Home › Forums › Campfire Forum › Help for a rookie!?!?!
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Hello traditional bowhunting community, I would not consider myself a rookie but I have actually only been bowhunting for 5 years now!? I have been thinking and trying to figure out how to get this new forum going, well I’ve got it, I want everyone to leave the best advice or tips they can for any rookie that visits this thread!!
With that said the best advice I could think of to give was this, when out in the feild take risks, you will probably suprise yourself! Now everyone else have at it!! -
This an excellent topic for discussion.
I still consider myself a rookie (as my hunting partners will readily tell you), but, being a self taught archer/bowhunter I came to discover that the more I read about “how to hunt”, the worse I did.
When I applied what I read on an intellectual level, somehow, I lost what was happening in the larger picture…this, I’m coming to understand as I type these words, is difficult to articulate….My advice, with this in mind, is to follow your heart when out hunting. Being primarily a open country spot-stalk hunter, I discovered that I did best when I listened to myself…when I trusted myself–rather than what some expert said.
I look forward to seeing other tips.
j -
Here is my contribution. People always ask me what certain words mean. T.J. did a great job of covering the Glossary of Archery Terms in The Traditional Bowhunter’s Handbook and he agreed to let me post it in The Trailhead. What a great guy, huh?:D
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cool glossary, would have helped me when I first started!!
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It is a great glossary–and a great book.
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huh, I havent ever read it, I will have to look into it!:D
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My best advice? Don’t hunt mediocre sign. If the signs not slapping you in the face?? keep walking. Wear the soles out on them boots if you have to but keep walking and keep looking.
If your major food source is like mine and is oaks. You’ll start to notice most deer trails in oak woods go from tree to tree to tree. these are primary feed trees. remember them, and watch for them to start raining acrons.
Don;t be afraid to get down and go somewhere else. If you’re not sure of your sign, give it an hour or so in the morning to make sure then get down and go find a better place. pay attention when scouting. You should scout like you hunt. last thing you want to do is bumble through and spook everything. take it easy and always find the hottest sign.
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In the school of the woods, we are the student, and our quarry is our teacher. Pay attention in class.
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I’d say..master your weopon. get a good tackle box. load up on the basics: tips, adhesives, tape measure, extra strings, wrenches, square, knocks/pliers, tapemeasure, stringer, blades, sharpeners.rests, practice…master the quiver and reloading. join a local club, shoot 3d on a course,learn up on spine (some guys are super techy on spine and foc..), train, streach, calistenics, targets, prioritize hygiene, save a pair of shoes only for hunting, get a squeaker call for varmits, a grunt call maybe..overall, its not a casual hobby in my opinion, its a journey! and dont forget the facepaint, but dont use costume makup.(ha ha). if you want to go clandestine/special ops..facepaint is the quintessential ceremonial transition in my opinion. Once the paint is on..its game on. I believe a fanny pack with bushclippers, camo, glove, netting, knife, dragrag line in a baggie, doe-P, permit, calls, light, misc. cord, clean baggies, hankey, and optics are minimum requirements off the cuff. Oh yea, go watch deer whenever possible.
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When you get past the basics of knowing what your weapon can do, watching the wind and such I think successful hunting comes down to one thing, knowing the land you hunt. If you never set foot on it before learn to read a topo map and then lay some boot leather. No offense to anyone, but if you know how animals use the land you won’t need any sign. The biggest deer I killed didn’t have sign within 100 yards of where I killed him. That being said, when you can identify travel patterns by the lay of the land the sign will be close, maybe not where you need to be to get a shot but close. I find the travel pattern and the sign is incidental, if it’s where I sit or put my stand great , if it’s 200 yards on down so what. You need to find where they bed, where they feed, and the routes they use to get from point A to point B. I’ve found smokin hot sign in places that deer don’t visit during daylight. Find where they’re sleepin and cut em off at the pass. Use the sign as confirmation after you studied the terrain.
Find a funnel. In hill country it could be a saddle, bottomlands a creek crossing, or farm country a brushy fence row. Find a place that because of terrain or obstacles creates a preferred travel route. Animals will take the path of least resistance if unpressured, they will take the path with good cover if they are pressured.
Think like an animal, the path you would choose traveling through an area is often the same path an animal would use for the same reasons.
The greatest strides I made as a hunter came when a mentor took pity on me and taught me the secrets of the topo map. It was like the lights came on about why I always saw deer here or why those turkeys always were on this point in the afternoons. You can pretty much tell where you should put deer crossing signs on the road by reading the topographical maps.
If you can master this, and anyone willing to put in the effort can, you can hunt anything anywhere.
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#1 Always play the wind and keep it in your favor.
#2 For deer the correct use of a grunt call is a definite advantage. It works best during the pre-rut session usually lasting about a week and works like MAGIC during the main rut. It will definitely bring in inmature bucks and on occasion the larger bucks. Being able to see the animal while calling is a definite advantage, as you can see the reaction. There are other calls for deer the can, rattling antlers,I’ve tried them all and find that the grunt tube works the best. Don’t over-do it. In area with high hunting pressure calling is less affective.
Calling moose and elk the same. Different sounds, different times. GOOD LUCK !!! Bruce. -
Remember, Take the time to HAVE FUN.
Hunting is a SLOW sport, don’t be quick to judge
Mistakes Happen, resist frustration.
Enjoy the day
Read, read, read
Practice, practice, practice
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