Artemis

Don't worry- that jacket as since been repurposed for skiing. Funny enough Camo is a trend now in ski wear. It started with the snowboarder kids and park rats, but it's growing. I picked up a new pair of ski goggles this season that have Real Tree camo print on the band. The downside of course is that some people can't see you. I nearly got creamed at the end of last season on a double black diamond when some jackwagon who had no business being on that run in the first place, started losing control and coming right at me. I screamed at him and he banked away at the last second, very narrowly missing me. Apparently I need to wear blaze orange with it....

What's wrong with Mossy Oak? I have strong preference toward Real Tree Xtra myself, but I had to make peace with Mossy Oak Breakup Country because my bow only comes in black or the Mossy Oak and *really* wanted camo on the riser....

OK, I'm new, so I don't get the joke. What's wrong with Mossy Oak and RealTree? Are they bad camo patterns or was it that he mixed the two? I know some folks are die hard fans of one versus the other-- so is that it? I like my Fusion stuff a lot. Not because of any success in the field with it mind you, I just think it's a pretty pattern. But then I'm apparently weird because I like to wear camo just because its looks like nature and nature is beautiful. I might also enjoy wearing it just to cause a stir.. like the time I went to this hippie, too-many-vegetarians, women's herbal conference and wore a RealTree camo jacket. That got some dirty looks! :-D I can't wear that jacket in the field though any more because I can't get that hint of Patchouli out of it!!!!

In Ulster County.

Oy...looks like I've got to learn about scent control and may have already screwed the pooch on some things :-( Like wearing my Muck boots around doing things under than hunting in them... What constitutes a spring green pattern? The stuff I have is the Fusion camo pattern from First Lite. I was advised it was a good pattern for the Eastern hardwoods. I think it will be in good for early bow season next year, but I'm starting to worry that it might have too much green in it for the late season forest around here. Is that what you mean? Is it common for serious hunters to have several different sets of camo outifts in different patterns? Even if you hunt the same places most of the year? (I know seasons change even if places don't, I just mean more East vs. Western hunters.)

And here I thought this was a hunting forum, not a pick up site. Or maybe I misunderstood what y'all are hunting? :-D "I'd like to get in his treestand"- is that what the kids are calling it these days? LOL!

Oh geez, I've been on my best behavior because I'm the new kid on the block... but I love bustin' chops. :-D

See, I'd like to think that by titling my thread "total newbie" y'all are just super excited about helping a new person out. And for that, thank you all who have chimed in with some great advice so far! As for not noticing the female part....maybe it's time to get out those binos fellas, so you can tell buck from doe! :-D LOL! Just kidding, but in all seriousness, it was not my intention to call attention to my gender and play the tired trope of the 'damsel in distress.' I'm not getting into hunting because I'm getting dragged into it by/trying to impress a boyfriend/husband/father. It's 100% a product of my own decision and desire to be more self-sufficient, to know where my foods comes from and provide it myself, and to become more knowledgeable about what is happening in the woods and forests around me. So yes, I want to ask questions and know more for myself.

Ulster County. for now.

Um, yes! That's why I picked that name. Artemis, in addition to being a straight up badass, is the goddess of the hunt, the moon, wilderness and wild animals. I've been shooting a trad bow since March and its a long term goal of mine to harvest an animal with a traditional bow, but seeing as how it will be years before I would be good enough with it to hunt with, I decided to get a compound bow for learning to hunt. I enjoy archery a lot and I'm pretty confident that I'll be lethal with it by next season. If I can find the deer in the first place....

Already on it! I picked up my new bow a fews days ago, had Northern Dutchess Archery set it up and help me sight it. Much better with a bow than a gun, that's for sure! I will definitely be out for archery season next year!!!

Ah! This is totally where I am coming from too!!! I thought, "I see deer all the time. I've nearly walked up to a few on my morning walks, hunting would be the same thing- just with a weapon in hand." Um, NO!!!! The challenge is find all that time to sit and do nothing...Annoyingly, I haven't had time to go back out since last week and I hear the loud "tick, tick, tick" ing away of the hunting season. (I really wish I would have gotten my bow stamp this year. As soon as I can get myself into a course, I'm doing it.) But then I see plenty of guys locally tag out on opening day and then their season is over in 30 minutes. I like the idea of catching up on some reading (or sleep) while I'm out there. That would make it much easier for me to get out there more frequently. I wonder if they make camo book covers? :-D

Thank you! Some good advice in there- I especially like the apple snack idea :-) As for the list... I do have have most of it already- probably 75%, though I need to figure out better solutions for 1 or 2 things (keep feet warm). I just don't want to accumulate so much gear, but not accumulate enough useful knowledge that I give up in a season or two because I don't see anything let alone kill anything. Then I have a lot of nice, useless gear... That said, I'm a bit surprised at how expensive hunting as sport is... you might not pay by the pound for that venison, but you do pay for that 'free' meat!

