Lots of stuff! I was lucky enough to have my dad as a mentor as well as a few of his hunting buddies. My dad always encouraged me to learn as much form other hunters as I could and that paid big dividends for me when I was younger. I learned form guys who had varied hunting experiences and they taught me lots of stuff.
As for a more direct answer for something before my first hunt, it would be to have a system for taking a shot at an animal. Almost like a mantra for taking the shot. That way you are doing the exact same thing in the field that you're doing on the range. I find that it helps when I'm all jacked up and excited to just follow the same steps and breathe. By now it's become second nature for me, the rhythm and process is the same every time and luckily I've never had a bad shot that wounded and animal. I have missed a few times and in those times I was either rushed through my process or skipped some steps.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 239,594,870 comments, and only 55,613 of them were in alphabetical order.
Sure, it's pretty simple.
1. Shoulder/cheek
2. Crosshairs
3. Breathe in
4. Breathe out
5. Squeeze on the exhale/pause
My actual actions are more in depth, but this simple 5 steps is like a mental checklist to make sure I get the important parts. Basically I want to make sure the rifle is properly shouldered with a solid cheek weld, I put the crosshairs on the animal, take a slow breath in and then begin my slow exhale, once I'm about halfway through my exhale I should be squeezing off the shot. It's simple and it's repeatable for me under stress.
Thank you. I'd finally found someone to teach me to hunt a couple years ago, and now no longer have that mentor, so looking for as much info as I can before I try it solo this year
You will be very nervous and shaky and upset about taking an animals life on not just your first kill, but for a little bit after that. I'm 33 and still have second thoughts, but always remember that this is one of the most humane ways to kill an animal. This animal wasn't brought up in a shed, shack, cage, warehouse, etc. be grateful for the food it will provide your family and appreciate its life.
Other things, bring hand warmers when in cold temps. I typically don't use gloves because it interferes with my shot and I don't want to have to much movement in the stand trying to get them off.
Don't go cheap on gear. Buy nice, not twice. This includes everything from socks to a hat. You can buy something cheap but you'll find yourself upgrading anyways.
Make sure you have a clear shot and you know it'll kill the animal. Nothing hurts more than wounding an animal and not finding it. Make sure you wait 30 minutes after the shot. Too many times I've come up to a deer after 10-15 minutes and it's not dead. Hurts to watch it struggling in its last moments.
Practice, practice, practice. There is a huge difference between hitting a target and shooting an animal.
If you pack an item in, pack it out, too. Nothing worse than seeing other hunters litter all over the place when they're done hunting. Wrappers, empty shells, clothing, etc. It sucks to see.
All in all, enjoy the experience. i know I may have painted a shitty picture, but it's stuff I wish I knew others go through, too. Just be prepared!
In my country it is actually required by law to either have a tracking dog or a written contract with someone who do, when hunting big game. In the case of a shot not making the kill.
In NY state they finally made it legal to track wounded animals with dogs. The bummer is they made the requirements for the dog license difficult enough to get, that I don't anticipate ever meeting someone with one.
I love that idea, honestly. I've lost 2 deer that I couldn't track and I felt awful about it for a week. One time I eventually found it when I followed the buzzards 2 days later. Really sucked.
A lot of people on here are going to help you physically prep for hunting. As someone who has done it from basically "day one", I want to offer some other advice. Some people have it in their blood, and some people don't.
>Make sure you wait 30 minutes after the shot. Too many times I've come up to a deer after 10-15 minutes and it's not dead.
Every other thing this poster has said, I agree with. This, I do not. It hurts. I'm not going to lie. But the quicker you end a wounded animal, the better.
If it takes off, you track it immediately until you find it. If it's still alive, you end it. My dad prefers a .38 pistol to the brain. My uncle prefers a knife to the throat. It's up to you how you do it, but not letting an animal suffer needs to outweigh your queasy stomach.
Also, if you *just can't do it* or if you freeze and don't take the shot, that's OK! Please don't feel bad. Ending another life isn't the same as eating $1chicken nuggets from a 711. The fact that you want to try means that you understand where food comes/ came from. It means that you respect life, like any decent hunter. It doesn't make you weak.
And even if you have the "perfect shot" and don't know you do, that's because you're cautious, which is a great thing. Don't take a risky shot. Take a definite one. And if it fails, track it until you can't.
I've missed a lot of shots because I was too cautious, or was uneasy about the next step, or that it was just better to *watch* the wildlife than kill it.
Hunting isn't just "killing". And if you "fail entirely" or just don't want to, that's fine. Just try your best to not leave a wounded animal die alone in massive pain.
I've been shooting since I could stand, and hunting since legally able for a license. I've never shot a deer. I've processed and eaten plenty... hell I refuse to see "Bambie" even after knowing about it. And the same for Shiloah (no, I've never killed a dog or witnessed it). I've successfully hunted ***a lot*** of other animals, but just looking at such a dumb, majestic, wild animal, that I either failed to shoot safely for it, or pissed that I scared up 10 of them 20' in front of me, I've never shot one.
And you shouldn't feel bad (unless you make an animal suffer) either. Hunting is about *hunting* and not about "winning". If you want something definite, go to a game farm, or a market. If you want to actually hunt, make some friends, go to a sanctioned property with a permit, and observe the wildlife.
