Never hunted but thinking about it - advice?

[anomie]

I grew up out in the desert in California and never really had an opportunity to hunt. I've fished and gutted/cleaned/cooked my catch a couple times, but I wouldn't really call myself a fisherman, or even particularly outdoorsy, either.

I've been thinking that hunting is something I may want to do a time or two in my life. If I go hunting I'd want it to be useful (hogs? Are deer under-predated? Can I use the meat or give it to someone who can, etc), and I wouldn't want it to be "touristy" (if I'm not going to learn to dress/clean etc then why bother, since that's what I want to learn/get out of it)

I figure there's a board full of nice people who hunt here so I thought I'd ask advice - any thoughts you have, etc. I haven't decided if I'm really going to do it yet or if I think I'd probably end up as a bumbling-idiot-re-hunting, but if you were a guy like me but magically knew what you know about hunting, what would you hunt, where would tell someone to go to learn things, etc.

I have an AR, if I do go hunting I'd probably use that, right now it's just iron sights, but I have a scope I could mount.

[anygunanywhere]

Hunting in Texas can be expensive. What public land there is is often full of strange folks and game wardens tracking those strange folk.

Anygunanywhere

[anomie]

I once saw a game warden pull a guy out of a wooded canyon behind the office building I work at. That wooded canyon is surrounded by suburban homes, businesses, etc (I don't know if it's legal to hunt there, I'd assume discharging a firearm would be illegal, I have no idea about a crossbow - but I think this was out-of-season, we get *herds* of deer in that parking lot after nightfall) ... the guy was dressed in camo and had a crossbow.

The game warden cuffed him and put him in his truck - and we saw a truck that I assume was owned by the guy who was arrested get towed.

If I do go I want it to all be straight - I'm assuming I'd need to take a hunter safety course, get a license, etc - and I'd want someone with me that knew what they were doing (which is really a pretty big barrier, as I don't really know anyone who hunts, or at least, who makes it known that they hunt, not directly in real life that I know well, anyway)

[RJGold]

For bird hunting, there are reasonable club leases (duck, goose, dove) available. We hunt on Coastal Prairie properties (you can google them).

For deer and hog, anygun is right. It's pretty tough to find public land to hunt on.

There are club leases available for deer and pig but I have not hunted them and can't speak about what to expect there.

As far as deer being under-predated, I'd say based on the 10 that crossed in front of my wife and I on Sunday afternoon at 4PM in our neighborhood, yes, they are under-predated...

Good luck...

[puma guy]

Can't really offer advice about where to hunt. Others here have pointed out options. You should know that if you were born on or after September 2, 1971 you'll have to attend and pass Texas Hunter Education to get a hunting license. You can get a one time waiver by paying a fee but it has some severe restrictions for hunting with the waiver and I believe the waiver doesn't apply on public hunts sponsored by TPWD.
There are drawings for public hunts on the TPWD website here:http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/
You also may want to join some hunting forums. Good luck and welcome to Texas Hunting!

[Kiowa Scout]

anomie, where are you located? PM me. I can give you some suggestions. BTW, I am a hunter's education instructor.

[EEllis]

I your case I would just do a guided hunt.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[The Annoyed Man]

Fellow California transplant here. Contact our member chuckybrown. Here is the last PM he sent me:

Was going through some old threads....read about you being skunked.

If you want to go next winter (Feb-May) let me know. We can get it on the calendar.

http://www.reedpropertymanagement.com/info.php?pnum=28" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'll make sure you have a good time, and most likely put you on hogs.

They will also teach you how to dress out the animals you take, and will help you with the preparation of the meat (sausage, etc.). I've been fortunate enough to have friends invite me into their leases or properties, and I've enjoyed every minute of it, whether or not I actually bagged any game at the time. But if I were doing it all over again, I would start with a guided hunt like chuckybrown's. I'm still thinking about doing it......with my son this time.

[anomie]

Fellow California transplant here.

Oh, hi there :) I grew up in the Yucca Valley/Joshua Tree/29 Palms area, if you know where that is.

