What you eat and drink matters a lot for hunting, and so does when you eat and drink it. On this episode I talk about what I have learned to be the best eating and drinking habits prior to hunting and even while you are in the woods.
Take Aways:
Nothing is more important than knowing how different foods effect your body.
If dairy causes you problems, don’t eat it before going hunting.
If bacon or sausage will put you in the bathroom before the end of the morning, don’t eat it before hunting!
The type of hunting matters a lot. Sitting requires less food and drinking, and the downside of eating and drinking is larger.
Moving and hunting requires more of both, and there is much less if any downside to eating and drinking if you are moving a lot.
Few things are as disruptive when hunting than getting up to go to the bathroom or unwrapping a few granola bars.
Everything about your eating and drinking strategy should be focused on making you a more effective hunter.
You want to maximize comfort and stealth in the field.
If you are hunting in a hard walled blind from 200 yards then you can get away with a lot more than someone hunting game within 50 yards of a tree strand.
All animals are edible, but not all animals are tasty or healthy. On today’s episode I help new hunters navigate what common game animals are best to eat, which ones are questionable, and which to avoid.
Take Aways:
Almost anything can be palatable if cooked right, and somethings that are very unhealthy can be tasty. So the below classifications take both health and taste into consideration, it is not just a list of the things I like and don’t like.
Best To Eat: Dear, Elk, Moose, Turkey, Pheasants, Grouse, Doves, Quail, Ducks, Geese, Sheep/Rams/Goats
Worth Considering: Squirrel, Rabbit, Wild Boar
What To Avoid: Crows, Foxes, Coyotes, Raccoons, Beavers, Muskrats, Martins, Fishers, Opossum’s, Woodchucks, Bob Cats, Bears, Porcupines and essentially anything that is a predator or a scavenger.
In the end, do your own research about health, and your own taste testing so you can come to your own conclusions. These recommendations are just a guide to help new hunters get started.
If you spend more than an hour in the woods, there is a good chance you will need a bathroom break. What you are hunting determines the best tactics for relieving yourself. On today’s episode I talk about how and when to use the restroom with the least chance of disrupting your hunt.
Take Aways:
Contrary to popular belief, deer are not put off by the scent you leave from relieving yourself, in fact they may find it curious. You are more likely to spook a deer by being seen or heard. So the best option is to go right from your tree stand if possible with minimal movement or noise.
Turkeys and most birds can’t really smell, so movement and sound are the only things to concern yourself with.
Small game gives you maybe the most flexibility, most of these game animals don’t care much.
Predators do care, and you have to play the wind. If the wind is on your side then you have minimal risk using the restroom, if the wind is against you then it can ruin your hunt.
The rule of thumb is anytime you are going to leave an area, use the bathroom then, as opposed to whenever you come into a fresh area.
There is no less expensive and more effective way to make a hunt more comfortable than $1 worth of hand warmers. You can overcome poor boots, poor gloves, and unexpected conditions with these simple little items. In this episode we talk about the main types of warmers and the best ways to use each one.
Take Aways:
Gloves. The regular size warmers fit well inside of most gloves, some even come with a pocket for them. This lets you use with lighter gloves that allow more dexterity for operating a firearm.
Pockets. A set of warmers in your pockets can enable you to keep your hands warm and avoid gloves in some situations.
Full Day Boots. Nothing beats a good set of large 12+ hour warmers, lightly taped over your socks above your toes in a good set of insulated boots. You can survive just about any conditions comfortably with these.
Half Day Boots. Both toe and insole warmers have adhesive backs that make them very easy to stick to your sock before putting your foot in your boots. The trade off for ease of use is only a half day of warmth though. These shine for morning hunts or evening hunts, when you don’t need a full day’s worth of warmth.
Body. If you have to sit on something cold, or have a cold piece of gear pressing against you, a body warmer that sticks to the inside of your clothing can be a great way to warm up a cold spot.
Hunting gear, specifically clothing does not need to be expensive. In fact, you can often find it very inexpensively, but you have to keep your eyes open. This is a year round pursuit, and often you will find things out of season. But you can build a set of excellent gear for pennies on the dollar if you poke around and keep your eyes open. In this episode I talk about some examples and first hand experiences about where to look and how to develop a year round buying philosophy to find great gear at very low prices.
Take Aways:
Keep an eye open every time you go to a store, even if it’s not a hunting store.
Look at discount stores in the off season.
Look at thrift stores, auctions, and estate sales.
Be watchful even at grocery stores, drug stores, and places you wouldn’t expect.
Always look around at hiking, outdoor, and campaign gear, just in case.
Do not be too worried about the brand, learn to discern the quality and buy accordingly.
It is good to have a variety of gear items so you can be ready for different weather and hunting environments.
Again and again I have found quality hunting gear at places that I did not expect, such as Sam’s Club, or Rural King. You can sometimes find fair gear at Wal-Mart but often the gear lacks key features like a windproof membrane or sufficient insulation, or it may just not be quiet enough to mask even minimal movement. But there have been times where I was grocery shopping at a store and they had a special buy with an great hunting coat for the money.
Shopping right after the season is also a great time to look for gear. I have gone out to find hundreds of coats on clearance for $30, and I mean really substantial insulated windproof parkas in every size. This can be one of the best times to get new gear. You won’t be able to use it until the next season but for the price, you cannot beat it.