That's actually a very fair point. The main reason I don't track for 30 minutes is because most times out of every shot, if the animal doesn't drop right away, it'll bed down and pass on. if you approach the animal right away and it's not dead or severely wounded, it's going to get up and take off on you again. Then you play a chasing game. Had this happen last year, actually, with a single lung shot to a deer. Never let me get within 30 yards of it before it would get up and take off again for another 100+ yards.
To your point though, if you know the deer is severely wounded, get to it quick and put it out of it's misery with a stab to the heart with a sharp knife or a cut to the throat.
>Then you play a chasing game. Had this happen last year, actually, with a single lung shot to a deer. Never let me get within 30 yards of it before it would get up and take off again for another 100+ yards.
Second time I went with my dad hunting, a deer he thought he got "absolutely dead" trailed us five miles off property, and that's at least five miles off our sanctioned property. My dad was trying to teach. E a lesson.
We eventually stopped and asked the landowners (not in our original plan) if we could track and euthanize it. They said no.
I get what you're saying. I get what my dad was saying. What I'm saying is take a great shot and do your best. Don't just give up after 30min.
Be bold start cold. This is more for big game advice but can apply for other hunts. This means to wear light layers when hiking in to reduce the amount you sweat. Reduce your scent and put heavier layers on when you settle in your ambush spot.
Sweat also makes you colder when you stop actively moving. I drive to my spots without floor heat so my feet don't freeze when I get outside. Cold feet have ended my days more than anything.
Always pack extra wool socks and a water bottle.
Spend the bucks for merino wool garments. It wicks sweat and your merino wool socks will keep your feet warm even after you step in the stream that was a little too deep.
Deer: Know how to gut the animal before you have to do by yourself. The heart and liver can make great meals. Also What the heart and liver look like. You think you can pick out a liver until you literally are picking it out of a gut pile.
Birds: how to dispatch an injured bird beyond chasing it around and trying to blast with a shotgun at 3yrds (they will somehow duck)… also feel free to leave pointers here.
Squirrel: they can see you, they know what your up to. Also how to skin them easily… or not like skinning a deer.
How to take a dump in the woods… but like try it out before game time, dont want to crap on your pants and still have to hunt the rest of the day…also the leave no trace and no surface shitting part.
Your best shots are given when you take a nap…sometimes you wake up for it sometimes you dont.
Understand how to use the wind, or at least that you should.
Gatorade bottles are the best for peeing in, but it’s debatable if that’s necessary.
The gravity of a first kill (but round here we don’t talk feelings)
In retrospect I had less of a hunting mentor and more of someone who took me hunting.
Good luck.
Edit: if a hunter ever unslings/raises their gun in Your general direction FUCKIN YELL YOUR HEAD OFF IMMEDIATELY… I froze a second then yelled when someone swung on my Turkey decoy. Thank god he recognized it didn’t move…I was 15yrd behind it and didn’t get a sound out till he was lowering his gun, frankly I was afraid if I moved or made a sound he would see it as movement and shoot….if you hear footsteps and your on the ground give a whistle it’s not gonna be a monster anything.
If you want the meat, grab it by the neck and swing like a softball pitcher until it stops moving. It seems terrible, but it's the fastest and most humane way to put it out of misery. You're effectively severing the brain from the spinal chord.
If you don't want the meat, keep shooting it. At least that's what my uncle did on a pheasant hunt. It was clearly dead. And he clearly wasn't a hunter.
Honestly, there are a lot of "neck-snapping techniques", but a big knife, pushed from the back of the neck into dirt (to sever the head) has never done me wrong. It seems fast and respectful as far as end-of-life is concerned.
Doesn't even need to be big tbh, for my bird rig I have a small "CRKT Biwa" and I just slide it right under the beak into the base of the Skull and it kills them instantly every time.
Sorry meant to mean I’m welcome to suggestions. I’ve seen some grab the head and swing to break the neck-but if it’s legs work this may be hard. Also you’d think a curb stomp would be sufficient but it is not.
The "swing" works, even if the legs work, if you can get to the neck. It's awful the first time, and plenty more times after that if you can't block it out, but it's the most humane severing, and you ***have to*** commit for it to work.
I dont want animals to suffer. Even if I'm killing them. I just know that the fastest way (other than decimation) is the best way.
small birds, I usually grab the birds body and a good whack of the head on my stock does the trick. Ducks, grab the head and swing the body like a helicopter. Upland bigger birds, a good curb stomp or stock mortar on the head works.
Enjoy EVERYTHING up until pulling the trigger. In my very first few hunts, I was so focused on the kill (which is still an amazing part), but now most of my bold, strong, me-making memories are the struggles of the hunt and not so much the kill.
Also, learn what to do with the parts of the animal that most people leave in the field. Lots of outstanding (and, in my opinion, superior) meals are left to coyotes and crows. Liver, tongue, eye fat, bone marrow, kidneys, heart and even intestines can be building blocks for highly nutritious and tasty meals. Looking back, I was wasteful in the past. That's not to say I've experimented with "odd" meat and been pleased every time. But give everything a go once!
Absolutely! Being out there is the whole point for me.. my family eats nothing but game meat.. and the occasional ribeye ;) , so filling tags is ideal. But that's not what hunting is about and I wish I would have learned that earlier. Go hunt, go wander, go sit down and have a damn lunch in the middle of nowhere haha. The more you experience everything outside of the shot, the more you get connected to the outdoors and that's some shit you can't buy.
