I am 41 years old and never been hunting -for anything.  I don't know anyone who hunts and no family members hunt - at least those who are young enough to teach me the ins and outs.  If you were me, how would you go about learning how?  I've considering paying for a guided hunt in nearby private land or a reserve but not sure that is a good idea as some seem rather canned.  I took my state's hunter safety course in 2010 and got a lifetime license after this but never followed through on my plans.

thanks!!

 

Tagged, this will be my first year. I will be using a bow vs rifle. There are less restrictions here and the season is longer.

go camping in the woods... learn to be around the deers and move in such ways that they don't fear you.

spend some time and observe...you will learn where they eat, when they move , where they move, and what they do during the day and night


or you can read a book...( hahahahahahahah  ...oh boy that was funny...crack myself up sometimes...)





biggest thing, don't think about killing and cooking and eating them when you are hunting them...it changes you and they see a predator and not just a guy walking in the woods with them.



That is my old Indian trick of the day advice.



oh and all that camping you may learn to do some other things along the way.

Its definitely nice to have someone teach  you, but in the absence of that, spending time in the woods and getting a few trail cams set up where you hunt can help get you at least familiar with the patterns of the local herd.    The act of hunting itself is pretty easy...sit still, don't make a lot of noise, and try to mask your scent and use the wind to your advantage.   Getting into a good location where you might see deer is where the skill comes in.

In Indiana, we typically gun hunt during or near the rut (mating season) so you are typically not going to be just waiting for a random herd of deer to come by as they casually walk through the woods.  More than likely you might see some does grouped up, but the bucks are going to be out trying to get a piece of you know what and definitely not as easy to come across.  So knowing where local bucks are during the day is the key.   They will become territorial and start to establish some patterns and knowing where they are is key to getting into a location to increase your odds of a kill.

Now, if you are looking for a first kill and a chance to put some meat in the freezer, a doe is going to be your ticket.  Finding a good game trail that runs near a reliable food source and near water sources is a good tactic to increase your odds of seeing something to shoot at.   Again, depending on the local deer habits, finding a bedding area can also get you on some deer if  you set up near it.  They are in a way like people...they need eat, drink, and sleep.

Have you looked into any local hunting clubs or even some DNR sponsored hunter ed courses?  Sometimes those can give some great tips as well.

A guide hunt is not going to teach you much.
Learn when the rut is in your area.
Learn to hunt the wind.

I was in your shoes six years ago.  Never been hunting, and knew no one that did.  I took hunter's ed, got my license, and started reading everything I could get my hands on.

My suggestion is that you start by concentrating on two or three different game species with differing and/or over lapping seasons. Read up on the entire process for each animal, how to find them, how to hunt them, how to take them, how to clean them (youtube is good for this part), and how to cook them.

Buy the equipment you need, practice making shots, and the go out there and hunt.  You'll make mistakes, and you'll learn from them.  Most of all, just have fun.

Be sure to read and understand all of your state's rules for hunting whatever animal.  It would suck to go out and dinged for something stupid (like not wearing orange during a youth gun season and having to pay a $100 fine. )

The best way to do it is find a person or group that does it and ask to participate.  That's how I learned!  Check your ARF HTF

I was going to say this. Even if you don't need it "Legally" It wont hurt to take the course.

learn the woods and swamps.
carry a compass/GPS religiously. you will get turned around sooner or later.

learn to read game trails. they will flow thru an area. pick your ambush sites on the deer runs.
keep the wind in your face.

shoot does and get use to killing.
I'm a big advocate of newbies shooting the first legal deer until they get the jist of it.

I'm self taught,  just started going to places where deer live, and using my head. Be quiet, pay attention to the wind, move slowly. Dawn and dusk are the best times to find them, just get out in the woods and stretch your legs, be safe, respect game laws and private property.

What kind of property will you hunt, farmland, dnr property?   If you can, get some permission to hunt fields, look at the corners or edges for trails, and set up to be downwind of those areas accordingly.     Timber will be more difficult, but again look for trails, and around september look for rubs and scrapes, and deer poop along the trails, put up some cameras and go for it.

This book is one to buy.

 
Buy a couple others as well, which ones probably do not matter.


Right now, find 2-3 places to hunt, and start going to them, location travel corridors and spend time in the woods now trying to observe deer.


Find a spot or spots locally that have deer frequenting them - a park, school yard. Go watch them and how they act regardless of the environment - its like hunting but with no gun. You will learn a lot from just observing and spending time in the woods or around the animals.

Just go out there and do it.

Besides the safety aspect, which you learned in the class, it's all about making mistakes and learning from them.

