Want to bowhunt this season;I really need a mentor or something

[Savate]

I was asking around at the TradGang too....

I've never been out during deer season and don't know where to start.

Every year I try to get my trad gear together, reading every article and forum post I can find.

But then what? I don't know where to go to even scout or step on someone's turf. I don't even know the first thing about tree-stands (just what I learned in bowhunting class) and would rather spot-and-stalk.

Does anyone ever take a newbie along with them or is that just considered a recipe for a "ruined hunt"?  Is that something that is done (except for the obvious taking along of your son/daughter...).  I hope to raise my sons to appreciate the outdoors and be hunters, but not much chance of that if "Daddy" is not good at it 

Is my only hope to go pay someone to "guide" me on their land? 
 

[madcrow]

Where in western NC are you?  We have quite a few people on here from that general location.  Surely one of them would be willing to take you under their wing and give you some pointers.

[Sparrow]

 1st step is to get out there in the woods and get comfortable.when you start feeling good about the woods and start seeing a few critters( before they see you) your on your way.Take the gear with you then and learn to move around out there without knocking your bow against tree's and hanging your string in the brush,dropping your arrow,etc. Have fun and be of good heart and a animal will come to you.keep your shots close and aim small.  Frank

[Savate]

I'm in the Waynesville area, real close to Cold Mountain.

My friends have a large tract of land (and farm) in Fines Creek area and gave me the ok to go hunt on their land.  I just need to go get the lay of the land (not sure how to run a good recon/scout for that though).

[n2everythg]

have you spendt much time in the woods at all?

Just go out there. take a compas with u and make sure you know how to use it.
spend some time just looking around. look for trails through the brush. tracks on the ground. scat.
animals need the  same things that you do.
food, shelter, and water.
think simple. this is not really tough.
take a few hours and just go sit by a tree. sit just a still as you can and quiet. dont swat mosquitoes. dont scratch. dont even breath heavy if you can help it. dont whip your head around... look by moving your eyes first before your head. you will be amazed at what you start to see when you slow down. when you do move try to move slow and steady.

would be happy to go out with you into the woods but ur quite a ways away.
buy a good primer hunting book or just go spend a couple hrs in barnes n nobles and do some scanning of the ones they have.
but you really gotta just go...
dont even really need to get that far from a road or whatever.... just park your car and walk 50 yds back in and it will suprise you.
you just gotta jump in and go.
luck.
wade

[Kegan]

My father took my brother and I hunting with him a year before we got out licenses. He had never had any formal training, just experience, and he never really gave us instructions other than "be quiet and move slowly".

We still hunted slowly along and not ten minutes in, a four point and two does walked up on us.

There had been no previous scouting (not that it would have mattered- rifle season around here is complete chaos), and just walked out the door and into the woods. It wasn't until later that I learned that we had been using "proper foot placement" (reaching out and rolling your foot getnly to the ground before putting any weight on it). We weren't wearing camo either, just sweath shirts and orange vests.

Later we stalked out and sat on a log, in the open without a blind of any sort, in a spot where deer passed through occasionally (we hadn't seen any actually walk through here, but it was where the field met the woods). We had three doe walk up on us, and another relieve herself in front of us. We weren't using scents at the time. Again, I learned later about tracking, and looking for sign for where deer frequent.

I learned alot about hunting in the week during which he took us out.

[hawkbow]

We are all hunters by instinct, tapping into our predatory side is usually an easy thing for we humans to do.. However gaining the confidence to bring down large game with a bow and arrow is something that must be learned through patience and practice while in the wild places... Get out there brother and soak up the wilderness, you will learn more from just sitting and watching the game than you ever will by killing them. I would suggest you hunt from a tree stand simply because you will have more opportunity to witness the animals in their natural state before you make a harvest.Hunt safe, hunt with honor, and enjoy your adventure... look forward to some pics of your success.. HAWK a/ho

   

[kayakfisher]

Its not hard ,Deer do what we do ,eat ,sleep ,crap,and breed, summer and spring months they eat a lot of green vegetation ,also see them in hay fields etc,But boy when those acorns start falling they will move into the hard Oaks walk this property and look for oak trees there will be acorns on the ground guarantee it then start looking for what looks like chocolate covered raisins in a small pile.Thats deer scat the more piles you find the heaver there feeding there [good place for stand].Next look for trails natures sidewalks there will be a trail they follow coming into that area look for areas where trails cross[ good ambush area] [do not sit directly on trails] sit to one side . hay fields and open areas will generally have a border trail 50 yards or less from the edge in the timber again find to trails that cross set up a stand deer will walk these checking the field before entering usually evening time.low lying areas between high areas good deer travel areas ,creek bottom ,drainage areas etc.Small strips of timber between wood lots ,timber etc act as funeels for deer again for trails,tracks and scat,deer tracks look kinda like two triangles side by side.if you dint have a tree stand you can make a ground blind ,dead wood stacked,piled up not to much just something to sit behind ,or even sitting three ,four feet behind a big tree allow enough room to draw your bow but remember if you use a tree stand always wear a safety harness better to be a live hunter and gain experience than to be well dead ,paralyzed  you get the point
                                          Dennis

[sailordad]

  savate,
i know what your going thru. i never did that much hunting as a kid,didnt have a dad around to teach me how. as i got older the itch got to me and i just started reading and wacthing everything i could about hunting,mostly turkey. then i started spending as much time as possible in the woods so that i could " get to know nature "
then i started hunting on my own,first few years were kinda tough and disappointing to say the least. however like anything else with practice comes success.
then when my youngest son asked to go deer hunting a few years back i said, what the heck why not. so we started to deer hunt,now hes in the navy and
he wont be able to hunt with me for a few years,but im still going to go,still read and watch everything i can about deer and turkey hunting.
hoping to finish my bow up real soon(maybe this weekend) and then im going to go bow hunting and i hope i can take my first ever deer(been trying for 4 years to take a deer). took me three years to shoot my first turkey. i even watch and red evrything i can on elk and antelope and bear hunting,just to get pointers for that
"someday" hunt.

you can do it.heck ifn i can do it. i know you can do it too


                                                                                        tim

[kayakfisher]

guys just hang in there its called paying dues you sit for days in a tree stand than in a blink of a eye it pays off.
                         Dennis