A Beginner’s Hunting Guide to Popular Deer Species

Deer hunting is a cherished tradition for outdoorsmen and even a tradition of great importance for some families.

Deer hunting provides quite a lot when it comes to benefits, being both a thrilling hunting experience as well as an opportunity to put some food on the table.

Now, for beginners, understanding the different species of deer and how to hunt them is super important for getting started in the hunting space.

Each type of deer presents its own very unique challenges, from their habitat and behavior to the equipment and techniques needed to hunt them effectively.

Today we introduce you to five popular deer species and then dive into where you can hunt then, when seasons open and a few tips and tricks on getting your deer hunting hobby off the ground!

White-Tailed Deer

Widely and easily known as the most popular type of deer for outdoorsmen, the whitetail deer is known for its, you guessed it, whitetail and extremely high populations all across the Americas.

Location & Season

As we just mentioned, white-tailed deer are by far the most common and widely disbursed deer species in North America.

You can find them in a wide variety of habitats, ranging from forests and grasslands to even agricultural areas. Their adaptability has allowed them to thrive in both rural and suburban areas as well, becoming accustomed to human interaction.

When it comes to the best time to hunt white-tailed deer, you’re going to probably be looking at the rut, which typically occurs in late fall.

The rut, as you will hear more about as we move into some other species, is the mating season when bucks are actively searching for does. This can tend to make them more vulnerable to hunters.

However, hunting seasons and regulations on what and when you can hunt will vary by region, so be sure to check local guidelines before planning your hunt.

Recommended Caliber

When hunting white-tailed deer, the most popular calibers hunters tend to go with include the .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, and .30-06 Springfield.

These calibers provide more than enough power to take down a deer without excessive recoil, making them a great choice for beginners, whether you’re hunting a smaller area or in a larger preserve.

Beginner’s Tip

For white-tail, understanding deer behavior during the rut is key to picking up the basics. Bucks become less cautious and more free and confident during the rut. This will increase the chances of a beginner hunter spotting one and taking one down.

Pay attention to signs of activity, like scrapes and rubs, and position yourself accordingly to intercept a buck on the move. For tactics such as this, a more experienced hunter might be able to guide you on the hunt.

Mule Deer

Very often mistaken for the white-tail, the mule deer is another popular deer species with high population density in North America.

Location & Season

Mule deer are native to the western United States, where they can be found all along the mountainous and desert regions.

Unlike white-tailed deer, mule deer tend to live in more rugged and open terrain rather than wooded and more hidden environments, requiring hunters to adapt their strategies accordingly.

The best time to hunt mule deer is in late fall, again, during their rut. Mule deer hunting is often a more physically demanding outing, as the terrain where they can be found is far less forgiving, so be prepared for long hikes and generally tough conditions.

Recommended Caliber

Common calibers for mule deer hunting include the .270 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield.

These rounds provide the necessary power to handle the long-distance shots often required in open, mountainous terrain where mule deer dwell.

Beginner’s Tip

The spot-and-stalk technique is particularly effective when hunting mule deer.

Since mule deer are often found in more wide and open landscapes, patience and observation are always helpful. Glassing (using binoculars or a spotting scope) from a distance to locate deer before planning your approach is a skill worth mastering if you plan on taking up mule deer hunting.

Black-tail Deer

The black-tail deer is another North American species that is quite popular for deer hunters. Slightly smaller than the mule deer, the black-tail can be easily distinguished by, you guessed it, their black tails.

Location & Season

Black-tail deer primarily reside along the Pacific Northwest, inhabiting dense forests and coastal areas. This greatly differs from the mule deers’ open-landscape preferences.

Due to their elusive nature and thick cover, hunting black-tail deer is considered a more challenging task when compared to other deer species.

Black-tail deer hunting season typically starts in early fall and can extend into winter, depending on the region. They are less visible during the day, making early morning and late afternoon prime hunting times when going after black-tail

Recommended Caliber

Some popular caliber options for black-tail deer include the .308 Winchester and .30-30 Winchester.

These calibers are both great options for the short-to-medium range shots often needed in forested environments where black-tail roam.

