First Hunt!

[TheAvocoddess]

Hey y’all!
First of all, Hi! Im very new to this forum so it’s nice to see a supportive community.  I recently got into archery and am hoping to harvest my first deer this month! Any advice for the new girl would be greatly appreciated. When you first started hunting.. what were a some “would haves” or “should haves”? If you could have gone back and changed something, what would it have been?

[huntnfmly]

Howdy welcome to the forum and congrats you picked one of the most addictive style of hunting😁
All I can say is enjoy your time hunting
Too many people put a lot of pressure on them self and only think of a successful hunt as taking a animal it’s so much more
Get out there and good luck
What area are you hunting

[bracer40]

Hey y’all!
First of all, Hi! Im very new to this forum so it’s nice to see a supportive community.  I recently got into archery and am hoping to harvest my first deer this month! Any advice for the new girl would be greatly appreciated. When you first started hunting.. what were a some “would haves” or “should haves”? If you could have gone back and changed something, what would it have been?

Welcome! To answer your question I’ll focus on when I first started archery hunting as I had grown up hunting with firearms. I would have joined a nearby archery club. It would have provided a great place to shoot year round, opportunities to meet other like minded folks and most importantly, it would have dramatically shortened my learning curve! There are some good clubs out there.
Good luck on your journey!

[Jpmiller]

I wish I had dedicated more time in the fall to actually getting after animals. I've almost always been a weekend warrior during the hunting season but have made the most gains in my hunting 'kmowledge" during trips I spent half a week to a week up in the woods. In the stage of life now with young kids I can't allocate the extra time but I wish I had done it when I had the chance.

Good luck this season, let us know how it goes.

[swampbear]

I wish I’d dedicated more time to scouting before the season. I wish I’d stuck with a hunt longer. Even if I was wet/cold/miserable, and hadn’t seen a deer. I wish I’d found a knowledgeable hunting partner to learn from. My dad didn’t hunt, so 90% of the stuff I’ve learned were through trail & error, and time/money/fuel/miles on my feet. My friends I hunt with grew up in the same situation. We are in our 40’s and still trying to figure it out. I wish I’d made more relationships with private land owners. I have 1 place I have permission to hunt, but I used to have half a dozen. People sell, die, change their mind. I wish I’d ponied up and bought better gear. Having decent boots, comfy clothes, lightweight gear, and good optics have really made me realize what I’d been missing. I’d say my must haves for hunting are comfy boots, good lightweight breathable  rain gear, and good binoculars.

[MADMAX]

I wish I knew what I know now, when I was 30
 

[Lady Grouse hunter]

Max your off the OLD' forum!

[Tball77]

Always cool to see another take up archery hunting.  Hard lessons made easy.  I spent hundreds of bucks on arrows prior to owning a range finder so get a good one and spend time in the terrain guessing and verifying yardage.  Seriously a good thing especially if your area is timber yesterday and sage today.  Purchase quality arrows splined correctly for your bow weight.  Many may disagree with this next one but I shot shuttle t broad heads and spent countless hours tuning them to spin perfect and not getting it right, I fixed this by switching to 4 blade broadheads and found there is no tuning required for perfect flying arrows.  Patience applies not only to the stalk but don’t get anxious at the last minute simply take your time in the moment as long as you have the wind covered, eventually an animal will stand up on its own or move into position.  Understand 2 seconds of stupid can spoil a perfect stalk so plan your stalk and execute it even if it takes an extra 3 hours.  Practice, practice, practice.  Not necessarily for perfect bullseye shots but for perfecting your form and creating muscle memory.  Buy a Sitka bow nest for your hip, when pursuing an animal you have found thru a spotting scope spend a while understanding which way it’s going and hunt to it with the wind in your favor, never get out of your vehicle in the woods without your bow, even if it’s only to walk 10 yards to see over an edge or behind a slash pile, you may think you have time to get it but you don’t.  Check your vanes on your arrows to make sure they are clearing your riser, rotate your nocks to clear if using high profile vanes.  The last I would say is go hunt, hunting is the fun part.  Killing is the accomplishment and make sure you have secured a good place that’s cool to hang your animal and if possible drag the animal into a creek to cool it.  I always have done this and stuffed two blocks of ice in the cavity and wrapping in a tarp if late in the evening.  Acts like a cooler and keeps the bugs off.  Good luck

[wadu1]

Hey y’all!
First of all, Hi! Im very new to this forum so it’s nice to see a supportive community.  I recently got into archery and am hoping to harvest my first deer this month! Any advice for the new girl would be greatly appreciated. When you first started hunting.. what were a some “would haves” or “should haves”? If you could have gone back and changed something, what would it have been?

Welcome! To answer your question I’ll focus on when I first started archery hunting as I had grown up hunting with firearms. I would have joined a nearby archery club. It would have provided a great place to shoot year round, opportunities to meet other like minded folks and most importantly, it would have dramatically shortened my learning curve! There are some good clubs out there.
Good luck on your journey!

First of all welcome the the site. As @bracer40 said join a club to meet like minded folks. Since you are in Tacoma, check out the archery range at Tacoma Sportsman's Club (Site Sponsor). They have a growing number of lady archers. 

[pianoman9701]

Welcome to the forum. Great boots and good glass are the most important equipment. Everything else is secondary as long as you're prepared for the elements.

For skills, practice all the time at the yardages you intend to shoot in the woods. Know how to navigate - learn map reading and using a compass. GPS is great and if you lose it or it breaks, you have a compass around your neck and a general sense of the direction back to the road, hopefully. Figure out how to stay alive for three days. That means water and enough warm and/or dry clothing to last until help arrives.

When you sit, don't keep moving around. When you are moving, do it as slowly as possible...and then slower. If it's impossible to be quiet, then make more noise.

Happy hunting!