Tips for a New Hunter

[Axiom]

Hunt in another state.. You are less likely to get arrested and incarcerated for a simple newbie mistake..

[Nomad]

Hunt in another state.. You are less likely to get arrested and incarcerated for a simple newbie mistake..

How much time did you get?

[Silver Belly62]

If you choose to hunt public land, do your research and leg work and if you are successful remember the most important thing...................keep your mouth shut, unless you want company

[B B]

Don't expect it to be what you see on TV.

[Rusty]

I think Nomad scared her away.  

[stlkmjn]

WOW. So much great feedback and so much to respond to. Thanks guys! 

 

Rusty- thanks for starting this feed; super helpful. 

 

Batsto- I have an incredible lot to learn, but fortunately one thing I do have going for me is my fairly decent experience with back-woods. Grew up in MN where there's a pretty decent culture of appreciation for the outdoors, wildlife, and the awareness of our interdependence on each other. Realized this year that I'm slowly dying inside being disconnected from that and the only cure for it is to find ways to get back to that connection. Along with the other perks it offers, hunting is my decided means to that end. 

 

OneDay121o- When you mention "THE compendium" are you referring to something specific? I assume you just mean 'know your shit,' yes? 

 

Lunatic- Great point! To clarify, I grew up well-acquainted with the outdoors/deep woods, but not to hunting. Virtually nobody I know in NJ is a hunter or has any interest in it. But if hunters as a group are anything like the fishers and backpackers I know, I have no doubt in time I will find a tribe of people. Those folks are easy to talk to and happy to share knowledge, except perhaps hot fishing spots. LOL. Also, I thought hunting with cross bows were illegal in NJ, except for ppl with disabilities?  Assuming your friend either has a disability or hunts in another state? Does she hunt solo for deer? Please forgive my noob assumption but I hadn't considered the difficulty of dressing a deer. I am much stronger than I look, but also a slight build. I just assumed large game hunting was a group thing and a group effort even after the kill? 

 

Couple references to "njh". What's this? 

 

Matty- Not sure where I want to start. That's part of why I joined NJW&W. I planned to start hunting small game with my .22 rifle until I learned that there's really no place for that gun in NJ unless I wanted to hunt coyote, and I highly doubt that's a wise place to begin hunting. So I've been reading as much as I can to help me make a wise purchase choice. I'm thinking of either purchasing an air gun for small game, or a compound bow and practicing like hell with it this year. I figure if I spend this year with my free time spent in books and at the range, I will eventually be able to find others to learn with/from by the time I'm really ready to get out there.

 

Tcook8296- Nope. Truly short for Kathryn, but not even my parents got away with calling me by that name. You are free to call me pretty much any variant of Kathryn, including Kaitlyn. Any particular reason why you ask?  

[stlkmjn]

Nomad- your tone implies that perhaps deer and turkey sightings are about the most exciting thing to happen on your property in a really long time. I feel for ya if that's the case.  

[Matty]

Kate I assumed you might be a real person but didn't know you were actually a member. I never know what Rusty's up to. I was afraid he was going trans-pacific on us.  lol Hence the Kaitlyn (Jenner) joke that Tcook made,

 

Hunting coyotes with a .22 is not where I would start, but something you can definitely try because it is fun. Just understand that hunting unicorns with a slingshot would be about the same level of difficulty.

 

I'm not current on what game you can hunt with an air rifle in NJ, and not much of a gun guy, always been a bowhunter first and foremost.

 

In any case, I would suggest a shotgun if you're main interest is small game. With different barrels (or chokes and shot sizes/types) you can hunt just about every animal in NJ (might actually be every animal). Probably go with a 20ga since you mentioned being slight of build. Someone that knows more about firearms can chime in there though. Even a 12ga isn't that bad. We recently had my brothers GF shooting clays with a 12ga and she is like 5'2 100#. (depends on what shot you're using, low brass target loads are very gentle to shoot, but turkey loads make me a little flinchy lol)  Start the FID (firearms purchasers id) process as soon as you can.

 

Being biased towards archery, I like your compound bow option best. You can also hunt just about anything with the bow even if it is way more challenging in some cases. (and have more and better opportunities for deer (and occasionally other animals) because of smaller safety zones and longer seasons). Crossbows are legal for all hunters in NJ now and many people use them, and I won't steer you away from it, but I will say that if you want archery hunting to feel like actual archery you have to draw the bow, so traditional and compound bows are where it's at, in my opinion.

 

What we should do is have some kind of get together at a public range. Going back a few years ago, a bunch of us used to go to Black River Range in Chester every Tuesday (or maybe it was Thursdays). Occasionally we would have newbies come out and we'd answer a lot of questions and sometimes they would shoot our bows or guns and we helped more than a few people get started in hunting. Depending on your draw length and draw weight, I probably have a compound bow you can try and if not, someone here likely does.

