New to hunting

[Ricky1219]

Hello all,
I am new to hunting and I am looking to get into spot and stalk hunting. I am accustomed to hiking in places, reading topography and all of that as far as navigating terrain but I do not have anyone to help me get started.

I understand the concepts of using wind, terrain and stealth to your advantage. I do, however, know that I will need to gain experience to master those concepts. My question is, living in Texas, what what you all recommend for getting started?

Also should clarify I will be using a rifle.

 

[Ricky1219]

Also for what I want to hunt I am looking at whitetail over in Edwards Plateau area of Texas, or down near black gap wma for mule deer.

 

[Rich M]

Sometimes it is best to just dive in and see what happens.

Sounds like you are 2/3 of the way there and don't even realize it.

Go scout your chosen hunting areas and get that figured out. Then when the season opens, go shoot one. It's a starter plan.

 

[Ricky1219]

Sometimes it is best to just dive in and see what happens.

Sounds like you are 2/3 of the way there and don't even realize it.

Go scout your chosen hunting areas and get that figured out. Then when the season opens, go shoot one. It's a starter plan.

Thank you! Yeah, I’ve been trying to knock out as much research and scouting as I can. I just lack experience, and someone to point me in the right direction. Most of my friends and people who do hunt, all do from a stand.

One problem I’ve ran into is the lack of public land access in Texas. Mostly Private in the state and leases are stupid expensive so opportunities for hunts can be tough from what I’ve been seeing.

 

[Rich M]

Dont take this wring, but thats how it is about everywhere.

Im in FL and draw a quota permit every 3 years for archery, ML, rifle. Often they try do show up the same year. There are open hunt areas but those are 2-2.5 hrs each way and all i seen was does for the years i did go.

Used to lease in GA and drive 5 hrs up and 5 back every hunt or work weekend.

Anyway, this is exactly why the west is being overrun by hunters.

The best thing you can do is to go scout the areas you want to hunt. Walk all over it before summer hits too hard. Log where you find all the beds, rubs, scrapes, etc. also note where you actually see deer. They usually hang in certain areas and you need to learn those spots.

Think of hunting as a marathon. You set a pace and keep it up long after most sane people would stop. It takes 2-3-4 years just to get an area figured out well. Then the good hunting begins.

 

[Ricky1219]

Yeah, I used to live in Florida and it was rough there from what I’ve seen. I’ve been looking at other states and as you said the west is being overrun, but this was big help. Thank you! I’m going to keep at it and see if I can get some scouting done. If I go down to black gap wma that’s one of the largest public land areas in the state at 103k acres, they have mule deer there you can hunt and if you get a draw for desert big horn they have growing population of them there. I’ll be in big bend month before that doing a big hike so I may carve out a day to check it out!

 

[Rich M]

Sounds good.

Thats a big hunting area, hope you can get it figured out.

And if you want to travel hunt, you gotta go to wy for antelope. Get a guide or somehow figure out a trespass hunt in a low point unit. They are pretty, easy to see, and sometimes pretty willing to get shot.

 

[Ricky1219]

Good to know. I’ve heard great things about WY due to large amount of public land.

 

[Rokbar]

The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy hunting! Keep it simple. Most of experienced hunters start out at a young age spot/stalking small game. We used to hunt barn rats by putting out light bread in an old barn and waiting. Never killed many for I didn't have the patience. Practice stalking up on squirrels, birds, or whatever to see how close you can get. But remember, even the best hunters fail more times than succeed! Let us know about the Texas Mulies. A desert Mulie is one of my biggest bucket list hunts. Good luck.

 

[jktex]

Aside from spot and stalk, you should also consider setting up on fresh sign and scout during the off season for bedding areas. Keep in mind, summer bedding areas sometimes do not equate to fall bedding areas. Btw, I'm in south Texas and agree our public land hunting is severely limited, mostly to the drawn hunts.

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[Fitzwho]

Where in Texas are you located? Other than draw areas, there's not many (like maybe 1) places to hunt public land mule deer in Texas that is just OTC with your APH license. I have killed a handful of Texas Muleys on ranches/deer leases out here in the Trans Pecos area.

You still have to draw deer permits on Black Gap WMA. There are 8 gun mule deer tags on Black Gap with over 5800 applications year to year. So this isn't something you can count on.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Learn your weapon set up well. Shoot often from various ranges and positions. The worst feeling is finally finding game you’re after and then you as the shooter fail to make a clean ethical kill and/or miss. Then start watching YouTube videos or find a local butcher/hunter to show you how to break down an animal. Most important have fun and don’t get discouraged as it usually takes a few year to get your first deer.

 

[Dos Perros]

If you want to compress your learning curve, hunt coyotes when you're not hunting deer. They are a worthy adversary. They'll teach you to be stealthy, how to pick up movement at distance, how to acquire target/range/shoot efficiently, etc.

 

[JeffP_Or]

I went to school in Texas; never hunted there due to costs and access until I got in with a group of shooters and a couple would have us over to shoot management deer on land their families owned or leases they managed. It was a group of skeet/trap shooters. Dove hunts were a less costly option that introduced me to other big game hunters.
Also the suggested coyote approach is good - besides the learning aspect - asking permission can get you on property an that can lead to other opportunity.

 

[Ricky1219]

I live in the DFW area, And have found a good outdoor rifle range where I can practice shooting from different positions and have currently been working on that to get comfortable with the rifle and know all the ins and outs. I never thought about hunting coyotes and other smaller game as a way of meeting other big game hunters, and using it as practice. Makes all the sense in the world!

 

[Forestryguy]

Hopefully you can find someone locally to help you get started. But getting out and making mistakes is the best teacher.

 

[schmalzy]

Going to be tough to draw for that WMA, and pretty close to impossible for desert big horn. The sad reality is very very very few public opportunities in the hill country to hunt.

Some decent options within 5-6 hours if you look North (ish). Plenty of public land to hunt white tails in East TX, but is more than likely going to be from lock on/climber.


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[pemborsky]

Hello all,
I am new to hunting and I am looking to get into spot and stalk hunting. I am accustomed to hiking in places, reading topography and all of that as far as navigating terrain but I do not have anyone to help me get started.

I understand the concepts of using wind, terrain and stealth to your advantage. I do, however, know that I will need to gain experience to master those concepts. My question is, living in Texas, what what you all recommend for getting started?

Also should clarify I will be using a rifle.

Use the hogs to your advantage to get your kill reps up, for starters.

 

[klj100]

Learn your boundaries and be prepared to back up why you are where you are, Wyoming land owners will even lie stating you are on their land.