Beginner’s Tip

Patience is the real key when it comes to black-tail deer hunting.

These deer are masters at hiding in thick brush, so still-hunting (moving slowly and quietly through the forest) can greatly increase your chances of success.

For new hunters, focus on hunting during periods and times of day with low light, and do your best to use natural cover to your advantage when working to get within range.

Red Stag

The red deer, or red stag, is a more recently popular species of deer to hunt in the Americas, but has been well known in the hunting world all across the world.

Location & Season

Red stag, while native to Europe, can be found in places like New Zealand, South America, and parts of North America.

While red stag were originally hunted in Europe, they have become a huge trophy for Argentina hunts, as some of the biggest red stag in the world are now found in a handful of South American countries.

These majestic deer are larger than most other species out there, and well known for their impressive antlers, which are a serious trophy for most hunters.

The best time to hunt red stag is, again, during the rut, which occurs in autumn in most regions. During the rut, stags become highly vocal and aggressive, making them easier to locate and take down.

Recommended Caliber

For hunting red stag, calibers like the .30-06 Springfield and 7mm Remington Magnum are your best bet.

These calibers provide the necessary power for ethical kills on larger deer like red stag, and give you enough range to take your shot for a good distance.

Beginner’s Tip

Red stag are famous for their loud roaring during the rut, which can really help you locate them in dense forests or mountainous areas. Focus on stalking during the rut, as these vocalizations make them easier to track and less cautious than usual.

Sika Deer

Last on the list is the Sika deer. Another well-known species, the Sika, considered an “old-world deer’, has picked up some popularity over the last couple of years.

Location & Season

Sika deer are originally from Asia but have been introduced to parts of the U.S., particularly in Maryland, and the UK.

These small, yet elusive, deer prefer marshy, forested areas and are known for their secretive nature.

The hunting season for sika deer varies by region, but it typically begins in early fall. Sika deer tend to be more active at dawn and dusk, which runs true with most deer species.

Recommended Caliber

For sika deer, lighter calibers such as the .243 Winchester and 6.5mm Creedmoor are often all you need.

These calibers provide enough power for a clean kill without causing excessive damage to the deer and allowing you to take your shot from a good distance.

Beginner’s Tip

One of the unique aspects of hunting sika deer is their distinctive vocalizations, which sound like high-pitched whistles.

Learning to recognize these calls can give you an edge when trying to locate them in dense cover.

Final Shots

Deer have been a staple game for hunters across the globe, since men started hunting animals with bows and spears.

Deer hunting is a rewarding experience that requires not only patience and skill, but also knowledge of the species you’re looking to take down. Unlike like pheasant hunting, for example, you need to not only know where to properly hit the deer, but have the accuracy to not destroy the meat by hitting the wrong spot.

Whether you’re after the widespread white-tailed deer or the elusive sika deer, understanding their habits, habitats, and behavior is key to a successful hunt.

As a beginner, it’s important to start small, learn from each hunt, and always follow local hunting regulations. With time, you’ll hone your skills and gain the confidence needed to take on more challenging hunts, like the red stag.

Good luck, and remember that the most important part of the hunt is the experience itself.

This article and its images were written and provided by the great folks at South American Adventure Safaris. Check them out.

EP320 When To Hunt Deer In The Rain & When NOT To

Rain may have little effect on deer movement, or it may have drastic impact. If you can determine how the weather will impact hunting, you can develop a strategy for how and when to hunt whitetails when it’s raining. Can you hunt deer effectively in the rain? The answer is both yes and no, depending on the circumstances. 

Deer need to eat, mate, and move, period. They can only sit for so long and do not like to miss meals. So while light to moderate rain may impact their movement briefly, they will eventually shrug it off and begin returning to their normal patterns if it continues for any period of time. Severe weather is another story though.

When the weather turns very bad with heavy rain, thunder, gale force winds, blizzard conditions, they will usually sit and wait it out. This type of weather is rarely sustained for very long and once the weather breaks the deer will be up and moving again, perhaps more so than usual trying to find food to make up for missed meals.

