New Hunter Looking For Help

[ice111103]

I just got through my hunter's safety course and wanted to get into hunting. I was wondering if someone could recommend some good places to go. I am looking for a guide, and essentially someone to help teach me the basics. I have only been out a few times after rabbits and squirrels. I am most interested in waterfowl and whitetail, but I am open to almost anything. Any help would be appreciated.

Anthony

 

[somdboy]

where do you live? and for deer i think you should just go out and learn as you go, its pretty simple; buy a stand put it in the woods sit in it and wait for a deer and shoot it for waterfowl you should find some guys who have gone out before, and have all the decoys, and go with them. Waterfowl can come to be very expensive so i suggest you find someone who already has everything.

 

[ice111103]

where do you live? and for deer i think you should just go out and learn as you go, its pretty simple; buy a stand put it in the woods sit in it and wait for a deer and shoot it for waterfowl you should find some guys who have gone out before, and have all the decoys, and go with them. Waterfowl can come to be very expensive so i suggest you find someone who already has everything.

I live in Laurel but traveling isn't a problem. I don't really know anyone that owns property to hunt on so I figure it would be easier to pay for a place.

 

[somdboy]

well theres always public hunting land and you can always go to peoples farms and ask them if you can hunt on their land

 

[Jaybeez]

There are quite a few paid guide services on the easternshore. There is one that advertises on craigslist in horford county too.

Waterfowl is actually pretty big business on the shore, w/ farmers leaving corn rows up, and signs advertising. You might need to wait till the season though.

 

[ice111103]

There are quite a few paid guide services on the easternshore. There is one that advertises on craigslist in horford county too.

Waterfowl is actually pretty big business on the shore, w/ farmers leaving corn rows up, and signs advertising. You might need to wait till the season though.

I know its early but I want to start planning something now so I have plenty of time to get things together.

 

[Mossyoak]

Ice ,check this site out for public land near you http://www.dnr.state.md.us/huntersguide/
It would be best for you to go our with someone who has experince for your first few outings at the least. There is plenty of info available on hunting tactics for various game.
Leases on hunting land is getting out of control and you have to be an executive to afford some of these places. I would try hunting upland game first. Waterfowl is a different ballgame. Try getting into shooting clay pigeons to build the musles for your first waterfowl outing. There are plenty of places in MD that do guided waterfolw hunts and maybe you can get a groups of friends together to go out on a hunt.

 

[Mopao1975]

New hunter here too. It seems like a lot of hunters don't even consider Public lands/WMAs as an option. Are they that bad?
I went hiking in some of them (Frederick County) last week and it looks like there is potential. Someone please advise

 

[lx1x]

public land is not bad during bow season.. but forget it during firearm.. last time i went opening day... its like a war zone.. as soon you hear a shot.. every one open fired.. lol

but the only major problem is people walking to your area.

 

[Fustercluck]

To the OP -
You will learn more about waterfowl hunting in one day with a good guide than u would in a year of putzing around on public land. It is worth the investment and will be a hell of an education. Short of that, there are books and magazines galore that can give u some info on the basics. U can hit the WMA's and maybe get lucky, but withou some basic know-how it will likely be a major pud pull.
As far as wma's are concerned, with good scouting and savvy weather knowledge, u can consistently shoot ducks there. On the Shore, very few people hunt the wma's after opening week, and there are plenty of ducks to shoot. You just need to know the how and where.
I would recommend contacting jeff Coats of pitboss waterfowl fame. He runs a top-notch guiding business and is the guy the local experts go to when they want a memorable hunt. I think his webpage is: www.pitbosswaterfowl.com

 

[Fustercluck]

I know its early but I want to start planning something now so I have plenty of time to get things together.

Good idea. Reputable guides already have half the season or more booked up.

 

[Diesel Kinevel]

public land in Montgomery County as well as some parts of Frederick County are exactly what have been said, a warzone. the cars are parked for miles along the roads opening day of gun season.

My advice, buy a nice blackpowder rifle and or bow and hunt early blackpowder/bow season during the week. You will most likely be alone. For hunting public land, go as far away from parking area as you can walk. The deer are used to the areas close to parking area/road to be human infested. I would walk until you cannot walk anymore then find a bottleneck area and pop a squat.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!!

Zach

 

[xtreme43s10]

I just got through my hunter's safety course and wanted to get into hunting. I was wondering if someone could recommend some good places to go. I am looking for a guide, and essentially someone to help teach me the basics. I have only been out a few times after rabbits and squirrels. I am most interested in waterfowl and whitetail, but I am open to almost anything. Any help would be appreciated.

Anthony

what are you planning to hunt deer with ? bow,rifle,shotgun or muzzleloader ? i live in burtonsville, and wouldn't mind helping you out.

 

[xd40c]

Have you looked at anything like the magazine "Deer and Deer Hunting"? Always good info there. There are several others out there that are also devoted to deer hunting.

In Maryland, I stick to early bow hunting.

If you want to hunt with your ML, than start now lining up farm land to hunt. How do you do that?? If you don't know anyone, than you'll have to do the old fashioned way, which is to bang on doors. Expect a lot of "No" responses. But you'll only need one good piece of property to fill your freezer.

 

[xtreme43s10]

Have you looked at anything like the magazine "Deer and Deer Hunting"? Always good info there. There are several others out there that are also devoted to deer hunting.

In Maryland, I stick to early bow hunting.

If you want to hunt with your ML, than start now lining up farm land to hunt. How do you do that?? If you don't know anyone, than you'll have to do the old fashioned way, which is to bang on doors. Expect a lot of "No" responses. But you'll only need one good piece of property to fill your freezer.

their is a good bit of "good" public hunting land around our area if you know where to look.

