Hunting Tips for a beginner

[GLOCKRUS]

I would like to hunt turkey and deer. Im a city boy who wants to have my a** in the grass and take my lil boy hunting with me and make it a tradition. What would I need to know, bring, and carry? Stupid question in a way...but..here it goes. Do you need permission from landowners? buying licenses or permits...is it cheap? Where is a good place for beginners? Anyone with experience and knowledge that can help. It would be gladly appreciated!! You can even PM ME if anything. Im in Cobb County.

 

[batoncolle]

Yes you need permission to hunt private land, or go to a WMA, or join a hunting club. If you have not already, and depending on your ages, you and your son will need to take a hunter safety course. Download the hunting regulations and read the general rules and specific rules for deer, turkey, and anything you want to hunt. Georgia hunting licenses are relatively cheap, and you can buy them online or in some physical locations like Walmart.

And in the meantime, read the forums to get some hunting tips. This is a good local forum, and GON is really good for hunting knowledge. And if you have any other specific questions, fire away.

 

[Comanche]

need to hit the library and read as much as possible before hitting the woods.
take a hunters safety course.

find someone to show you the ropes.

yes you will need permission on private land and if you want to hunt WMA...wildlife management areas you will need a wma purchase along with your resident hunting and resident big game license in Ga....available with online purchase easily, but you will need a hunters safety education course unless you do a three day pass online, but in that case you should go out with an experienced hunter.

i took my daughters boyfriend once who obtained a three day pass and figured he was fine since he was in the military and had been around lots of firearms.
i was wrong because he almost blew his head off lowering his loaded shotgun from a pull rope in his tree stand.

this is where hunter education classes can be very helpful and you learn things that will stay ingrained forever.

need to learn all you can before taking kids out with you.

 

[jp54]

You'll need a hunting license, big game licence, and probably a hunter education course depending on your age. Depending on your son's age, he may or may not need all of the above just yet. All of the info for that can be found on the Georgia department of natural resources website. All of those are moderately cheap. All of the regulations for all game species of Georgia can be found on the website too. I would give you specific links but I'm on my phone. Find out if you and/or your son need the hunter safety course or not. If you do, the course and test are easy/common sense. Then you can get your license at Wal-Mart or even get them online on the dnr website. Hunting on someone's land without confirmed permission is illegal. Wildlife management areas are free to hunt, so long as you pay an extra couple of bucks when getting your license. Although I'm not sure if they are affected by the government shutdown. I hate to be the guy to come at you with the rule book, but I promise you that ole green britches (game warden) won't cut you any slack. Because a combination of no license, trespassing, illegally taking game, etc can have you in the county jail. You need to make sure you have those things covered before you think about getting anything brown on the ground.

Edit: didn't read and said a lot of the same things as others.

 

[GeauxLSU]

You've gotten the info on licensing and the illegality of tresspassing. Sounds like you are asking about woodsmanship as well. That is something you can do without "hunting". Get someone experienced to take you out and show you what deer and/or turkey sign looks like (it's not just tracks), what the natural food sources are, what a transition area is, how to read a topo and satellite for 'exploring' new lands for the most likely travel routes etc...
By far the most important thing you need is PATIENCE and hopefully and absolutely love of the outdoors. It's very hard I think for someone today to get into hunting that was raised in the push button, instant gratification world we've evolved into. That is NOT hunting, at all. Sometimes the biggest and possibly only reward on a particular hunt is simply watching the world wake up from a spot and therefore perspective no one else is sharing.
Do you fish? Would you still go fishing if you KNEW you weren't going to catch anything? If so... good. Proceed.

 

[jp54]

Aside from all of the regulations and legalities, the rest is pretty simple. Do a lot of reading and research on deer and turkey hunting. Also realize that a lot of the stuff you read on the internet should be taken with a grain of salt. There are so many gimmicks on products you "have to have" for hunting. Keep it simple. Try to find a friend or family member that hunts to let you go along with them a few times. Try to get a few trips under your belt and lots of advice before you take the kid. See if they don't mind if you come out on their property on your own, when you feel comfortable and are legal to hunt. Don't go spend a ton of money on stuff just yet. Just have a centerfire rifle that you're confident in, wear some camo, orange vest, and don't smell like butt or what you ate for supper/breakfast. Don't worry about buying all the scents, attractants, stands, calls, trail cams, etc just yet. Pick a big oak tree in an oak stand, sit at the base, be quiet and be still. Go every chance you can, and you'll figure it out.

 

[GeauxLSU]

And not sure how old your son is... but deer and turkey are probably the two things that will be the most trying on a little guy. Start with squirrels or doves.

 

[zesty]

Would you still go fishing if you KNEW you weren't going to catch anything? If so... good. Proceed.

Good point. I've only been hunting a couple times and just now trying to get more into it. I spent most of my time just sitting in the woods looking at trees. It was awesome. Same with fishing. If you went out on a boat to just reel in fish, they'd call it "catching".

Good luck, Glockrus, I'm pretty much in the same boat. My son is 2 and I'd love for us to be hunting together when he's older. Last weekend I went on guided hog hunt. It's expensive but I learned a lot. I've got a lot more confidence to go out on my own next time. I'm pretty excited about hog hunting. It's year round hunting, a lot less rules to worry about, the meat is good and easy to deal with, there are tons of them out there... Once I get a few hogs under my belt, I'd probably look into deer hunting.