r/Hunting • u/Secret_Temperature_9 • 14h ago
General question/discussion First time hunter.
long time listener, first time poster. Like for anything, I've never made a forum post before in my life. I am 36 years old, living in the foothills of North Carolina. I moved after growing up in the city and have been here almost 10 years. i have a group of friends that get together to shoot every friday at a private home range, mostly three gun and ipsc type stuff. I'm no pewvew, but I'm not a stranger to guns. Well we decided that we were going to hunting this year. I went out and purchased a 308win ruger american predator gen 2, and a Ki 405 crossbow. i have zero experience with crossbows and every time i pull the string back I'm more nervous then i have ever been with a firearm. I will be hunting private land that wont have to far of a trek and have access to a side by side. i put up some cameras and caught some good activity around the been field and raised a deer blind maybe 40 yds from where they like to go. i plan to process the meat myself. the friend I'm hunting with has also never hunted. I'm looking for tips, tricks. Maybe something you realized you needed after the fact of getting out there. good youtube channels to watch? should i make a youtube so people can learn from the mistakes i am bound to make?
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u/Cock_ball_dickin 13h ago
Making a YouTube would be awesome! I’d watch that, it’s a cool idea. As for tips and tricks, it’s tough to say, really depends on what you’re hunting and I also hunt in a very different area to North Carolina so not much of my experience will carry over. But learn the land, that’s really the big thing. Also if you don’t like crossbows just hunt with a rifle (if you can)
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u/Pristine_Fly_5367 12h ago
I’ve been logging my hunts with HuntScout and wish I did it from the start. It’s nice looking back at individual days, what I saw and who I did it with etc.
other than that I got nothing else for you, best of luck!
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u/Georgia_Real_Estate 11h ago
Good choice on the gun and crossbow I would use whatever you’re comfortable with definitely stay away from archery as that requires at least 2 to 3 months of practice. Definitely need the license and you need to pass a hunter safety course before being able to get a license I believe, but check your state regulations
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u/justdan76 8h ago
Assuming you took the hunter safety course.
What I would study up on is what to do if you actually shoot a deer. Tracking, field dressing, transporting, and processing. You don’t want to shoot a buck and realize, as you’re standing over it, that you didn’t have a solid plan for all this. Ask me how I know.
If some of your friends are experienced hunters, have them mentor you for these parts. If you have help that’s ideal, but you can get a deer out of the woods and into a vehicle on your own if you have to. As a skinny old man I can tell you there are ways.
Bearded Butchers have some good videos on field dressing deer, and on how to process the meat. It’s a good idea to look up local game processors in case you need one. Steve Rinella and Meat Eaters have some good basic information, skip all the big buck mania stuff and go for the basics of what will be relevant to what you’re hunting in your area. What to look for when scouting, how to pick areas to scout, where to set up, etc, then like I said the stuff you’re gonna NEED.
Good luck!
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u/WrongOpinionOnly 13h ago
Take a hunters safety course and get your license. Meateater on youtube has a good deer butchery video. I recommend you skip archery for your first time and stick to rifle. Make sure you practice and are comfortable in realistic shooting positions. I'm talking 200-300 rounds on target before you move to live game. You have a responsibility to know your limits and grow. GL, happy to answer anything else.