total newbie

[Artemis]

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.

Edited November 25, 2017 by Artemis

[KMurph332]

Welcome alot of people on here with some good knowledge 

[sodfather]

Welcome aboard ask questions lot of wise minds here and some screwy ones too.

[Robhuntandfish]

Always good to hear someone getting into hunting. Best of luck.

[GreeneHunter]

Welcome

[Swamp_bucks]

Welcome

[turkeyfeathers]

15 hours ago, sodfather said:

 some screwy ones too.

I resemble that remark

Welcome aboard     The best learning you can do is be out in the woods for hands on experience. Everyday you'll learn a bunch

[grampy]

Welcome! Glad that you found us! There is a whole lot of useful hunting information here at your fingertips. And a bunch of really good people and hunters, who will be willing to help you over the learning curve. Best of luck to you in all your future hunting endeavors. 

[Moho81]

Welcome to the wonderful world of hunting. This forum is filled with a good bunch of goofballs that happen to know a lot about hunting. Don’t be afraid to ask questions


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[Artemis]

Quote

 The best learning you can do is be out in the woods for hands on experience. Everyday you'll learn a bunch

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. 

[turkeyfeathers]

Patience young grasshopper   

Have good hunting boots ? I picked up a pair from Cabela's for $120 I think  Rubber with 2000 grams of insulation  Cabela's wooltimate pants and Under Armour 4.0 base layer keep me warm in the coldest of temps. A muff is great to keep hands warm. I don't hunt with gloves/ Throw a handwarmer in there and I'm good   A pull over neck warmer with a handwarmer pocket is great too. Pack some snacks but stay away from noisy eats lol 

How much acreage are you hunting ? Playing the wind ? Finding any deer sign out there ? Scrapes? Rubs? Trails?  Trailcam up?  A cruddy day of not seeing anything can change real quick ! From zero to hero in seconds flat. I'm 48 and basically taught myself everything I know by hands on experience in the field. I'm a decent hunter, not great by any means and constantly learning on this forum as well.

[sodfather]

Start with your base layers and good ones. Look for sign any fresh sign especially. When sitting keep your eyes moving if you have to move your body or head go slow. Deer blend right in and can sneak up in an instant. Funny how squirrels sound like deer but a deer sounds like a butterfly. Don't be afraid to move to different spots to find the sign. Hunting is like selling encyclopedias your going to hear a ton of no's before you see a yes.. Oh by the way I'm not even close to the knowledge some of these peeps on here so lurk around ask questions. Good luck 

[Elmo]

Welcome to hunting and the forum.  Hunting is a lot of patience and a lot of "falling down".  Also, this time of the year, hunting has been in full swing for some time now.  The deer at this point has been under a lot of pressure and are super skittish.  The fact that you're even seeing squirrels is a good thing.

Also helps if we knew what region you're near.

[Artemis]

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

[Robhuntandfish]

Toe warmers are the deal. Sure help when sitting. Cause once feet are cold it's tough to stay still.  Sometimes they aren't fun to walk on long though.

Best thing to do is a lot of scouting. Sometimes you might not be seeing anything but there are deer nearby.  If it's private land trail cams are a big help.  But just seeing well used trails is great sign.  

And def monitor the wind. If ypur I'm a spot and your scent is going where u expect deer to come out they will for sure go around .  Scent control on ypur clothes sure helps too.  

It's all part of the game and the puzzle to figure out where and when to hunt.  And then be a little lucky too. Lol 

[Elmo]

Deer's nose are super powerful so they'll pick up the slightest scent in the wind.  The best way to sneak up on a deer is to have the wind blow your scent the other way.  That's what they mean by play the wind. No matter how much scent control you try, you'll never block it 100% like the wind will.  Also understand wind acts differently when it hits certain areas, change during the day due to temperature change, etc.  But also keep in mind that the bulk of a deer's activity is done during the night so you might see signs, the deer might be making those signs at 4AM.  Try to get there as hide while its still dark.  The deer might be passing by right when the sun comes up.  It's like they partied too hard and then they do the walk of shame once they see the sun come up.  See area views of the land.  Locate food area, possible bedding area, and water sources.  Deer tends to be lazy and take the easiest route.  Though climbing and jumping are super easy for them, they tend to avoid it if they can.  You have to think like a deer.  Think also how you as a deer would react once people start shooting at them.  Early in the season they're more in their natural patterns.  Later in the season, they're going to adjust based on hunter activities.

