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Beginner Deer Hunters

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SpursandSheds

Spurs & Sheds
Hi all, new to the forum; have heard great things about Iowa Whitetail!

Whats the top 5 things a new Whitetail hunter needs to learn? Really looking to develope a strong educational base for newcomers into the great world of Whitetail hunting in the midwest and would appreciate everyones advise and opinions on this. Also, any resorces to check out! Especially any old topics on this forum that may have some great articles.

Thanks in Advance!
 
Welcome to the IW website, there is a lot of reading in all the forums for you to catch up on. :)
 
welcome to the site!

#1 - Scent control and Wind Direction - Gotta beat their nose before anything.

#2 - Scouting - Know whats in your area, they gotta be there to harvest them

#3 - Practice - Not only with your weapon of choice in perfect conditions, but practice in wind, sitting down, kneeling, anything you might encounter. You owe it to the animal to minimize suffering.

#4 - Tracking - Don't push a deer that you don't need to. If you think its a marginal hit, back out. Hopefully they will be there in the morning.

#5 - Management - You dont necessairly have to OWN property to manage for whitetail. If you can hunt it, you can manage it, at the owners allowance. Don't do something without asking if you don't own it. Jump on over to the management section of this forum and into dbltrees corner....you'll learn more from the trial and errors on there than you could ever learn from a book. There are several years of trial in those forums, all in iowa.
 
What Dek said. I cant add much more to that except dont think you have to buy into all the latest gimmicks to be successful. Just hunt smart and have fun. Welcome.
 
I think a lot of top notch guys are on here who know their crap. BUT- I will say, 99% of the guys in the general public- think they are "DEER EXPERTS" - everyone you talk to will be a pro, including the farmers that don't hunt. :) 10% of folks "really get it". Even when you're talking about guys writing articles or at your local shop- a lot of folks think they are deer experts. the more time and dedication you spend, the quicker your education on hunting will be of course. Much faster if you do have the right teacher. It took me 5-7 years of hunting on my own to really understand it and I'm still learning to this day. The worst thing a person could do is think they finally have the magic bullet to killing big bucks after a year in the field or some tips from a so called "expert"- you'd be content with a poor or mediocre hunting ability if you thought you had ANY kind of magic method after just a year or 2.

Laziness and lack of preparation before & during season AND the ability to pace yourself during season are some of the biggest downfalls I see with so many folks every year. Get after it EARLY, scout way in advance, do more preperation than most everyone you meet and you'll be doing things right to start.

Spend hundreds of hours each year, every chance you get in the woods, try new things, keep pushing, don't burn yourself out & AS LONG AS YOU'RE ENJOYING IT- keep plugging and keep learning. It's a fun process and you'll love every minute of it if you're like me! :)
 
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Have fun, the day it becomes a job is the day you should go do something else. Every time you go into the woods you can learn something new.
 
1. Pay less attention to the hunting industry and more attention to learning good woodsmanship and listening to guys like oldgene.
 
Lots of good points so far. This site will be your best source for information, easy. All you have to do is ask and there is someone here who will know. Also learn from your mistakes (kinda like life). Even if you don't kill something, make sure you learn something. I learn something every time I go out and I still have a lot to learn. Have fun, its addicting.
 
Last year was my first year hunting deer. I learned the hard way how important it is to control scent. As a new hunter a part of me thought all the precautions were overkill. But after going some time without even seeing a deer I got with the program. After I kept my clothes outside, and used scent blocker, I started seeing deer. Unfortunately, it was too late in the season for it to do much good. Now I know better.
 
There's some really good advice already listed here's mine
1) buy a good safety belt (think Muddy)
2) Get a couple of doe tags and have some fun
 
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