Contributors to this thread:
Hey everyone, I have never hunted before, and don't have any friends or family who hunt. Took my bow hunters course and practicing at range but had some questions for anyone willing to help someone looking to get into hunting. First, aside from the obvious essentials covered in bow hunting class, what would you all consider must haves in your packs? Second, anyone have any contact info for any deer processors? I wouldn't mind doing it myself but don't live anywhere that would make it feasible. I have found threads elsewhere with contact info for processors that seem to be outdated. Thanks in advance.
Sorry, meant to mention where I was from for the processor. I'm from Killingly.
I had heard of one in Plainfield and one in Canterbury, but they were on forums over 2 years old and people had commented they hadn't been able to get in touch with them recently. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.
welcome bud.!,...must haves,.hmmmm,...patience,dedication,willingness to learn..other than that ,tp,compass,map,knife,..have fun is most important...
For your pack- most hunts are a few hours in the morning or a few hours in the afternoon...so you don't need much.
Essentials for me consist of: bow tow rope, knife, license, pen and tags, some band aids, grunt call, flashlight, paper towels, thin rubber gloves for field dressing. That's it.
I wear a safety vest for treestand use. If I ever need a compass, my phone has one. I'm close enough to my truck if I ever need anything I don't bring.
Good luck.
Welcome!
SCENT CONTROL!!!
I wash my hunting cloth a month before the season and put it in a plastic bag with fresh pine niddles.
Welcome. What are you shooting for bow, arrows & broadhead?
1. Rubber swamp boots (UA or LaCrosse)
2. Self climbing treestand (Summit or Lone Wolf).
3. Thermacell (for mosquitoes) in early season.
4. Sharp field dressing knife.
5. Scoutlookweather app.
Best Of luck. Lots of good info and intel in this forum.
Good luck, your jumping into the deep end of the pool starting with a bow and no mentor.
I would suggest starting firearms first, small game, then deer and after you have a couple of years and deer under your belt with a firearm, then going to bow.
Just my opinion. I couldn't imagine starting out hunting by big game hunting with a bow, without any other experience. Bow hunting is hard enough if you have years of experience.
Spend as much time on this site, ask as many questions as you can think of. The internet is your best tool, utilize it. I'd stay away from watching hunting tv, A lot goes on in the celebrity life that I do not agree with, poor shot choices etc. I haven't been hunting that long only about 15 years, but I live and breath hunting. If you have any questions please feel free to pm me.
Welcome, I second what Silverado said , LOL stay on this site even though there are some wise guys her they will go out of there way to help,some of us old guys have been hunting for 40 years . Steve
and some hunted brontosouraseseses when they were plenty, right bbb and steve..lol
The butcher in Plainfield retired. I hear there is a guy on one of those side streets off of Broad st that butchers.I live up the road in Brooklyn, so if you need any help let me know.
I let many a small bronto walk, I like the big ones with the big horn in the middle of their heads. Sorry Ro40c, you'll catch on after you're on the site a while.
In my Pack - small folding saw, knife, tags, flashlight, range finder, scent spray, compass (been in there for years), lighter, snacks, head net, gloves, change of socks, and TOILET PAPER!!! The last is the most important.
Tips - scent control is critical, so get some of the scent free laundry soap at cabela's or dicks, wash your hunting clothes and store them in a scent control bag. And hunt with the wind in your face or quartering. The deer's nose is the #1 problem to get around when hunting.
If you can find a mentor in your area it would help a ton to learn things a whole lot quicker. I've been hunting for 46 yrs and I just started to understand things last week :)
Good luck and welcome.
Troy I really can't help you out with a butcher in your area, but to answer your other question regarding what you would keep in your pack...lots of good suggestions already but you will have to modify to fit your needs. In some situations you won't even need to bring a pack into the woods with you because you are so close to your vehicle and in others you might have to bring a hell of a lot more. You'll figure it out as you experience it. Everybody is different on what they view to be important. We have all been there at least one time when we left something important or necessary at home, but I can guarantee you in most cases that it only happened once. Heck, one time I left my boots home. Only happened once. Go have fun and enjoy the bliss of being a newbie while you can, cause soon you'll be so far advanced in your "hunting maturity stage" that you'll be passing up deer that use to make you grin.
ro40,
Mechanical or fixed blade broadheads?