So hunting light to moderate rain can be fruitful, particularly if that weather has continued for a few days and the deer have normalized their routines based on it. But really bad weather is not worth hunting in. EXCEPT for possibly hunting the ending fringe of that weather so you can be in the woods still and ready for when the weather breaks and deer movement ramps up.

The gear that you hunt with and the length of time you spend hunting in the rain are also major factors. If your gear is reasonable, you spend short stints in the woods, and you hunt advantageous times of day or before/after incoming fronts, then you can be very effective hunting whitetails in the rain.

I have had significant success hunting both does and bucks on rainy days. But the story is always the same, even after being in the woods for 12 or more hours, deer move very little during severe weather and are quick to get up when the sky clears.

Oftentimes a hunting blind is both cheaper and more comfortable than quality rain gear and I recommend that option when practical. But you can get away with poor quality rain gear and an umbrella if your plan is to wait for the weather to break in order to take down the umbrella and hunt afterwards.

The biggest issue people tend to have with rain gear is sweating and getting soaked over time because even Gore-Tex does not breathe when one side of it is soaking wet. All of the pores in the fabric become saturated and vapor cannot pass through. So, hunting in the rain for long periods of time with a rainsuit on is not a great idea. This makes using a blind even better because you do not need to worry about getting wet. I tend to keep one or two blinds up all season as options for wet days for this very reason.

The bottom line is if hunting in the rain isn’t fun for you, then don’t do it. If you are not enjoying the hunt, then save it for a day when you can enjoy it. Listen to this entire podcast episode to learn more.

 

 

EP319 If Only You Had A Duck Hunting Boat… Or Are You Better Off?

While a duck hunting boat can provide a number of significant benefits, it can become easy to fantasize that such a purchase will change your life or turn you into a different person and your hunting will never be the same. The reality is the pros and cons of a duck boat are almost equal. You really need to weigh your situation to see if anything tips the scales towards or against you getting a duck boat.

Wingshooting Shotguns: Beginner Options for New Dove Hunters

Introduction

All around the world, beginner hunters and experts alike often gravitate towards one of the most popular forms of hunting, wingshooting.

Easy to start, but difficult to master, wingshooting provides a fun adventure for those looking for a challenging type of hunt, whether it be a new hunting venture or the start of a hunting career. For our sake, we will be focusing more so on the latter.

You don’t need a ton of fancy equipment to get started in wingshooting. Whether you’re an adult getting into hunting or a younger individual interested in the space, anyone could start with some basic hunting clothes, a license, and a half-decent shotgun.

We will explore the equipment you need, the world of wingshooting shotguns for beginners, and finally, some tricks to increase your chances of success as a novice winghshooter.

Come dive into the hunt that draws countless outdoorsmen every year!

Understanding Wingshooting and Dove Hunting

What is Wingshooting? When someone is talking about wingshooting, they are referring to the classic hunting practice where shooters seek out and take shots at birds in flight.

This practice of hunting birds with a shotgun dates back hundreds of years, creating a rich and widespread hunting heritage that differs wherever you go wingshooting.

Shotgun advancements, such as the semi-automatic variant, have since made the sport slightly easier. With that being said, the core task and required skills still remain the same; needing to hit a moving target in flight through quick, precise movements on the part of the hunter.

There is a wide variety of bird species that wingshooters can target depending on local regulations of where you find yourself hunting. Doves are one of the most popular targets due to their relative abundance, but other upland birds like duck, perdiz, pheasant, grouse, and many more can be hunted in this manner as well.

Why Dove Hunting is a Great Start for Beginners

As mentioned earlier, doves have a high relative abundance in North and South America, particularly in countries like the United States and Argentina, making them a common target for beginners.

Once you can secure access to public or suitable private land to hunt on, beginners will have plenty of opportunities for mistakes while still having a chance at landing a shot.

When dove hunting, the chance of missed shots is typically high with beginners and birds can be prematurely scared, but you can almost always find more. Some states in the US, like Texas, have no seasonal bag limit on doves, making them extremely accessible year-round.

What is the Right Shotgun for Beginners?

With a wide variety of shotguns on the market, it can be hard for a beginner to find the ideal gun for their first wingshooting trip.