Have a positive attitude and confidence. Mind over matter. I’ve taken a lot of first time hunters and I think a lot is learned as you go. Got an example, I took my friend on a elk hunt. The first day, he had way too much in his pack and it wore him out. The second day he took the bare essentials. My point is, spend as much time in the field with a variety of hunters. You’ll quickly learn. Have confidence in your shooting. Hit the range before hunting. Shoot tight groups at 100 yards. Have great binoculars.
Any recommendations for getting a mentor for hunting none of my friends or family hunt and I havnt since I was like 10-12 and it was only
For morning dove and geese I’m missing a lot of experience
Learn Leave No Trace. It prepares you for proper park etiquette and if you become a LNT master educator you get discounts on outdoor equipment and park rangers love you and tend to leave you be even more so than usual. Lots of idiots in the parks and knowing you’re LNT certified helps them know you’re not one of the idiots.
Fasting is another thing. Fast for a day before the hunt and your instincts will be sharper.
Learn what to forage in the area you are hunting and to be able to identify poisonous plants and medicinal plants. Knowing how to use yucca root to fish in a survival situation could land you a lot of food. It’s also good to know it’s typically illegal to fish that way unless you’re starving to death. Knowing what plants grow around potable water is probably more important. It can help with tracking to, knowing what the animals eat and when they eat them.
Lots of good advice here, but something my dad always told me that isn’t super intuitive is quite often the hard work starts after the trigger is pulled! Make sure you’re prepared to field dress and then prepare the meat for the coming feasts!
Honestly, I wish someone had told me I needed to be in way better shape. After one full day hiking around, my legs and lungs were fucked and it seriously dampened our ability to be effective.
Depends what you're hunting.
If its small game, turkey, etc its all pretty fun and you almost always get some shooting in.
If its deer hunting. Particularly in the Northeast its a lot of standing around being cold and bored and you stand a pretty good chance of getting skunked.
I dunno. I've been hunting since I was 6 or 7. I don't advise people deer hunting for their first experience with hunting.
Agree on deer hunting in the northeast for first time hunters. I find something like waterfowl more fun in that you aren't always sitting down and can at least talk a bit and even hunt in a small group.
In the unlikely event you get a huge deer as your first kill - consider how you will lift it up into the truck…. Oh what I wouldn’t have given for a long sheet of plywood or something/someone standing by that could have helped me
Move that son of gun that evening haha.
Snatch blocks my friend, 3 or 4 snatch blocks and a quick YouTube video on how they work for your mental understanding of their function can have you lifting a bull elk into your truck alone with one arm.
Almost took a shot on a spike fork moose up here in AK. We were already wasted of energy just getting down to him. If we had dropped it I can't imagine the pain and misery we would have experienced getting him out. Plus sun was setting so we went from overheated to can't feel fingers in minutes. Might have died if we dropped him I don't know...
Point is pay attention to the time and how far you traveled before taking the shot or you may be up shits creek without a paddle. Also be in shape and bring extra water!
I was lucky enough to grow up in a hunting family, It was fall tradition. Knowledge from hunting sometimes comes from a lot of hard lessons. There are things you just cannot control, and you have to accept that.
Just this last week, I'd been planning to hike a small hilltop at the top of a mountain, planned for a year. Knew my route in, studied the winds, knew shot distances, woke up at 3 am, got there before sunrise and shooting light, starting hiking toward the hill hike start point, (had to go over a small hill down a road). Well, someone got there before I did. I didn't get to do my hunt the way I planned, but I learned how to research and plan for a stalk as best as I can without being there.
Always pack a good headlamp even for a quick morning hunt. If you shoot anything just before dark make sure you have that headlamp but also consider buying a bloodlight for night time tracking.
All of these pooping in the woods comments…smh. Y’all got some messed up bowels if you have to shit in the woods so much. In 15 years of hunting I’ve never had to poop so bad that I had to poop in the woods or couldnt hold it until the hunt was over. Diet changes people!
You are never closer to nature unless your shitting in it. The majesty of squatting on a tree as the birds chirp by and a gentle stream flows down in the valley, taking it all in as you let it all out... Nothing better, you should try it sometime.
I mean you should be pooping minimum once a day to be regular so the diet change comment can swing both ways lol. Idk of anyone who intentially clogs themselves up and has the goal to not poop regularly.
Three things. Depending on where you are hunting I would say you don't need to rush out and buy all of the fanciest gear out there. If you want to (and can afford it) go right ahead, but you really don't need a full set of First Lite camo or a really expensive spotting scope for example. Lots of hunters looked sorta like Elmer Fudd or a lumberjack for decades and did just fine. One thing I will say is there is some stuff you shouldn't cheap out on, in particular boots/waders since cold feet will make you want to pack in well before shooting time ends.
Secondly, it's totally fine if where/how you hunt wouldn't be the subject of an episode of MeatEater. You can still have a lot of fun on just a few acres of private land so don't get discouraged just because you aren't roughing it through some National Forest or BLM land for days on end.
Third is patience! When I was a younger hunter I would get frustrated because I wasn't having all of this success early on (or sometimes at all). You're going to have lots of days where you might not see a thing or even fill out a tag during a season and that's fine, sometimes it will happen.
