Brand new, never gone hunting need tips/help

[crappyice]

Welcome to the board! I’m a 3S Bowhunter who hunts very small pockets of Westchester lands and in a deer management program so unfortunately cant “share” any space. However I’d happily give you a hand with the field dressing/butchering when you are successful depending on where you end up harvesting one.
If you hang around the dinner thread at all you’ll see some familiar place (Full moon, Borgattis, casa de moss...etc). Love Arthur ave
Is Olinville Arms still open on Westchester Ave? They may be able to hook you up with a mentor(think retired cop/hunter).


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[Enders]

18 minutes ago, crappyice said:

Welcome to the board! I’m a 3S Bowhunter who hunts very small pockets of Westchester lands and in a deer management program so unfortunately cant “share” any space. However I’d happily give you a hand with the field dressing/butchering when you are successful depending on where you end up harvesting one.
If you hang around the dinner thread at all you’ll see some familiar place (Full moon, Borgattis, casa de moss...etc). Love Arthur ave
Is Olinville Arms still open on Westchester Ave? They may be able to hook you up with a mentor(think retired cop/hunter).


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They sure are, I was just there a few days ago. No worries I know hunters don't generally like to give up their spots haha. I've been looking at public lands ill prob try it soon

[crappyice]

They sure are, I was just there a few days ago. No worries I know hunters don't generally like to give up their spots haha. I've been looking at public lands ill prob try it soon

Give a look at Ninham Mountain. Prob 50 minutes from Bronx. Park as high up you can toward the fire tower trail (up to the tight) and then walk the “blocked road” to the left. Gets good and swampy to the left and high ridges to the right. It’s shotgun country and where I got my first deer (15-20 years ago). Pressure lightens after opening weekend but I haven’t been there in years.


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[tarheel95]

Lots of new great advice posted already. Subscribe to Randy Newberg and The Meateater YouTube channels. They have lots of great short vignettes to help get you started (field dressing, caping, quartering and butchering). Oriented more towards western hunting but applicable for Eastern whitetail as well.

 

Get on the DECs website for 3G and 3N. That will show you maps of public lands within a short drive. I would highly recommend learning the land yourself rather than relying on others for spots. It will take longer but you will learn more in the long run and be able to more easily apply what you have learned to other new spots as you expand.

 

PM me if you have any questions. Good luck.

 

.... Also, if you have room for a beer cooler in your apt you can definitely bring a quartered deer home and butcher it yourself in your kitchen (also assuming you have an understanding significant other). Differing opinions abound on processing yourself vs using a butcher. I highly recommend processing yourself if you have the time, but to each his own.

 

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[AuburnNYC]

Are you hunting rifle/shotgun or are you also hunting bow? Are you hunting out of a treestand? Can you hunt weekdays or weekends only?

I'm currently visiting my GF in NYC for a few months, but lived here before for ~10 years and have hunted North Jersey and Westchester a good bit but only bow/crossbow. The NYC regulations are too wild for me to consider bringing a gun here. I may do a hunt or two in a gun legal area post Thanksgiving - PM me if you would be interested.

Some Tips:

Wear some hunter orange if you're on public land during a gun hunt.

Get further from the city if you can. Areas that get run over at the beginning of gun season get tougher to hunt after the first week of gun season in my view. You being in bronx will help the drive.

If you get a chance at a deer and have the tag go ahead and take it even if it isn't a "trophy". Mountable class public land bucks don't come around that often.

Use a topographic map and google map aerials to pre-scout the area you are hunting. If you don't know much about reading topos for deer I recommend "Mapping Trophy Bucks".  MyTopo has free good maps

First time on a piece of land if hunting (gun hunting) without having ever scouted I'd get to the woods very early for an afternoon hunt. Take some time walking ridges or trails slowly looking for deer sign. As it starts getting late try to position yourself near acorns that have deer droppings in them within viewing distance of thick cover. Having an elevated vantage point so even if you don't have a shot you may see deer and learn something.

If you can, after the season going along with someone who is scouting will teach you much faster than going on a hunt with someone. Generally in season people are just trying to slip in and out of pre-scouted spots.

[Enders]

8 hours ago, AuburnNYC said:

Are you hunting rifle/shotgun or are you also hunting bow? Are you hunting out of a treestand? Can you hunt weekdays or weekends only?

I'm currently visiting my GF in NYC for a few months, but lived here before for ~10 years and have hunted North Jersey and Westchester a good bit but only bow/crossbow. The NYC regulations are too wild for me to consider bringing a gun here. I may do a hunt or two in a gun legal area post Thanksgiving - PM me if you would be interested.

Some Tips:

Wear some hunter orange if you're on public land during a gun hunt.

Get further from the city if you can. Areas that get run over at the beginning of gun season get tougher to hunt after the first week of gun season in my view. You being in bronx will help the drive.

If you get a chance at a deer and have the tag go ahead and take it even if it isn't a "trophy". Mountable class public land bucks don't come around that often.

Use a topographic map and google map aerials to pre-scout the area you are hunting. If you don't know much about reading topos for deer I recommend "Mapping Trophy Bucks".  MyTopo has free good maps

First time on a piece of land if hunting (gun hunting) without having ever scouted I'd get to the woods very early for an afternoon hunt. Take some time walking ridges or trails slowly looking for deer sign. As it starts getting late try to position yourself near acorns that have deer droppings in them within viewing distance of thick cover. Having an elevated vantage point so even if you don't have a shot you may see deer and learn something.

If you can, after the season going along with someone who is scouting will teach you much faster than going on a hunt with someone. Generally in season people are just trying to slip in and out of pre-scouted spots.

Hey great tips! Im currently at sterling forest trying my luck, scouted the last two days and found a spot I liked unfortunately this morning a hunter was in the area so I ended up walking a trail and just sitting in a random spot. I’ll PM you for a hunt if possible. Thanks for the tips

[AuburnNYC]

Sterling has a tendency to get pretty crowded during gun but I've seen a decent amount of deer in there. It sounds like you're hunting from the ground - when on the ground try to get some elevation with a good view and ideally something behind you - you don't want deer to be able to silhouette you and ideally you have enough vision to see/shoot them before they can scent you.

I've killed a decent number of deer from the ground on public land with a gun and what I generally do is get a little elevation in an area I like, scrape some leaves away from a spot next to a tree so I have something to lean back on and lay up against a tree, then backfill leaves around so it doesn't look odd once I'm settled in. I wear a leafy ASAT suit when I'm doing this but probably not necessary. Moving the leaves gives you the ability to adjust yourself without being as loud and the tree makes things a bit more comfortable so you don't need to move as much.

99% of the noise you'll hear will be squirrels most likely but try to visually check it off with your eyes without moving your body too much. It is shocking how quietly deer can move compared to a squirrel. Deer vision is odd where they don't have great visual acuity but they can spot movement very well in a wide band i.e. from the side whereas we would have to be looking right at something.

If you're going to move around midday try to get in the habit of moving from tree to tree. Walk slowly and quietly between trees, pause for a couple of minutes and listen while visually scanning all around yourself. I've bumped lots of deer this way but haven't killed as many. That said, on public land when you're starting out just seeing a deer can be rewarding and should be the first goal.