled.
I use a big piece of conduit as a handle for my pull rope

I also use a bungee cargo net to “tie” them in the sled and I also use it for strapping them into the cart as well. It does a much better job IMO than roping or strapping them in.

Good idea!

 

[Dadstoys]

yea.. nothing like getting a half dozen guys together talking about shit..

I would like to come home with some venison someday..

Reminds me of a hunting joke I heard.
This guy would go every year with his buddies "Hunting".
They would always either sit around getting drunk or hitting strip clubs looking for another kind of white tail.
One guy's wife started to get suspicious when year after year he would come home with stories of "The one that got away" and no venison.
She always had packed his clothes and the next year he came home pissed off and chastized her for forgetting to pack his pajamas and bitching about having to sleep in his underwear for the whole week.
She calmly said "I put them in your gun case."

 

[fencer]

This. We hunt the north woods of vermont during deer rifle season and its always stories of who saw what, never who shot what. Its an experience, if you happen to shoot something its a bonus. I fill my tags in SE Mass with a bow pretty regularly so that satiates the blood lust

To the OP the best thing you can ever do is get a friend on call that is willing to walk you through some tracking so you know what to look for for sign, setting up your gear so you're comfortable, and tracking/cleaning your first kill when you get your first shot(this part may take a while). Depending on your location and desired species id be happy to help with this as I'm sure others will too.

Honestly I like to make sure I prep new hunters for what they're in for in regards to deer hunting. Other species can have a lot of action but deer hunting is a combination of experience and patience, the less you have of each the longer it will take to get kills. Its like the extreme version of fishing, you prep and plan as best as you can and just hope the target shows up when you're there. Invest in some good cold weather gear, a good book, a good sandwich, and a good cigar if you're into that sort of thing and learn to enjoy the woods just as much if not more than the kills and it can be a great lifetime hobby that you never stop learning about.

Obligatory photo of my lunch spot in the north woods.
View attachment 966773

This x 1000.

When I was a kid, my dad taught me to walk along the waters edge and look for prints.
Did that in Georgia, and it was almost unsportsmanlike like.

Critters will come to water. Now with google earth.... scout area, find water, walk waters edge, set up

 

[Bigfudge16]

This x 1000.

When I was a kid, my dad taught me to walk along the waters edge and look for prints.
Did that in Georgia, and it was almost unsportsmanlike like.

Critters will come to water. Now with google earth.... scout area, find water, walk waters edge, set up

Great tip. Wetlands can feel like cheating at times. It's very easy to determine which watering holes are are hot spots by the prints in the mud.

I lucked out and killed my first deer with a bow within a couple days of setting up in a swamp covered in prints. All the guys were walking around saying "holy shit" at all the sign while tracking with me. I barely knew what to look for and somehow set up in a honey hole.

To that point, if the OP has any interest in archery I'd highly recommend it. Opens up a lot more weeks of very active deer movement with comfy weather for sitting. Also less likely to piss off any carpet munching property abutters... not that there's anything wrong with that!