[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How do you get started hunting? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 10/21/2013 3:28:40 AM EDT
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I've been shooting since I was 15, always at organized ranges, but all of my experiences have been either NRA bullseye or IDPA/USPSA style shooting. I've done a bunch of short (like 1-2 hour) hikes in the woods just for exercise, and gone on 3-day backpacking trips twice (organized by the boarding schools I was in).
How does someone who's never hunted get started? How do you learn how to clean/butcher an animal, how to stalk (or even if stalking vs baiting is appropriate), etc? I've looked into the vacation-style "hutning ranch"es, but spending $10k on a week-long vacation just seems excessively artificial. |
Go out, find something tasty, and kill it. 
If you are asking this question......you are probably the predator you think you are. As a bonefide tree hugging, sandal wearing, granola cruncher I had a neighbor take an interest in me and introduce me to the experience. Lots of guys out there are willing to show new people how to do it. Pass it on to your kids. I was blessed at that time to live in a state that had tons of room and open accessible land. I started hunting varmints and species that I didn't need a licence to hunt (Jackrabbits). A love of the outdoors and a decent fitness level were good to have. I started with a .22 and then built up my safe from there. My first "real" hunt I shot a record book size buck......and the rest was history. I hunted hard for 15-20 years and got tired of the constantly changing rules, regs, COSTS $$$$$$ . Went back to shooting steel which for me was actually more satisfying and less work. (Doesn't fill the freezer though) Have fun. |
I tried a few years ago. Had a friend who grew up doing it and was willing to take me. I spent a lot of money on gear (ok, good excuse to buy another rifle ). We went a few times, when he could get permission to bring me from the landowners with whom he had made deals. Basically, I wound up sitting in the woods from sun up to sun down, freezing my butt off. Never saw our quarry when it was in season to shoot (squirrels in deer season, deer during squirrel season  ). I thought I would go on my own, during those times when my friend couldn't go. The reality is even if I did manage to shoot a deer, what would I do with a dead deer? I have no idea how to field dress the beast, even less idea how to butcher it. In the end I wound up with a bow I never shoot, a muzzle loader I never shoot, and another rifle that I never shoot, along with camo clothes I never wear and a portable blind I never sit in. At least I didn't buy a tree stand.
I hope you have better luck than me, OP. |
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What kind of hunting do you want to get into? Deer, birds, pigs?
I grew up on a farm. So natural progression happened. I would walk around and shoot things with my .22 and would bring them back and get someone to show me how to clean the. Stay away front he ranches as they are not really hunting and more someone putting you in a 1 acre high fenced area with a deer that can't get out. If you have a. Friend or co-worker this would be where I would start. They will be able to show you how and where to hunt and also how to clean any animals you kill. Don't go out and buy new stuff. Use a gun you already have, buy used camo. It is work and you will want to help(a friend) to set the land up and bait, etc. |
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I tried a few years ago. Had a friend who grew up doing it and was willing to take me. I spent a lot of money on gear (ok, good excuse to buy another rifle ). We went a few times, when he could get permission to bring me from the landowners with whom he had made deals. Basically, I wound up sitting in the woods from sun up to sun down, freezing my butt off. Never saw our quarry when it was in season to shoot (squirrels in deer season, deer during squirrel season ). I thought I would go on my own, during those times when my friend couldn't go. The reality is even if I did manage to shoot a deer, what would I do with a dead deer? I have no idea how to field dress the beast, even less idea how to butcher it. In the end I wound up with a bow I never shoot, a muzzle loader I never shoot, and another rifle that I never shoot, along with camo clothes I never wear and a portable blind I never sit in. At least I didn't buy a tree stand.