Thanks Elmo! That was super helpful and I laughed out loud at the thought of a bunch of deer doing the 'walk of shame.' If I knew anything about Photoshop, I would be tempted to photoshop some ruined make-up, bed hair and askew clothing on to a photo of a doe. :-D Regarding scent.... how paranoid do you have to be about yours? I keep my outerlayer clothing in a separate plastic bin to keep it from obtaining smells around my house and picking up my dog's hair. Just picked up some scent wafers to toss in there that are supposed to smell like "fresh earth." I dress in all my under layers and put the outer layers on when I get to the woods. That said... I wear my Muck boots pretty regularly... and not just for hunting. Is that going to cause an issue? I haven't invested is a full dedicated (hunting only) set of under layers yet, so if I wear my wool pants for something else and then wear them under 4 layers of other pants- are deer really going to be able to smell that? I put scent-blocker on all the fragrant body spots... but do I really need to put it in my hair if it's under a wool hat and two hoods? I don't use a lot of perfume-y crap like some women do, but if I used some gel in my hair 4 days ago and haven't washed it out since then... is that something they can smell too? From what I've read so far on the forum, there is a wide variety of opinions about how far to take this scent thing, but outside of "playing the wind" are there are good, hard rules of thumb when it comes to scents? (other than obvious stuff like, "if you can smell your own funk, deer can smell it too.")

Perfect! I'm going to give that a try. Purified = distilled?? Was there a ratio of acorn shell to water? Does it work better with the magnolia seed pods?

I'm intrigued as I'm currently get ready to process some acorns into flour... Care to share how you made this? Maybe I can use the leftover acorn shells from processing?

Thanks guys. I had on some Muck Fieldblazers boots. Plenty warm, but not warm enough for sitting still. I'm upgrading to thicker wool socks and looking into some insulated boots now. I might also try some tow warmers with the Much Boots, but I don't know how long that will work with the lack of oxygen/airflow after a bit. I had some nice merino wool baselayers from First Lite on. TWO pairs of fleece leggings and then some brown soft shell pants on. On top I had two wool base layers, a down jacket, a soft jacket and then a camo puffy on over that. I'm surprised I could still walk or move at all. Wool camo neck gaiter pulled up to my lower eyes, two pair of gloves. Temps were about 25 deg F. I just ordered a pair of 100g insulated camo puffy pants to put over all that on the bottoms at least for sitting to hopefully stay warmed next time. Yes, we were in an area of fresh sign- rubs and droppings primarily. We had spotted a few doe in that exact area the day before. In fact, the most frustrating part is that we flushed a deer on our way into to our sit spot and then we we left, seriously, the moment after we ejected the shells, we heard another flush from where we had just come from. In fact, I think it was the sound of the action that scared them. I don't know what is meant by "playing the wind" and that is probably the biggest question I have now- how paranoid to you need to be about scent and is it different in a stand vs. on the ground. (Perhaps I'll start a separate thread for some of my more specific questions on that.) As for region- I'm in Ulster County, pretty near the Mohonk Preserve. In fact, that is the land we were on that particular morning. I do understand about a lot of "no's" before getting "yes's" I've always been terrible at sales though because I hate no's... I hope that doesn't portend a dismal future as a hunter! :-D I love being outdoors and in the woods though and I think I could handle plenty of waiting once I hit on the right gear to remain reasonably comfortable. But not knowing any better, I wonder how much of not seeing anything is acceptable before it becomes a matter of not having picked a very good location, because I don't know what I don't know- ya know? :-D

I'm not so sure about that. I went out on Friday morning and all I've learned so far is 1.) I need a better system for keeping my toes warm. I had to go in early because I couldn't take the pain any more. Maybe I'm just a wimp. 2.) I need warmer pants. My legs were pretty cold too, which probably didn't help the feet. As a skier and ice climber, I'm use to being outside in pretty frigid weather and generally know how to dress for different conditions. Of course, in both of those sports, I'm generally MOVING and that makes quite a bit of difference. 3.) I need to eat before I go out to stoke the internal fire. Lack of food = cold. Didn't matter that I eaten a ton the day before for Thanksgiving. and the biggest lesson I learned.... 4.) I don't have a flipping clue what I'm doing. I'm not expecting that every time I go in the woods I come out with some thing, but geez, I saw nothing but squirrels. At what point do you have just a bit more faith that you will see something and what point do you decide this spot is not worth it and move on? Maybe that does classify as a "bunch" of lesson learned.

I don't watch much TV to begin with, but Meateater is what finally turned the key for me and got me thinking, "I could do this." Of course, with all his experience Steve makes it look more straightforward that it is, but I do enjoy that he has shows that focus on how utilize and cook what is harvested. I also like to watch the hunts in the big mountains out West. An elk hunt in the Rockies is a long-term goal of mine now.

Hi everyone, New to the site and new to hunting. I didn't grow up in the woods or with hunting as a part of my family. Trying to learn all of this as an adult is daunting. I hope to glean some useful information from the site to lessen the learning curve.