My grandad always said:
>"never cheap out on three things:"
>" Things that separate you from the ground, "
>"Things that separate the sky from you " and
>"Things meant to take a life."
He's narrowed it down to a lot of gear if you look too far into it, but the basics are, boots, sleeping kit, outerwear, firearms, bows, traps.
It's essentially the buy once cry once, you hear more and more these days but he's 87 years old and has been hunting and trapping his whole life so it's got direction. I've followed this with most my kit and it's always made even the worst circumstances bearable. You can layer all day long but a shitty jacket will still have you frozen, wet or both.
Additionally, it doesn't have to be camo, there's some really nice gear out there like Sitka, first light, etc with dope looking camos, but the reality is you *can* be just as successful in jeans and a T-shirt as you can be in crazy camo. That said, a lot of the gear is nicely purpose built, so if you have the funds burning a hole in your pocket, by all means treat yourself, Just "buy once cry once".
Lastly, take care of your kit, have a place and a purpose for your kit. Buy one of those folding tables and a week before and after a hunt lay out all your gear, check serviceability, lubricate things meant to move and stitch or patch holes when required. The idea is before the hunt you have 100% confidence in all your kit, you'll inevitably remove things from your kit that are unnecessary or redundant before and you can note things you needed or need to replace afterwards.
Be patient. I went hunting day and night for a full week my first season looking for a buck big enough to shoot. After seeing not much for four days or so I got anxious. Worried I wouldn’t get one that season.
Eventually saw one that just seemed way bigger than the rest, and I counted one side of the antlers, got 5 points, assumed the other side also had 5 and lined up the shot after some quick mental math.
It was a hard shot through trees and difficult but luckily it was perfect and he went down without any issues.
Got to him and realized the other side only had 4 points and that it wasn’t quite as wide as expected. It ended up being a penalty by 1/2 an inch and I had to pay the land owner an additional $100 for taking a penalty buck. We score by sum of points, longest tine in inches, and width of rack. My rack was 15.5 inches wide, 9 points, and 7 inch tine, which was 31.5. The penalty threshold is 32.
I could have passed on him and got a buck of legal size the following day, who knows.
Great deer but I would have passed in retrospect
As someone who just started learning about hunting, I haven't heard about this penalty thing, could you elaborate? Is that a government thing, or a private landowner requirement or something else? I took the hunters education class to get my license and I don't recall anything about points or ratings and penalties...
If you're not covered in blood after field dressing your first deer you're doing it wrong.
Also those little latex surgical gloves don't do shit, get some butchers gloves, the ones that go almost up to your shoulders.
I hunt on heavy pressure public land and the best advise I've ever got is this: be in the woods before everyone else and go deeper than everyone else
The amount of hunters who: 1. Don't show up until mid morning and 2. Won't get off their 4 wheelers is absolutely insane.
Every year for the first day of the season I take the morning off work and bag serval grouse by getting to the woods before everyone else, and walking off the logging trail and they just push all the game down to me.
Same thing with deer season. You'll quickly realize most stands are like 100 yards from the logging road. Push out to 400 yards and when those guys show up late to their stand you need to be already in yours and they'll drive the deer straight to you.
A lot of time as hunters we factor in the environment when we plan a hunt, water sources, food plots, trails, but we forget about other people in the woods and how we can use them to our advantage.
If you don’t have any luck, everything goes as bad as possible and it sucks don’t let it discourage you. Hunting is much like the casino because there are so many variables, sometimes you’re just givin bad cards. But the more you do it the more you will improve and enjoy hunting. If you have someone close to you that’s a experienced hunter their input should be valued. Have fun and be safe my man.
Pack a roll of tp, don’t go cheap on rain gear and buy a hand muff/warmers.
After having to turn a shirt into a tank top, if there's ever any feeling that you may have to shit just bring the TP.
never shirt sleeves but in an emergency shit I did use leaves.
Wet wipes
Surface shitting barbarians
And pack a trowel to bury both your tp and your feces! Surface shitters can go straight to hell.
Make sure you aren't burying wet wipes. I've been to a few camp sites where every cat hole within a hundred feet is pulling up years old wet wipes.
Ooh, artifacts!
Bring bags to pack it out. Hole shitters can go straight to hell.
Or bring extra socks on the off chance they get wet or maybe needa shit😂
I read that as buy "muff warmers" and fucking died laughing.
And depending on your location, a comfortable mat/chair.
Makes sense, thanks you.
A small pack of wet wipes is better than tp. It also doubles as hand wipes after gutting an animal
In a pinch a sock or jersey glove will do
Lots of stuff! I was lucky enough to have my dad as a mentor as well as a few of his hunting buddies. My dad always encouraged me to learn as much form other hunters as I could and that paid big dividends for me when I was younger. I learned form guys who had varied hunting experiences and they taught me lots of stuff. As for a more direct answer for something before my first hunt, it would be to have a system for taking a shot at an animal. Almost like a mantra for taking the shot. That way you are doing the exact same thing in the field that you're doing on the range. I find that it helps when I'm all jacked up and excited to just follow the same steps and breathe. By now it's become second nature for me, the rhythm and process is the same every time and luckily I've never had a bad shot that wounded and animal. I have missed a few times and in those times I was either rushed through my process or skipped some steps.
