new to the hunt

[JimT]

Your going to love deer hunting. It is alot of fun. You will need the basic gear for this year and move on/up from there. Knife,drag,treestands,warm clothes, etc. Start your scouting soon. Find where they are now, and they will be close by this fall. Scout a little thru the summer, and just before the season starts.Make sure you set up down wind from where the deer are going to come from. Scent control is important. I like to use scent free deoderant,soaps,laundry detergent, and sprays.I like to wear rubber boots. Practice like crazy with your bow and/or gun also. There will be alot more tips also from other guys, but this is a descent start.

[Squirrelbuster]

I agree with Jim on starting your scouting soon. Whenever you are out int the woods you should be scouting. When it gets towards fall start looking for rubs to pinpoint the area where bucks will be. Also look for food sources for early fall through winter such as hard mast (acorns) and soft mast (apples)

[wtnhunt]

Welcome to the forums. Jim covered it pretty well. Get out there and learn and get as much experience as you can.

[huntn4bucks]

Welcome to the forums leon!

[horst]

Another thing you might want to consider is getting a good pair of binoculars or spotting scope.You can sit back a long ways and glass fields and other other feeding areas, it gives you a good idea whats in the area and you dont spook the deer and leave scent all over the area.Trail cameras are a good tool to see deer you might not see otherwise in the daylight hour, the advantage to that is you go in, set the camera up, and get out, again you dont walk all over spooking game and stinking things up.These are just a couple lower impact scouting techniques i use, i wouldnt worry about it much till closer to season.Right now you can go out pretty much anywhere and not worry about the deer still being spooked by it this fall LOL

[Shaun_300]

welcome to the best place on the net, leon!

[muggs]

at a boy Leon, you'll have a lot of fun. Like JimT said, keep it simple, stick to the basic at first. Just get what you need, and then blow your money like the rest of us morons later on when you know what you want.

My most important advice: Don't think you need to know everything right away. Be patient let things come to you, it will take time, but you'll enjoy every minute of it.

It may seem overwhelming at times, but you'll get it. The most important thing you can do to acheive sucess is learn the woods, the best woodsman will always be the best hunter. Good luck to ya.

[Tominator]

Welcome leon.

Man, you came in at the right time. Right now is an excellent time to get out and start scouting, especially when the snow melts off. When that happens it's real easy to see old trails, scrapes, rubs, and heck, you might even stumble onto a shed antler or two.

Get out there!

[jjones]

welcome to the forums!! You will love it here!!

[RJJ]

i hope that you enjoy huntin as much as the rest of us here at RT. good luck to you.

[longislandhunter]

Welcome to the greatest sport in the world. You will love it. I wish you success on your first season.

[otdrzmn04]

the only thing i can think of to add is dont neccesarily setup where you are seeing the deer this time of year. The deer have different patterns during the fall and winter, but late fall early winter of next year they will start moving to where they are now. Dont get discouraged next year because you only see a deer or two a day(maybe even a week or two....lol). This time of year food is the main thing on their list and they will group up alot. The best things you can do in the deer woods are be patient above all and still. Before season get to know your choice of weapon very well, this will help with the patience thing and build confidence. We could all spend an entire day with you telling you this and that and think we had it covered. As soon as you left we'd say "dang, i forgot about that". Get out, have fun, welcome to the forums, and good luck!!

[johnf]

One thing to remember is that a deer is a lot harder to hit than a little red dot on a target. I would suggest after sighting in your gun to get some deer targets. You can get paper ones pretty cheap. Practice shooting them in the vitals from different ranges. You'll find(atleast I did) that in the heat of the hunt your effective shooting range is a lot less when it's a real deer in front of you, so practicing with the deer target will get you a little more prepared.