1.  Stay down wind.
2.  Look more than you move.  The animal that notices the other animal first is almost always the winner.  Movement gets you busted.
3.  Stay off your phone.(this one might need to move up the list...I have friends who I have watched sit on their phone while nice deer walk right by them.  Then they complain there's no deer anywhere anymore)  It's a real big problem.
4.  Don't be afraid to let the animal walk if you don't feel 100% confident with the shot.  Sometimes, the best shot, is the shot not taken.


Good luck!  Learning to hunt is one of the most fun parts about hunting.  I didn't really learn to hunt until I had been hunting for 4-5 years.  Some people never truly learn to be a good hunter.

Tag: I would like to go this year as well.I have mapped out public lands but have never been to them yet.

Hunt from elevated positions if possible (climbing stands, ladder stands, box stands) hunting from the ground isn't as forgiving as being above their heads. Hunt sunrise and sunset, during cold fronts, and during barometric pressure shifts like before and after storms (that's when they seem to move the best.) The name of the game is "right place, right time." Fruit trees, oak trees, and the edges of corn and soybean fields are your friend. Scent control is key. Keep the wind in your face (not blowing towards the direction you expect the deer to be.) Research when the rut occurs in your area.  During the rut the bucks are more likely to be more active and careless when chasing after does. During this period, if you're seeing does, you can guarantee that the bucks aren't far behind. Bottom line is that hunting is 5% skill 5% experience and 90% luck.
Keep it safe and keep it legal.
Good hunting,
Black

I have hunted deer for 39 years.  Here is my recipe.

Get a decent rifle or shotgun.  Sight it in.   Practice shooting positions.  Common in the woods are standing and shooting totally off hand.  Leaning against a tree,  shooting from your tree stand.  While they sound easy, you should still practice them a bit.

Practice holding your rifle on target for a few seconds to a few minutes before shooting.  Sometimes you scope a deer and it steps behind a tree, and you cant move.  So you have to hold on target until it decides to move.

sounds silly, but practice standing up and aiming while not making noise.  Do this while in your treestand.  Note any creaks the stand make and fix them.  The last thing you want is the stand creaking, boots squeking, etc.  Deer have very good hearing and will look right at you from a ling way off if you make a sound.

Be very careful identifying game animals.  Sometimes a rock or tree limb will look like a deer.  Only shoot at targets that you ID for certain.  It is better to not harvest a huge buck, then it is to shoot a kid in the back because you "saw movement".

Get good quality clothes,  you don't have to break the bank.  Buy military BDU pants jackets, or go big dollar with Cabelas.  But you must be comfortable and DRY to sit all day in stand. Buy good boots.  Wet feet are the worse.

Buy a good tree stand. API, Summit, Lone Wolf.  A ladder stand is great if you hunt the same place all the time.  A climber stand is a wonderful thing as you can go anywhere there is a tree.

Don't go crazy buying extra stuff like scents, calls, rattling horns, range finders, etc.... They are just extra stuff to carry and worry about.

As mentioned above a GPS or good compass is a very good idea.  Unless you are in very familiar lands.  Remember you will be walking in and out of the woods when it is dark.

It may take a few years to get all the above, so start with what you have. Also, you don't want a ton of hunting gear if you don't like hunting.

Now you are ready to hunt.......sort of....

Get out in the woods and walk around,  notice things like trails, thickets, creeks, look for old buck rubs on trees.  later in the fall there will be fresh ones along with scrapes.  If you are not familiar with these markings get on youtube and learn.

Get a topo map,  notice things like ridges, valleys , streams. Deer are lazy creatures just like you and me. They will take the easy route, until they are spooked.  Deer generally do not walk next to the stream, but stay 30-50 yards off them.

Use your GPS to mark everything you see in the woods, then download to the computer and study for patterns of movement.  Such as trails that point towards fields, rubs that form a line  in the woods.  You will begin to read the forest and know where game will be.

Look for deer beds and food sources.  Agricultural fields are number one, if nearby.  But acorns are also very good.  Deer eat, sleep, eat. sleep.  Get between the eating and sleeping and you are golden.

Set up cameras if possible, even better  get out there and observe.   Remember deer will change habits and trails when they get pressure from the hunting season. They may walk out in the open fields and woods in July, but October they are in the thickets.

Now if you really want to learn, and have fun,  Buy a bow or crossbow and get out there early.

Good Luck, be safe, have fun

Lots of good advice in here OP.

Here's a book I read as a new hunter, and I would highly recommend it: Dead On! Deer Anatomy and Shot Placement for Bow and Gun Hunters

My one other piece of advice is you can absolutely teach yourself to hunt deer.  I started a few years ago in my late 30's.  I didn't know anyone who hunted.  I read up on my game laws, read a few books/watched some YouTube, sighted in my shotgun (I started in a shotgun only area of VA), bought some orange and went hunting.  I only glimpsed a single deer once my first year but I learned a lot.  

