Thread: Beginner Hunter - need advice

As a newbie myself, yet to take my first deer. I have been consistently bumping into deer in different areas of the country (pureora and my two trips into the ruahines) and the main reason to having not have them on the deck to date sofar is.
1. Bullet type, shot a hind in the shoulder / higher up in the shoulder than I would have liked with Hornady 165gr Sst 308 and it went through and through at very close range. Spent 2 hours trying to find the animal with no success (had 5 of them so trying to follow all 5 tracks in steep thick bush crossing over with minimal blood trail was challenging). I've since done some homework and will be having soft points (deer was maybe 10m away at best)
2. I've been going too fast and bumping into them and having deer take off. Walk like a deer was the advice I got from here and it works. (I have also had days where I'm trying to cover ground, you've gotta walk the distance to learn areas and I've now clicked up a few 100kms of walking public land)

My own observations, some may disagree but deer can be thick as two short planks just after dawn and before dusk. I've had a few occasions now where I'm walking along not very quietly and have been able to stop, have the deer look at me and I've had time to remove scope cover, put one up the spout and then decide not a clear enough shot with the back drop / bad shot placement opportunities.

Originally Posted by Shippo

Hey Trout!

Got the tikka T3x Lite in a .308 - was thinking about getting a 7mm-08 but after a chat to the guys at Hunting and fishing decided on the .308 to try and get more stopping power. Want to try and avoid putting any animals through any unnecessary pain.

well this snippet of advice will go against the grain of MOST shop sales folks...and the open country hunters...if you are bush hunting and expect to be less than hundred yards from deer...winchester make a simply awesome 180grn cup n core load..its usually reasonably priced and recoils LESS than the 150grn equivilents..and it kills deer like nothing else..simply awesome load.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherSpearo

As a newbie myself, yet to take my first deer. I have been consistently bumping into deer in different areas of the country (pureora and my two trips into the ruahines) and the main reason to having not have them on the deck to date sofar is.
1. Bullet type, shot a hind in the shoulder / higher up in the shoulder than I would have liked with Hornady 165gr Sst 308 and it went through and through at very close range. Spent 2 hours trying to find the animal with no success (had 5 of them so trying to follow all 5 tracks in steep thick bush crossing over with minimal blood trail was challenging). I've since done some homework and will be having soft points (deer was maybe 10m away at best)
2. I've been going too fast and bumping into them and having deer take off. Walk like a deer was the advice I got from here and it works. (I have also had days where I'm trying to cover ground, you've gotta walk the distance to learn areas and I've now clicked up a few 100kms of walking public land)

My own observations, some may disagree but deer can be thick as two short planks just after dawn and before dusk. I've had a few occasions now where I'm walking along not very quietly and have been able to stop, have the deer look at me and I've had time to remove scope cover, put one up the spout and then decide not a clear enough shot with the back drop / bad shot placement opportunities.

stop right there - after years of culling another 40 years of bush stalking my rifle is ready to shoot when bush stalking - no fuck around - no remove scope covers - no take rifle of shoulder - rifle is on half cock carried carefully as always - ready to shoot immediatly other wise all you will see fucking around is a deers arse disapearing

oh damn...here we go again.... what Barry means is round chambered and bolt NOT SHUT......
we can leave the pedantic terms out of it for that is enough.... LOL.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherSpearo

As a newbie myself, yet to take my first deer. I have been consistently bumping into deer in different areas of the country (pureora and my two trips into the ruahines) and the main reason to having not have them on the deck to date sofar is.
1. Bullet type, shot a hind in the shoulder / higher up in the shoulder than I would have liked with Hornady 165gr Sst 308 and it went through and through at very close range. Spent 2 hours trying to find the animal with no success (had 5 of them so trying to follow all 5 tracks in steep thick bush crossing over with minimal blood trail was challenging). I've since done some homework and will be having soft points (deer was maybe 10m away at best)
2. I've been going too fast and bumping into them and having deer take off. Walk like a deer was the advice I got from here and it works. (I have also had days where I'm trying to cover ground, you've gotta walk the distance to learn areas and I've now clicked up a few 100kms of walking public land)

My own observations, some may disagree but deer can be thick as two short planks just after dawn and before dusk. I've had a few occasions now where I'm walking along not very quietly and have been able to stop, have the deer look at me and I've had time to remove scope cover, put one up the spout and then decide not a clear enough shot with the back drop / bad shot placement opportunities.

thats a one off - high shot -dont do any thing stupid with loads etc your shot placement was to blame not your load bullet - the only thing that would have improved your outcome with high shot placement would be 45-70 or 50 cal ( yuk yuk ) dont sweat it

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

oh damn...here we go again.... what Barry means is round chambered and bolt NOT SHUT......
we can leave the pedantic terms out of it for that is enough.... LOL.

okay but Mickey Duck me old mate the message was be ready to shoot bush hunting - not take rifle of shoulder - remove scope covers - range it (yup 25 yards ) decide on shot placement based on load development one has in magazine - decide outcome of shooting that animal hind stag etc --real world outcome deer's arse disappearing over the horizon LOL LOL LOL just shoot the bloody thing

If you are seeing dear then thats half the battle, now all you have to do is fine tune your hunting skills to a point where you can get a shot off.

You need to be seeing them before they see you, you will be learning with every hunt just be patient and it will come to you.

The first one is always the hardest.

Originally Posted by 7mm Rem Mag

If you are seeing dear then thats half the battle, now all you have to do is fine tune your hunting skills to a point where you can get a shot off.

You need to be seeing them before they see you, you will be learning with every hunt just be patient and it will come to you.

The first one is always the hardest.

words of wisdom my man

Originally Posted by 7mm Rem Mag

If you are seeing dear ......... just be patient and it will come to you.

The first one is always the hardest.

that applies to more than one thing in life........now was the spelling a Fruidian slip or what LOL

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

that applies to more than one thing in life........now was the spelling a Fruidian slip or what LOL

No mate, by the way happy new year. Great to see you back and giving new hunters good advice

Appreciate the input guys, in the same situation my rifle would still be in the same state. probably should have mentioned was heading for a hut to drop the pack as was in for a 3 nights and the pack was 30kgs.

But understand what your saying about being ready definitely good advice and to the point.

Originally Posted by JustAnotherSpearo

Appreciate the input guys, in the same situation my rifle would still be in the same state. probably should have mentioned was heading for a hut to drop the pack as was in for a 3 nights and the pack was 30kgs.

But understand what your saying about being ready definitely good advice and to the point.

OK so next titbit...if your pack was 30kgs on way in....where and how where you going to carry out venison???
with experience you will get pack weight down....one really good trick is to unpack when get home and take note of what WASNT used...next time your packing...look at your list again..... not saying go unprepared,but work out how little you can be comfortable with.

The only advice I can give you is take your rifle with you when you fill up your water bottles in a stream.

I'm still pissed off about that one.

or take a pee...or a dump...or to look over wee spur.....

Going along with what some have said about being ready I will add my two cents, I like to be religious about always having a sharp knife, lite pack and some bits of cord for tying up the different bits of animal to make it easier to carry, (or for those that like to field dress, some plastic bags).
And always be confident that your rifle is shooting straight and you know the POI.

If you are properly prepared for having one on the deck, there will be less lingering doubt about putting one on the deck, sometimes the second guessing is enough to let the animal get away.
Not being properly prepared also helps with making excuses to be lazy and not hunt like you mean it.