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New Hunter - Mass Deer Guide

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random0627

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I am a very new deer hunter and this will be my first archery season.

I have scouted several pieces of public land in Zone 9 & 10, but getting worried that I really don't know what I am doing and the season is going to be wasted.

Are there any Mass Deer Outfits that could help me out?

Ideally semi-guided to keep me from stumbling around like Elmer Fudd.
 
Don’t get too worked up. Even if you don’t see a deer it wouldnt be a waste, that’s part of it. I wouldn’t bother with a guide ( never heard of one in ma but sure there’s some A hole taking Peoples money) Just do your scouting and if you find fresh sign there will be deer around. Biggest thing is to be aware of wind direction and stay downwind. I don’t care how much you spend on Camo and sprays it’s extremely hard to trick a deer. I’d recommend reading some of the hunting beast or watch the hunting public guys. They are real world public land hunters and go into a lot of detail of how they find deer and setup. Be patient, don’t get discouraged, and have fun. Oh and always wear ur effin harness.
 
No time in the woods is wasted.

I’ve been unsuccessfully hunt deer for 31 years. I still enjoy it.

But I won’t give any advice, because duh.

I hate sitting in a stand, I prefer to still hunt. It’s harder, but more fun IMO.


TBH - I have quit a few times. But I fall off the wagon again.
 
Do you have tree stand set or a climber ? Hunting deer with a bow from the ground is tough. Zone 9 and 10 have a lot of deer so that is good especially during archery season they are not pressured yet. Just go out in the woods play the wind be quiet and you will learn. Deer hunting has some luck involved as well.
 
Sparkey said:
Do you have tree stand set or a climber ? Hunting deer with a bow from the ground is tough. Zone 9 and 10 have a lot of deer so that is good especially during archery season they are not pressured yet. Just go out in the woods play the wind be quiet and you will learn. Deer hunting has some luck involved as well.
Click to expand...

Went with a mobile set up and have a lone wolf assault.
 
random0627 said:
I am a very new deer hunter and this will be my first archery season.

I have scouted several pieces of public land in Zone 9 & 10, but getting worried that I really don't know what I am doing and the season is going to be wasted.

Are there any Mass Deer Outfits that could help me out?

Ideally semi-guided to keep me from stumbling around like Elmer Fudd.
Click to expand...
No deer season is wasted. Every day your out there you learn....even if you don't harvest one you need to use your brain and think about the reasons why. Read. Get out there. Enjoy the woods
Learn.


Don't pay a damn guide to take you out for white tail in mass.......go earn it yourself. You'll have a far better experience than having a paid guide put you on a deer..... If you do it that way isn't it just target practice for you?

I pay a guide for one game only and that's snowshoe hare in Maine. And I'm honest with myself and others ......I'm not hunting when I do that because I paid to use someone else's trained dogs and take advantage of his experience and knowledge to put us on rabbits. When I'm up there for hare I'm paying for an experience......a vacation.
 
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Realize that the MA archery success rate on open public land is probably 5 percent in eastern zones. In Westen zones its worse. On private land its likely 10-15 percent in your zones. Much better in zone 10 than 9.

Success on private can be simply working hard to find private land where the deer are not hunted hard and finding where they hang out. On private land they will tolerate some bumping once or twice, but do it alot and youll be screwing up your spot.

Setting up properly and not messing up the spot is important. Hunt correct wind only and only enter and exit in the dark. You will know where the deer are comfortable and feed by the amount of fresh shxt in the area. Bigger shit, bigger bucks. Big Tracks, big bucks. Big high rubs, big bucks.

Success on public is not only avoiding other hunters, but finding a public land spot where deer feel comfortable during daylight movement. This can be the toughest part on small lots in the east as deer feel way more comfortable on private unhunted land.
It can be done but you will scout way more than you will hunt.

Most people starting out bowhunting don’t understand that. You scout to find the spot way more than you hunt.
Scouting to find the most, freshest, and best looking sign in the area will bring sucess. Over just sitting a marginal spot time and time again.
It takes about 3 seconds to shoot a deer but 20 hours of scounting to find the spot to do it at.
 
dgrafton said:
Deer hunting is like fishing. Part of the game is knowing where they are and the other part of the game is knowing where they are not.
Click to expand...
This is very true. Some spots deer love to hang out in.