They will also teach you how to dress out the animals you take, and will help you with the preparation of the meat (sausage, etc.). I've been fortunate enough to have friends invite me into their leases or properties, and I've enjoyed every minute of it, whether or not I actually bagged any game at the time. But if I were doing it all over again, I would start with a guided hunt like chuckybrown's. I'm still thinking about doing it......with my son this time.

Something like that sounds like what I want to do. I've been reading a little both here and at other forums (like the one Carry-a-Kimber posted) and I think what I meant by 'not touristy' in the OP is better describe by 'not canned + somebody teaches me dressing etc', so if it's guided and meets that it sounds about perfect (there's no way I'd just take a class and get a license and just go somewhere by myself to hunt)

I'm going to go figure out when I can take a Texas Hunter Education class, get out to the rifle range some more, and keep reading up. It may be a bit before I actually do it so I might as well find out everything I can.

[baldeagle]

I started working on a spreadsheet last night that contains a lot of information about available hog hunts. Today, while working on it some more, I followed this link - http://www.texasdayhunts.com/index.php? ... 8&cityid=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This site has hog hunts all over Texas with pricing information, location and even ratings on the hunts by people who have used them.

[Oldgringo]

I started working on a spreadsheet last night that contains a lot of information about available hog hunts. Today, while working on it some more, I followed this link - http://www.texasdayhunts.com/index.php? ... 8&cityid=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This site has hog hunts all over Texas with pricing information, location and even ratings on the hunts by people who have used them.

Hmmm, is that "hunting" or is that "shooting"? Inquiring minds, you know....just askin'.

[JSThane]

I have an AR, if I do go hunting I'd probably use that, right now it's just iron sights, but I have a scope I could mount.

One thing to be aware of: last I heard, .223 / 5.56 was too small to legally hunt anything bigger than a coyote or rabbit with in Texas. The minimum caliber is (or at least was, when I lived in Texas) .243 for "medium to large game," due to the .223's relative lack of efficacy against these animals. It'll kill them all right, but they may run a LONG way from where they're shot, and die lost somewhere. This may have changed, but I doubt it. You'll probably want a decent bolt-action rifle, .243 or larger.

Hogs are vermin, though, and IIRC, can be shot with just about anything, up to and including an F-250 with a brush bar.

[Carry-a-Kimber]

I have an AR, if I do go hunting I'd probably use that, right now it's just iron sights, but I have a scope I could mount.

One thing to be aware of: last I heard, .223 / 5.56 was too small to legally hunt anything bigger than a coyote or rabbit with in Texas. The minimum caliber is (or at least was, when I lived in Texas) .243 for "medium to large game," due to the .223's relative lack of efficacy against these animals. It'll kill them all right, but they may run a LONG way from where they're shot, and die lost somewhere. This may have changed, but I doubt it. You'll probably want a decent bolt-action rifle, .243 or larger.

Hogs are vermin, though, and IIRC, can be shot with just about anything, up to and including an F-250 with a brush bar.

223 is perfectly legal to use on whitetail deer in Texas.

[jmra]

I have an AR, if I do go hunting I'd probably use that, right now it's just iron sights, but I have a scope I could mount.

One thing to be aware of: last I heard, .223 / 5.56 was too small to legally hunt anything bigger than a coyote or rabbit with in Texas. The minimum caliber is (or at least was, when I lived in Texas) .243 for "medium to large game," due to the .223's relative lack of efficacy against these animals. It'll kill them all right, but they may run a LONG way from where they're shot, and die lost somewhere. This may have changed, but I doubt it. You'll probably want a decent bolt-action rifle, .243 or larger.

Hogs are vermin, though, and IIRC, can be shot with just about anything, up to and including an F-250 with a brush bar.

Any centerfire cartridge can be used to hunt deer in Texas. Rimfire cartridges can not be used for deer.

Interesting article about deer hunting and the .223 round. (Personally, my family hunts big game with anything from a 243 to a 300 Winmag, but I know plenty of people who have taken deer just as effectively with the .223. I've even seen a woman take down a buck with a .22 hornet.)

http://www.americanhunter.org/mobile/bl ... 670&cid=56

And here is the reg:
"white-tailed deer, mule deer, desert bighorn sheep, and pronghorn antelope may NOT be hunted with rimfire ammunition of any caliber."
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations ... unt/means/