New Hunter - Where do I even start?

[nightswhisper]

Howdy forums.

So I'm gonna be honest - Hunting is very new for me. Shot a few squirrels in my yard when they were pests and they were delicious fried in coconut oil.

But I have no idea how to start. I'm not really looking to hunt big game and mostly looking for birds and rabbits.

How did you start? Without parental or family teaching you, did you manage to learn the ropes yourself? Are there courses? Or did you throw everything in your truck and went balls deep?

Thanks in advance.

[savage10]

One of the best parts of hunting is just diving in and learning on the fly. The more time you spend hunting and outdoors, the more you will learn.

That being said one of the best resources these days is podcasts. There’s a few great B.C. based ones out there too. Most are focused around big game though.

[Retiredguy]

Read some books on the subject. Read online hunting magazines. Join a local fish and game club and get involved and meet people. Lastly, pick an area that looks promising and go out and do it. If you have read some good books on bird hunting and rabbit hunting you will know what to start looking for, recognize sign, etc.

[Redthies]

Welcome to HBC nw. Where are you located? Depending on where you are, there are lots of guys on here that would be happy to help you out. It is certainly possible to teach yourself, and advisable to do some reading on your own, but going out in the woods with someone who hunts the animals you are interested in hunting can be invaluable. You could realistically just drive any FSR at feeding time (this varies by animal, but early morning and later afternoon/evening are typical) and see rabbits and grouse. BUT, there is something to be said for getting out of the vehicle and off the roads. Do you have any hiking or camping experience?

[CheesyLimper]

All of the above and familiarize yourself with the regulations.

[Treed]

I assume you have done your Core course? As CL said, know the regs, squirrels cannot be hunted, except for the gray squirrel that you killed. If you are in the lower mainland, there are various places that offer hunter training beyond the Core course. I started out alone. Read books, bought a video on gutting and cutting, bought a bow, practiced and shot my first (very small spike) buck my second year. You can teach yourself, but learning from others is better. I work in the bush, so that whole side was easy. Enjoy the time spent hunting and don’t worry about the kill. As they say in sports, it’s about the process.

[mike31154]

Hunting in your yard? Technically not legal unless you can get more than 100 meters away from your residence. Have a good look at the hunting regulations. The CORE course will go a long way towards getting educated. That's where you start before you can even get a license to hunt in BC. ;)

[RackStar]

Hunting in your yard? Technically not legal unless you can get more than 100 meters away from your residence. Have a good look at the hunting regulations. The CORE course will go a long way towards getting educated. That's where you start before you can even get a license to hunt in BC. ;)

easy does it robo cop. Pretty sure you can dispatch vermin with a pellet gun on your own property

[MichelD]

To be honest, I am always sceptical about people wanting to start small with birds and rabbits. For one thing, we have very few actual rabbits to hunt in B.C.; we have hares and they are only in specific locations and you only see them come out to the edges of the road for the last half hour of light. This is not Nova Scotia. You'd better off hunting black bears and deer. You'll see way more of them.

Ditch chickens? (Grouse) well yeah, if you do enough driving you will see some, but to think it is worth it to go out only after grouse and hares in my opinion is a waste of time and gas.

There is an outfit called "EatWild" that puts on hunting courses as well as CORE, and I have several young friends who have taken it and found it valuable. I have strong opinions about that, mostly based on the opinion that you'd be better off with a mentor off this site or someone you meet at the range who will take you on a few hunting trips. But if you have the $ and you feel you would learn more in a group setting then seek out EatWild.

Otherwise, get your firearms permit, practice shooting at reasonable ranges like 25 to 150 metres (you do not need to be a 600 metre sniper) do the CORE, make sure you know the rules and get out there. Regions 3,5 and 8 have tons of hunting spots.

[HarryToolips]

All of the above and familiarize yourself with the regulations.

Yup what I was going to say. I started alone too. Familiarize yourself with just being in the bush, get comfortable and gain confidence the more you go. Take the CORE course if you haven't already. Always bring a knife, a fire starter and a compass at minimum out there when ya go.

[BearSupreme]

Youtube has a lot of good video on how to dress game and other tips, nothing beats exploring and figuring it out as you go, especially for small game. Large game is a bit more involved and you can get in over your head pretty quick if you have NO idea what you are doing or what you need. Sounds like you'll be fine just scouting around within the regs and learn as you go. You'll probably need a bow or 22LR at least for small game, not sure pellet hunting is technically legal unless its Class C. Definitely bring a first aid kit and some basic survival stuff if you are going offroads, being stuck in areas if you get stuck or some other break down is not good and some basic survival stuff can go a long ways.
Good luck and enjoy the journey!