Also. Big bucks are lazy. They wont move much outside the rut or pressured. Find fresh, big buck sign early in the year and you can be sure he’s comfortable there and close. Find it and dont go blasting around there. Hunt it only on a good wind from where you suspect hes bedded

And likely, moving only at the edges, or only at dark Until the rut, then all goes out the window.
 
whacko said:
No deer season is wasted. Every day your out there you learn....even if you don't harvest one you need to use your brain and think about the reasons why. Read. Get out there. Enjoy the woods
Learn.
Click to expand...

This ......

Another well “wasted“ day in the woods. 😀

154C7E07-0E8C-4AE2-9DF8-3C2557BFA7F8.jpeg


random0627 said:
That is a depressing stat...... Upland here I come!
Click to expand...

Don't quit yet.

They joy and the challenge is in the hunt. It is the beauty found in nature and the direct visceral connection to our ancestors that has always driven me to hunt. It’s some thing that has to be experienced to be understood.

The killing of the animal is the conclusion to the hunt and where the work begins. It also has its own rewards. Measured in pounds of fresh, organic, free range, and antibiotic meat.

Bob
 
HorizontalHunter said:
Don't quit yet.

They joy and the challenge is in the hunt. It is the beauty found in nature and the direct visceral connection to our ancestors that has always driven me to hunt. It’s some thing that has to be experienced to be understood.

The killing of the animal is the conclusion to the hunt and where the work begins. It also has its own rewards. Measured in pounds of fresh, organic, free range, and antibiotic meat.

Bob
Click to expand...

Oh no, with Stupid COVID I will be in Stand 40+ days.

If I fail it will not be for lack of effort.

Just a very sobering number compared to Upland where I am likely well above .800.

Even duck I am above .050, and I am pretty bad duck hunter.
 
random0627 said:
Oh no, with Stupid COVID I will be in Stand 40+ days.

If I fail it will not be for lack of effort.

Just a very sobering number compared to Upland where I am likely well above .800.

Even duck I am above .050, and I am pretty bad duck hunter.
Click to expand...

where have you scouted in zone 10? PM me I’d be happy to show you Some spots near me
 
random0627 said:
Oh no, with Stupid COVID I will be in Stand 40+ days.

If I fail it will not be for lack of effort.

Just a very sobering number compared to Upland where I am likely well above .800.

Even duck I am above .050, and I am pretty bad duck hunter.
Click to expand...

I never really got into bird hunting. I have been thing about trying some goose hunting but never got around to it.

Bob
 
If the enjoyment comes only from shooting the animal, then you're chasing the wrong game during the wrong season. Success on deer with a stick and string is a tall order and odds are low and the effort required is high. You have to enjoy that process, not just the harvest. If that's what floats your boat, that's okay, but I would suggest a different game with a higher harvest rate. Stocked upland birds, waterfowl, or small game like squirrels and rabbit.

Nut I'll tell you what, come on down to Z11 sometime and I'll take a walk through some local woods and show you what to look for to get you started.
 
Mark from MA said:
....
It takes about 3 seconds to shoot a deer but 20 hours of scounting to find the spot to do it at.
Click to expand...

It’s my first year hunting, and am signing up to hunt on Ft. Devens. No scouting allowed ahead of time since it’s the range complex.:confused:

But I have spent the afternoon looking at satellite imagery of several state forests, WMAs, and Oxbow, to look for water/field/agriculture clusters as a starting point to begins physical scouting. Unfortunately, it seems the best looking spots either prohibit hunting or only allow bow. I also sadly won’t have much physical scouting time.
 
Did you take the Bowhunter Safety Course? It's quite awesome & the Instructors have great Woods Wisdom

Bowhunter Education Courses

Designed for novice and experienced hunters. Bowhunter Education covers bowhunting safety, hunting ethics, and bowhunting laws.
www.mass.gov www.mass.gov
 
Dont syke yourself out and dont set your expectations too high. You get what you put in and as many have said harvesting a deer with the bow is a challenge in itself even for experience hunters. In these woods be prepared to sit in the woods quetly ALONE more times than not but to me thats almost just as good as harvesting the animal. As I and many others have eluded the wind can be your biggest ally or biggest enemy. I dont care if you have the best spot in the country with a 180' buck coming out every evening at 445 your wind is wrong and hes a no show. You might get away with it with a fawn or yearling, or if you win the lottery with a rutting buck, but these animals life depends on their nose dont forget that. I myself find myself tempted sometimes to sit in the perfect spot on the imperfect wind its hard to deny but mature does and bucks will smell you and turn around before you even know they are there. I personally have the best luck with marginal winds but they can be tricky.
Read up on deer behavior and topos and sat images can be pretty effective in finding probable activity. Ill personally start scouting and end scouting in and around thickest cover I can find. Funnels, ridges, and transitional lines are great places to look for movement. Although i dont usually see alot of rut activity in MA plan on bucks cruising downwind of suspected bedding area looking for a date.
 