 

You could also tag along on a few hunts with experienced hunters to see what it's like. So much can be learned that way that you'll never learn by reading. I don't want to volunteer anyone, but there are a few very knowledgeable women on here that will hopefully contact you. Currently it's turkey season, starting tomorrow. I'll be out in the Jefferson/Sparta area next Saturday with a friend and his 5 year old son, if you want to come with us for the experience. Then again, you might be an axe murderer...so meeting at 4am in a desolate area is probably a bad idea. lol

 

Anyway, as soon as you take your first bite of something that you brought from field to table, you will have a greater understanding of what it means to hunt and a greater appreciation for the world around us and how we fit in to the grander picture. It's a proud yet humbling moment that sadly many people never get to experience. Hope you get to.

 

 

Good luck. 

Edited April 23, 2017 by Matty

[Rusty]

Nomad- your tone implies that perhaps deer and turkey sightings are about the most exciting thing to happen on your property in a really long time. I feel for ya if that's the case.

 

Dang, the girls's got sass, I like her.    

[Haskell_Hunter]

If you are already familiar with the outdoors, start by glassing your prey this summer.  Figure out what you want to hunt and then before the season begins, hunt it.  You just can't kill it (yet).  Get the boot on and the binoculars around your neck.  Head to the woods.  Find the critters.  Sit.  Wait.  Find more critters.  Mark your favorite spots on the map (where the critters are).

 

That's where I'd start hunting.  Most of hunting is figuring out where the critters are, patterning them, and then waiting for the season to open (hardest part).  During your scouting you can determine whether you want to do some shotgun hunting or bow hunting.  Shotgun is easier in some regards (especially for small game).  Archery is a load of fun, but it takes more practice and skill to get that arrow to land where you want it to.

 

But since it's the spring, go out and scout animals.  Then in the fall take them all home with you.

[Oneday121o]

You can only really hunt squirrels with an air gun, which is a lot of fun! You can try to hit a rabbit but it would have to be grazing cause you will never hit it on the run. I would start with pheasant and bow hunting deer. Squirrels are fun to hunt but they taste like shit and smell like ass. They also have a bunch of fleas on them in the early season when they open lol. They make good trapping bait thou!

[Shootemandmountem]

ask not what your forum can do for you.....but what can you do for your forum!

[Nomad]

Nomad- your tone implies that perhaps deer and turkey sightings are about the most exciting thing to happen on your property in a really long time. I feel for ya if that's the case.

Thanks for the sympathy...      

Edited April 23, 2017 by Nomad

[Matty]

 

 

 I figure if I spend this year with my free time spent in books and at the range, I will eventually be able to find others to learn with/from by the time I'm really ready to get out there.

 

 

You can easily be hunting by this Fall. (unless that's what you meant)

 

You can get your firearm hunting license without owning a firearm. The State provides shotguns at the hunter ed course.

If you can borrow a crossbow you can get your bow license too. Rusty has one that I sold him! Borrow his. Just take a few shots to make sure you're on.

It's best to take both tests the same day and the earlier in the year you take them, the more you beat the Fall rush that happens at hunter ed.

You can even walk in without registering as long as you have a completed workbook. (better to register though)

 

Then decide what weapon you want to hunt with and buy it. (firearm will require FID)

 

Honestly if you can afford to, get both a shotgun and bow. Get a lower priced shotgun like a mossberg 500 or remington 870 (still perfectly fine quality) and a used compound bow, something very adjustable like a diamond infinite edge. You can get completely setup with both weapons for under $1000. I take it you know Rusty and a friend of Rusty is a friend of mine. So... I can't help you with the firearm, but assuming you aren't spastic, I can easily get you setup and shooting a bow within a few hours, cut arrows, set dl/dw, tune, etc. I've helped a lot of guys (and a few gals) get started bowhunting. I don't mind, I enjoy helping people in this sport. 

 

You said it yourself, you're "dying inside". So get out there this Fall and have fun!

[stlkmjn]

 

Kate I assumed you might be a real person but didn't know you were actually a member. I never know what Rusty's up to. I was afraid he was going trans-pacific on us.  lol Hence the Kaitlyn (Jenner) joke that Tcook made,

 

In any case, I would suggest a shotgun if you're main interest is small game. With different barrels (or chokes and shot sizes/types) you can hunt just about every animal in NJ (might actually be every animal). Probably go with a 20ga since you mentioned being slight of build. Someone that knows more about firearms can chime in there though. Even a 12ga isn't that bad. We recently had my brothers GF shooting clays with a 12ga and she is like 5'2 100#. (depends on what shot you're using, low brass target loads are very gentle to shoot, but turkey loads make me a little flinchy lol)  Start the FID (firearms purchasers id) process as soon as you can.

