Let me start by saying that I have never hunted before in my life so please excuse the newbie post. I've fished my arse off since I was 13 or 14 (I'm 34 now, I know I'm starting late) and have absolutely LOVED the outdoors all my life. Many of my friends hunt and I've wanted to get into hunting for the last few years, so this year, I'm pulling the trigger and diving head first into it. With that being said, I think buying the gear is the easy part. I would like to start learning about how deer behave and learning how their patterns work and how their environment (woods vs farmland, etc) affects their behavior. I've been beating the hell out of the search feature here but it's hard figuring out where to start. What are your suggestions for someone like myself who wants to learn how to effectively scout? TIA!!
Welcome to the site. Along with the videos and articles here at BHC, I get most of my info from QDMA.com, Growingdeer.tv, and Midwestwhitetail.com. All IMHO are excellent sources of deer behavior and how to properly manage a deer population(as much as you have influence to) on any given piece of land.
Well first off welcome. The best way to figure of things you asked about is just getting in the woods. Even now looking for sheds and signs of where deer have been or where they are moving. You will probably get some great tips on here from other guys but you will learn a ton by either walking in the woulds scouting or when the season comes being in a tree. If you have a trail camera that can help get an idea of their pattern but its not needed. Do you have your gear already? bow, release, arrows, ect? If not find a pro shop near you and they should be able to help set you up with everything you need.
Thanks for the replies!! Short69, I'll definitely check out those sites you mentioned. Oly44, I'm looking forward to getting in the woods. I just want to do a good amount of research first so I can have a better idea of what I'm looking for. I have most of my gear picked out already and will be picking it up over the next month or so. I'll be picking up a PSE Brute X. I got fitted this past weekend and got to shoot a few bows. I was HOOKED!! I didn't want to leave! LOL!
You said your friends hunt, so that's where to start. Walk the woods with them and ask questions. Take advantage of snow on the ground, you can learn a ton about deer movement. Look for areas where deer laid down in the snow, then observe most frequent routes they take to get there. See how they travel with regard to topography, cover ect. The more you do it the faster you will learn, and before you know it you will start to be able to predict areas deer are likely to be moving even without the benefit of snow to give you the answer. Try to hunt areas where deer seem to be traveling through, not where they seem to be milling around feeding or bedding
Just read as much and watch as much as you can. Way to much for anyone to type up as a reply. Its best when you have someone who can teach you hands on as well. Do you have a place to hunt yet? That will help us narrow things down a bit for you. Is it public land or private? All wooded or fields or a good mix of each? What part of the country?
welcome to the addictive world of bowhunting. i would say read all you can about deer spend as much time in the woods as you can , and dont believe too much on the hunting shows, alot of that is pretty much set up. just when you think you have them figured out everything changes. thats what keeps us going. you can always learn something new.
A lot of people are going to go against me but i got a lot of info from hunting shows like deer and deer hunting. If you sit and watch a decent amount like D&DH or North American Bowhunter. Just don't get duped into thinking that shooting big bucks are easy, and that calling in deer is that easy on normal pressured land.
I don't have any place to hunt just yet. I'll be starting out on public land. I have a buddy who bowhunts a lot and is pretty pumped that I'll be able to get out with him so I'm sure I'll get plenty of pointers from him. I've started watching the youtube videos I can find on hunting but a lot of them are people recording themselves getting shots on massive bucks but not really talking about WHY they chose that spot and what they saw to lead them up to the point where they determined that they should hunt that area.
Look here on the Bowhunt or Die shows. They have a few pre season episodes that show a good bit of the scouting and trailcam stuff. Also check out www.midwestwhitetail.com and look for the same thing. The only downside to that, both shows most of the hunters hunt private land with a lot of fields and all. Most public land is a lot different. But you will still learn a good bit. There is also a thread on here called Fitz 2012 journal...or something like that. Read his posts in there, he hunts public land and explains a god bit, it should be a lot of help. there's a lot of pages so make sure you are in for some reading. Its good stuff for sure though.