I hope you have better luck than me, OP. That's one of my biggest concerns. As a single guy, a deer would probably be a lot more meat than I would have a use for even if I did know how to gut it. ------------- Is it common to find butchers who would be willing to cut up and animal and take a lot of the meet off my hands? |
| If you know someone who hunts learn what you can from them. Read about different types of hunting for the critters that are native to your area. There's tons of information out there on hunting forums and in magazines. You can spend a lot or a little on the stuff you'll need. Bow or gun or both? Your choice. Live where it's cold? Get warm clothes, it's no fun if you're cold. Get the proper footwear for the climate and terrain you'll be hunting. Relax and enjoy the process. |
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One deer isn't a ridiculous amount of meat. You fill your freezer and eat some once a week. Get lots of ring sausage, sticks, and jerky.
There was a great instructional DVD that some state's DNR produced a few years back. A member over @ ArcheryTalk who was an avid hunter and a professional butcher did. I want to say it was Virginia or West Virginia, but you could get it for free or $5 or something. If I can find a link, I'll post it up. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Watch Youtube videos about how to field dress a deer. Just be careful to leave a clean body cavity... don't puncture the gut, bladder or lower intestine! If you do, make sure you rinse it out very well with water.
As for butchering, well I used to do that years ago when I didn't have any disposable income. Nowadays I found a trusted butcher that gives me whatever good steaks I can get from the deer, and the rest goes into hotsticks, cheese bologna rings and pizzaburgers. 
I just leave my name/number with the deer along with the tag in his shop after the hunt, wait a while then get a phone call to come pick up my perfectly wrapped, frozen venison. Doesn't get much easier than that. When you find a good butcher, keep him. I don't like finding deer hair in my meat, and some places will "pool" the deer meat and give you what you want from the pool based on the weight of your deer rather than keeping it separate and making sure you get YOUR deer meat back. You don't want deer meat from a city boy who botched the gut job then left it in the bed of his pickup for a day and a half while he went to all the bars to brag and show off his kill. |
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I learned from my Dad and Granddad. We hunted to eat better. Same with fishing for that matter.
It's all fun and games now but hunting/fishing/trapping was serious business when I was a kid. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed every second of it and learned a ton but the learning curve was steep. I clearly remember Granddad counting out my shotgun shells before we went into the woods and by God he expected a return on investment or I heard about it. 
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I'm in the same boat right now - trying to work out a trip with some friends who go every year for deer. As I told them, I'm an outdoorsy guy, comfortable in the woods, camping, whatever, I can shoot, and know I can make a clean shot - it's what happens next that I don't know. I told them I just need a teacher - not someone to do it for me, but someone who has done it before to guide me. Luckily, it seems like most hunters are always willing to teach someone new. As far as using all the meat, is there really THAT much meat on a deer? Some of the gutting/butchering videos I've watched online just makes them look pretty small.
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My great Uncle took me out one thanksgiving when I was 16. Loved it.
Had nobody to hunt with back home. Until I was 18 and a coworker said he was taking hunter safety and invited me. I went, and we went out a couple times on public land. I hunted with that guy one season, maybe three times, and I've never seen him again, but it was the set up for my entire hunting future. I got my best friend into it 2 years later and we now know those woods like the back of our hands. Go take hunter safety and make friends with other hunters. |
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Its much , much easier to start by letting someone teach you. A friend, a coworker, neighbor, in-law .....whoever. Just someone who can show you the basics. Once you have the basics down, find a hunting club within driving distance , and join. Ask the old-timer members advise, most will be glad to share. I got into deer hunting when I was in my mid twenties. My first deer was a 90 pound doe. I remember bringing it back to camp with a smile on my face like I had won the lottery, and their was a kid (couldn't have been anymore than 12 or 13) there with a really big buck getting ready to clean his deer. Hey, you've got to start somewhere.