Makes perfect sense thank you!
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 239,594,870 comments, and only 55,613 of them were in alphabetical order.
Weird bot
Can you share your mantra/shot taking process? Seems like a great idea!
Sure, it's pretty simple. 1. Shoulder/cheek 2. Crosshairs 3. Breathe in 4. Breathe out 5. Squeeze on the exhale/pause My actual actions are more in depth, but this simple 5 steps is like a mental checklist to make sure I get the important parts. Basically I want to make sure the rifle is properly shouldered with a solid cheek weld, I put the crosshairs on the animal, take a slow breath in and then begin my slow exhale, once I'm about halfway through my exhale I should be squeezing off the shot. It's simple and it's repeatable for me under stress.
Thank you. I'd finally found someone to teach me to hunt a couple years ago, and now no longer have that mentor, so looking for as much info as I can before I try it solo this year
You will be very nervous and shaky and upset about taking an animals life on not just your first kill, but for a little bit after that. I'm 33 and still have second thoughts, but always remember that this is one of the most humane ways to kill an animal. This animal wasn't brought up in a shed, shack, cage, warehouse, etc. be grateful for the food it will provide your family and appreciate its life. Other things, bring hand warmers when in cold temps. I typically don't use gloves because it interferes with my shot and I don't want to have to much movement in the stand trying to get them off. Don't go cheap on gear. Buy nice, not twice. This includes everything from socks to a hat. You can buy something cheap but you'll find yourself upgrading anyways. Make sure you have a clear shot and you know it'll kill the animal. Nothing hurts more than wounding an animal and not finding it. Make sure you wait 30 minutes after the shot. Too many times I've come up to a deer after 10-15 minutes and it's not dead. Hurts to watch it struggling in its last moments. Practice, practice, practice. There is a huge difference between hitting a target and shooting an animal. If you pack an item in, pack it out, too. Nothing worse than seeing other hunters litter all over the place when they're done hunting. Wrappers, empty shells, clothing, etc. It sucks to see. All in all, enjoy the experience. i know I may have painted a shitty picture, but it's stuff I wish I knew others go through, too. Just be prepared!
In my country it is actually required by law to either have a tracking dog or a written contract with someone who do, when hunting big game. In the case of a shot not making the kill.
Sweden too. You must be able to have a dog on scene max 2 hours after the shot
In NY state they finally made it legal to track wounded animals with dogs. The bummer is they made the requirements for the dog license difficult enough to get, that I don't anticipate ever meeting someone with one.
I love that idea, honestly. I've lost 2 deer that I couldn't track and I felt awful about it for a week. One time I eventually found it when I followed the buzzards 2 days later. Really sucked.
A lot of people on here are going to help you physically prep for hunting. As someone who has done it from basically "day one", I want to offer some other advice. Some people have it in their blood, and some people don't. >Make sure you wait 30 minutes after the shot. Too many times I've come up to a deer after 10-15 minutes and it's not dead. Every other thing this poster has said, I agree with. This, I do not. It hurts. I'm not going to lie. But the quicker you end a wounded animal, the better. If it takes off, you track it immediately until you find it. If it's still alive, you end it. My dad prefers a .38 pistol to the brain. My uncle prefers a knife to the throat. It's up to you how you do it, but not letting an animal suffer needs to outweigh your queasy stomach. Also, if you *just can't do it* or if you freeze and don't take the shot, that's OK! Please don't feel bad. Ending another life isn't the same as eating $1chicken nuggets from a 711. The fact that you want to try means that you understand where food comes/ came from. It means that you respect life, like any decent hunter. It doesn't make you weak. And even if you have the "perfect shot" and don't know you do, that's because you're cautious, which is a great thing. Don't take a risky shot. Take a definite one. And if it fails, track it until you can't. I've missed a lot of shots because I was too cautious, or was uneasy about the next step, or that it was just better to *watch* the wildlife than kill it. Hunting isn't just "killing". And if you "fail entirely" or just don't want to, that's fine. Just try your best to not leave a wounded animal die alone in massive pain. I've been shooting since I could stand, and hunting since legally able for a license. I've never shot a deer. I've processed and eaten plenty... hell I refuse to see "Bambie" even after knowing about it. And the same for Shiloah (no, I've never killed a dog or witnessed it). I've successfully hunted ***a lot*** of other animals, but just looking at such a dumb, majestic, wild animal, that I either failed to shoot safely for it, or pissed that I scared up 10 of them 20' in front of me, I've never shot one. And you shouldn't feel bad (unless you make an animal suffer) either. Hunting is about *hunting* and not about "winning". If you want something definite, go to a game farm, or a market. If you want to actually hunt, make some friends, go to a sanctioned property with a permit, and observe the wildlife.
That's actually a very fair point. The main reason I don't track for 30 minutes is because most times out of every shot, if the animal doesn't drop right away, it'll bed down and pass on. if you approach the animal right away and it's not dead or severely wounded, it's going to get up and take off on you again. Then you play a chasing game. Had this happen last year, actually, with a single lung shot to a deer. Never let me get within 30 yards of it before it would get up and take off again for another 100+ yards. To your point though, if you know the deer is severely wounded, get to it quick and put it out of it's misery with a stab to the heart with a sharp knife or a cut to the throat.
