Would like to deer hunt someday... but need advice

[BIG P]

Hunting doesnt mean killing,I've went hunting with men that went 5 or 6 years without taking a deer,Some go to camp or cook or even just to hang around in the woods with friends.There is a lot more to hunting than just killing,I've been hunting about 30 years have no problem killing deer.

Because My family & myself have been blessed with having deer on our table for years & hunting is part of that blessing.

[Trockstroh]

I had the same issue myself, And i got over it by not wasting it. By this i mean that if I shot a deer I made sure that its life did not go to waste meaning I used as much as I could as food and the rest I buried to go back into the Cycle of life. This way its life had a purpose.

[Wyoredman]

Hunters are the original conservationists. It was hunters who lobbied their local governments to establish hunting seasons and charge for licenses so States could begin management of the dwindeling game herds in the early 1900's. Hunters also lobbied congress to have an excisze tax (Pittman-Robertson, Dingle-Johnson) placed on all hunting and fishing gear. The tax is used for habitat improvement and game management.

In the early 1900's the game herds in the US were almost wiped out, and without the sport hunters, we may not have any game today. So, to ease your mind about "killing" a deer, just remember that by becoming a hunter you are doing more for wildlife conservation and habitat thatn any non-hunter ever does.

I hope you realize your dream and get to harvest a nice deer some day!

[dayman]

Your grandfather was right that - if not properly managed - deer do wind up either starving or getting sick enough that the coyotes can catch them.

However - as hunters - I think it's important that we do remember we're killing another living thing. So IMHO it's a good thing you're worried about killing the deer.
Liking deer, and taking killing them seriously, is what makes you only take clean shots, and what makes you use as much of the remains as possible.

I'd also say that hunting with a camera is nearly as much fun as with a bow or rifle. Plus, there aren't season restrictions on camera hunting.
But, if you like spending time in the woods, nothing makes you feel as connected as making the switch from "observer" to "active member" of the food chain.

[ZeroJunk]

I love to deer hunt and go 50 or 60 days a year. It is not uncommon to get within a chip shot of some fair bucks and umteen doe.

But, I rarely shoot one.

Nothing says you have to shoot the first one you see or any of them if you don't feel like it.

Just enjoy the outdoors and the challenge of getting close if that is your thing.

Hunting is not the same deal for eveybody.

[Nathan]

Look in the mirror. Can you see yourself? Can you see your ears? If you can, you are a predator. Predators hunt for food.

Ask a deer the same question...they have wider fields of vision and hearing for protection. They eat things they don't attack.

Last, grandpa was right. The state owns the animals. Hunting is the state's primary control method to avoid mass starvation in winter or from disease.

....and they taste good. As a kid, we ate a minimum of 4 deer and 4 antelope every year after I got my license. Tried for Elk too. If we got an elk, we might donate the antelope to the shelter. I was raised in MT, so YMMV.

[sc928porsche]

My advice to you is to go complete your hunter/safety course. You will need it anyway in order to get a hunting license. Once you have completed that, you will have a better idea of what type of rifle you want. Next step is to go out to a shooting range with your 22lr (yes, great training device) and while you are practicing your skills, ask politely when you see someone firing a rifle that you are interested in, if you could take a shot or two. This will narrow your choices to get something that you will want to hunt with.

Good luck and welcome to both the forum and to the hunting clan.

[Mayor Al]

While I agree with the guys who do hunt for the "SPORT" and the results, I tend to focus on the "Results" for my taking the time and expense to actually go out to 'Hunt'. We do use the meat from those critters we kill for our family food. We hunt deer and Hogs. We may go after some turkeys locally next year, but I am not sure about them.

My mobility has dropped a lot lately, so we use blinds and feeders to draw in the critters, and minimize the moving around that has become a real issue for me. So far we have done ok as far as the end result of a hunting trip would be. We have yet to be 'skunked' for either deer or hogs.

We do shoot crow and coyote, but to preserve our gardens and pets, not for food. No guilt watching a fruit stealing crow spin and crash after a good dose of shotgun pellets.

[Shell'sButt]

My advise to you is go along on a few hunts with family or people you know. If you are like one of my many friends who can not stand the sight of animals being killed or just plain injured, hunting might not be the best thing for you.

I'm not trying to discourage you from doing something new, and I am not trying to imply that you are not fit for hunting. I'm saying that you have a big heart for all creatures. I am the same way with coyotes. They remind me too much of my dog.

I hope you take hunting on, for it is a great sport that i have enjoyed for 16 years. Good Luck!!!

[johnwilliamson062]

My grandfather always told me that its actually better for the deer to kill it, because otherwise it could likely starve to death during the NH winters.

