Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Thanks for insights from the new hunters. I'm hoping to become one of you soon, and I'm scribbling down notes from this thread.

The big challenge seems to be finding a decent location.

I took another new hunter out Thursday morning (his parent's property) while he is home from college and we had good luck, even though it was cold and windy. His main comment after the hunt was similar to the other hunters...wear proper boots/socks. Here are some tips I have for those looking to get into deer hunting:

- There are lots of online resources (most good and a few bad) when it comes to deer hunting basics. Lots of YouTube videos covering a variety of topics.

- Nothing beats spending time in the field. Even after 20 years of deer hunting I'm still learning new things and refining my hunting skills. Good places to sit down and watch, or photograph, deer during the off season include wooded parks like Manassas Battlefield.

- Proper clothing, for a variety of conditions, are worth their weight in gold. That said, you don't have to have all matching camo or spend a ton of money getting started. Army surplus gear is good stuff for the money.

- Definitely consider taking an experienced hunter along until you get familiar with everything. This will increase your chances of success and ensure everything is done safely.

- Once you get a couple of seasons under your belt pay it forward and mentor a new hunter if you're able to do so. This help keeps the sport alive.


Here is a pic from Thursday. The guy on the right is the new hunter and you can see how proud/happy he is. No doubt in my mind that he'll be anxiously awaiting opening day next year.

dmharvey wrote: - Proper clothing, for a variety of conditions, are worth their weight in gold. That said, you don't have to have all matching camo or spend a ton of money getting started. Army surplus gear is good stuff for the money.

for many years I just used the brown carharts I used around the farm. Not quite as warm as dedicated gear, but a few layers under it and it works fine for a top layer.

- There are lots of online resources (most good and a few bad) when it comes to deer hunting basics. Lots of YouTube videos covering a variety of topics.

dmharvey, are there any specific links to websites and our certain youtube videos that you think would be helpful to beginners. I plan on doing some fox and small game hunting after deer season and want to start scouting for deer while i am out there small game hunting. i have researched quite a bit myself, but would like to see some things from a different perspective.