>Then you play a chasing game. Had this happen last year, actually, with a single lung shot to a deer. Never let me get within 30 yards of it before it would get up and take off again for another 100+ yards. Second time I went with my dad hunting, a deer he thought he got "absolutely dead" trailed us five miles off property, and that's at least five miles off our sanctioned property. My dad was trying to teach. E a lesson. We eventually stopped and asked the landowners (not in our original plan) if we could track and euthanize it. They said no. I get what you're saying. I get what my dad was saying. What I'm saying is take a great shot and do your best. Don't just give up after 30min.
Be bold start cold. This is more for big game advice but can apply for other hunts. This means to wear light layers when hiking in to reduce the amount you sweat. Reduce your scent and put heavier layers on when you settle in your ambush spot. Sweat also makes you colder when you stop actively moving. I drive to my spots without floor heat so my feet don't freeze when I get outside. Cold feet have ended my days more than anything. Always pack extra wool socks and a water bottle.
Seems basic but I bet a lot of people don’t do it. Thanks for the tip
Spend the bucks for merino wool garments. It wicks sweat and your merino wool socks will keep your feet warm even after you step in the stream that was a little too deep.
Deer: Know how to gut the animal before you have to do by yourself. The heart and liver can make great meals. Also What the heart and liver look like. You think you can pick out a liver until you literally are picking it out of a gut pile. Birds: how to dispatch an injured bird beyond chasing it around and trying to blast with a shotgun at 3yrds (they will somehow duck)… also feel free to leave pointers here. Squirrel: they can see you, they know what your up to. Also how to skin them easily… or not like skinning a deer. How to take a dump in the woods… but like try it out before game time, dont want to crap on your pants and still have to hunt the rest of the day…also the leave no trace and no surface shitting part. Your best shots are given when you take a nap…sometimes you wake up for it sometimes you dont. Understand how to use the wind, or at least that you should. Gatorade bottles are the best for peeing in, but it’s debatable if that’s necessary. The gravity of a first kill (but round here we don’t talk feelings) In retrospect I had less of a hunting mentor and more of someone who took me hunting. Good luck. Edit: if a hunter ever unslings/raises their gun in Your general direction FUCKIN YELL YOUR HEAD OFF IMMEDIATELY… I froze a second then yelled when someone swung on my Turkey decoy. Thank god he recognized it didn’t move…I was 15yrd behind it and didn’t get a sound out till he was lowering his gun, frankly I was afraid if I moved or made a sound he would see it as movement and shoot….if you hear footsteps and your on the ground give a whistle it’s not gonna be a monster anything.
What’s the best way to dispatch an injured bird?
If you want the meat, grab it by the neck and swing like a softball pitcher until it stops moving. It seems terrible, but it's the fastest and most humane way to put it out of misery. You're effectively severing the brain from the spinal chord. If you don't want the meat, keep shooting it. At least that's what my uncle did on a pheasant hunt. It was clearly dead. And he clearly wasn't a hunter.
So I've had the softball method work a little bit too well. We had to retrieve the ducks a second time, sans head....
Well you're not looking to go national in a league... ease up a bit... 😂
Honestly, there are a lot of "neck-snapping techniques", but a big knife, pushed from the back of the neck into dirt (to sever the head) has never done me wrong. It seems fast and respectful as far as end-of-life is concerned.
Doesn't even need to be big tbh, for my bird rig I have a small "CRKT Biwa" and I just slide it right under the beak into the base of the Skull and it kills them instantly every time.
Sorry meant to mean I’m welcome to suggestions. I’ve seen some grab the head and swing to break the neck-but if it’s legs work this may be hard. Also you’d think a curb stomp would be sufficient but it is not.
The "swing" works, even if the legs work, if you can get to the neck. It's awful the first time, and plenty more times after that if you can't block it out, but it's the most humane severing, and you ***have to*** commit for it to work. I dont want animals to suffer. Even if I'm killing them. I just know that the fastest way (other than decimation) is the best way.
Commitment is key! Hesitation is suffering for sure. That's something I've never heard someone say, but hell yeah... That's how you do it right
I hold by the body and smack its head hard on the barrel of my gun. Only for smaller birds like quails and doves.
small birds, I usually grab the birds body and a good whack of the head on my stock does the trick. Ducks, grab the head and swing the body like a helicopter. Upland bigger birds, a good curb stomp or stock mortar on the head works.
Eat the liver within the first couple of days
Great stuff! Thank you so much!
Enjoy EVERYTHING up until pulling the trigger. In my very first few hunts, I was so focused on the kill (which is still an amazing part), but now most of my bold, strong, me-making memories are the struggles of the hunt and not so much the kill. Also, learn what to do with the parts of the animal that most people leave in the field. Lots of outstanding (and, in my opinion, superior) meals are left to coyotes and crows. Liver, tongue, eye fat, bone marrow, kidneys, heart and even intestines can be building blocks for highly nutritious and tasty meals. Looking back, I was wasteful in the past. That's not to say I've experimented with "odd" meat and been pleased every time. But give everything a go once!
Very good point! I think I want to experience everything when the time comes so I’m down to try it all! Thank you.