What do you think about rage?
dude,wait till the season gets close and swampdonkey posts whats in pack...youll be ready for an invasion...lol
oh also bring a backup flashlight in your pack, never know when yours may shit the bed. I also bring a usb battery block in my pack. It can recharge your cell phone up to 4 times. Could be a lifesaver, I pack a gps as well with my parking spot and treestands all marked, very easy to get turned around especially in the dark in the excitement of trailing a deer.
oh also bring a backup flashlight in your pack, never know when yours may shit the bed. I also bring a usb battery block in my pack. It can recharge your cell phone up to 4 times. Could be a lifesaver, I pack a gps as well with my parking spot and treestands all marked, very easy to get turned around especially in the dark in the excitement of trailing a deer.
oh also bring a backup flashlight in your pack, never know when yours may shit the bed. I also bring a usb battery block in my pack. It can recharge your cell phone up to 4 times. Could be a lifesaver, I pack a gps as well with my parking spot and treestands all marked, very easy to get turned around especially in the dark in the excitement of trailing a deer.
looks like you got excited thinking about bud..lol
lol... just know from experience, never know when murphy may show up. Dont want it to happen to him.
And always, always take your quiver up in the tree with you, don't leave it on the ground thinking you're a "hotshot" and one arrow will do the trick, but you miss a deer with the one arrow and 30 seconds later another deer comes to the exact spot as the first, but you can't shoot it because you left your quiver full of arrows on the ground.....not saying this happened to me, but it did happen to me.....lol. Best of luck to you and welcome to the club!!
Thanks for all the help everyone, lots of great advice. Looking forward to getting out and try scouting my first time. Hard to find time with work and 2 kids, but I'm sure most of you know about that.
ehh screw work and take the kide scouting with you..you might never find a trail but theyll have fun..
Don't get lazy. Clear shooting lanes.take the kids scouting if you can. I took my two boys out today Scouting. They went looking for crawfish and stuff in a brook.On the way in we saw a doe that I've been after for 5.5 years now. She's smart. Saw her the first year that she was born. She picked me out In the woods.Really cool looking deer, almost a piabold. Pics to follow in sept, possibly on a sun. If looking to get some private land, bring your kids with you. It can help get you permission. It did for myself. If you do get private land, put them on the xmas card list and possibly a small gift. When asking for permission always go in person. Practice practice practice.
Would love to take my kids but they are 1 yo and a new born. Looking forward to when they are a little older though.
That is young. I started when they were 3. Kept it short and sweet in the beginning then gradually longer. Takes a lot of patience but is well worth it.
Question of etiquette, was out scouting for the first time and came across some trees marked by obvious things placed by someone. Reflective buttons, rocks stacked on stumps. This is on state land, should I essentially consider this "claimed" and stay away?
Ro40c
notme is correct. I only hunt state land, and any time I see orange ribbons hanging from trees or reflective buttons it tips me off that someone found something worth marking.
Now, if you're walking into the woods to hunt at 0 dark hundred, and someone is already in "YOUR TREE" then find another spot. But don't put your stand up 100 feet from the guy,......he won't be happy.
Good luck
Better yet, be a sport and remove said markings as they take away from the beauty of mother nature. Use a map and/or a GPS to mark a good spot. Rocks on stumps and fallen branches positioned in a vertical fashion are OK but ribbons and reflective buttons do not belong in nature. I consider it trash just as an aluminum can, a candy wrapper, a cigarette butt or anything else left over in passing by human activity.
Orange tape and rock piles means nothing. Now, if you find a tree stand, move alone. Have multiple locations scouted so in case you do find some one as BBB mentioned you can go to your alternate location.
Notme is not correct.
There is no such thing as a "claimed spot" on public land. If you like the spot, hunt it.
@Toonces: I think there is a misunderstanding in interpreting notme's statements. His "finders keepers..lol" statement is correct when applied on a daily basis.
I claim the spot temporarily for the duration of the hunt.
If I get there and nobody is hunting the spot, based on lack of transportation visible in the parking spot, then I will go in and hunt the area expecting any other hunter arriving later to do the right thing and move to a different spot. This situation is floating in a grey area and highly debatable left to hunter's ethics to make the correct decision.
