What do you think about a woman learning to hunt?

Question

My husband doesn't show any interest in hunting at all. I learned at a young age how to shoot with very good accuracy (rifles with my dad and pabst beer cans--we'd aim for the ends of the ribbon) Recently the season opened and I'm feeling like I'm missing out. I never field dressed a deer, or hacked one up- how do I learn how to do all the stuff after I get one?

I have some good recipies for venison too. So cooking isn't a problem for me.

I'm in Michigan, hunting is imperitave to keep the population of deer down. My Dad lives nearly 3 hours away in central Indiana; he also takes care of my sick step mother (she's kinda a baby he says). My husband said that me hunting with men is OUT of the question, maybe if there was a ladies hunting guild or something, he'd be good with that. I wonder how many women hunt? Sounds like another question comming on!

Answer 1

I think you should try it out. Let me just throw some basics out there. First you will need a legal weopan. If a rifle in your state is legal, then I would suggest that. Basically hunter's use bows, crossbows, rifles, handguns, muzzleloaders and shotguns to hunt. In my opinion, a bolt action rifle is about the easiest to hunt and be safe with. I know that weeds alot of other good weopans out quick, but a bolt action rifle will do the job. Reccomendation: Savage 10FCM Sierra, Model 16FCSS, or maybe Model 14 American Classic in 308. There are many other Savage models and other makers which make fine guns, but this is a quick preferance. They are both Savage models in 308win with a black plastic stock and a detachable magazine. When possible, I prefer a detachable magazine for hunting so I can carry an extra in my vest for a quick reload. While this is important, other things have always made me end up with a rifle without one.

Next, scope. . .Get a Leupold, but other cheaper options exist. I don't own Lepold myself, but most swear by them. I have 2 scopes: 1 Simmons because my gunsmith thought that no other brand held up as well on my pistol and 1 Burris XTR 3 - 12 because no other maker offered as good of glass and specs for the price. For a first attempt at hunting, you will only shoot with a single zero. For that, I would look at a 1" scope with about a 40mm objective and 4x or 6x fixed magnification. My reccomendation: Leupold 6x42 FX-III Riflescope with German #4 reticle or the much cheaper Weaver 6x38 Classic K6 Series Rifle Scope also has a good name. My dad has a Weaver K series from the 50's, but they were probably American made then. Not sure now.

Extras. . .Get good binoculars. You can spend >$2500 on these, but $150 - $400 will get you a good set of porro prism binos. Roof type will cost an additional $200. Stay away from anything in a blisterpack.

Rangefinder. Not sure if this is something wanted or not, but a $200 rangefinder can be a huge help to someone trying to figure out how far away a deer is. Imagining football fields is hard at best. BTW. . .Usually, you range next to the animal, not the animal.

Clothing. For starters jeans and warm clothing will do with an orange top to keep you legal. After that, local conditions and how close you want to get will be your guide. A note on scent control. If you have the wind at your back, nothing works for scent control. With the wind at your face anything is good enough for scent control. With no wind and swirling wind, scent control can help. Beware of that $500 scent free super camo. Camo is similar. If you are silloueted, nothing will camo you. If you are buried in shadows, no camo is needed. Most other times camo can help a non-moving hunter quite a bit, if downwind.

Stands. A good camo netting over bushes will be enough cover for a blind if you will sit and hunt. Tree stands allow you to see more. Walking slow will allow you to see more in big country like out west. No need at first.

A good hunting partner. Invaluable. A good hunting partner is great for exchanging ideas, helping you see more game and finding quality places to hunt.

GPS. These are relatively new, but a good one will keep you from loosing the truck. and allow you to go where you want to hunt, instead of wandering around in circles which can happen.

Keep practicing shooting and give hunting a try.

Answer 2

Sounds like a great idea to me.

I asked my neighbor the first time, Babe the second time, the neighbor again for the third one, Fred the fourth time, and Steve last week...

It's much like white-washing a fence...

After they field-dressed it, I've cut a few up by myself, and I have to say that they don't call it "butchering" for nothing!

Hell, I don't know where these parts are when they come from a cow - much less a deer! (They are the same if that helps _you_ any ...)

I did a search on Google for "field dressing a deer" and came up with all kinds of things. Some I listed below - there are some pocket guides you can print out for your pocket.

The meat's a lot better the younger they are, but if someone doesn't like the taste - a bit of lemon-pepper seasoning will fix it.
Also, people think it tastes odd because it doesn't have all of the fat that beef & chicken have. Seed your roast with some bacon so that they taste some fat.

I love it! It's so much more tender and fat-free than beef.
I try to get at least 100-150 pounds (butchered) for the next year.
For a $12 hunting license and $7 tag, that's a good deal on great meat!

Once you get it field-dressed and home. hang it up upside down, with a stick holding the front legs apart and another the front.
Cut its head off if you haven't already.

Start whacking away at it. If you put it up in a cold garage, you can take your time carving it and let it age a bit too.

Answer 3

The first time i went hunting was with my friend. We both had never been hunting before. All we did was walk aimlessly through the bush until we came across a herd of goats and shot a few. That's all you need to do. Get a friend to go with you, find a place to hunt and get a decent gun. The more you do it the better you will get at stalking. Now if you don't know how to butcher and skin an animal on the spot that might be a problem, because you need to carry your kill out and it is a lot less heavy without the guts and organs.

Answer 4

Angel,

Follow your heart and get into hunting if you really want to. Check with your local sporting goods stores they can point you in the right direction to find seasoned hunters who can help you out. One word of warning though, "YOUR HUSBAND MAY GET JEALOUS ABOUT YOU SPENDING TIME WITH OTHER MEN EVEN THOUGH IT IS COMPLETELY HONEST." If the sporting goods store can not hook you up with other hunters they should be able to recommend some really good guides who can help you in the future.
Another suggestion is to go to some of the local hunting and fishing shows, which can be a plethora of information.
Best of luck and bag a big one.

Answer 5

Go for it, the good advice i would give someone over hear in the uk may just be bad advice for you (where ever you are,down under i figur). Though there seems to be some good comments going your way so all i can do is wish you all the best. You can e mail me some of them venison recipies thouge.

Answer 6

Except for the husband part, you may be the perfect woman : ) Does your dad hunt, do you have any brothers thatdo? Friends? I had to learn field dressing and butchering from my dad. Good luck and God bless you.

Answer 7

LEAVE HIM come see me ,you are missing out, hunting is a great sport ,field dressing is difficult for a newbie but after you get the hang of it its cake,,butchering is easy to .in ending i think a woman learning to hunt is awesome!!! glad to hear that your interested in the meat not just the antlers.i wish my ex got into hunting that's one hunting buddy that i didn't mind being at camp with.

Answer 8

by all means YES! we need more women in the field hunting with us. more power to ya dear. as to knowing how to field dress a deer after a successful hunt, look up in the net. there's videos/dvd's that you can get the basics from. wish ya the best of luck in all of your hunting excursions. if you want more specific answers feel free to email me.


[e-mail]

Answer 9

I know many women who hunt and sometimes they the ones get the deer.
The link is to Ohio State Wildlife and show some, not the best though. It load sideways and will need to be rotated clockwise to view. It a PDF file and you need Acrobat Reader.

Answer 10

You go girl,
you should be able to find a website to teach you how to field dress. Your local hunting stores could also tell of a class you could take.