What’s the one tip you wish you were given

[Hschweers]

As a new hunter, what’s the one tip you wish you were given chasing white tails? Or what’s the one tip you were given that’s proven itself over and over.

 

[LightFoot]

Buy once, cry once
&
Spend more money hunting than buying gear

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[Lowg08]

Don’t give up on a spot if you don’t see a deer the first time.

 

[magtech]

Relax and enjoy the time you're there.

Deer will always come.

Take the time to enjoy the moments you're given.

Its not a race or a competition. Its you and nature. That's it.

 

[156821]

Buy top quality gear if you can. It will last longer and hold value.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

The best advice that I've been given was to learn to glass. The second best (potentially the first) was to buy the best optics that you can.

 

[DunnCoHunter]

I might have a different opinion than a lot of guys. But if someone is just starting out, I would worry a lot less about having the best gear and more about learning as much about deer patterns as you can. Bucks don’t care if you are wearing Sitka or Walmart camo. Check out Dan Infalts videos. And mostly just spend a ton of time in the woods!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

I might have a different opinion than a lot of guys. But if someone is just starting out, I would worry a lot less about having the best gear and more about learning as much about deer patterns as you can. Bucks don’t care if you are wearing Sitka or Walmart camo. Check out Dan Infalts videos. And mostly just spend a ton of time in the woods!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

To a large extent, clothing and weapons do not require massive amounts of money to be effective.

The last part should be "pay close attention while spending a lot of time in the woods". Way too many hunters wander aimlessly hoping to get lucky when they'd be better served to sit down and pay attention to their surroundings.

 

[OspreyZB]

With all the emphasis we see on hunting mature bucks, the tip I wish I would have got would be to simply learn how to kill deer with a bow before you learn how to hunt mature bucks. The time to learn how to bow kill an animal is not when you have a giant buck standing there in front of you. Just shoot deer, lots of deer, any legal deer, until you develop that killer instinct. I can't tell you how many big deer I messed up on because I learned how to get on big bucks before I knew how to actually kill them.

 

[DunnCoHunter]

To a large extent, clothing and weapons do not require massive amounts of money to be effective.

The last part should be "pay close attention while spending a lot of time in the woods". Way too many hunters wander aimlessly hoping to get lucky when they'd be better served to sit down and pay attention to their surroundings.

Yes exactly!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HunterHawk]

Dont set up in the bedding areas the first week of season and take your whole family in to set up treestands 2 days before season and screw up my spot!! Ok, thats what happend to me last year.. but seriously i had to wonder if they knew what sign to look for and why the deer were different places at different times.. learn how to read sign and deer behavior.. the rest of it will fall in to place with many a heart breaks learning along the way like the rest of us. It is the fun part and what makes it worth it!
Note* im good at killing whitetails...not booners.

 

[Brian_23456]

Don't pass on an animal opening day that you would be happy with on closing day.
ALWAYS be ready to take a shot.

 

[Thess87]

ENJOY IT. Just shoot deer and don’t get wrapped up in 180+150+ etc... stuff. It was a lot more fun when I thought every buck was a shooter.

 

[540-Virginian]

Dan Infalt

 

[540-Virginian]

With all the emphasis we see on hunting mature bucks, the tip I wish I would have got would be to simply learn how to kill deer with a bow before you learn how to hunt mature bucks. The time to learn how to bow kill an animal is not when you have a giant buck standing there in front of you. Just shoot deer, lots of deer, any legal deer, until you develop that killer instinct. I can't tell you how many big deer I messed up on because I learned how to get on big bucks before I knew how to actually kill them.

This may be my favorite post. You should start your path this way and this mindset. Id also argue to do same with a rifle. I posted i wish i knew about Dan Infalt, but now im second guessing myself as I would have believed i could hunt big bucks right away (because im an overconfident person). What i would do is pay attention to Dan’s strategies like scouting for hunters, understanidng and hunting thermals etc. All are valuable. All deer are the same, big bucks just get the best bedding spot. But smaller bucks and does still avoid hunters, use the wind etc. Save monster bucks for later, the buck fever alone will take some preparation which i believe only comes from taking does and not so big bucks.

 

[LookinforDirt]

Learn the ”woods”. Hunting is so much more interesting and effective when you can identify trees, grasses, species of snakes, birds, squirrels, understand the sounds other animals are making, understand why animals do what they do. The woods are alive when everything around you means something. I think that, in part, is why non-hunters can see it as boring. All they see are a bunch of trees.

 

[25orSo]

Be ready to learn from your mistakes because you are going to make them. Not repeating them is what makes you a better hunter.

Learn to hunt the way you enjoy it the most, not just the way everyone else does it.

 

[406life]

Pursue experiences. Don't get caught up in end results.

 

[*zap*]

tv shows are far from reality for 90% of hunters.....the ground you hunt dictates the results you get when your talking about inches. If your looking for max inches of antler then find where those bucks are in the region of the country that you hunt and get permission/lease that ground......then learn to hunt them early season... as in from opening day.

 

[Drenalin]

Learn animal behavior, forget all the gimmicks. I wasted a lot of time screwing with scent control, various deer pees, calls, etc. My whitetail hunting didn’t start to click till I ditched all that stuff and focused on scouting and hunting smarter.