Here are some critical factors to consider before we recommend a few options.

Factors to Consider

The first and most obvious choice when finding the right shotgun for wingshooting is finding the appropriate gauge.

The gauge of the shotgun will determine the power behind the shot; you want something that can quickly hit your target, but without blowing it to shreds.

From there, consider the ideal action for your shotgun:

  • Semi-automatic
  • Over/under
  • Pump-action

Each type has advantages and drawbacks that can cater to your needs.

Which Shotgun Gauges are Best for Dove Hunting?

For wingshooting, many hunters prefer to opt for either a 20 or 28-gauge shotgun. While there are arguments out there for 16 and even 12-gauge shotguns for dove, 20 or 28 are far more popular.

These options provide enough power to take out a moving bird, while still allowing you to have a prize after a successful shot. Moving the gauge up or down from here can impact the success of your trip, depending on how far you are shooting from.

Recommended Shotguns for New Dove Hunters

For beginners, when finding a shotgun that works for you, you want a durable shotgun that operates smoothly, feels comfortable, and has an appropriate shot.

Below are some of the great options for first-timers on the market:

Stoeger Condor

Basic, yet solid over/under shotgun option, affordable

Winchester SXP

Durable, dependable pump-action shotgun

Remington V3 Field Sport

Reliable and easy-to-shoot semi-automatic shotgun

Mossberg Silver Reserve

Flexible, classic double-barreled shotgun

Essential Gear and Accessories for Dove Hunting

While the gun is the obvious first piece of the puzzle, there is a long list of other equipment that you should bring on a wingshooting outing to stay safe and bring home some good-looking doves.

Must-Have Accessories

For a safe and successful wingshooting hunt, you should be properly dressed in warm clothing (if appropriate) that has camouflage, but also blaze orange to identify you to other hunters.

You should have a hunting vest equipped with a shell pouch for ammunition, as the last thing you want to do is make twenty trips to stock up on ammo.

Next, shooting glasses and hearing protection are essential so that you can hear yourself think after a long day of shooting and don’t catch anything in your eyes.

Another important thing to have is maps, a compass, or even GPS for navigation and finding the spots you wish to hunt.

Lastly, a hunting bag to help carry in/carry out other supplies like water, food, hit birds, and whatever else you need for success and comfort is always a plus.

Safety Equipment and Tips

Hunting safety is of the utmost importance on any hunt, as you might have surmised.

This starts with getting proper licensure and approval to hunt, continues on to dressing appropriately for the weather and wearing the proper hunting attire, and finishes with proper gun safety.

Guns, as obvious a statement as it is, should never be pointed at other individuals and should have their safety turned on when not in active use. If you have any doubt about the safety of a shot, do NOT take it. There is no better way to ruin a hunt than shooting someone in your hunting party.

Techniques and Tips for Successful Dove Hunting

While it’s easy to get out and see doves in the wild, actually hitting your target isn’t so easy a task. Before getting out on a hunt, it’s always a good idea to hit the range to practice your shot with the proper safety techniques for your respective gun.

The last thing you want is to get out on an expensive hunt only to miss every shot you take.

Basic Shooting Techniques

A successful shot starts with a firm, stable stance. Hitting a stationary target is a start, but that isn’t what wingshooting is about. You can practice the art of hitting a moving target with clay disks or even pull string targets as an easier option.

Wingshooting requires a very reflexive hunting technique. Unlike game like deer where you can line up your shot, with birds in flight, you have to move, aim, and fire quickly.

Naturally, to do this, you track the target through the air with your gun. You must lead your target ever so slightly to account for the movement and follow through with the sweeping movement, as opposed to abruptly stopping after taking the shot.

There is no exact science to hitting a moving target like this; wingshooting is a very feel-oriented art, and every hunter has their own tactics.

Tips for Attracting Doves

With doves often flying in high volumes anywhere they nest, there are a variety of techniques one can use to attract doves and find that perfect shot.

First, you can use a dove decoy. These devices mimic doves to give the impression to other doves that an area/perch is safe, luring them in for a shot.

Food plots and water sources can be other great places to search for large dove populations as well, for obvious reasons.