Second year I finally managed a to connect on my first deer.  I field dressed it on my own, with all my knowledge obtained from YouTube.

I continued to slowly increase my gear, upgrading as I learned what worked and what didn't.  Last year I killed 4 deer.  My freezer is now constantly stocked with venison, and I donate at least one deer a year to hunters for the hungry.  I've learned how to hunt the wind, and how to change where I'm hunting depending on conditions.  I'm by no means an expert hunter, but I'd say more often than not when I go out I at least see a deer.  

You can definitely (and probably should) gain some basic know how from watching videos and reading books.  But the real education in hunting comes from actually hunting.

If you plan on using a tree stand, please, for the love of God, wear a safety harness.

I have the same story, OP.

I've been a fanatic fisherman my whole life. Grew up in Oregon chasing Trout, Salmon, and Steelhead but never got into hunting.

Fast forward to about three years ago. My buddy talked me into going squirrel hunting.

That was it. I was fuckin hooked. Next thing I knew I had a basement full of camouflaged clothes and hunting gear. Now I hunt deer, Turkey, and pretty much anything else that walks or flies.


My advice, ignore the TV shows. They are just trying to sell you shit, kinda like gun magazines.

Get out in the woods and learn your prey. Track them, watch them in the off season, study their feeding habits and learn their movements. Then set up your stand accordingly.

You don't need a tree stand, scent killer shit, or the latest fancy camo clothing. You don't need trail cams or thousand dollar rifles/bows/scopes.

Find your spot and build yourself a ground blind out of local branches and foliage. Learn patience and discipline. Learn to sit for hours without moving for that one brief moment of excitement. Get accustomed to bug bites, frost bite, and runny noses. Learn how to sneeze and cough without making noise.

Study.  Not books or videos on youtube, study the ground, the leaves, the trees, and the animals. Memorise the sounds that different animals make when they move through the woods, especially squirrels, because FUCK SQUIRRELS! Those assholes will sound just like a trophy buck when they move through the leaves. Again.....fuck squirrels!


Use the least amount of modern technology as you can. Earn it. Make it difficult. The payoff is waaaay better in the end, even if you don't get one.

Good luck.

OK, solid advice has been given on all fronts so I will add two small things I learned from my daddy-o.

When scanning the woods or a field, focus your eyes on the furthest thing you can see and you'll still pick up anything between you and it.


If you hear a sound and need to turn your head, turn your eyes first as far as you can as you may have a deer already trying to pinpoint you. This has saved me a few times.


Some of us are guilty of having a piece of property "figured out" and we get lazy. I have just started hunting TN, and have been really studying and scouting some public land.  I have been studying Google earth for the general layout of the land, and then go put boots on the ground to kind of confirm what I think might be a high traffic area.


If you go to YouTube and search "Deer Hunting School", there's a guy who makes pretty good videos about scouting Google Earth and you will learn about terrain features that drive deer behavior.

Squirrel hunt.  

You find the squirrels you'll find the deer.

Plus squirrel hunting is just plain awesome.  

It'll teach you alot of things  
Spotting game.
Stalking
Shooting
Dressing your kill.

One of the biggest things is safety.

Buy a good flash light for going to/from stand in the woods. This is not only to help you navigate, but also make sure you don't get shot by some idiot that "saw movement". Do this even on private land. You will be amazed at how many people are totally okay with trespassing on private property.

If using a tree stand, make sure you have a harness to strap yourself to the tree. I know far too many people who have fallen from a stand while installing one, had something on the stand break, or just fell by accident. I know people who have walked away unhurt, but I also know people who are paralyzed or dead. We have started using a product called "Life Line". It allows you to connect a harness to it and move it up the tree as you climb. This way you are covered if you fall while climbing to stand. It also works well while installing one.

Make sure someone knows where you are and when you will be back. I mention this because someone I knew was hanging a tree stand and fell to the ground. The fall caused him to break his neck & paralyzed him from the neck down. Since he could not call for help he was unable to call for help. He was only found because someone knew where he was.

Last, make sure you have a cell phone or radio to communicate with someone else. This way in case of emergency you are able to contact someone for help.

Non cheating tip:
Use color coded range stakes.most bows have color coded range pins. Match colors and shoot.
Cheating tip:
Put out scarecrows with your unwashed clothes around piles of corn. If your state does not allow baiting take away bait and scarecrow before season opens. Most states require 10 days no bait. Check your state. When you go out to woods to hunt, the deer will have been conditioned to recognize your scent as food.

If you want to really "hunt" don't bait..........

Where in NC are you?