Hunting is an immensely popular sport. It is perhaps one of the most popular in the United States. However, it is also a very challenging sport. A lot of people seem to think that you can just pick up a gun and rush out into the woods, but it’s not that simple. To go hunting, you need to prepare. Mental and physical preparation is necessary. Hunting is not like playing a video game, you are looking for intelligent creatures that are much more perceptive than humans are.
This post will tell you nine tips you need to follow if you want to become an expert hunter.
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Specific Animals
Depending on where you live in the United States, some animals will be more abundant than others. In some places, hunters have to learn how to hunt deer on public land, because there’s an overabundance of them, and in others, they have to learn how to hunt grizzly bears. Take some time to learn about which animals are most commonly hunted in your state, and then research whether or not a license is necessary, and when your state’s hunting season is.
Avoiding Predators
Unless you are actively looking for bears, wolves, and big cats, it’s usually best to avoid them. However, if you are not an expert hunter, then you will no doubt have any way of telling the difference between bear scat and mule deer scat. The best way to identify the presence of predatory animals is by their tracks and scat.
Online guides are a good start when it comes to learning about how to avoid predators, but you should also ask for help from a more experienced hunter. If you ask for help from members of the hunting community, then they should be willing to tell you how to detect and then avoid predatory animals.
Firearm Training
Firearm training is something else that’s essential. Under no circumstances should you go out hunting when you do not know how to use a weapon. If you did come into contact with an angry wolf, then without your gun, you would have no way of protecting yourself. Most experts recommend taking a course in firearm handling. You can do this at a gun store. Most gun stores have target ranges in their basements or outside. Firearm training courses are not expensive to sign up for and can protect you from predatory animals.
Learn Tracking
If you want a high success rate when you go out hunting, then learn to track. Learning to identify animal tracks, and then successfully track them, is a very effective way of ensuring that you get kills on every single one of your trips. It is also a good way of determining whether or not there are predatory animals in the area.
Animal tracks aren’t the only way of establishing whether animals are in the area, however. Broken branches, eaten berries, scat, and flattened bushes are all signs animals have been near. Learning to track will make it easier for you to identify the presence of animals and figure out which animals are near.
Making Friends
Making friends in the hunting community is a very good way of becoming a better hunter. Having friends who know more than you gives you people to learn from. The hunting community is a very open one. Most of the people involved in it will be more than happy to show new hunters the things that they have learned and teach them to hunt like a pro. If you have social media, then you can probably join a group that’s dedicated to hunting in your area there.
Becoming a good navigator is essential if you want to be a good hunter. How are you going to go out hunting if you can’t find your way out of the woods, for example? Getting lost in the woods could be very dangerous if there are bears and wolves around. A lot of hunters take GPS trackers with them, so they can find their way back to their vehicles. A GPS tracker is a good idea, however, it is also a good idea to learn how to navigate effectively outdoors. Learn to use a compass, too.
First Aid
Learning first aid is another thing that’s essential if you want to be a good hunter. When you are out in the woods carrying a gun, you can get injured. People around you could get injured, too. Knowing first aid will help you to treat your (or anybody else’s) injuries. Playing with wild animals can be dangerous, as already mentioned. If you are confronted and attacked by a wild animal, then first aid will help you to treat your injuries, after you have killed the animal.
Skinning Animals
A lot of hunters eat the animals that they kill. If you are an individual who’s interested in doing this, then you need to first learn how to skin an animal. If you cannot skin an animal, then you will not be able to eat it. Skinning animals is not that hard. You can likely participate in a workshop in your local area, or find a hunter who captures and kills their food and ask them to show you how you are supposed to skin an animal. You can then sell the hide of some animals and make a profit.
Emergency Action
Finally, you need to be trained in what to do when a dangerous situation arises. Throughout this post, reference has been made to predatory animals. This is because they are your biggest threat when you are out hunting. If you do not know what to do when you encounter a predatory animal, you could get killed. You need to react in different ways depending on the animal that you are hunting. You don’t react in the same way to encountering a saltwater crocodile as you do a charging grizzly bear, after all.
Hunting is a very enjoyable sport, and one of the most popular in the United States. If it’s a sport you are interested in taking up, then you need to first do your research, and learn as much about it as you can. The more you know, the better you will be.
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