Good place to start?

I've been shooting most of my life but I've only been hunting once and it was for dove when I was maybe 12-13 years old. One of my new years resolutions is to go hunting this year. My uncle lives in Minnesota and has hunted just about everything (moose, elk, caribou, bear, etc) but it's hard for me to get up there to go with him. I'm about to turn 21 and I figure it's time to go for it and have some fun/ get some good meat! I'm a fairly good shot (I've coaxed .6 moa from my marlin xs7!) and now I just need to learn some hunting etiquette.

I'm interested in varmint hunting, hogs, and deer. Where around here is good for each of these things? How much does it generally cost for a lease? Should I use lead free bullets, if not what are the consequences? Which is the most humane kill zone for the animal?

That being said, I would really love to go hunting with someone who has experience and I really don't know anyone who hunts, has a lease, etc. Is there a "hunter hook up" section (not in a gay way, haha) on here? I'm in the dfw area, tarrant county to be specific.

Any help/advice is very much appreciated!

Edit: I forgot to state that I'm quite poor (college student) so please take price into consideration, I don't need to drool over a 4,000 dollar a year lease

go cowboys

Bahaha, they got dominated!

If I were up that way I'd take ya along. My 5yr old would like the extra company. He's a little socialbug. Kinda like me.

I'm sure someone WILL come along and tuck ya under his arm for a hog hunt. They are relatively cheap ($100- $350 depending on the hunt).

Sounds like ya got the shooting skills. It does change for most when it comes to killin' anything though. Some of us don't get quite as excited anymore.

i would find some hunters on here that would be interested in doing a hog/exotic doe hunt and put a group together....hunting is one of those things were actual field time beats anything you will ever read or study.

its hard for me to imagine learing how to hunt as an adult (done it my whole life) but as kids we all hunted squirrel and rabbits to get some blood on our hands. I didn't start deer hunting till I was 10, I read (and still do) alot of good publications (outdoor life, field and stream)to learn about stuff, but fact of the matter is you need a mentor. a good rabbit hunt would be a great learning experiance, small game is something alot of new hunters miss out on, but imo is vital to building future skills.

for the time being, i would take the money you would spend on a lease, and buy a few doe hunts/hog hunts for the first couple years, to get a feel for hunting. fairly cheap, there is always someone experianced around to help you and it lets you get a few kills under your belt before you strike out on your own.


hope this helps

Thank you both for the comments. I've slain my fair share of squirrels and crows with a bb gun when I was little but nothing that I would ever keep for meat, more just for fun/removing pests than anything else. So you guys think I should find a guided hunt so they could help me out? My best friend and I were supposed to give hunting a shot on public land this last season but my mom passed away and I had a lot to deal with.

Texas Proud: if you didn't live 4.5 hours away I would love to go hunting with you guys, haha! I've only been down to that area once and it was only for two days. I hear there are a lot of critters to hunt down there though.

txtrophy85: I wish my family was more into hunting, I would have been into it as early as possible if I had the option. Are exotics generally more expensive to hunt? I'm more interested in meat (my uncle sends me 10 lbs of venison jerky every Christmas!) that anything but I think waiting for a buck would be even more fun. Like you said about field time over reading stuff, I'm not sure if I would remember how to gut/clean a deer in the field despite having read how to do it quite a few times.

exotics are typically cheaper than whitetails, you have to find the right ranch....also, axis are ALOT better to eat than a whitetail.

public hunting is extreemly frustrating, low success rates and high numbers of other hunters will discourage new hunters.

find a ranch that specializes in hog/ram/exotic hunts, you can shoot axis does for $250-$400 a piece, many will let you shoot rams (not my thing but some enjoy it) for the same price, plus hogs.

occasionally we run axis doe hunts for $500, two does plus lodging...hunts are for 2 1/2 days and you'll see a ton of animals...pm me if you want pics

That's basically what I've heard about public land down here. A lot of the northern states have tons of public land or you can just offer a farmer 20 bucks in exchange for hunting their land. People seem to be a lot less lenient or kind about stuff like that down here.

I don't really have 500 bucks to throw down on a hunt, I'm in college so most everything I make goes toward me paying my rent, bills, etc. I'm looking for something in the 100 dollar range, sorry if that seems low but I can't justify spending more.

I forgot to ask, how much does it generally cost to process a deer? Just to have the meat cut off of it and packaged, no sausage, jerky, etc.

Sent you a PM

alot of ranches offer doe hunts for $100, some will let you kill up to 4 for that price....

to process a deer typically runs $50-$75, just cut up and packaged

Awesome, thanks for the information!

You've got a PM cboone22!