[hawkenwoodsman]

Welcome

 

[Marion]

Welcome to a great group well mostly great group of forum peoples. Tons to learn here! The best teacher in my experience has been field experience. Gotta be in it to win it. Enjoy!

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[TreeGuy]

Already getting great advise.

Couple tips of my lesson learned....

Merino wool socks and hand/foot warmers. Give yourself some room in your boots

Arctic shield is a suit I swear by( I'm a wimp in the cold), can be had very cheap on eBay and will last you a long time.

Take a snack,something that doesn't stink to bad or make noise. I like apples, as they kill two birds with one stone. (Just don't take a dozen,as baiting is illegal in NYS year round)

Play the wind. Most important thing you can ever do ! Deer will trust their nose 99% of the time even if they spot you in a tree.

Find the food. Woody browse areas, ag fields, apple trees, acorns etc. Get yourself on a good wind side of a run that goes from bedding areas (typically the thick stuff) to the food.

Now, for the hard part.... The money ! You do not need anything fancy to kill deer but things can definitely help you

Some of my favourites in my arsenal
Thermacel heated insoles
Handwarmer pouch
Wicking first layer
Merino wool baselayers
Arctic shield suit
Ozonics
Good binos
Trail cam's
Wind checkers
Nice pack to carry all that crap
A comfy seat cushion
Scope caps


Etc. Etc.

Im never scared to go in the woods, rain, snow, cold whatever. I'm a firm believer that you cannot kill anything from the couch !!


Consider your time in the woods a time to learn, and if you score it's a bonus. Knowing what the deer are up to is YOUR advantage. Pre rut-rut-lockdown-chase-2nd rut-food, know where your area is at and hunt accordingly. You also gotta get creative sometimes because doing the same old thing doesn't always get you that target buck.


Man, I could go on forever. I love being out there. I love seeing big ones and small ones and trying to figure out where and why. Pay attention and you will get it. There's a solid group on here that will love to mentor you and give advise to help ! Good luck !!!!




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[Artemis]

15 hours ago, Elmo said:

Deer's nose are super powerful so they'll pick up the slightest scent in the wind.  The best way to sneak up on a deer is to have the wind blow your scent the other way.  That's what they mean by play the wind. No matter how much scent control you try, you'll never block it 100% like the wind will.  Also understand wind acts differently when it hits certain areas, change during the day due to temperature change, etc.  But also keep in mind that the bulk of a deer's activity is done during the night so you might see signs, the deer might be making those signs at 4AM.  Try to get there as hide while its still dark.  The deer might be passing by right when the sun comes up.  It's like they partied too hard and then they do the walk of shame once they see the sun come up.  See area views of the land.  Locate food area, possible bedding area, and water sources.  Deer tends to be lazy and take the easiest route.  Though climbing and jumping are super easy for them, they tend to avoid it if they can.  You have to think like a deer.  Think also how you as a deer would react once people start shooting at them.  Early in the season they're more in their natural patterns.  Later in the season, they're going to adjust based on hunter activities.

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.")

[Artemis]

30 minutes ago, TreeGuy said:

Already getting great advise.

Couple tips of my lesson learned....

Merino wool socks and hand/foot warmers. Give yourself some room in your boots

Arctic shield is a suit I swear by( I'm a wimp in the cold), can be had very cheap on eBay and will last you a long time.

Take a snack,something that doesn't stink to bad or make noise. I like apples, as they kill two birds with one stone. (Just don't take a dozen,as baiting is illegal in NYS year round)

Play the wind. Most important thing you can ever do ! Deer will trust their nose 99% of the time even if they spot you in a tree.