[wos]

I started hunting 40 years ago I'm still learning to hunt!

[Muledeercrazy2]

I started hunting 40 years ago I'm still learning to hunt!


lol, 30 years for me

sometimes your local club or shooting range can be a good way to meet people. I got to go on some cool hunts when I was younger, as a glorified human pack horse. Look for a mentor there? Grouse hunting can be fun if you figure it out, but honestly being in situations where you are driving around and hoping out to shoot quickly isn’t the best bet for new hunters. You can flush grouse walking around in the right places, once you find them. Better to find someone to help you get started than figure it out on utube or by yourself.

I have heard of guys paying for guided bear hunts in B.C. just to get as much knowledge and experience tracking, finding, and cleaning animals as possible

[nightswhisper]

Thank you all for the great replies.

A little about myself:

I am in my 30s and in good shape. I'm an avid hiker, drive a Wrangler, and spend a tremendous amount of time outdoors. I'm an excellent shot (Competitive trap) with a shotgun but, most importantly, an excellent cook with a very compact and robust mobile kitchen.

One of the reasons for me to hunt is that I'm just tired of the way animals are treated and bred for food and want a more humane way of harvesting meat. Plus, I make a mean peking duck and it's f*cking delicious.

I'm not really interested in large game - It's kind of a pain to deal with and most large game don't taste good, the exception being deer and boar, both of which I enjoy cooking quite a bit.

In the unlikely event anyone's in the Lower Mainland Area wouldn't mind my tagging along or mentoring me, I'd appreciate it very much and pay you back in good food and liquor.

We all hunt for different reasons - I love cooking and I love the outdoors. Working with fresh and healthy ingredients amidst beautiful nature just seems like the perfect combo.

[jamfarm]

It’s been years but I’ve seen a fair amount of rabbits at Paysatan & Placer just past manning, head up there when the season opens.

I don’t think you should avoid big game hunting, when I started hunting I hunted for deer and grouse and I didn’t think about elk or duck hunting. I remember reading about guys being addicted to elk hunting, well now I fully understand, I too am addicted to elk hunting and can hardly wait for every September to roll around.

I always hunt deer solo and when I go elk hunting my partner & I sometimes will ‘divide & conquer’ and we’ll hunt elk solo. But elk hunting with a partner is a ton of fun, it’s so different in that if you’re calling you don’t have to worry (at times) about making noise, elk are big animals and make noise. And elk meat is delicious. I also have just gotten into duck hunting and it’s fun in that you are hanging out with a buddy and the hunting action comes in waves as the birds fly overhead.

You say that dealing with big game is hard to deal with and you’re right, it can be. But some of the fondest memories that I have are packing out huge loads of meat after a hunt, it’s hell at the time but the satisfaction is huge and those memories will last forever.

I guess I’m trying to say is to not shy away from any species of hunting. Also, put your draws in but do your research first, don’t be one of those people that gets a draw and doesn’t see it through.

[Bubbacanuck]

Thank you all for the great replies.

A little about myself:

I am in my 30s and in good shape. I'm an avid hiker, drive a Wrangler, and spend a tremendous amount of time outdoors. I'm an excellent shot (Competitive trap) with a shotgun but, most importantly, an excellent cook with a very compact and robust mobile kitchen.

One of the reasons for me to hunt is that I'm just tired of the way animals are treated and bred for food and want a more humane way of harvesting meat. Plus, I make a mean peking duck and it's f*cking delicious.

I'm not really interested in large game - It's kind of a pain to deal with and most large game don't taste good, the exception being deer and boar, both of which I enjoy cooking quite a bit.

In the unlikely event anyone's in the Lower Mainland Area wouldn't mind my tagging along or mentoring me, I'd appreciate it very much and pay you back in good food and liquor.

We all hunt for different reasons - I love cooking and I love the outdoors. Working with fresh and healthy ingredients amidst beautiful nature just seems like the perfect combo.

