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New Hunter - No experience!


BobbyDigital

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Welcome and most of all Enjoy the experience. Bring bug spray when taking your test at Black River. I am in the area daily and it has been buggy. Have fun and good luck this season. Some really good people on here, don’t be afraid to ask questions and share your experiences afield


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AWM

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10 minutes ago, Rusty said:

Youngin  :shakehead:

44th season of hunting for me coming up....  I couldn't tell you who was President in 1974, or what the price of gas was, but that year I remember my first pheasant, first rabbit, and first shot at a buck up by Blue Mountain lakes...  Opening morning - spent the weekend with my dad's hunting gang in a cabin back by Crater lake - the lake was called "Lake Success" if I am not mistaken but Crater was right next to it. . Back then you could drive straight up the Mountain through fiddler's elbow. We had like 14 guys - I seem to recall they drank a lot. They would stand for a few hours opening morning and last morning of 6-day and it was drive drive drive drive after that.  Anyway I digress - my dad drove us out closer to the main road and we parked and walked due west downhill about 1/2 a mile and the mountain laurel opened up into a clearing .  At dawn, a rack buck (huge to me -but realistically a yearling or 2.5 year old 6pt) appeared across the clearing at 30 yards. I had been practicing with this old Ranger O/U shotgun with 1buckshot and already knew I could kill this deer. My dad was whispering "don't move, let it come closer" - well because it was. It had no idea we were there (I had no concept of wind direction or scent back then or if a deer could even smell us). The buck angled closer always with clear shot at vitals entire time and my dad was still like "don't shoot, wait, wait".   Well the damn buck got real close like 15 yards broadside and my dad was like "Ok shoot" but as he said that the deer did a 180 and bolted toward my cousin who was apparently several hundred yards away... I shot once, such close range figured done deal (still remember this) but it kept running and then I heard a bang.  (It ran right by my cousin who was 2 years older than me at 12, standing with my Uncle), and it was so close he shot it in the arse and took quite a chunk out... We know this because - another bang a few minutes later, was my dad's friend who was standing even further away, saw a badly injured buck fall, and he walked over to finish it off.  He shot it in the head and broke the skull cap so the rack was jiggling back and forth. There was buckshot up near the shoulder area from my shot and my cousin damn near blew his arse off.  So I really can't claim that as my first buck but it was pretty cool for my very first deer hunt EVER - it only took like 15 minutes of daylight to get a shot.  I never shot at a buck again until age 16, during a deer drive on our old club which encompassed what is now the Hyper-Humus tract of public land. I shot a spike. I dabbled in shotgun hunting each year took maybe 5 more bucks with gun nothing big and never took deer hunting seriously (I was a rabid duck and small game hunter though - had a great GSP for pheasants and woodcock, and that club was the best duck and goose spot on earth).  My Grandfather gave me a Ben Pearson "Critter Getter" 55lb bow when I was like 20 years old. Not even sure how he got it.  This was like 1984 so even that bow was probably already 7 or 8 years old. I practiced, got my bow license, and was determined to learn how to really hunt deer, by myself the way it was meant to be. I learned so much in that first year but nothing compared to what I know now. I missed several bucks from ground and stand, but using this rickety climber made of a small piece of plywood and slotted band iron to wrap around the tree, 11/20/84 I shot my first bow kill - a 1.5 year old 6pt. I could not have been prouder. 20 yard heart shot no less. That bow was so slow the arrow barely penetrated but it hit on or near the heart and penetrated a few inches and the buck took like 6 steps and died!   That 4 blade rocky mountain just shredded the heart with every footstep. 

The amount of experience I have obtained since that first year with bow - I can't even begin to explain.  Nothing about hunting with a gun and two different deer gangs EVER made me a good deer hunter.  Going solo with a bow surely did. 

Nothing spooks deer more than my stank… 

16 3/4” Live Fluke Release Club

I shot a big 10pt once….

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^^^^ and to add on to that - my father's philosophy was ingrained into him by his father. "Never shoot a buck if he's walking your way you will get a better shot".   Well when you are on the ground, with no blind, no cover - I totally disagree with that. I believe that once a deer enters a zone where you feel 100% confident you will kill it, the angle is right - take the shot.    My additional 44 years of experience since that day, has shown that to be good advice.   That being said, I will absolutely let a deer walking toward me, and is not stopping, no good shot angle - walk right by me.  I love quartering away shots and so many times up in a tree I have let deer walk under me and get the walking away at an angle.  Aim for last rib, exit opposite armpit - my favorite shot!

Edited by JHbowhunter

Nothing spooks deer more than my stank… 

16 3/4” Live Fluke Release Club

I shot a big 10pt once….

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21 hours ago, BobbyDigital said:

 

Hey guys - I am a brand new hunter (hunter ed this weekend). 29 yrs old, no hunting relatives. Really excited to get out there and give it a shot. Bought a compound bow back in spring and have been practicing daily to warm up for the fall. Also got my firearms ID and purchased a shotgun in hopes of getting into some ducks/turkeys. Plan on hunting NJ public lands with a friend of mine who is also new to hunting.

 

Been researching like crazy on the internet and reading books to make sure my skills are up to snuff in case we do land something. Anyone have any experience in WMAs recently? Are they as packed as I've been reading online?

 

Hope to see some of you out there! Cheers.

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Welcome to the site. It’s never to late to start hunting and it’s a great way to enjoy the outdoors. Best of luck.  

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Good luck . Keep it fun. Practice shooting from a tree stand at various angles . Study the pictures in Jack's thread , keep your movement down, and play the wind to your advantage.  Also be obsurbant of how the deer reacts to being shot it can tell you a whole lot about how good of a hit it was and can be the difference between putting your tag on it or not. .learn from all your mistakes .. you will make many!

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Enjoy it!  Last year was my first season , I also did my hunter’s ed at Black River as well! (Went very fast doing bow only). I also am hunting Black River WMA. everyone on this site is sooo helpful! You will have a great first season! Day 2 of my first season last year and I had a group of 5 doe in sight. You never know what can happen! 

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Congrats, welcome to hunting, good luck newbie,I,d have more to offer advice wise if you are still here come next year,hey, just because you are able to hunt does not a hunter make.Having a mentor someone with experience is a good thing.

“In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen.” -Theodore Roosevelt

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Welcome!  This rain will bring you good luck on your test.   Pics I just put up on another thread about 'how do you prefer to hunt?' should help you a little with natural blinds and ground hunting.  Do it right, and you'll have deer in your lap.  Deer don't look down anymore.  Good luck hunting, and I'm looking forward to another ground hunter to share stories with.

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Welcome!  This rain will bring you good luck on your test.   Pics I just put up on another thread about 'how do you prefer to hunt?' should help you a little with natural blinds and ground hunting.  Do it right, and you'll have deer in your lap.  Deer don't look down anymore.  Good luck hunting, and I'm looking forward to another ground hunter to share stories with.
Haha and rain it did. Got lucky during my archery and shotgun field tests it was only drizzling but I passed no problem. And awesome, I'll check that thread out - thanks!

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