 

[foxtrapper]

Dress up clean cut and go to farms and find the farmer landowners. Introduce yourself and ask if you can shoot groundhogs for them. If they say yes, get your written permission ( if the county in question requires it), and respectfully hunt the groundhogs for them. Stop in now and then to let them know how many you have been shooting. Shoot the breeze, then casually mention that you saw deer sign or a "bunch of deer", or "I think deer might be eating your crops", as surely you WILL see such while hunting groundhogs at morning and evening times ( but be honest, don't make up that you saw crop damage if you didn't actually see any). At this point the farmer has gained trust in you, since you have been removing the groundhogs and no windows have been shot out or farm machinery shot at LOL. They may very well give you permission to hunt deer, as well as whatever else is there to hunt ( small game, furbearers, turkeys). You may also wish to invest in a few cage traps to remove barn coons during trapping season ( farmers will love you for this as well as getting rid of the groundhogs), but keep in mind that if you wish to trap you have to take the new trapper education class first ( and don't forget to buy the 5.00furbearer permit- you need it just to shoot a coyote or fox too).

I have gotten trapping permissions from a bunch of farmers and landowners, but I was lucky to know some people already. One guy I know traps groundhogs like a nutcase under damage control lisc's in both MD and PA, and after I met him he has gotten me plenty of places to trap. His own neat agreement is he traps the groundhogs hard and the farmers in return let him hunt deer on those properties, as well as sometimes giving him sweet corn,apples, and planting an acre or 2 of feed corn for him to use for his MD deer bait stations. One landowner even gave him a new varmint rifle!

Befriending some extended farm families and showing them you are responsible can go a long way towards all sorts of hunting/trapping/fishing permissions on thousands of acres. Though I understand much of the eastern shore is under hunting leases, but I am sure you can even find a few that aren't.

 

[ice111103]

what are you planning to hunt deer with ? bow,rifle,shotgun or muzzleloader ? i live in burtonsville, and wouldn't mind helping you out.

I a have a slug gun, muzzle loader and rifle. I have not chosen any specific one to use.

 

[xtreme43s10]

I a have a slug gun, muzzle loader and rifle. I have not chosen any specific one to use.

which ever one you choose please make sure you practice alot with it and get comfortable shooting it. there's alot of public land over by FT. meade, if i remeber correctly you do have to jump threw a few hoops to hunt there but nothing terrible. last time i hunted over there you can use either ur muzzle loader or slug gun you just have to qualify with them before the season start's. You can go door to door asking farmer's but good luck with that around here. I mostly bow hunt now, and if you need any help with scouting or advice i would be glad to help.

 

[Jim Sr]

Dress up clean cut and go to farms and find the farmer landowners. Introduce yourself and ask if you can shoot groundhogs for them. If they say yes, get your written permission ( if the county in question requires it), and respectfully hunt the groundhogs for them. Stop in now and then to let them know how many you have been shooting. Shoot the breeze, then casually mention that you saw deer sign or a "bunch of deer", or "I think deer might be eating your crops", as surely you WILL see such while hunting groundhogs at morning and evening times ( but be honest, don't make up that you saw crop damage if you didn't actually see any). At this point the farmer has gained trust in you, since you have been removing the groundhogs and no windows have been shot out or farm machinery shot at LOL. They may very well give you permission to hunt deer, as well as whatever else is there to hunt ( small game, furbearers, turkeys). You may also wish to invest in a few cage traps to remove barn coons during trapping season ( farmers will love you for this as well as getting rid of the groundhogs), but keep in mind that if you wish to trap you have to take the new trapper education class first ( and don't forget to buy the 5.00furbearer permit- you need it just to shoot a coyote or fox too).

I have gotten trapping permissions from a bunch of farmers and landowners, but I was lucky to know some people already. One guy I know traps groundhogs like a nutcase under damage control lisc's in both MD and PA, and after I met him he has gotten me plenty of places to trap. His own neat agreement is he traps the groundhogs hard and the farmers in return let him hunt deer on those properties, as well as sometimes giving him sweet corn,apples, and planting an acre or 2 of feed corn for him to use for his MD deer bait stations. One landowner even gave him a new varmint rifle!

Befriending some extended farm families and showing them you are responsible can go a long way towards all sorts of hunting/trapping/fishing permissions on thousands of acres. Though I understand much of the eastern shore is under hunting leases, but I am sure you can even find a few that aren't.

++1
>

 

[FloydofOz]

Great question. Last year was my first hunting season and I asked more or less these same questions then. You might want to check out these threads:

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=9541

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=10901

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=12397

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=12486

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=11741

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=13088

As you can probably tell I didn't have much luck on public lands. I think the advice to try to get on some private land by offering to help out farmers is the way to go. Unfortunately we (me more than you I guess) live pretty close in to DC where farm land is scarce. Driving down the road to try to find some farmers is basically an all-day outing for us. It's got to be worth it though.

I can say with certainty that McKee Beshers in Montgomery County and Patuxent River in MoCo/HoCo is wayyyyy too crowded on Saturdays during firearm season. However, I once took a day off of work and went to McKee to the sunflower fields in the early fall and had a good amount of success killing doves.

A lot of people have suggested Indian Springs, but I never got it together to make it out there for a weekend. Let me know if you hear of any good information. I'm counting down the days to September 1/whenever early squirrel and bird season opens up.

On that note, does anyone know when DNR will post the new season time calendars?

EDIT: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/huntersguide/2009_2010_Seasons.asp