Meateater just came out with a new cookbook that i picked up recently. All about cooking in the outdoors.

https://www.amazon.ca/MeatEater-Outdoor-Cookbook-Campstove-Campfire/dp/0593449037/ref=asc_df_0593449037/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=578814452298&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5336645475261924199&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9001504&hvtargid=pla-2198510306580&psc=1&mcid=de4df9bac2fe357c8d7a3a38408284fd

I've only just cracked into it but so far it looks like a great addition to the kitchen

[MichelD]

Thank you all for the great replies.

A little about myself:

I am in my 30s and in good shape. I'm an avid hiker, drive a Wrangler, and spend a tremendous amount of time outdoors. I'm an excellent shot (Competitive trap) with a shotgun but, most importantly, an excellent cook with a very compact and robust mobile kitchen.

One of the reasons for me to hunt is that I'm just tired of the way animals are treated and bred for food and want a more humane way of harvesting meat. Plus, I make a mean peking duck and it's f*cking delicious.

I'm not really interested in large game - It's kind of a pain to deal with and most large game don't taste good, the exception being deer and boar, both of which I enjoy cooking quite a bit.

In the unlikely event anyone's in the Lower Mainland Area wouldn't mind my tagging along or mentoring me, I'd appreciate it very much and pay you back in good food and liquor.

We all hunt for different reasons - I love cooking and I love the outdoors. Working with fresh and healthy ingredients amidst beautiful nature just seems like the perfect combo.

You must have been offered some nasty game meat. Well taken care of elk, moose, deer and black bear are choice eating, but it is all about everything from a clean kill shot , careful gutting, skinning, cooling, packing, transport and butchering.

There is this old joke that if you gut-shot a prime Angus steer, left it laying around in the sun all day without gutting it, finally opened it up, dragged it across a muddy swamp, put it on the hood of your car or on top of your truck, paraded around for a couple of days showing off and then finally skinned it and cut it up it would be pretty gamey too.

[1S1K]

Start watching and reading MeatEater - there’s a ton of great info in their shows and on their site

[Redthies]

Thank you all for the great replies.

A little about myself:

I am in my 30s and in good shape. I'm an avid hiker, drive a Wrangler, and spend a tremendous amount of time outdoors. I'm an excellent shot (Competitive trap) with a shotgun but, most importantly, an excellent cook with a very compact and robust mobile kitchen.

One of the reasons for me to hunt is that I'm just tired of the way animals are treated and bred for food and want a more humane way of harvesting meat. Plus, I make a mean peking duck and it's f*cking delicious.

I'm not really interested in large game - It's kind of a pain to deal with and most large game don't taste good, the exception being deer and boar, both of which I enjoy cooking quite a bit.

In the unlikely event anyone's in the Lower Mainland Area wouldn't mind my tagging along or mentoring me, I'd appreciate it very much and pay you back in good food and liquor.

We all hunt for different reasons - I love cooking and I love the outdoors. Working with fresh and healthy ingredients amidst beautiful nature just seems like the perfect combo.

Your motivations mirror mine. I love to eat great food, and buying ethically raised organic meat is very expensive.

If you’ve eaten bad tasting big game, it is 99% due to the way the animal was handled. The best venison I’ve ever had (by far) was a whitetail I took with a bow on my own property. I have lots of fruit and chestnut trees, and that shows in the flavour. I also took very good care of the animal after it was down. As others have mentioned, watch MeatEater and read Steven Rinellas books. The man is very articulate, interesting and knows how to cook wild meat incredibly well.

[Woodchuck Dan]

I'm in my second year of hunting over here and am enjoying the process thoroughly - I'm finding it a deep well that I'm going to keep coming back to for the rest of my life. Really wish I had started before I was in my 30's but am grateful I still have a good few decades assuming my health holds up.

I would echo what most folks have said already. Something I found very rewarding when I first started was walking FSR's and their axillary trails looking for grouse in the fall. If you cover enough ground you will eventually spook some, and also figure out where you are more likely to find them in the future.

Although yes, you will have much more productive luck for birds/rabbits driving FSR's at dawn/dusk, I do so much driving already this is pretty unappealing. Spending a good day with a knapsack and a rifle exploring trails is a great fall experience.

Other than that I'm also planning on getting into duck hunting even though I have no experience or a dog. I've heard wild duck tastes fantastic and it looks like a lot of fun. Going to do some research and just spend time with boots on the ground - Sounds like this might appeal to you too.

[Darksith]

know the regulations, get out there and focus on the prime times...morning and evening. Also find a mentor, a friend, someone willing to take you out or go out with you