Is it common to find butchers who would be willing to cut up and animal and take a lot of the meet off my hands? Sure are. There are game butchers that will dress, clean, and process your deer for you. Just drop him off whole, and they'll take care of everything(for a fee , of course). Ask all the questions you can think of and get answers from folks around you. You ought to start with the help of someone you know, it'll be much , much easier that way. |
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I tried a few years ago. Had a friend who grew up doing it and was willing to take me. I spent a lot of money on gear (ok, good excuse to buy another rifle ). We went a few times, when he could get permission to bring me from the landowners with whom he had made deals. Basically, I wound up sitting in the woods from sun up to sun down, freezing my butt off. Never saw our quarry when it was in season to shoot (squirrels in deer season, deer during squirrel season ). I thought I would go on my own, during those times when my friend couldn't go. The reality is even if I did manage to shoot a deer, what would I do with a dead deer? I have no idea how to field dress the beast, even less idea how to butcher it. In the end I wound up with a bow I never shoot, a muzzle loader I never shoot, and another rifle that I never shoot, along with camo clothes I never wear and a portable blind I never sit in. At least I didn't buy a tree stand.
I hope you have better luck than me, OP. Don't give up. I've got a stack of unfilled tags that might almost be an inch high now......but a life time of memories like when MR. BIG came walking slowly-cautiously down BEHIND the ground blind that my 4 yr old son and I were in. Temps in the 30"s -ghille suited up with a bow. We heard him......we felt him.......we could hear him breathing. I'm pretty sure he could hear our hearts pounding too. We didn't move an eyelash. Time stopped. He exploded back up the hill behind us and we could breathe again. Nevery saw him......but he was HUGE. Wouldn't trade those moments for all the meat or filled tags in the world. I've probably spent 100 hours or more out in the bushes chasing critters for everyone I've ever shot.....and that is hunting.
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If you shoot a large animal, have the butcher make a variety of stuff with the meat.
Back straps- straight to the frying pan Legs- separate some of the Individual muscles into smaller packs for making roasts All other meat can be ground to make sausage links, sausage patties (awesome to make sandwiches!), tamales, burritos, etc. You can make a lot of good friends with deer meat. 
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I decided to try to get in to hunting in the state of my birth and where I lived the first 30 years of my life. I had a gun, took hunter's education, etc., but when I downloaded all the rules and regulations and maps from the state Fish & Game website, the rules about what can be shot where and how many in which zone were so arcane and complicated I gave up without ever going out.
Seriously just for deer there were like 40+ different zones each with slightly different rules. Forget that. Ironically when I took the exam to pass the hunter's ed class there were complementary copies of a hunting magazine or perhaps it was the state's fish&game magazine-y publication. in any case, there was an article bemoaning how interesting in hunting is falling off and what can we do to recruit new hunters. 
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Find someone else who has done it before. Or wing it and watch YouTube videos to learn This is exactly what I did. A well to do friend invited my family to his ranch and and showed me how to skin/cut up and process. I've done 7 deer so far (help from my son/wife/daughter) |
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I started hunting three years ago. No one in my family and none of my friends hunt. I don't know why, but I just up decided it was something that i wanted to do.
I looked at my state's wildlife web site, and found a hunter's ed class, took the class, passed the test, got my license and went hunting. I also watched some youtube videos, and did a bit of reading online and off regarding hunting, butchering, etc. I also chat up every hunter I've ever met in the field for two reasons: they may have info useful to me and I don't want to ruin their hunt by bumbling into whatever they're doing. I have yet to meet anyone who wasn't willing to be helpful. My advice is to start with small game (squirrels and rabbits), and birds, because the first few animals you field dress will be a learning experience. (I made a mess out of that poor old squirrel, but I ate him anyway.) I am looking forward to, but also a little intimidated by the prospect of my first deer.
Two most important things I can think of right now, just go do it and have fun. |
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I started hunting three years ago. No one in my family and none of my friends hunt. I don't know why, but I just up decided it was something that i wanted to do. I looked at my state's wildlife web site, and found a hunter's ed class, took the class, passed the test, got my license and went hunting. I also watched some youtube videos, and did a bit of reading online and off regarding hunting, butchering, etc. I also chat up every hunter I've ever met in the field for two reasons: they may have info useful to me and I don't want to ruin their hunt by bumbling into whatever they're doing. I have yet to meet anyone who wasn't willing to be helpful. My advice is to start with small game (squirrels and rabbits), and birds, because the first few animals you field dress will be a learning experience. (I made a mess out of that poor old squirrel, but I ate him anyway.) I am looking forward to, but also a little intimidated by the prospect of my first deer.
