[halfevilman]

My name is Steve and I just found the site. I've been hunting since knee high to a grasshopper. Both parents were avid bird and rabbit hunters. Last year I started trying my hand at deer hunting with no success.

It all started when taking my 10 year old son out dove hunting for the first time last year. He ran off ahead up a hill. At the top he came face to face with a 14 point buck! They were 4 feet apart! 4 feet! The buck reared up, turned, and ran off. Son just froze. Then, all he wanted was to get that buck. When deer season finally got here, we went out, and went out.., and went out... never even saw a deer, or fired a shot.

Only rifle I got is a Romanian AK, but I bought him a Rossi Youth single shot in .223 with a Bushnell 3-9X40 scope. He is recoil shy so I got the .223 instead of the .243 thinking "he will shoot the one he isn't afraid of more, eventually being more accurate" than flinching with every shot and missing with the .243.

So, any tips on deer would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hunting Man]

another Texan:wallbash:, just kidding there, welcome to the site. I understand the flinch thing with youth. I would have prefered the 243 over the 223 but I also understand your thinking totally. The 243 would probably have given him a few more years to hunt with before he asked for something bigger. I don't know much about Texas deer hunting, I read where there is a lot of private ranches that charge a whole bunch to shoot a nice deer. There are a few members here that can help you out on the Texas hunting. Good to see you are hunting with your son!

 

[Guest]

pretty much want HM said. there's allot of years in the deer woods here, so the more specific your questions the better the response. welcome from nh

 

[buckfever]

Howdy and welcome from tn. Like Ronn said give some specifics and we can give you some advice, different thoughts on it. Enjoy the site.

 

[sparta mi dlv]

Welcome. I'm fairly new here too, and also love rabbit hunting. I think deer hunting here in Michigan is quite a bit different than Texas, from what I have seen in videos. I would suggest trying to find someone to hunt with. There will be a lot of good advice on this site, but nothing beats time in the field, and if someone can help you in the beginning it will speed up the learning curve.

 

[timberghost]

Howdy, and welcome to DHC.com from WNY.

 

[BruceBruce1959]

Greetings from Vermont & Welcome to the Club!
maybe with any luck that 14 pointer gained a couple extra points this year, the trick to spotting him is going to be "learning his house",
You have got to learn where he likes to eat, where he likes to sleep, where he lounges (watches TV) & where he likes courtin' his gals.
This isn't going to be easy because in many cases those big deer have huge homes, Let's hope he's a younger Deer, at least one that's a little more careless...
If he's an older more mature Deer,, you're going to have to become extremely focused on eliminating your scent, and practice slow motion movements while you're hunting,,
You can tell your son he has a greater chance at getting this Deer than you do, If he moves slow and stays, as scent free as possible.
Your son doesn't sweat as much as you do Dad so you gotta work harder to control your scents..
Good Luck to you Steve and Good Luck to your son.

 

[hunt NH]

welcome to the site from NH.

 

[Slugslinger]

Steve,
You have got to start by Scouting...Scouting ... Scouting!!! Be prepared to cover alot of ground and spend alot of time finding out all the where's. Look for all the signs, rubs, scrapes, trails, beding areas, food sources, water you have to look for and find all or most of these thing and watch them over a period of time to figure out the patterns of the deer.

 

[halfevilman]

Thank you all for the greeting. Didn't know there were friendly people outside Texas, LOL...(kiddin').

Hunting Man is right, they charge an arm AND a leg here to hunt. Then you have to hop around and hard to get in a tree stand with one arm. HAHAHA

Seriously, the place I got is small (45 acres), in the middle of a 1 square mile parcel. Has a creek bed (usually dry but sometimes wet) running through the middle with a couple of water tanks (both dry last year). Got a grass field on one side and a plowed cotton field on the other. Property line stops 1/2 mile in and owners for rest refuse to let me hunt there. They have a raised blind, cameras, feeder, and 4 tanks on their part. (They also have seen this buck and are gunning for him :wallbash: but havn't got him yet) There are tracks everywhere, deer and hog. Neighbor got a 360 lbs. hog last year.

I had a pop-up blind I left out there last year that "walked off", but no cameras or feeder. Are these that important? Any suggestions?

 

[hunt NH]

i say if they wont let you on there land. make darn shure they are not coming on your land. as for theves stealing you blind, i wont tell you what i would do out of fear it would get me banned from the site.h34r::biggrin: learn as much as you can about food plots and make one. also if you can make a dam in one of the creeks on you land do it. with food and water on your land and less hunting pressure the big buck will more than likley stay on your land and off of your nabors, giveing your son the advantage on getting this buck.

 

[on_the_fly]

welcome Steve from KY. alot of great info on here to help you on your quest as a hunter.