Posted: 8/30/2007 7:48:48 PM EDT
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So I want to start hunting and I have no idea where to start. I need to know where i can get info on the hunting tags, laws, locations, everything. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I just don't know where to start. 
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There is a lot to it, yep...especially after a kill. I taught my best friend how to hunt, and during one deer season in Alaska, we bagged two in one clearcut. Perfect timing, laid both side by side and he could watch and listen, then do the next step on his own. The big issue with trying to learn solo is the words I live by...Shit Happens. Twist an ankle, get turned around in unfamiliar territory, bag an animal late and have to walk out in the dark. It is best to go with someone who has some experience, and I'm sure there's plenty of us here that wouldn't mind helping. This year, I'm going easy for deer looking for a trophy rack. I've never really trophy hunted before, always just meat in the freezer, but a friend with an orchard wants a few of us to come out and thin the deer population on his farm. Elk season is an entirely different hunt. I grew up hunting in Southern Wa., near Mt. Adams, and my dad and I hunt there each fall now that both of us are out of AK. 5AM to 5-6PM....walk, track, chase....I can easily average 8-10 miles a day on an elk hunt. Elk hunting to me is so much more of a passion than deer hunting. When you get a glimpse of an 800-900lb animal crashing through the brush in a dead run, that gets the adrenalin pumping. I honestly don't even care if I bust my ass for a week and never get a shot, just seeing a herd of 50+ animals makes it worthwhile to me. When I'm driving back home after a week of hunting, I'm already planning the next years hunt....its addictive, but at the same time a primal nature. I'm not there just for the kill, its about the sounds of the forest, the limits of my endurance, just to sit in a stand of timber and listen.....nothing like it! |
 Find a friend/mentor to take ya. I'd start out small too if you can. There is alot more to it than just the kill, you'll learn to appreciate that one in a hurry too after a few years of tag soup  Go and get your self a synopsis, get your license and your western rifle deer tag and a bear tag too. Don't scrimp on your gear either, not saying you have to be Mr. Cabelas out there, but a little extra spent up front will make your stay out in the woods more comfortable. Good boots and great rain gear are a must, unless your gonna be doin most of it from the window of the truck  Just remember, once you get that first "spork" or "forkie" under your belt, you won't ever kill a big one unless you let the small ones walk  Some braggin pics of my last two blacktails My 06 buck, the 20th or so legal buck I looked at that year, even had my son with me 18"widex14" tall 4x4 5 year old buck My 05 buck, the backpack buck. Long trip in, even longer trip out. You put the miles in and it makes it all worth while 18" wide (inside) x 18" tall 5x7 grossed 161 2/8 NT and at last check was the 48th largest non-typical blacktail in the Oregon book  He's on the right, the left buck was taken about 3 minutes before I pulled the trigger on mine.  Put your time in, be prepared to go w/o seeing anything for a while, but look for the rewards in time away, time spent challanging yourself, learning and pursuing what you know is out there...but can't see YET. |
| I would like to get into hunting deer and elk at some point, but just dont have the time right now. It seems like it would be rather daunting to get into as I really don't know where to start. But for now I am somewhat content with just wandering the woods with the scatter gun maybe pick up a grouse or something. either way its fun to just get out of the house and get into the woods. |