On the topic of locating the best spots to hunt dove, we spoke with an expert on Argentina dove hunts who recommended even hunting dove not at their nest or water and food sources, but the highly traveled path between the two. This not only keeps them from fearing where the eat, but also prevents any negative effect of hunting at the roost.

Where you end up finding doves, try to hone in on a specific bird to make your shot more accurate. Birds like doves thrive from the chaos created when a flock takes off together.

Conclusion

With a low barrier of entry, but a huge ceiling for skill, wingshooting is a great hunt for beginners and experts alike. The fast-paced, reflexive nature of wingshooting provides a different feel to a hunting trip than most other animals. The high population of doves also means minimal regulations/bag limits allowing you to have a tremendous amount of fun with no cap.

Finding the right equipment to get started with wingshooting can be a problem for some. With basic hunting clothing, access to public land, and a proper shotgun outlined above, you can be on your way to your own wingshooting adventure in the near future!

This article and its images were written and provided by the great folks at Rancho Christobal. They are very experienced in the area of dove hunting. Check them out.

EP318 Early Season Goose Hunting 101

How do you hunt geese in the early season, before the migration begins? On this episode I share three strategies for early pre-migration goose hunting and how you can find success. Special thanks to Tetra Hearing for sponsoring this episode. Get you Free 2-Year Service Plan. Just add this Service Plan to your cart when purchasing a Tetra Hearing device and use this code at checkout to get the service plan for free: NEWHUNTERSGUIDE

Hunting geese in the early season often requires different strategies depending on where you live and when things begin to move in your area. In the summer, geese may not travel much. They may stick to one area and can be harder to find and even harder to setup on. But if you adjust your strategies, you can find them and bring them home.

This may be called the resident goose season, but sometimes a term is used that denotes pest control depending on the area. In some places, even parks or golf courses will let hunters in during specified hours to clean out the geese. This is often not hunting, and while it’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s not what I am referring to in this episode. I am talking about wild wary geese in their natural habitat, not birds that will eat out of your hand at the park. Harvesting meat to help parks and golf courses is fine, needed even. But that isn’t what I’m talking about today.

Land hunting. Hunting geese on land is maybe the most straight forward in the early season, but finding the birds is the difficult part. They may travel or fly little or not at all this time of year, and they may be quieter. So, it may take some scouting and getting special permissions to be able to reach them.

Water hunting. This may be the hardest way to hunt geese in the early season because their water habits can be so different compared to the rest of the year. They may travel little or none at all and can be more difficult to setup on, even requiring stealth to setup your decoys depending on what they are doing in your area.

Jump hunting. The early season may be the best time of year to jump hunt geese because they are more stationery and fly less and there is more cover to use to your advantage. Windy days are best to conceal your motion and cover your sound. You may want to employ some unorthodox techniques like using tight chokes with TSS ammo to get head/neck shots from afar, similar to turkey hunting.

Listen to the entire podcast episode to learn how to start hunting geese in the early pre-migration season.

EP317 How To Age Deer While Hunting

Can you age deer that are walking in front of you while hunting? How do you age deer that are up on the move or down on the ground? On this episode I tackle these questions, but I also address the much larger question of SHOULD YOU try to age deer at all.

Trying to age deer has been picking up speed and gaining momentum as of late. People want to know how old their deer are and use that information to affect their decision to shoot or pass in favor of another opportunity at that deer next year. There are three things that are very wrong with this line of thinking.

First, deer biologists tend to have a less than 20% accuracy rating when it comes to aging deer. If the pros can’t do it well, hunters don’t stand much of a chance. After year two, this becomes very difficult, to the point of it not even being worth trying to get an exact number of years for a deer living or dead.

Second, the age of deer is just one more mostly irrelevant variable that causes hunters to overanalyze a situation, likely causing more missed opportunities due to analysis paralysis. Hunters need to evaluate a very short list of variables before taking a shot, such as, is the deer legal, is it large enough to be worth what it costs to butcher it, is it a deer I would like to shoot, is it close enough and at a feasible angle. Then they need to setup and take a shot before they lose their opportunity.