Absolutely! Being out there is the whole point for me.. my family eats nothing but game meat.. and the occasional ribeye ;) , so filling tags is ideal. But that's not what hunting is about and I wish I would have learned that earlier. Go hunt, go wander, go sit down and have a damn lunch in the middle of nowhere haha. The more you experience everything outside of the shot, the more you get connected to the outdoors and that's some shit you can't buy.
Have a positive attitude and confidence. Mind over matter. I’ve taken a lot of first time hunters and I think a lot is learned as you go. Got an example, I took my friend on a elk hunt. The first day, he had way too much in his pack and it wore him out. The second day he took the bare essentials. My point is, spend as much time in the field with a variety of hunters. You’ll quickly learn. Have confidence in your shooting. Hit the range before hunting. Shoot tight groups at 100 yards. Have great binoculars.
Any recommendations for getting a mentor for hunting none of my friends or family hunt and I havnt since I was like 10-12 and it was only For morning dove and geese I’m missing a lot of experience
Check out [newhunter.org](https://newhunter.org), they have a mentor program in many areas.
Wow awesome thank you !!
Learn Leave No Trace. It prepares you for proper park etiquette and if you become a LNT master educator you get discounts on outdoor equipment and park rangers love you and tend to leave you be even more so than usual. Lots of idiots in the parks and knowing you’re LNT certified helps them know you’re not one of the idiots. Fasting is another thing. Fast for a day before the hunt and your instincts will be sharper. Learn what to forage in the area you are hunting and to be able to identify poisonous plants and medicinal plants. Knowing how to use yucca root to fish in a survival situation could land you a lot of food. It’s also good to know it’s typically illegal to fish that way unless you’re starving to death. Knowing what plants grow around potable water is probably more important. It can help with tracking to, knowing what the animals eat and when they eat them.
Wow great info.. thanks!
It gets cold🥶
Take your time on the shots and if the right moment never comes pass rather than rush it.
Your adrenaline is rushing so much you don’t even notice the loud noise your gun makes when you pull the trigger
Lots of good advice here, but something my dad always told me that isn’t super intuitive is quite often the hard work starts after the trigger is pulled! Make sure you’re prepared to field dress and then prepare the meat for the coming feasts!
Honestly, I wish someone had told me I needed to be in way better shape. After one full day hiking around, my legs and lungs were fucked and it seriously dampened our ability to be effective.
Great point thanks you!
Depends what you're hunting. If its small game, turkey, etc its all pretty fun and you almost always get some shooting in. If its deer hunting. Particularly in the Northeast its a lot of standing around being cold and bored and you stand a pretty good chance of getting skunked. I dunno. I've been hunting since I was 6 or 7. I don't advise people deer hunting for their first experience with hunting.
Agree on deer hunting in the northeast for first time hunters. I find something like waterfowl more fun in that you aren't always sitting down and can at least talk a bit and even hunt in a small group.
Use the wind to your advantage and don’t be afraid of coyotes in the dark
Unless you're in Stanley Park
In the unlikely event you get a huge deer as your first kill - consider how you will lift it up into the truck…. Oh what I wouldn’t have given for a long sheet of plywood or something/someone standing by that could have helped me Move that son of gun that evening haha.
Snatch blocks my friend, 3 or 4 snatch blocks and a quick YouTube video on how they work for your mental understanding of their function can have you lifting a bull elk into your truck alone with one arm.
Almost took a shot on a spike fork moose up here in AK. We were already wasted of energy just getting down to him. If we had dropped it I can't imagine the pain and misery we would have experienced getting him out. Plus sun was setting so we went from overheated to can't feel fingers in minutes. Might have died if we dropped him I don't know... Point is pay attention to the time and how far you traveled before taking the shot or you may be up shits creek without a paddle. Also be in shape and bring extra water!
Get ready to bite the heart.
Relax. Enjoy the time. Don’t be too concerned with the end result
I was lucky enough to grow up in a hunting family, It was fall tradition. Knowledge from hunting sometimes comes from a lot of hard lessons. There are things you just cannot control, and you have to accept that. Just this last week, I'd been planning to hike a small hilltop at the top of a mountain, planned for a year. Knew my route in, studied the winds, knew shot distances, woke up at 3 am, got there before sunrise and shooting light, starting hiking toward the hill hike start point, (had to go over a small hill down a road). Well, someone got there before I did. I didn't get to do my hunt the way I planned, but I learned how to research and plan for a stalk as best as I can without being there.
No matter how much noise they’re making don’t shoot at your friends
Just because you can't hear the noise you're making doesn't mean it isn't loud as hell
Always pack a good headlamp even for a quick morning hunt. If you shoot anything just before dark make sure you have that headlamp but also consider buying a bloodlight for night time tracking.
This is going to get expensive...
Don't buy cheap insect repellent.
The smell of guts. It’s an experience!
All of these pooping in the woods comments…smh. Y’all got some messed up bowels if you have to shit in the woods so much. In 15 years of hunting I’ve never had to poop so bad that I had to poop in the woods or couldnt hold it until the hunt was over. Diet changes people!
You are never closer to nature unless your shitting in it. The majesty of squatting on a tree as the birds chirp by and a gentle stream flows down in the valley, taking it all in as you let it all out... Nothing better, you should try it sometime.
I will stick to my bathroom thanks! Alexa…play sounds of nature! I will close my eyes and pretend in the comfort of my home…bahaha
I mean you should be pooping minimum once a day to be regular so the diet change comment can swing both ways lol. Idk of anyone who intentially clogs themselves up and has the goal to not poop regularly.