Two most important things I can think of right now, just go do it and have fun. Any suggestions on what kind of birds can be hunted without dogs? It seems like birds would be the best way for me to start given: 1. I'm single, and mammals are a shitload more meat than I can eat. 2. I already have a shotgun that could be pressed into service. 3. I like chicken. |
| Been hunting all of my life. My Dad always took me when I wanted to go and of course he has hunted all of his life. I know around where I live, most people are on hunting leases. You might try to find one that is looking for members and has some guys willing to help you out if you explain your desire to start hunting. Good luck. |
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Any suggestions on what kind of birds can be hunted without dogs? It seems like birds would be the best way for me to start given: 1. I'm single, and mammals are a shitload more meat than I can eat. 2. I already have a shotgun that could be pressed into service. 3. I like chicken. Quoted:
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I started hunting three years ago. No one in my family and none of my friends hunt. I don't know why, but I just up decided it was something that i wanted to do. I looked at my state's wildlife web site, and found a hunter's ed class, took the class, passed the test, got my license and went hunting. I also watched some youtube videos, and did a bit of reading online and off regarding hunting, butchering, etc. I also chat up every hunter I've ever met in the field for two reasons: they may have info useful to me and I don't want to ruin their hunt by bumbling into whatever they're doing. I have yet to meet anyone who wasn't willing to be helpful. My advice is to start with small game (squirrels and rabbits), and birds, because the first few animals you field dress will be a learning experience. (I made a mess out of that poor old squirrel, but I ate him anyway.) I am looking forward to, but also a little intimidated by the prospect of my first deer.
Two most important things I can think of right now, just go do it and have fun. Any suggestions on what kind of birds can be hunted without dogs? It seems like birds would be the best way for me to start given: 1. I'm single, and mammals are a shitload more meat than I can eat. 2. I already have a shotgun that could be pressed into service. 3. I like chicken. Turkey. Find land u can hunt. Public or private if you have friends. Know the local laws and seasons. Scout a lot!! Study your quarry, their habits, local AO. Hunting is tough, not as easy as walking out to the woods and killing game. Your best luck is starting with small game like rabbits and squirrel |
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Turkey. Find land u can hunt. Public or private if you have friends. Know the local laws and seasons. Scout a lot!! Study your quarry, their habits, local AO. Hunting is tough, not as easy as walking out to the woods and killing game. Your best luck is starting with small game like rabbits and squirrel Quoted:
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I started hunting three years ago. No one in my family and none of my friends hunt. I don't know why, but I just up decided it was something that i wanted to do. I looked at my state's wildlife web site, and found a hunter's ed class, took the class, passed the test, got my license and went hunting. I also watched some youtube videos, and did a bit of reading online and off regarding hunting, butchering, etc. I also chat up every hunter I've ever met in the field for two reasons: they may have info useful to me and I don't want to ruin their hunt by bumbling into whatever they're doing. I have yet to meet anyone who wasn't willing to be helpful. My advice is to start with small game (squirrels and rabbits), and birds, because the first few animals you field dress will be a learning experience. (I made a mess out of that poor old squirrel, but I ate him anyway.) I am looking forward to, but also a little intimidated by the prospect of my first deer.