 

You can also hunt just about anything with the bow even if it is way more challenging in some cases. (and have more and better opportunities for deer (and occasionally other animals) because of smaller safety zones and longer seasons). 

 

What we should do is have some kind of get together at a public range. Going back a few years ago, a bunch of us used to go to Black River Range in Chester every Tuesday (or maybe it was Thursdays). Occasionally we would have newbies come out and we'd answer a lot of questions and sometimes they would shoot our bows or guns and we helped more than a few people get started in hunting. Depending on your draw length and draw weight, I probably have a compound bow you can try and if not, someone here likely does.

 

You could also tag along on a few hunts with experienced hunters to see what it's like. So much can be learned that way that you'll never learn by reading. I don't want to volunteer anyone, but there are a few very knowledgeable women on here that will hopefully contact you. Currently it's turkey season, starting tomorrow. I'll be out in the Jefferson/Sparta area next Saturday with a friend and his 5 year old son, if you want to come with us for the experience. Then again, you might be an axe murderer...so meeting at 4am in a desolate area is probably a bad idea. lol 

 

 

You can get your firearm hunting license without owning a firearm. The State provides shotguns at the hunter ed course.

If you can borrow a crossbow you can get your bow license too. Rusty has one that I sold him! Borrow his. Just take a few shots to make sure you're on.

It's best to take both tests the same day and the earlier in the year you take them, the more you beat the Fall rush that happens at hunter ed.

You can even walk in without registering as long as you have a completed workbook. (better to register though)

 

Then decide what weapon you want to hunt with and buy it. (firearm will require FID)

 

Honestly if you can afford to, get both a shotgun and bow. Get a lower priced shotgun like a mossberg 500 or remington 870 (still perfectly fine quality) and a used compound bow, something very adjustable like a diamond infinite edge. You can get completely setup with both weapons for under $1000. I take it you know Rusty and a friend of Rusty is a friend of mine. So... I can't help you with the firearm, but assuming you aren't spastic, I can easily get you setup and shooting a bow within a few hours, cut arrows, set dl/dw, tune, etc. I've helped a lot of guys (and a few gals) get started bowhunting. I don't mind, I enjoy helping people in this sport. 

 

Haha, Matty! Thanks for clarification on the Kaitlyn reference; that makes a lot more sense now!

 

Given everybody's great feedback and advice (thank you all), I am now strongly leaning toward starting with a compound bow & turkey. Though I've only shot a recurve before, it felt entirely organic in my hands. I'm guessing that would translate well to the compound. I'm also incredibly impressed with the compound bow's versatility in accommodating different draw weights and ability to hunt so many different species of animals (with obvious varying levels of difficulty). 

 

Additionally, though I have about 2 inches and 10 pounds on your brother's GF, shotguns are a little awkward. Well, at least the 12 ga Stoger and Binelli were that I used last fall to shoot traps. I fell in love with the Binelli, but can't tell if the 12 ga is a weight I'd acclimate to, or that would end up being annoying. I will look into the two you recommended- the NJ hunter ed videos referred specifically to the Remington 870 as well. I don't at the moment have the money to purchase both a shotgun and a decent bow, but I love the idea of having and being more than competent with both, and that's a definite goal. 

 

I love the idea of the gathering in Chester (or a different range if that suits folks better)! Is that the place where they have traps on Thursdays off of Route 206? I go past there on my way home from work a few days a week.  As for this Saturday, I have plans currently but thank you so much for the invite! I may reach out to you in the future if that's okay to see if there are other similar such opportunities where I might tag along. 

 

I have my workbook filled out and all the videos & study guide reviewed. Now its just a matter of practicing a little with a weapon. I'll probably go to the range that my husband frequents to practice and use one that hunter ed provides. Anyone know what gauge they typically use? I assume a larger gauge since even 10 y/os are able to take the test. 

 

As for Rusty, we've never yet met. He was the first to offer me a really warm welcome here @ NJW&W and to introduce me to others. He got the conversation started, and pointed me in the direction of member Ms Grit who has been also wonderful in guiding me. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! 

 

I'm going to focus on purchasing a bow and Ms Grit lives not far from me; will probably take her up on target practice but might also need some help tuning it. I'll keep in mind that you are good with this and might seek your assistance to tune once I've got it. Thanks so much! 

 

Squirrels are fun to hunt but they taste like shit and smell like ass. They also have a bunch of fleas on them in the early season when they open lol. They make good trapping bait thou!

 

Ha- I never would have thought! This is extremely useful info; thanks! Not a reason for me not to hunt them or eat them, but certainly a reason enough to make the wild turkey I know I love more interesting to pursue.