Give me a good Hunting read!

[Kitchen_Duty]

Greetings All,

I am one of those learn initially from a book kinda guys. Can you recommend to me a general all purpose hunting book or movie.

I live in Washington am interested in Deer hunting with a muzzleloader (i'm in the military, I need more time to get the deer). I'm also interested in varminting the coyotes around the puget sound with lightly loaded .308 winchester.

I need basic info about camo, technique, calls, boot selection, how to field dress (and perhaps butcher, not coyotes...). I've only been hunting twice and I was too young and not taught anything.

Thanks guys,

-Kitchen_Duty

 

[eliphalet]

If I were you I would get a local phone book try and find old established gun shops or a shooting range connected to a gun club, where you can meet guys in your area that know or do some of what your wanting to do. These are the guys you want to learn as much as you can from. You'll undoubtedly run into some BS but you will soon learn what is good info and what is not.
Calling coyotes might be a challenge in the heavy flora of Western Washington but there are open places. Where you can shoot and can't I have no idea near Silverdale.
Closest I would know of would be out Hwy 12 toward Morton and Packwood, even then you better have Forest Service or BLM maps. Be as informed as you can as to what is legal and what is not.
I do know there is enough deer in that part of the world that I was afraid to ride my motorcycle over 45 or 50 at night in rural areas and that wasn't safe, deer and an occasional elk were a regular sight on the roads or shoulders at night.

 

[dakotasin]

i like 'the truth about...' hunting series of movies. they are put out by the drury brothers i believe, and they are worth watching.

outside of that, take eliphalet's advice and hang out w/ like-minded individuals. hunters-ed classes, rifle ranges, gun shops, etc - all that stuff will build your network and put you where you need to be.

 

[rxraptor02]

There is a Hunting Washington web site/forum.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php

http://huntwashingtonstate.com/index.htm

you can also check out other hunting forums for info, but the links above should help you since it is folks from your state.

 

[Kitchen_Duty]

thanks guys, off to go read!

 

[Kitchen_Duty]

Thanks rxraptor02. I join the huntwashington state.com forums and an hour later I'm setting up a meeting to buy a .50cal muzzleloader from a local!

-Kitchen_Duty

 

[TimboKhan]

Well, check out Barnes and Noble: There are plenty of good books available to teach you the basics and beyond. Also, read Field and Stream, Outdoor Life and so on. There are plenty of tips and tricks, gear reviews and generally entertaining reading contained in those magazines.

That being said, I am like you in that I like to read up on stuff before I try it and I can tell you that reading about hunting the wily deer and actually doing so are two very different animals. A day spent hunting (with eyes, ears and mind open) will teach you more than any 5 books put together. Thats not to say that the books aren't useless, but it is to say that actual hunting skill isn't something that can be learned solely by reading.

This reminds me of something one of my professors in college said to me: The map is not the territory. He said that would be the most valuable lesson we would learn in college, and he was right!