New to whitetails

[BRL]

I am thinking about a whitetail outfitter in the Southeast for a 3 or 4 day hunt. I have been interested in deer hunting since my high school days...nearly 25 years ago. I didn't grow up in a hunting family nor knew any hunters. So, over the last 20 something years, my hunting experience (which has been minimal) has been day trips for hogs or exotics. I would really like to start getting some whitetail experience so I can teach my kids one day and have them grow up in a hunting family. How do I know what to look for in an outfitter and what questions to ask before booking?

Thank you! 

[Graybeard]

I doubt you'll learn anything to teach the kids booking a hunt with an outfitter in the southeast. Most all such hunts are what they refer to as "semi guided" meaning they drive you out to a stand or shooting house and drive away leaving you until the agreed to pick up time. You'll basically just sit there by yourself until they return for you. You'll not be allowed to get out of that stand to move around at all and most even expect you to stay there if you shoot a deer and wait until they return to look for it.

You might can make arrangements for a one on one with a guide to hunt on the ground where you might actually pick up some info to help you but I doubt it. You'll come closer to that out in Texas most likely or at least somewhere other than the SE. You'd probably learn more by finding an experienced hunter you could go out with who would take the time to teach you as you hunt than on most any guided hunt.

[beemanbeme]

Yup. 
I'm sure there have been more than a couple of books written that might start you out but you can learn a lot about deer "hunting" by just spending time in the woods before and after deer season.  The books should have some pictures of what a scrap and a rub looks like and such.

I learned a lot about their habits and where they were using whilst just roaming around the woods calling myself squirrel hunting. It does beat watching a bunch of people making a gazillion dollars a year play a half a game of football.  And it don't hurt to take the kids along.

[Land_Owner]

Go deer hunting in any National Forest.  It is practically free and you can take the kids right away.  You don't have to take a gun. 

Learn sign, stalk, sit, wait, get acclimated to the forest, study the wildlife, and learn to be patient and persistent.  There is nothing sacred about carrying a gun and looking through a scope to kill a deer.  That part of the hunt everyone of us has come to terms with.  It is the OTHER skills that differentiate us.

Sure, completing the kill is the ultimate predatory instinct that distinguishes us from the prey.  There are PLENTY of deer in the National Forests.  Many forests are not hunted.  Deer that are not hunted would give you a better insight into the resource than those that are hunted hard and predictably more secretive and scarce.

[buck460XVR]

some good suggestions given. Outfitters don't get paid to teach, they get paid to put you on deer. They don't have the time to teach much to their clients, nor do they want to. Learn too much and you won't need them anymore. Using a guide/outfitter is more of a shoot than a hunt.They hunt and find the game and you shoot it. At least the good ones do....the poor ones put you in the same stand their last client sat in. If just the thrill of shooting an animal is what you're after then, an outfitter may be the answer......but then you'll never know  the satisfaction of getting to know your quarry and using woodsmanship and skill to have the opportunity to pull the trigger.

Time in the woods is the best way to learn about deer and other game/non-game animals, and success should not be measured by the size/quantity of the kill, but the quality of the hunt. Spending time together in the woods with your kids is a successful hunt whether you kill somethin' or not......at least it is for me. Even veteran deer hunters come home empty-handed more times than not.  Finding a place to go can sometimes be the hardest part....but like L_O said, if there's public land near you, odds are there's something to hunt on it. The internet and the library are full of whitetail knowledge......go for it.

[BRL]

All good points and well put. Thanks for the advice. I missed the deadline to apply for public land hunts here. But, like most of you said, that doesn't mean I can't go unarmed and just sit, deer season or not. That makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

[K.K]

Good for you for promoting hunting in your family, and being eager to learn. I've taken my four-year old son in the woods since he was a baby. Sometimes we plant food plots, hunt mushrooms, or just walk. We have encountered many deer, and he's probably seen more at his age than many hunters I know. I guess the point is that the more time that you spend in the woods, the more encounters that you have.

It might be a great time to practice marksmanship skills, safe gun handling, etc.

As someone mentioend above, reading can be a great way to learn hunting skills and ideas as well.  Congratulations on coming back to hunting,and introducing new hunters to our ranks. We need more like you.
Best,

K.K

[BRL]

These posts prompted me to really research our public lands here in FL. I found that there are still permits available for some WMA's for this season. I have always been intimidated by going on public land alone to hunt. I have always thought, with my inexperience, I might ruin someone elses hunt. But, I always thought I would have to really get in there and hunt hard to find deer...which I probably would have to in order to find a nice deer. However, that doesn't mean that I can't just set up on the edge of a near field and watch (not only deer, but the hunters coming in and out of the woods) to see what happens. This might be just the thing to get my feet wet. Then, come small game season, get out and spend more time deeper in the woods honing skills and prepping for next season. Each time, I'll feel a little more comfortable and hopefully walk away a little more educated.

Thank you!

[Land_Owner]

BRL...I didn't know you were in FL.  If near East Central FL then I can direct you to multiple places where you can go, alone or with your kids, to sit, watch, listen, and learn without the interference of other humans.  I can also direct you to multiple places where the public hunts that you can visit right now, before the season starts, to hone your skills.  A lot of time is spent in the "patterning" of specific animals and we believe we're patterning them while in fact they may and often are patterning us.  How often I have read about a seasoned hunter going to his "sweet spot" for that big buck only to learn his (______ fill in the blank...friend, brother, father-in-law, etc.) ambled into the woods that same day and time, sat down and killed the first buck they saw, which turned out to be the ONE the seasoned hunter was looking for.  Why?  The buck didn't expect the (______ fill in the blank) hunter as it skirted the seasoned hunter.  This happens a lot mre than we anticipate.

[BRL]

Land_Owner, that would be great, thank you!! I am in Southwest, FL (Naples), but would be willing to take a drive if it meant gaining experience and knowledge.

[yooper77]

I don't know about the Southeast, because I live in the Northwest.

All my personal public land hunting experience is to get the plot maps for your area and study and scout them.

I hunt the hardest spots to get too and almost 99% of the time I never see another person, because its not road accessible.

Do it yourself hunts are more enjoyable and very satisfying.  I stillhunt, because I see more and don't waste away sitting in a tree or blind.

yooper77

[Graybeard]

Pretty much anywhere in the southeast if you get more than 1/2 mile from all roads you'll be about 1/4 mile from the nearest hunter.

[james25889]

when i hunted in new jersey, i hunted public land my stand was only about 100 yds off the road easy to get in and out also what i liked best about it was everybody went past me in the morning meaning they would pass me again later usually around lunch time. thats like 10 or 20 people doing deer drives for me