>>2613200I am in a similar boat as a new hunter.
Here's what I am doing // have done so far:
I have my WIN number and hunters license (Canada). I entered into the large game draws. Here you enter into a draw for tags, there are 2 draws for each type of game animal, with or without antlers. I won a tag for whitetail without antlers, and mule deer without antlers. You also apply for your tags in certain wildlife management units (WMU's), so I know where I am hunting. I chose what WMU to apply for by looking in Google earth. I chose an area that had a lot of crown land (Canada's version of BLM land), had a water course running through it, and look like it had some clearing in the bush, not just solid canopy.
I am going to purchase the basics in gear, I have a rifle (it's not a proper deer rifle, I'm rocking a surplus rifle but its what I've got), so the gear I need is a meat sled to carry out my kill, cheese cloth to wrap the meat, a hacksaw, fillet knife and skinning knife to prep the meat (I plan to do it all right then and there), a small holdout chair, a tripod or something like that to set my rifle in, and an aggressive set of winter tires.
For prep, in the late summer or early fall I'm gunna scout the area and get an idea of where I will try to post up, and where to avoid. Looking for half decent road access, water with an adjacent clearing, and any hazards that might become obscure by a covering of snow.
I'll be spending a lot of time at the range in the summer and fall zeroing in my rifle and practicing. I'll also watch a bunch of tutorial videos but I don't find them helpful becuase I feel like they overwhelm the viewer with too many details. I figure the hardest part has been not to overthink it.
Paperwork, gear, location, practice. That's the basics I think. Any hunters want to tell me how I'm doing?
