Any tips for the new hunter?

[Scully714]

Hello all,

I'm a rookie hunter...I got myself a bow, a blind and finally all the gear (the only thing that kept me out of the woods this season, was lack of cash for the gear, but now I'm good to go). I'm looking for some tips, and possibly some location info. The one day I did get out at the end of this past deer season I went to he Harold Parker WMA...it looked pretty active, but nothing aside from a fawn presented a shot. I'm basically looking for info and tidbits that you wish someone told YOU when you were starting out. Any help, cool stories or any other contributions to my hunting wisdom is greatly appreciated!

Scully

P.S. If anyone wants to get together and do some hunting this year, let me know! I just got a shotgun so I'm doing research on birding too!

 

[squeeze]

Where do you live, plan to hunt?

Kurt

 

[Scully714]

I live in Medford, mostly plan to stick to zones 10 and 11 (Particularly Myles Standish WMA) But I'm open to driving around.

 

[BaldAssCat]

You have a dog to go with that shotgun? A walk in the woods with a gun is ok and all but if you want a bird you'll want a dog.

Can't tell you much about deer hunting. I have 8 that walk through my yard all the time and I'll I do is look.

 

[Scully714]

No dog. I have a cat, but she is untrainable. I was thinking of maybe hitting up one of those reserves where you can rent a dog this year...

 

[ccm75]

As far as the bow hunting goes, practice is the key. If you cant hit a paper plate consistantly at 30 yards or better, stay out of the woods.

The basics in my opinion: Hunt the rut. Wear clean clothes, rubber boots and watch the wind and your scent. Use some doe-in-heat lure, it can literally bring the bucks running to your stand. Scout - get out late summer to recon and see where the deer are moving and where you can set up your stand. Look for areas where cover transitions to food and there is room to shoot. Lots of good books out there on bow hunting. Tree stands are usually more productive than blinds. I have seen some amazing things from a tree, like bucks fighting, fox catching a mouse under my tree, packs of coyotes coming by, and all sorts of game. Being off the ground definately gives you a big advantage.

For bird hunting, I hunt the stocked pheasants on the WMA's which can be fun with a dog. Avoid the weekend if you can as it can be like WWIII. Experiement and enjoy..........

 

[Martlet]

I hunt everything, and do all my hunting in zone 10. I've hunted Harold Parker quite a bit, as well as a few other places on the North Shore. I've never hunted Turkey, but plan on heading out this spring.

Any time you'd like to get together for practice, note sharing, or a hunt let me know. I'm very flexible. I've also been doing some ice fishing this winter. I have extra traps. There's a derby this Sunday in Lynn.

What kind of bow did you buy?

 

[Scully714]

I plan to do some turkey hunting too. I got a blind and I'd love the company as I am new at this. I picked up a Reflex Highlander. It's a great bow, I love it.

I hunt everything, and do all my hunting in zone 10. I've hunted Harold Parker quite a bit, as well as a few other places on the North Shore. I've never hunted Turkey, but plan on heading out this spring.

Any time you'd like to get together for practice, note sharing, or a hunt let me know. I'm very flexible. I've also been doing some ice fishing this winter. I have extra traps. There's a derby this Sunday in Lynn.

What kind of bow did you buy?

 

[dbhn]

The keys to bowhunting is spending a lot of time in the woods scouting and then a lot of time in the woods in your stand hunting. Patience and time is the key. Two things I don't have a lot of so even though I have been bowhunting since I was a kid I have never arrowed a deer.

Find where they are - set up a nice stand locale - sit and wait from dawn til dusk.

If you have the patience, can stand the cold in the stand (it is A LOT colder sitting still 20' in the air than on the ground walking), and can hit the shot, you'll be successful.

Good luck and welcome to the sport.

 

[squeeze]

Myles Standish has lots of turkeys, not too hard to find them. As for bird hunting, I went 5 times this pass season, saw 3 birds, shot at 2 of them. This is without a dog, never had one, and still do pretty good. I thinking about getting a dog this year, but the group AR buy is going to eat up my money fast and hard. The only downside to MS is there's a ton of hunters during turkey and bird seasons. Never really did much deer hunting in MS, I've got other places for that, but there's a good amount of sign in there. Maybe I'll try there once or twice this year. If your going to scout out MS drop me a PM, I live 5 min. from there. Maybe I could show around a few spots.

Kurt

 

[Coyote33]

I imagine you can get a lot done in the off season. Practice marksmanship, scout locations, then scout animals once you find a location. I hear it takes a lifetime to really get good at this. Good luck!

 

[Martlet]

I've learned that scouting is difficult here, depending on where you hunt. The deer quickly take to the back yards once the pressure is on, since it's on so heavy. It's not like back home where I'd be lucky to see another hunter or two when I was out. Here I have to fight to park then avoid the other hunters.