Author Topic: just begining (Read 951 times)

dragthewaters · « **on:** April 03, 2003, 11:04:11 AM »

hey I want to get into deer hunting, probably with rifle"that why i can get them at a longer range" and then evntually work into shotgun, then handgun or bow maybe, well anyway, I first need to know what rifle caliber"30-06 maybe" and do I need to learn how to call and all of that stuff too?, or with a rifle cani just scent block and put on some heavy camofluage and pick one off?, i will probably hunt in wisconson. I have no idea how to deer hunt and it would be my first time, i will need to learn how to field dress the deer also, know what deer to shoot ect ect....... I no darn well i can start pulling a deer through the northwoods myself so, i have an idea, i can go get a deer and then radio to my dad and set trail markers and he comes in with a buddy or somthing and we can hual the deer out or field dress"whatever it takes", any info will help , thanks

jhm · « **Reply #1 on:** April 03, 2003, 12:29:43 PM »

dragthewaters: Probably one of the first things you would want to do is get in touch with the game and fish dept. and find out about licenses and hunting seasons, you will also need some hunter orange (for safety) the time of year the season is in will also have to be taken into account for the clothing you will need you want to be comfortable, and safe, find a local gun club where you will be able to talk and learn from some of the seasoned hunters, (they may even have a range) now the 30-06 you mentioned as fine a caliber as a hunter can have, I cant think of a time when I didnt have a 30-06 around the house even when all the other HOT new calibers were calling my name. You wont be able to learn it all the first year, some of us never seem to learn but we keep trying, yes we get the deer but thats not what deer hunting is about its all of the other stuff that goes with it, as the years go by it will all add up to be just one hell of a lifelong experience.

JIM

Dezertyote · « **Reply #2 on:** April 04, 2003, 06:49:49 AM »

Drag, I would suggest the first thing you do is to take a hunter safty course. This will be a great benifit to you,it will guide you to a safe hunting future. Safty is the first and formost aspect of the sport. I hope you have a safe and enjoyable future, and beware it is known to cause a man to call in sick. You will develope high fevers, colds, you name it you'll have it during hunting season...... Good luck

dragthewaters · « **Reply #3 on:** April 04, 2003, 12:04:08 PM »

i have already been through the hunters saftey course, it wa 2 days long., i hunt waterfowl every weekend usually, but deer hunting is very new too me

Hud · « **Reply #4 on:** April 04, 2003, 05:17:43 PM »

I would get some videos on processing deer or have someone there to show you how the first time. Use a knife with a gut hook on it, they really work well for opening them up with out cutting up the gut.

For a hunting spot I would find an old farmstead with maybe a few crab apple trees still growing. This may be on public land and have no buildings left but you can tell it was a farmstead by how the trees are arranged and the type that are growing.

Then next best spot is a deer funnel. Maybe two lakes that come close together so that the deer have to travel that area to move back and forth.
Or it could be a overgrown fence line that connects two areas of woods or swamps. Some times it is a ravine that connects two areas.

Tracks, rubs, and scrapes will tell how much they are used.

One of my favorite spots is on public land. It is an old farmstead with pines, elms, lilacs, and a couple of old apple trees with a flowing well that runs down a ravine into a small lake. It is out in a open grass area and is hard to spot from the road, as it blends in with the woods on the other side of the lake. The deer travel out of the backwoods around the edge of the lake, and up through the old homestead before breaking out across the open grassland and then across the road to some other woods on the other side of the road. I found this spot by using a map then spotted deer tracks where they crossed the road.

Happy hunting.
Hud

Dezertyote · « **Reply #5 on:** April 05, 2003, 03:46:48 AM »

Drag. glad to hear you've gone through the course. You live in a state that produces some monster deer and I'll bet it wont take you long it figure their paterns and habits. Is it Greene county that gives up big whitetail, I think thats the county... Good luck and post a pic. next fall. :grin:

dragthewaters · « **Reply #6 on:** April 05, 2003, 04:23:19 AM »

I live in will county. not much here but there is a ton by were i duck hunt, there are hunters all over there, I can only hunt deer with shotgun around here, I will be going to wisconson to hunt with a rifle.

AKA Craig · « **Reply #7 on:** April 10, 2003, 09:03:07 AM »

well you can hunt with a shotgun there, just get some sabot slugs and a rifled barrel and you can get great groups to about 100 yds.

Craig

John Y Cannuck · « **Reply #8 on:** April 14, 2003, 01:41:08 AM »

When you get that deer, get it openned up imediately. Like walk straight over and get out your knife. Starting the cooling proccess IMO is the key to the best venison. They bloat fast, and I've gutted a few of those too, and they're OK if not left in the heat for too long. Had a young hunter with us a few years back, decided he'd wait 'till we came out. "Geez, it wasn't that fat before" Thankfully it was a cold day.

Start by standing the deer up on it's back. This lets the guts drop away from where you are cutting, reducing the chance of nicking them. AVOID nicking them. makes a mess, and may spoil some meat. Start by inserting your knife just below the ribs, where they meet. Then use your gut hook to zip open the hide, and the mussle wall all the way down, and around the genitals (both sides of genitals). Carefully trim around the genitals not cutting the conection to the bladder. When you find it, tie it off, cutt it free, and get the bladder out of there. No sense having your meat pi$$ed on. Now you can cut the genitals free and discard. Trim around the anus, cut deeply, until the anus is free, but still attached to the intestine. Tie that off, and pull/ push it through to the inside. You may want to tip the deer on it's side about now, and dump out the guts. stand it up again. Trim the diaphram loose from the walls of the chest.
Make a small inscision in the throat (Make it low if you want a good mount) reach in and cut the windpipe. Then, reach into the chest cavity and pull out the heart, lungs, and clean the cavity out well.
If you eat heart /Liver. Recover them and bag them now. Or ifshort of bags, shove them up high in the chest for the drag out.
The legs have scent glands that some like to remove to avoid contamination of the meat, do it last, as you may not be able to wash after touching them.
If you're going to wait for help on the drag, prop the chest open to aid cooling, or hang the deer. (not as easy as it sounds unless you brought a hoist)
Deer drag really easy, head first after gutting. But, take the prop out of the chest before dragging. Helps keep the leaves out.

OK guys what did I miss?

Big · « **Reply #9 on:** April 20, 2003, 05:45:20 AM »

DON"T cut the throat if you don't want to piss off your taxidermist. Cut no higher than the bottom of the ribcage, then (once the diaphragm is cut away) reach way up into the chest cavity, grab the windpipe, cut it as high up as you can reach (be careful not to cut yourself), and pull it down.