Third, the idea of getting another shot at the deer in the future is an utter fallacy in all but some fantasy land states and enormous ranches. You must assume the deer will be shot by someone else by the end of the day, and you must be ok with that, knowing you want and can reasonably expect to harvest a deer that is better. If you feel bad when you find out another hunter shot the deer that evening because you hoped to shoot it next year, you are out of touch with reality and are not weighing your opportunities effectively.

So, the bottom line is, there are some ways to judge whether or not a deer is mature and viable for shooting that I discuss in the podcast episode. However, generally speaking, the age of the deer does not matter and should not even be thought about. Instead focus on the more important points and make fast decisive decisions that provide you with the time and confidence to take an action you will be happy about after the fact.

EP316 Pros & Cons of Tree Saddles

Should you be using a tree saddle? Is it really better than hunting out of a deer stand? On this episode I talk about the pros and cons of tree saddles and address the specific situations where tree saddles are indeed the best option, when they are an equal option, and when they are not the best option. 

Tree saddles provide unique flexibility and functionality compared to climbing stands and sometimes hang on stands. They enable people to hunt new locations and single attempt locations easier than any other in-tree option.  This is a big benefit to public land hunters and some private land hunters with a lot of acres available. They are both comfortable and light weight, enabling you to cover a lot of distance much easier than with other options.

This has caused tree saddles to gain a lot of popularity and use among celebrity hunters. However, they are not always the best option for hunting in a tree. In fact, usually they are not. Most hunters simply do not hunt like this. Most tree born hunters spend a lot of time scouting, studying how deer use an area, improving the area for deer movement, adding attractions, and picking a very strategic tree that they hope to use for years, maybe even generations to come. Tree saddles do not shine in this situation, in fact they take more work and effort than a long-term dedicated stand.

So, deer hunters with perennial spots and stand locations do not gain anything from tree saddles, generally speaking. The hunters that do benefit are the ones going deep into public land or hard to access private land, those changing spots mid-season, or perhaps just hunting a place once. This is not an insignificant number of hunters, but looking at the big picture, the majority of hunters gain nothing from saddles. But those who do benefit greatly tend to be very vocal and hold some of the loudest microphones in the industry.

So never accept the next hunting fad without evaluating the merits, especially when all the famous people jump quickly on the bandwagon. Yes, saddles are outstanding for some hunters, but for many they are not the best tool for the job. Are they right for you?

Listen to this whole podcast episode to hear about their pros and cons and when they may be a good fit for you and your hunting situation.

EP315 How To Start Hunting Deer From Level Zero

How can you start hunting deer from scratch? In this overview episode I take you from wanting to hunt, all the way to how to cook your meat. This is a beginner’s overview of the entire process, but I do point you to all of the in-depth resources you need to be successful!

The first and biggest thing you need to start hunting is a desire to do it. You need to have some level of push to jump in and keep on going until you are successful. Someone else wanting you to hunt isn’t enough. You need to want to do it yourself, at least to some extent. Hopefully that desire will grow the further you get.

Then you need to take your hunters safety course. This will NOT teach you how to hunt whitetail deer or anything else. It will teach you how to be safe in the woods. I recommend doing this live and in person so you can meet people and potentially build relationships and do some networking. This will also help ensure you finish the class, because it can be easy to not finish the online course. After this you need to buy your first hunting license, decide what you are going to hunt first, and get your tags for does or whatever else. 

Then comes the expensive part. You need to get a gun, gear, and anything else you will need to hunt deer. I have done lots of podcast episodes on this subject, but in short, I recommend you focus on using whatever you have, can borrow, or buy cheap to get started. You need to hunt a little bit before you are able to determine what kind of gear is a good match for you and your style, and the average weather.

The cheaper you can get started the better it will be financially for you in the long run. Else you may spend a lot of money buying expensive gear that you end up not liking because you didn’t know what you were doing when you bought it.

Then you need to find a place to hunt, either on public or private land, and begin scouting to find a good spot sit and hunt. I recommend you pick out two or three good spots, so you are able to hunt different wind directions, and in case one of the spots has no deer activity come the season, or in case someone else gets there first and takes your spot.