Two most important things I can think of right now, just go do it and have fun. Any suggestions on what kind of birds can be hunted without dogs? It seems like birds would be the best way for me to start given: 1. I'm single, and mammals are a shitload more meat than I can eat. 2. I already have a shotgun that could be pressed into service. 3. I like chicken. Turkey. Find land u can hunt. Public or private if you have friends. Know the local laws and seasons. Scout a lot!! Study your quarry, their habits, local AO. Hunting is tough, not as easy as walking out to the woods and killing game. Your best luck is starting with small game like rabbits and squirrel Small mammals aren't really an option for dietary reasons. |
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You are in Texas: so here goes.
Get a hunters safety class certification $15 Get your type one and type two licenses: 35ish+45 =$90-130 total depending on choices of stamps. The type two license is your legal permission to hunt those WMAs, a book comes with maps of the public hunting lands, and regs. Read the regs twice. Choose a WMA, show up and scout where you may want to hunt. Hint near water. Show up at selected hunt location one and 1/2 hour before dawn. Walk in 1 mile, face west or north lean against a tree . Shoot a legal buck, or if it's a doe cull - a doe. Gut it, drag it out. Take it to a deer processor. ($100) Eat it. Rince - repeat- add to as necessary |
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Good luck. I've taken the course, gotten my license, and talked to all kinds of people about it. Practically begging to go with someone.
Nobody wants to take some noob. Nobody wants to let anyone else hunt on their land. Fuck it. I'm letting my shit lapse and I doubt I'll try again. Any of the ads for hunting clubs or "day passes" to hunt on someone's farm are charging exhorbitant fees to do so. I don't have $175 to hunt for one single day. The "feral hog" hunts are even more than that. Six hundred bucks to shoot a single pig is a bit out of my league. |
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Get over to the Texas HTF.
Be honest about it and flat out ask over there, in order to learn. Texas folks are generally big hearted about such things, as long as you aren't trying to squeeze in on their lease.;) You shoot IDPA etc.. ask around within your group of shooters if any of 'em hunt, and see if they can drag ya along and get you started. Most folks that hunt, and already know you, would likely jump to spread the disease/affliction/hobby, and it's a little less awkward than someone you don't know taking it on. Most guys pick it up as part of a family tradition. As more people are closer to concrete than dirt these days, the tradition is not as common as it used to be. New blood is needed. Good luck to you! |
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Sounds like if you went on a spring turkey hunt, you would be hooked for life. If you don't know any hunters with access to land, finding a guided hunt is pretty easy. The good news is they aren't that expensive compared to trophy deer hunts unless you plan on going to Florida to hunt Osceolas or something like that.
The bad news is turkey hunting is challenging, and it will be hard for you to call and hunt by yourself until you know what you're doing. You can do everything correct, and fail. See if you can hook up with another turkey hunter. Some of my favorite hunts have been taking new hunters, and seeing them get hooked. Trust me on that, people will help you out if you ask around. |
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I'm in the same boat as the OP. I wasn't brought up hunting, but I want to start. I don't have friends or family who hunt, so I thought I'd begin by going to a hunting preserve.
Several posts in this thread mentioned that it took years to get the first kill. Time is motivating factor for me because we're having 20+ people over for Thanksgiving. Rather than buying several turkeys from a store, I want to supplement the meat dishes with some kill-it-and-grill-it goodness. There are two operations I've found in Southern California within a couple hours of where I live. The first is a pheasant and chukar preserve, and the second is one with wild boar and rams. Each one sends a guide out with you for tracking/instruction, and both offer on-site dressing. My plan is to pick up what techniques I can from the guides, and hopefully get the butchers to give me a lesson as well. I'm interested to know about the experiences of others who have patronized hunting preserves and what, if anything, I should do to prep. Also, if there is anything I should ask the proprietors before I make a reservation, I'd like to know that as well. Thanks! |
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1. Research and learn the hunting laws/regulations for your state.
