Advice for a new handgun deer hunter? - Page 2

pps_dad · November 5, 2008, 10:02 PM

If you are confident with your pistol skills, take it. I killed my very first deer with a .357mag. at a little over a 100yds.

kayakersteve · November 6, 2008, 06:20 AM

Quote:

If you are confident with your pistol skills, take it. I killed my very first deer with a .357mag. at a little over a 100yds.

- For the most part, this is irresponsible and will lead to an injured animal - .357 is a marginal caliber at that distance. Borders on unethical - Dont do it, even if confident and you think you have a great shot - Too likely to not have good outcome!

45Dave · November 6, 2008, 10:02 AM

just wanted to weigh in and second what the others have said.
Knife, have two, one to use, one to loose, both darn sharp.
Good blow up self inflating bed, will make life better.
Put the deer on top of your car, never inside unless you want to be smelling deer blood for a few years.
Gutting the deer, start looking at videos, talk with people and get a few pairs of surgical gloves. Those nice blue rubber thin gloves keep gore off your hands, let you get a better grip on things in the slippery blood and are easy to dispose of.
Good trash bags, pack out your trash please.Try and leave minmal footprint when you go to help the next person in that area.
So how are you going to hang your deer up to gut it or overnight? Better have some rope and maybe a block and tackle system in case so you can keep your deer from crittes who chew on dead things in the night.
So how are you going to keep your scent to a minimum in terms of body oder? Take extra water unless there is a good source near bye.
Practice practice practice...like others, can not say that enopouh.
Tracking..so do you have light so you can track a deer in dim or dark? The coleman style lantern sure helps the blood to show up on dark autum leaves in the north here.
GPS..do you know your area? it is easy to be lost or turned around late at night while tracking a deer.
Shot placement...do not mean to be insulting..any idea of the right place to shoot a deer depending on how the deer is angled toward or away from you? If you do not start checking around for that information, lots of bow hunting sights stresss this.
Ok..off my stump

Ricky · November 6, 2008, 11:03 AM

If you let the body cool for a while most if not all of the bugs will leave. One year it was about 90 degrees when I shot a deer so I skinned it, loaded it into my jeep and drove into the small town 45 minutes away to have my tag validated and the deer hung in cold storage. When I stopped at the ranger station the tics were vacating the deers head and upper neck, the only hair left. There must have been at least 50 0f them from just that small amount of skin. Kinda nasty.:barf:

treg · November 6, 2008, 09:15 PM

A few tidbits from my experience:

-Take your scoped gun to the woods and aim at some stuff in the woods and brush. I found it very difficult to use my scope (Leupold 2x eer) in a lot of situations, took it off and use open sights now.

-JHP bullets are fun on milk jugs and other fun targets but I've found them less capable on game than hard cast lswc's. People who use LBT bullets report the same results as I've seen with lswc bullets.

-Get that H&R out small game hunting and plinking (responsibly) whenever possible - like every week. Try small game camping - it's fun.

One more- Read everything you can get your hands on by Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton. Those guys new their stuff.

November 6, 2008, 10:02 AM	#28
45Dave Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 2007 Location: South East Michigan Posts: 109	second what others have said just wanted to weigh in and second what the others have said. Knife, have two, one to use, one to loose, both darn sharp. Good blow up self inflating bed, will make life better. Put the deer on top of your car, never inside unless you want to be smelling deer blood for a few years. Gutting the deer, start looking at videos, talk with people and get a few pairs of surgical gloves. Those nice blue rubber thin gloves keep gore off your hands, let you get a better grip on things in the slippery blood and are easy to dispose of. Good trash bags, pack out your trash please.Try and leave minmal footprint when you go to help the next person in that area. So how are you going to hang your deer up to gut it or overnight? Better have some rope and maybe a block and tackle system in case so you can keep your deer from crittes who chew on dead things in the night. So how are you going to keep your scent to a minimum in terms of body oder? Take extra water unless there is a good source near bye. Practice practice practice...like others, can not say that enopouh. Tracking..so do you have light so you can track a deer in dim or dark? The coleman style lantern sure helps the blood to show up on dark autum leaves in the north here. GPS..do you know your area? it is easy to be lost or turned around late at night while tracking a deer. Shot placement...do not mean to be insulting..any idea of the right place to shoot a deer depending on how the deer is angled toward or away from you? If you do not start checking around for that information, lots of bow hunting sights stresss this. Ok..off my stump

November 6, 2008, 11:03 AM	#29
Ricky Senior Member Join Date: October 6, 2008 Location: N.California Posts: 408	Bugs If you let the body cool for a while most if not all of the bugs will leave. One year it was about 90 degrees when I shot a deer so I skinned it, loaded it into my jeep and drove into the small town 45 minutes away to have my tag validated and the deer hung in cold storage. When I stopped at the ranger station the tics were vacating the deers head and upper neck, the only hair left. There must have been at least 50 0f them from just that small amount of skin. Kinda nasty.:barf:

November 6, 2008, 09:15 PM	#30
treg Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2006 Posts: 1,102	A few tidbits from my experience: -Take your scoped gun to the woods and aim at some stuff in the woods and brush. I found it very difficult to use my scope (Leupold 2x eer) in a lot of situations, took it off and use open sights now. -JHP bullets are fun on milk jugs and other fun targets but I've found them less capable on game than hard cast lswc's. People who use LBT bullets report the same results as I've seen with lswc bullets. -Get that H&R out small game hunting and plinking (responsibly) whenever possible - like every week. Try small game camping - it's fun. One more- Read everything you can get your hands on by Elmer Keith and Skeeter Skelton. Those guys new their stuff. __________________ .44 Special: For those who get it, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't, no explanation is possible.

November 5, 2008, 10:02 PM	#26
pps_dad Junior Member Join Date: October 8, 2008 Location: Northwest Ohio Posts: 13	If you are confident with your pistol skills, take it. I killed my very first deer with a .357mag. at a little over a 100yds.