If you are a new hunter, it may be best to try and make it through your first season buying as little as you can get by with and then stock up on new gear as soon as the season is over for pennies on the dollar. Also keep in mind, you likely need less gear than you really think you do in order to be effective. Marketing is going to make you feel like you need more than you do. Often only spending time in the woods can help you figure out what you really need and what would be more effective for you.
Another important factor to consider is the construction of your hunting gear. No matter the cost, the right kind of gear with the right materials and insulation will help keep you comfortable. If you are fighting the elements you want some kind of wind and water-resistant barrier. It does not have to be GORE-TEX, there are much cheaper options. What counts is that your garment is made for the conditions you plan to hunt in.
Warm weather gear, no matter what it costs will do a poor job in the cold. If you can find cheap gear made to do what you need it to do, then you can succeed with minimal budget impact. Yes, you can get more by spending more, but it is also possible to get high quality gear for low prices IF you know what to look for. Here is another episode I did:Making Sense Of Insulation For Hunting Gear.
Listen to the whole podcast episode for more and here are a few videos to help take you deeper as well!
Everyone wants to hunt somewhere that no one else hunts and that the animals are undisturbed and grow big. Private land seems to be that ideal place. Often it’s not as great as it sounds but there is no doubt that it is usually the best available option. Getting permission to hunt on a nice parcel of private land can prove difficult.
On this episode we discuss 4 strategies that you can use to get access to private land:
Talk with your game commission to see if they have a hunter access program that lists willing land owners.
Use you maps orOnX Hunting Appto find ideal places, scout them, and try to build relationships with the owners.
Train your ears and be more thoughtful with your conversations to identify people you know or meet who could connect you.
Do not overlook the small opportunities that you have not considered or wrote off before you knew better.
Finding a place to hunt can be one of the biggest challenges for people new to the sport. Public land provides some unique opportunities but also has some issues. However, if you know how to find it and how to use it, public land can be a major asset.
When I first started hunting I did not know about all the public land close to me, I didn’t even know how to find out about it. I asked someone once and they told me about a place and the directions were essentially “east”. It was maybe a year before I found a way to figure out where that land was. It was two or three years before I learned what was there and figured out how to make use of that land. On today’s episode I will tell you how to get years worth of learning in minutes. No exaggeration!
Key Take Aways:
You don’t need any permission to hunt on public land, and it’s free.
Public land tracks are often larger than private.
Public land has more hunting pressure and requires a strategy to use well.
You can find public land through the game commission, Google maps, and best of all a good hunting app.
OnX Hunt is a must have tool for every hunter, new and experienced. It saves so much time, energy, and confusion. There is no easier way to find and navigate public land. You can learn more at their sitewww.onxmaps.com
Getting your first hunting license is easy, if you know what you want to hunt. There are a lot of licenses, tags, and add-ons you can buy that can add up to a serious chunk of money and most new hunters have no use for all of them. In this episode we look at deciding what you want to hunt before you head to the store.
Key Take Aways:
Think about the game in your area, what you want to hunt, have opportunity to hunt, and have equipment to hunt. Then buy only those tags.
You can always buy more tags later if the opportunity to hunt something comes up, but keep the cash in your pocket until it looks like you will actually be able to pursue that game.
Think about game that requires special tags, like antlerless deer, and handle those right away.
How to easily navigate the complex process of antlerless deer tags.
When in doubt, ask the game commission questions, they are often happy to help.
If there is one official hurdle to getting started in hunting it is the hunters safety course. The course isn’t hard, but figuring out how and where to take it, and what is the official course for your state can be more challenging that most people think, especially because lots of online education companies claim to be offering something that sounds like what you want. But they are not certified by the game commission in your state to give you the certificate you need to get your first hunting license.
This episode will help you navigate the hurdles and get you or the person you are helping into the woods quickly and painlessly. Plus it will help you get the most out of the opportunity that taking this course provides, after all, you are in a room full of other hunters and future hunters, you can really benefit from the connections you make here.
Key Take Aways:
Always attend your safety course in person when possible, it’s a great opportunity to network, meet local hunters, and try to find information about where you can hunt.
Do not trust online hunters safety courses unless they are offered or recommended directly by your state game commission. When in doubt, call your state game commission to ask.
Visitthis sitefor links to each state’s local government to search for your game commission’s page
Visit here for thehumane society’s listof most state’s game, fish, or conservation agencies. Be warned, it’s not 100% complete, but it will help most people.
Enjoy the class, it’s not hard, and it will help you think more about how to hunt and how to be safe and successful.
After years of relentless research, first hand experience, reading book after book and article after article, talking with experts and attending seminars, and spending many days in the woods pursuing almost every type of game native to his state, he developed a practical well rounded hunting knowledge. Perhaps even more important than hunting knowledge, he developed a strong appreciation for the outdoors and a desire for more people to share his passion of fresh air and captivating landscapes.
The New Hunters Guide is simply the podcast George wishes he would have had when learning how to hunt; a single place to get practical hands on knowledge about different kinds of hunting, affordable gear, and tips that can exponentially improve your comfort and fun factor in the woods.