This isn't true. As far as i know this has not been true since land was commercially cultivated in the US(100+ years).

In today's environment there are few places in the US where deer are so plentiful on public land that they need to be thinned by hunters.

At least in my region deer are near their peak if not at it. I have read that in all of the US there are more deer now than before Europeans arrived by a large margin. In Ohio the state patrol says cars hit about twice as many deer as tags are filled. State farm claimed they have 4X the number of deer hit claims a few years ago though and that is only one insurance company. If the numbers state farm gave for hits are close to true then hunting hardly makes a dent in the population. Around me enough soybeans and field corn end up on the ground that deer don't come close to starving.

There are always enough hunters that like to hunt so that you need not concern yourself that you have a duty to do it.

Enough hunters or not, you certainly don't have a duty.

The TV shows all show them running off after the shot. I NEVER find this to happen. Mine have always dropped on the spot. And I've shot dozens and dozens of deer. Of course I always hit them in the lungs/heart or sometimes the neck if that's the only shot I have.

I have only shot a few deer and been present for a few more. None of them fell over dead. Even a double lung with damage to the heart results in the deer running 50-100 yards or so before collapsing. I do not use a 300 win mag though. I use a 12g and muzzle loader. Deer run fast, so the 50 yards is only a few seconds.

go price good steaks in your grocery store. Then think about that Deer meat is 10X better than chem-cow meat.

Ohio has pretty tough laws on selling game meat. The only place I can legally purchase venison they want $20 a pound! You are getting organic free range red meat and if you process yourself and use cheap equipment, even the first deer will cost you less than $5 a pound.

I also recommend if you have an interest get out in the woods. Do some scouting. See if you can track a little bit. Look for sign. Unless you are with people who are driving or set you up in a good spot you probably won't even get a decent shot at a deer your first year. I think someone here once said they went five years without getting anywhere close before things clicked. DON'T get someone else to take you out hinting until you are ready unless they know you aren't going to shoot. With my group of buddies, if we have a new hunter, we put them in the best spots and we drive the deer to them until they get a deer. If you aren't ready to shoot, then don't waste this effort & opportunities. Some hunters I know don't buy any red meat and if they don't get a deer or two their family is honestly going to take a nutritional dive over the next year.

[MikeGunz]

What part of nh you live? If in southern NH you cant even use a rifle. Limited to shotguns, muzzle loader, and archery. I just started hunting this spring and love it. For me its fun even if I don't see what im hunting. Its about being enjoying the outdoors in my opinion. ALso you will need to get your hunter course certification to get a NH hunting license.

Oh, and reasons for hunting deer is mainly population control. The fish and game is actually allowing hunters to buy 2 more tags to take deer this year because of the high populations right now. If they werent harvested run ins with cars would sky rocket and they would over populate and starve. Hunting the deer is for their own good in a twisted sort of way hah

[L_Killkenny]

Sorry to say the OP is another product of the backwards thinking that our schools and media outlets are cramming down our throats. A deer is not a man. While I'm not out to torture a critter I give killing a deer no more thought than killing a coyote or a cockroach for that matter. I'm a hunter and part of hunting is killin. I'll grin from ear to ear, give get a few high fives and pose for a bunch of pictures without one iota of remorse. That's what we are, I'll save my emotions for family and friends. Bambi was a cartoon character. Critters don't think like us and have no self awareness. After the shot they don't think "Geez, I've been shot" or realize they are dieing and cry for mother.

As for hunters actually lessening the suffering of critters that's a big "heck yes". Disease and starvation is much worse than getting shot and I've seen whole populations of critters in an area suffer from those things. Not pretty. The anti hunters around what you to believe that Bambi did just fine before we were here and they'd do just as well now that we are here. Wrong. You let deer, coyotes, coon etc run around unchecked and their suffering would be 100 times worse than sending the worst, slob hunters in the U.S. after them.

If you need a pragmatic reason to hunt Bambi, go price good steaks in your grocery store. Then think about that Deer meat is 10X better than chem-cow meat.

Hate to tell you this but for 99.9% of the population hunting and fishing is much more costly than going to the store. That and I prefer beef and pork by a wide margin.

[Edward429451]

Sometimes I forget how good I've got it here. The only extra money it takes me to hunt is for the tag and gas. Foods not extra, I'd have to eat if I was at home. I load my ammo. I sleep in a tent.

There's no accounting for personal taste. I like a good steak, and pork but there's no possible way (to me) that beef is better than Deer or Elk meat. If you like beef & pork better by a wide margin, it makes me wonder if the wild game you ate wasn't mishandled in some way.