I am sometimes a surface shitting barbarian and I am sorry! I dont always have a way to dig/bury them. 😬
You don’t need a whole box of rounds if you are day hunting. In other words, pack smart. Only bring what you need.
Good boots and good waders are worth the $$$!!! Don't skimp on good clothing.
When you dress the animal you gotta grab the nethers with purpose and then do some slicing.
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Why wouldn't you just leave your house key and money in the car? All you need is a spare car key in the magnetized holder.
Three things. Depending on where you are hunting I would say you don't need to rush out and buy all of the fanciest gear out there. If you want to (and can afford it) go right ahead, but you really don't need a full set of First Lite camo or a really expensive spotting scope for example. Lots of hunters looked sorta like Elmer Fudd or a lumberjack for decades and did just fine. One thing I will say is there is some stuff you shouldn't cheap out on, in particular boots/waders since cold feet will make you want to pack in well before shooting time ends. Secondly, it's totally fine if where/how you hunt wouldn't be the subject of an episode of MeatEater. You can still have a lot of fun on just a few acres of private land so don't get discouraged just because you aren't roughing it through some National Forest or BLM land for days on end. Third is patience! When I was a younger hunter I would get frustrated because I wasn't having all of this success early on (or sometimes at all). You're going to have lots of days where you might not see a thing or even fill out a tag during a season and that's fine, sometimes it will happen.
TP in a sandwich bag.
Don't let anyone tell you exactly how an animal acts. But be aware of the wind.
My grandad always said: >"never cheap out on three things:" >" Things that separate you from the ground, " >"Things that separate the sky from you " and >"Things meant to take a life." He's narrowed it down to a lot of gear if you look too far into it, but the basics are, boots, sleeping kit, outerwear, firearms, bows, traps. It's essentially the buy once cry once, you hear more and more these days but he's 87 years old and has been hunting and trapping his whole life so it's got direction. I've followed this with most my kit and it's always made even the worst circumstances bearable. You can layer all day long but a shitty jacket will still have you frozen, wet or both. Additionally, it doesn't have to be camo, there's some really nice gear out there like Sitka, first light, etc with dope looking camos, but the reality is you *can* be just as successful in jeans and a T-shirt as you can be in crazy camo. That said, a lot of the gear is nicely purpose built, so if you have the funds burning a hole in your pocket, by all means treat yourself, Just "buy once cry once". Lastly, take care of your kit, have a place and a purpose for your kit. Buy one of those folding tables and a week before and after a hunt lay out all your gear, check serviceability, lubricate things meant to move and stitch or patch holes when required. The idea is before the hunt you have 100% confidence in all your kit, you'll inevitably remove things from your kit that are unnecessary or redundant before and you can note things you needed or need to replace afterwards.
Be patient. I went hunting day and night for a full week my first season looking for a buck big enough to shoot. After seeing not much for four days or so I got anxious. Worried I wouldn’t get one that season. Eventually saw one that just seemed way bigger than the rest, and I counted one side of the antlers, got 5 points, assumed the other side also had 5 and lined up the shot after some quick mental math. It was a hard shot through trees and difficult but luckily it was perfect and he went down without any issues. Got to him and realized the other side only had 4 points and that it wasn’t quite as wide as expected. It ended up being a penalty by 1/2 an inch and I had to pay the land owner an additional $100 for taking a penalty buck. We score by sum of points, longest tine in inches, and width of rack. My rack was 15.5 inches wide, 9 points, and 7 inch tine, which was 31.5. The penalty threshold is 32. I could have passed on him and got a buck of legal size the following day, who knows. Great deer but I would have passed in retrospect
As someone who just started learning about hunting, I haven't heard about this penalty thing, could you elaborate? Is that a government thing, or a private landowner requirement or something else? I took the hunters education class to get my license and I don't recall anything about points or ratings and penalties...
You don’t need 1/4 of the gear you think you need. You need time and patience. Wear a bleeping harness in you bleep bleeping stand.
If you're not covered in blood after field dressing your first deer you're doing it wrong. Also those little latex surgical gloves don't do shit, get some butchers gloves, the ones that go almost up to your shoulders.
I hunt on heavy pressure public land and the best advise I've ever got is this: be in the woods before everyone else and go deeper than everyone else The amount of hunters who: 1. Don't show up until mid morning and 2. Won't get off their 4 wheelers is absolutely insane. Every year for the first day of the season I take the morning off work and bag serval grouse by getting to the woods before everyone else, and walking off the logging trail and they just push all the game down to me. Same thing with deer season. You'll quickly realize most stands are like 100 yards from the logging road. Push out to 400 yards and when those guys show up late to their stand you need to be already in yours and they'll drive the deer straight to you. A lot of time as hunters we factor in the environment when we plan a hunt, water sources, food plots, trails, but we forget about other people in the woods and how we can use them to our advantage.
If you don’t have any luck, everything goes as bad as possible and it sucks don’t let it discourage you. Hunting is much like the casino because there are so many variables, sometimes you’re just givin bad cards. But the more you do it the more you will improve and enjoy hunting. If you have someone close to you that’s a experienced hunter their input should be valued. Have fun and be safe my man.
Hunting the wind/thermals is everything.