Learning to hunt

>>32812379
There are tons of books and such on the matter.

Some of the best practice you can get? Photography.

Everything you need to get good pictures applies to hunting and can be done year round.

Stay downwind, look for the three s (sign/scrape/scat), identify and map deer runs and water sources to recognize areas of highest traffic, and hardest of all, become familiar with the silhouette of all their parts.

Not a learner, but I introduced my adult brother into hunting. I am far from a master nimrod, but can hold my own when it comes to hog or deer hunting. Brother was a homebody computer nerd and not really interested in hunting, but was a keen pistol shooter and did some sporting clay stuff.

He was pretty handy with a rifle to begin with. He took to hunting pretty well. I would just teach him the basics about wind direction, what to look for when innawoods, small stuff mainly. As an adult he knew when to ask questions (back at camp) and when to shut up.(out fudding).

For him it was just getting experience and hours up. He did a lot of research and picked it up pretty quick.

>>32812445
Wanna learn to hunt? Go innawoods. My Dad taught me. 90% of his teaching was obvious/common sense shit that just wasn't obvious to a 10 year old. The other 10 you can learn via research. The photo anon is right on.

>>32812379
It doesnt have to be difficult. Just find a spot on the property you plan to hunt that shows a lot of sign and put a stand in the area. Set it up so that you will generally be downwind of where you expect the deer to show up. Sit still and wait. If you really want it to be easy mode, you can bait them in some states. You can always stalk them if you have a large enough property, as well.

>>32812445
>>32812447
>>32812455
>>32812482

This is all helpful, thank you. Learning from books was kind of intimidating because I don't know enough to sort good information from bad. Do you guys have any particular recommendations?

So far I've only been reading the SAS Survival Handbook, which is fun but not really specific.

I'm good with a rifle, going to the range about every other weekend. I'm less worried about hitting what I'm aiming at than I am about wasting a lot of time learning bullshit bushcraft because I can't tell the difference between bullshit and legit knowledge.

> photography

It was a recent trip to photograph animals in South Africa that got me interested in hunting, actually. I walked around with a guide most days and it seemed like 90% of what he did was stay downwind, look at scat and identify tracks. It was the best vacation of my life.

>>32812528
You're on the right track. Read read read

>>32812542
Then, go out in the woods.

>>32812379
Honestly, take your question and make a thread on /out/ as well. There are knowledgable hunters on there. You seem to have tbe gun stuff down, those guys are better for techniques

Also, you could try not going for deer right away. Small game/ forest game hunting is more fun, and still open in some states at this time in the winter. You have a higher chance of getting a squirrel or grouse than a deer

>>32812611

I tried /out/ and got very little traction. That board seems like it's mostly crust punks talking about how to not live in a capitalist society. I'd never been on /out/ before, I was kind of surprised.

>>32812618

That's a good suggestion. I hadn't considered small game because I fucking love venison. Other than walking in the woods with an objective, eating venison is a big driver for this.

/out/ did suggest talking to people in my state's hunter safety class, which is mandatory anyway. I hadn't really considered it a resource since I assumed it'd be novices like me, but apparently people have to get re-certified anyway. I'm going to chat people up once I get there.

Also, anyone have success with hunting deer-sized prey with a 5.56 rifle? I'm trying to be more economical with my gun purchases so I'm trying to figure out if this is something I can do with my AR-15. If not I'm sure I can pick up a surplus Mosin or something for a relatively low cost.

>>32812665
>That board seems like it's mostly crust punks talking about how to not live in a capitalist society. I'd never been on /out/ before, I was kind of surprised.
Yeah, /out/ is literally full of retarded suburbanites who consider themselves 'nature-loving outdoorsmen' when most of them don't go outside, and the ones that do stick to well-known and used trails. They also abhor guns and hunting, because they're fucking stupid and don't know shit about keeping population numbers of wild animals in check or anything else.
5.56 is also great for white-tail by the way. Some states have mag-cap rules though, for instance mine has a law where you can't hunt with more than a 10rd mag

>>32812697

That is very helpful, I had no idea there could be magazine restrictions for hunting. I don't live in California so I assumed I could go with a 30rd mag no problem. I'll google it for Washington.

>>32812618
I'm sort of in the same boat as OP was looking at a states list of small game. Some seems like it'd be harder to take than a deer. I'm sure most of the deer I've seen are way more use to humans and less skid-ish than ones in other areas during hunting season.
Is taking coyotes more difficult than a deer?

>>32812447
props for using Nimrod reference correctly.

If I was going to do it, I would simply grab a rifle, go out driving and shoot a deer when I see one. It's not hard.

>>32812697

Turns out my state has got some pretty extensive resources for hunting white tail deer. From what I'm reading I'm not alone in using an AR for this purpose.

http://huntwashingtonstate.com/HWS/big%20Game/whitetail_tips.htm