Find the food. Woody browse areas, ag fields, apple trees, acorns etc. Get yourself on a good wind side of a run that goes from bedding areas (typically the thick stuff) to the food.

Now, for the hard part.... The money ! You do not need anything fancy to kill deer but things can definitely help you

Some of my favourites in my arsenal
Thermacel heated insoles
Handwarmer pouch
Wicking first layer
Merino wool baselayers
Arctic shield suit
Ozonics
Good binos
Trail cam's
Wind checkers
Nice pack to carry all that crap
A comfy seat cushion
Scope caps


Etc. Etc.

Im never scared to go in the woods, rain, snow, cold whatever. I'm a firm believer that you cannot kill anything from the couch !!


Consider your time in the woods a time to learn, and if you score it's a bonus. Knowing what the deer are up to is YOUR advantage. Pre rut-rut-lockdown-chase-2nd rut-food, know where your area is at and hunt accordingly. You also gotta get creative sometimes because doing the same old thing doesn't always get you that target buck.


Man, I could go on forever. I love being out there. I love seeing big ones and small ones and trying to figure out where and why. Pay attention and you will get it. There's a solid group on here that will love to mentor you and give advise to help ! Good luck !!!!




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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! 

[philoshop]

Welcome Artemis, to our big and often dysfunctional family!!

The most important thing to learn is how to be part of the woods, as opposed to just being in the woods. The nuts-n-bolts of managing the cold and wind direction and reading sign and whatnot are certainly important, but it takes some time to develop a mentality, comfort level, and instinctual awareness that allows you to actually become a successful apex predator. You learn that by spending a lot of time in the woods just trying to be part of the woods.

[grampy]

There is NOTHING you can do , to where a deer can not smell you downwind. Yes, there are ways to lessen the stink, we humans put out, and that does help.  "Playing The Wind",  is trying to always have the 'wind in your face' while looking in the direction you expect deer to come from. Keep noise and movement to a bare minimum.  If sitting on the ground, sit by a large trunked tree or brush pile to break up your human outline. If up in a tree, don't skyline yourself, as any movement can be amplified and picked up. If you have deer in the area, and you do if you are seeing rubs, tracks, and poop. Then the next thing you need to do is make it hard for the deer to smell and see you. And remember this......the deer will always be your best teachers!!!! Learn from them. Learn to act and think more like them. All this will not come right away, and will come sooner with a good mentor. But each time you venture to the woods, you should learn something new, to retain for another day or hunt. This is my 44th hunting season, and I'm still learning!!!

[turkeyfeathers]

This may be simplistic but philoshop's "how to be part of the woods" drummed up this thought   While walking through the woods I noticed my daughter who's newish to hunting concentrating on where she's putting her feet not to step on twigs with actually never panning her head around to her surroundings. Tunnel vision I'll call it. Myself I find I pick a line and only occasionally looking down and plan the steps accordingly keeping my head on a swivel  Trying to teach her this.  You can miss so much sign, animals etc with only focusing in on the ground 

Another simple comment   You can definitely move slowly on deer shouldering the gun etc.  Slowly is the key  As all animals are . they're curious   Also waiting for them to pass a tree as your advantage to get ready   A simple verbal " baaaaaa" will often get them to lock up . Heck, while hiking and shed hunting we've had them curious enough to flick their tails and start walking towards us   I locked one up (doe) that was hauling azz right under my stand for a second and shot her point blank a few years ago

Some great info posted for this gent  Well done guys and gals

[ApexerER]

Lot of people have given some good advice. One thing that wasn't mentioned that I find helpful is a trail camera. People use them in many different ways. Pattern deer etc. I find that they help me stay focused on all those days you are not seeing anything. It is much easier to sit all day if you know that deer do walk past that particular spot. It keeps you in the game and from being able to say to yourself there aren't any deer around here. That is the biggest name of the game, staying in the game. Can't kill them from the couch! Sounds like you found a pretty good spot....pick up a cheap camera and see whats around.