1) Practice! I shoot 50 arrows a day leading up to opening day. I shoot from the ground and I shoot from a step ladder to replicate my stand. I shoot during low light and also mid day. No sense in hunting if you can't hit.

2) Get out there and scout. Try to find a travel run. Some place where the deer are travelling from their bedding area to their feeding area. Try to find some buck signs like scrapes and rubs.

3)De-scent your hunting clothes. I keep my gear in a trash bag with pine branches, dirt, and leaves. I rub a little doe urine on the soles of my boots and I hang a few drip wicks near my stand. No deodorant or scented soaps.

4) Set up your tree stand a few weeks before the season starts. Be in your stand an hour before sun up. Dress warm enough so you can sit still and be comfortable as stationary for hours.
 
Keep poking around the woods, find some signs. If your hunting public land, look up often for stands and you’ll come across a lot of active and inactive ones. Find a place that looks promising and set up. If you find that spot, mark your entrance and exit. Crashing thru the woods early morning and after sunset doesn’t help you. Just be patient and don’t give up on yourself.
 
I can appreciate new hunters wanting to get started. I hope you all understand though that this is not the ideal time of year to decide to take up whitetail hunting. Hunting actually starts in January when the season closes. That's when you put your bootleather down scouting out spots.
That said if you decide you want to pick up hunting right before the season opens, you can obviously do that, and with a little beginner's luck you can have some success. But that's just one more thing that's stacked against you. You literally have no idea where the deer activity is, what time of year the activity takes place there, what kind of deer are there, your entrance and exit routes to keep them unaware of your presence... or what the hunting pressure is there. spots that look good on a map to you look good to everybody else is chasing whitetail too. you could get there and there could be five stands around. What do you do?You don't have any of that planned out. That makes the task much more difficult. And odds are already low.
I'm not trying to discourage anyone rather just want to see you set realistic expectations for yourself. The statistics in the yard say that you are not going to be successful your first year. And you have to be okay with that. Make peace with the thought that your first year is going to be more of a learning experience than anything else.
 
PappyM3 said:
It’s my first year hunting, and am signing up to hunt on Ft. Devens. No scouting allowed ahead of time since it’s the range complex.:confused:

But I have spent the afternoon looking at satellite imagery of several state forests, WMAs, and Oxbow, to look for water/field/agriculture clusters as a starting point to begins physical scouting. Unfortunately, it seems the best looking spots either prohibit hunting or only allow bow. I also sadly won’t have much physical scouting time.
Click to expand...
Devens is loaded with deer. Just sit somewhere they'll come around eventually. 😂
 
ThePreBanMan said:
I can appreciate new hunters wanting to get started. I hope you all understand though that this is not the ideal time of year to decide to take up whitetail hunting. Hunting actually starts in January when the season closes. That's when you put your bootleather down scouting out spots.
That said if you decide you want to pick up hunting right before the season opens, you can obviously do that, and with a little beginner's luck you can have some success. But that's just one more thing that's stacked against you. You literally have no idea where the deer activity is, what time of year the activity takes place there, what kind of deer are there, your entrance and exit routes to keep them unaware of your presence... or what the hunting pressure is there. spots that look good on a map to you look good to everybody else is chasing whitetail too. you could get there and there could be five stands around. What do you do?You don't have any of that planned out. That makes the task much more difficult. And odds are already low.
I'm not trying to discourage anyone rather just want to see you set realistic expectations for yourself. The statistics in the yard say that you are not going to be successful your first year. And you have to be okay with that. Make peace with the thought that your first year is going to be more of a learning experience than anything else.
Click to expand...
Great advice.

Of course, I (personally) don't expect to bring anything home on any trip. But then, I like being bad at things; there's only one way to go from there.
 
random0627 said:
That is a depressing stat...... Upland here I come!
Click to expand...

I deer hunt, but I don’t have a passion for it. Mainly I just want to kill one out of hatred. (Semi joking)

Small game IS my passion. Tomorrow starts hare and grouse season here in N.H. My son is going out with me for the first time as a hunter.
Good luck with deer in Mass. like I said, I skunked out every year for three decades. Still fun, because it’s hunting.
 

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