I concur with six. I don't think notme meant for the season. On a daily basis it is finders keepers.
OK, got it, I misunderstood. Depends on whose perspective the "finders keepers" is applied.
I honestly don't see how it is a very debatable topic though. Public is public. You can't plant a flag and claim a spot as yours. As far as ethics goes, It is clear to me that the flag planter is the unethical one.
I agree with you toon but when I find a stand on public land, I move one.
@Toonces: "You can't plant a flag and claim a spot as yours." Good philosophy. A little to late to attract the attention of the early settlers and the native continent inhabitants slaughtered over centuries.
Going back to present day environment. Some hunters do not have the physical ability to carry in / carry out a stand every time they hunt. The regulations allow for stands to be left on location during the season with some time constraints vis-a-vis how often a hunter should use the stand.
In my opinion what counts is the body in the stand. A body means no hunting the spot for me. No body on stand, means I can claim the spot, not the stand, for the hunt regardless of stand presence.
geeeez , i leave the sandbox for a second and theres a possible bruhaha a brewin..lol Finders keepers = daily You snooze you loose = daily One in the stink two in .ehhh forget that one..lol
Thanks guys, that's kinda what I figured but didn't wanna be the new guy that screwed someone over that was just following normal procedures.
Yes but ethically if you find a stand you should move on...but if you leave a note and open communications with the owner maybe something can be worked out. I've never left a note, I just don't hunt there. I like to hunt where no-one else is, but that's just me
I have multiple flashlights and knives in my pack Two things I do not want to run out of. Toilet paper has multiple uses. The obvious one but it is also a bio-degradable trail marker when tracking a hit deer. I keep a roll of surveying tape for marking blood trails. Folding saw, latex gloves, a small multi-tool and extra release. I hunt alone, and I can tell you that you will want some sort of cart or sled to haul out a deer. That is my investment for this year.
No toilet paper if you are hunting water company. You have to hold it until you get out.
@longbeard: This is such a grey area. It is public land after all and no one can lay claim without being present. Absence implies permission to hunt regardless of stand presence and ownership. I will follow the sign just as the stand owner did. If I see the stand occupied I will move on otherwise I will hunt the area in my own stand which I will remove at the end of the hunt on that day.
It is the same principle as when using a public restroom. I will not barge in and push someone away from the urinal, but I will wait and use the urinal once available. I will probably get close to pee my pants if I had to go find another public restroom.
on the subject of hunting in the area of another stand.... While in pure technical terms I don't see a problem with it, I would not want to be in the vicinity of another stand. The chance of either you or him spooking a deer coming to the stand area is too great of a chance for me to take. Also, you don't know how ethical the other guy is. Will he fully identify his target before shooting? I feel it is just more prudent to find a place where you know someone is not going to be right on top of you.
Only hunt in the absence of any other hunter if that person is unknown to you. No need to crowd the place.
six
can I pee on his stand when I find it, like in the public restroom? :)
Just kidding R040c - always be ethically (better than legal) and do the same thing you would want someone else to do if you were hunting an area. There's plenty of woods out there and exploring is such a huge part of hunting. You take so much more pride after finding the deer the yourself, understanding their pattern of movements, and then finally getting one.
@bigbuckbob: If age and local regulations permit sure, why not. Please make a video when you try to pee straight up the tree 15-20". That will be fun to see. Please title it "bigbuckbob defeats gravity" so we may find it on YouTube.
To tilt the odds in your favor you might want to try that one at night when relatively speaking the Earth is up side down at your geographical location and there are less chances for a witness to stroll by while you try to reach your vehicle walking with wet pants.
six
I'm lucky I can pee down at my age, never mind up. I was picturing a self climbing stand left at ground level. I could always bring my 6 yr old grandson, he can write his name on the ceiling in our bathroom. I know this because it appears as though he has done it several times already. Pee every where in there!!
@ six: "Please make a video when you try to pee straight up the tree 15-20" That will be fun to see. Please title it "bigbuckbob defeats gravity" so we may find it on YouTube"
LMAO spilled some of my coffee. Thanks