2. Take a hunter safety/hunter education course. The instructor should answer a lot of your questions. 3. Learn how to ask permission to hunt. When I grew up, it was considered common manners to ask the property owner for permission, before you set foot on the land. Somewhere along the way, it became a state law. Unfortunately, it also seems to have stopped being common manners, since the new standard is to ignore the law requiring permission, tear down any "no trespassing" signs, and leave trash on the property. People like this are why it is now difficult to find landowners that are willing to give permission. 4. (I never would have thought this was necessary) Make sure the person that gave you permission, actually owns the land that they gave you permission to hunt. Opening day of bow season, this year, I caught a guy and informed him he was in violation of the state law requiring permission to hunt on private land. He then started telling me he had permission, who had given him permission, and how much of the surrounding land that person owned. Problem was that the person giving out permission, owns no land and is living in a house (just up the road) that is owned by his father-in-law. |
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I tried a few years ago. Had a friend who grew up doing it and was willing to take me. I spent a lot of money on gear (ok, good excuse to buy another rifle ). We went a few times, when he could get permission to bring me from the landowners with whom he had made deals. Basically, I wound up sitting in the woods from sun up to sun down, freezing my butt off. Never saw our quarry when it was in season to shoot (squirrels in deer season, deer during squirrel season ). I thought I would go on my own, during those times when my friend couldn't go. The reality is even if I did manage to shoot a deer, what would I do with a dead deer? I have no idea how to field dress the beast, even less idea how to butcher it. In the end I wound up with a bow I never shoot, a muzzle loader I never shoot, and another rifle that I never shoot, along with camo clothes I never wear and a portable blind I never sit in. At least I didn't buy a tree stand.
I hope you have better luck than me, OP. That must have been decades past. It's hard to understand how anyone can't kill a deer on just about any day they want in Tennessee, and then do it again every day they want to shoot another one. Iram I think the biggest barricade in Texas is locating a place to hunt where a lease isn't required. If you were in Missouri you'd have no problem finding thousands of acres with ample opportunity. Unfortunately what we're badly missing nowadays is good quail hunting, either on private or public property. Permits for non-antlerless deer in Missouri cost $25 for the archery or firearm season. The "any deer" archery tag is $225 and permits taking two deer, two turkeys, and small game in season. That's a remarkable deal in terms of non-resident hunting tags. Field dressing is a stumbling block that doesn't really need to exist, but it's one that falls easily after someone demonstrates the process. Nowadays a video should suffice for the info, but there's no substitute for the knife, and getting hands into the body cavity of an animal. Butchering is really not a problem, either. Many people take their deer to a butcher (the same butchers that turn cattle into food) who turns it into chops, steaks, burger, and summer sausage. They also have an option to donate the processed meat to food banks. Or, a person can learn how to cut up an animal. I despise hunting preserves. I've hunted pheasants on one and I won't every do that again. There is one in Missouri where I wouldn't hunt the pigs due to their conditioning to come to the feed call, even though they're nothing more than pests. The deer and other large game are in a different enclosure of about 1000 acres that make hunting more a matter of chasing them out of the road and driving around until the animal to be shot is found. |
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The problem I'm having is finding a piece of land to hunt on.  Is "QC" Quebec? If so, you aren't trying very hard. Quebec is 92% Crown Land (Public land for the USA folks).
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I had my uncle show me the ropes. I was shown once how to field dress an animal, then the rest were done by me. I learned how to completely butcher an animal, field to freezer, by reading books and watching youtube videos.
Information is much more readily available to the novice today than when I started. The gear is better too. |
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No one taught me. I learned back in the fifties by reading everything I could and practicing the crafts. That's the hard way. Find someone who hunts and who you trust as a potential mentor. Trust me, it is not difficult to find such a person. I am in my twenty-seventh year as a hunter education instructor. Yours is a common dilemma.......My advise is the same to my students. |
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Find some friends or coworkers to take you out.
One item on field dressing, I learned the "standard" way from my father. One way we have transitioned to over the years is the gutless method. Definitely helps when dealing with larger quarry and isn't near as messy. Potentially offensive and graphic if you believe meat comes from styrofoam trays and probably NSFW: Gutless Method |
