Deer Hunting School?

[shagreobe]

I have had similar experiences as Bang. its not all clean and scent free. movement is a big thing. Deer will stand there forever stomping and snorting trying to get you to move. soon as you do they are gone. meanwhile while you are waiting for your chance to shoot him, your heart is pounding so hard you would think the deer could hear it. I stay in one spot on the ground , moving to another spot close by for a different vantage point. Archery is in a stand. deer walk right below you, its actually pretty cool

[PAwhitetailbowhunter]

Thanks for the insight guys... i’ll See if I can find a club or a group of guys that can teach a newbie

Send me a PM, I'll answer all your questions. Happy to help a new hunter. One of my goals is to recruit new hunters every year.

[TooBigToFit]

I went to a PA deer hunting school. In fact, I'm still in it. It's called go into the "woods and make a bunch of mistakes until you figure out the right (or at least, not completely wrong) way to do things".

Seriously, it's great if you can get a mentor or buddy (I was lucky to have one for a little bit, whom I got to help dress a deer). But if you can't find one, don't let it stop you from getting out there.

[Bang]

This evening I was running a zero-turn on the trap grounds of the gun club. Two antlerless deer came out of the woods and browsed on grass. One seemed to not care about me at all. The other seemed just a bit wary, but they both hung in there for a while. I finally decided to get a photo with the cell phone. I had to stop and fish it out of my pocket and bring up the camera function. One walked back into the woods in the meantime. The other remained out for another ten minutes and I took its picture.

Deer often come out to graze while trap shooters are blazing away. I've seen them do it. Had a rabbit chewing on grass right in front of the benches on the rifle range while I blasted away with loud 6.5 Creedmoor. I've seen squirrels hopping around close to the shooters too.

Critters learn there is noise in the world from claps of thunder, brilliant flashes of lightning, falling trees and such. When they remain unharmed, they learn to disregard or tolerate it. I think they disregard the shooting noises because it sounds like storm noise.

[Sandcut]

If you can't find anything closer to you, I'll be glad to take you out. That is, as long as you don't mind schlepping up here to the Poconos. I figure the hunting is probably better here than in Philly. Well, except for maybe on the CSX rail yard. There's more wildlife there than I would have guessed.

You will need to take a hunter's safety course (which I think you can do online now) in order to get your license. Once you get your license, we can discuss what gear you need to start. Don't go spending a lot of money on gear at first until you get a feel for what you'll need. I can loan you some stuff if needed.

All I ask is that you learn the regs thoroughly and abide by them. I deal with PGC WCOs and DCNR rangers both through work and through my business. So, bending the rules is not an option.

[Palerider]

This evening I was running a zero-turn on the trap grounds of the gun club. Two antlerless deer came out of the woods and browsed on grass. One seemed to not care about me at all. The other seemed just a bit wary, but they both hung in there for a while. I finally decided to get a photo with the cell phone. I had to stop and fish it out of my pocket and bring up the camera function. One walked back into the woods in the meantime. The other remained out for another ten minutes and I took its picture.

Deer often come out to graze while trap shooters are blazing away. I've seen them do it. Had a rabbit chewing on grass right in front of the benches on the rifle range while I blasted away with loud 6.5 Creedmoor. I've seen squirrels hopping around close to the shooters too.

Critters learn there is noise in the world from claps of thunder, brilliant flashes of lightning, falling trees and such. When they remain unharmed, they learn to disregard or tolerate it. I think they disregard the shooting noises because it sounds like storm noise.

Memorial Day weekend at cabin we had friends and families up and did a bunch of shooting, ending with 4 separate Tannerite explosions. Cleaned everything up and left. Next time up downloaded trail cam pics and 2 deer walked right through our range area 15 minutes after we left.

[Bang]

They seem to function on assessment of what's happening now. I once read (can't vouch for the validity) that a deer on average has to experience something a number of times before it learns a response to it.

[Rosco the Iroc]

There is a lot of mythology and unproven beliefs about deer and deer hunting. Hate to appear argumentative, but having succeeded in acquiring a couple dozen deer over the years sans marketing ploys I beg to differ.

I was smoking a cigar, standing under a tree, when my first buck walked in and stopped on the other side of the tree from me. It was not aware of me at all. It was studying the "road ahead" like they do before proceeding. It was 10:10 AM. Maybe it was wondering what that smell was and maybe it wasn't.


I moved off the trail to my left. The deer did the same, and we passed each other. I looked back and he was looking at me. It was surreal. Like something you might dream. But it happened.

in my experience, the most important part of hunting from a stand is quietness and the least moving anything the better. And hearing is more important than vision when detecting the approach of deer.

So I just screwed up your post. I hit 'edit' instead of 'reply' and deleted most and highlighted a point I wanted to agree with. Sorry about that.

Unclejumbo

[jakebrake]

Did you really just go there?

Yeah...he did.

[besteverme]

Hey I'm a new hunter in Philly too. Finally made it out last season with an old-timer. Looking for a mentor/buddy also.