Then you need to be ready to field dress the deer when you do get one and have a plan to butcher and mount the deer if you want to do that. For your first year or couple of years I recommend you find a good butcher to take the deer to. Learning to process your own deer while also learning all these other things can be a lot of work and it’s not something I think you need to pile on your first year.

Check out all my deer hunting podcast episodes to go deeper in all these areas. You can also find more info in this in-depth article I wrote: How To Start Hunting As An Adult.

EP314 When To Pay For A Hunting Guide & When NOT To

Should you pay for a hunting guide, or should they be avoided like the plague? There are legitimate hunting guides and there are scammers, just as in any profession. And just like anything else, there are good and bad times to pay for services. On this episode I help you understand when it is a good idea to pay for a guide and how to get the most out of the experience. 

Hunting guides and outfitters are not the same thing. An outfitter may be a hunting guide, or may supply a guide, but the outfitters’ role is much broader. They help furnish everything you need for a hunting trip from transportation to lodging, food, entertainment, gear, etc. A guide is someone who takes you into the woods, leveraging their expertise and scouting to help find you game.

Guides provide a valued service, and it’s an honorable profession. But you will always want to try and vet a potential guide before employing them. Look for reviews, contact past customers, search their name and credentials, do anything you can to verify their legitimacy, or at least check to see if serious complaints have been lodged against them.

There are two main times when getting a guide is a good use of resources.

The first is educational purposes. If you are trying to learn how to hunt something new, somewhere new, or someway new, then a guide may be the fastest way to get a crash course in how to do it right. Watch them, take mental notes, ask questions, analyze everything. Do all that you can to take in as much as possible. Your goal is to learn from a master how it is done under these circumstances.

The second big time is for unique experiences. If you have a once in a lifetime or once in a blue moon opportunity to go somewhere really fun or hunt something really unique, a guide can help you maximize the enjoyment of that opportunity. It’s not so much about learning because you aren’t planning to do it again, or often enough to be able to master it, you are just out to have fun. It is also not about taking a large set of antlers that you can show everyone you ever meet for the rest of your life and tell them how amazing of a hunter you are. You boasting about your accomplishments that are the fruit of a guide’s skills is a bit slimy, and not a great reason to get a guide.

Listen to the whole podcast episode to hear all the juicy details!

EP313 How To Win The Battle Against Ticks

Ticks are a common enemy almost all hunters face. Thankfully because of this there are numerous ways to fight them. On this episode I talk about five strategies to help you win the battle against ticks.

No one wants to encounter ticks in the woods, there isn’t a good thing to say about them. They are small sneaky blood sucking bugs that are hard to detect, and worst of all they can carry serious disease. First things first, if you get bit by a tick that has been attached for any length of time seek medical advice. If you have any symptoms of tick-borne illness, whether you have evidence of a bite or not, seek immediate medical attention. Often times tick-borne illnesses can be effectively treated if caught early. The more time that passes the harder it may be to help.

Fighting ticks happens on three major levels, chemically, materially, and visually. The first has become very popular. There are many sprays that can be used to repel ticks. Some strong tick sprays can only be sprayed onto clothing because of how harsh they are while others can be sprayed on clothing or skin. The harsher the chemicals the better things typically are at killing ticks, sometimes when they make contact with the garment. However, we are also alive and will be wearing these chemically treated garments, so I am a little bit weary of that.

The milder sprays can be used on skin and clothing work fairly well at repelling ticks, but they are not generally able to kill them on contact. However, they may be a little safer for the wearers. The main thing to consider is there are pros and cons for each approach and product. The most effective products smell strongly and are highly toxic. You need to balance this with how often you will use repellants and if you want to regularly engage with these kinds of chemicals. And there are all natural approaches and oils people use to combat ticks.

There is also tick repellant clothing. Garments that ticks cannot penetrate if they were to try and dig through them, and garments that have repellents built into the materials or are in some way treated with them. There is a lot to like about this approach but for every strong pro there is also a considerable con to be weighed as well, such as cost, longevity, and how comprehensive the protection really is. 

In this podcast episode I talk about five ways to combat ticks and stay safe while you hunt.

 

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