New member and to hunting

[fasteddie]

Sabotage - Welcome to Hunting NY ........

[Elmo]

Welcome aboard.  NYC hunter myself.  Been swamped the past few years but normally hunt Westchester and Putnam.  I too start in the my mid 30's.  It's never too late.

[Sabotage]

Hi everyone, came here a few weeks ago getting ready to hunt, then I got a death in the family that put my focus elsewhere. During the last few weeks I also made the realization that I was not ready to enjoy hunting like I thought I was. Lurking through this forum, I realized that there were things I needed to get situated before I went out to hunt. Here is the list of challenges that I overcame or I'm working on overcoming to enjoy hunting:

1) Ticks... I never thought about ticks until I read about a member complaining about it. I did some research and ended up buying tick repellant to spray on my clothing

2) Hunting clothing that would keep me warm and mobile while being out in the elements for hours. The coats I was going to use kept me warm but were too bulky that destroyed my accuracy and mobility.  I did some research and my wife bought me hunting attire to deal with the cold while still keeping me mobile

3) If I harvest a deer, how to transport it? I do not have a truck or know anyone with a truck. My car cannot accept a hitch. The only solution I could come up with was my father agreed that I can put a hitch on his car and borrow the car to attach a trailer to transport my game. Any other options?

4) The plan to hunt from a tree stand. I purchased the items but didn't think about learning how to use them properly before venturing out. The stand came with a safety harness that was making my life miserable trying to figure out how to put it on. I ended up purchasing a better quality harness that was made so you can get into easily. Should be here in a few days.

5) Practice with broadheads. I was only practicing with field points and when I started practicing with broadheads, my accuracy went to hell. Hunting with my recurve became out of the question and my groups widen up with my compound bow which did not leave me feeling confident taking a shot at an animal when pressure would be added into my hunt. I'm still working on tuning the recurve to get good arrow flight but have dialed in the compound.

6) I completed the bow and hunting training and got my two certificates. I then ordered my tags and received the yellow tags. My question is, what constitutes as a hunting license? Do I present the certificates or the yellow tags, or did I screw something up in my understanding of the requirements and don't have a license?

7) We're going into January, is it even worth going out trying to hunt deer this late into the bow season or should I just continue preparing for next October/November? 

For now this is all I can remember. I wrote a list of questions to ask but my three year-old made the list disappear.

[Robhuntandfish]

Sorry to hear of your familys loss.

Good for you with being ready before you go. The certificate for completing the course you can just file it away in case you ever need it but your info will now be in the system for licences.  The yellow tags are the licenses and you will need to get new ones every year.  Those are to be carried with you and the back tag should be worn and visible.  You can get a back tag holder and it can go on the back of your hunting jacket and i always put all my harvest tags in with it.  Once you take an animal you must fill out and attach the tag to it. There is a part that has what you are licensed for and I usually carry that in my wallet - it should have hunting and/or fishing etc on it .  This can be shown if asked by law enforcement. 

and it is certainly worth hunting still if season is open in  your area.  Just for the scouting info alone for next year is worth the time.  You can tell a lot this time of year about the season.  Look for welll used deer trails and rubs.  Plus you can get some of the bugs out of your plan for next year now and most of hunting is getting out in the quiet and enjoying the time in the woods. And maybe if just going a couple of times try just hunting from the ground and doing more scouting and learning the first time or two, unless you have an area and tree picked out for the stand already.  

Dunno what kind of vehicle you have but if you put a hitch on a car there are carriers you can buy that go right into the hitch and you wouldnt need a trailer. 

Best of luck and welcome to hunting !      

Edited December 30, 2020 by Robhuntandfish

[Sabotage]

Thank you for that carrier advice, I love it...

[Elmo]

Sorry to hear about your family.

[fasteddie]

Welcome to Hunting NY !