Hi,

I am a newbie who has never hunted before. I want to preferably hunt in SHNF and am looking for someone who would like to hunt together. I am more interested in learning than anything. I'm cool about letting the other person shoot the first legal deer we see in case that is a concern. Thank you and please pm me if interested. I am open to both bow hunting or rifle hunting.

Welcome to the forum.

I would think about solo hunting for now. 2 people together is noisier, smellier and twice as hard to see deer. Plus not many people are going to want to show you how to hunt their spots so you are in there all the time instead of them.

Here is what I have learned over my past 4 to 5 years of hunting and starting as new beginner like you are. My first priority was to learn to shoot. I have spent a lot of time at the range and I am now very confident in my shooting abilities as opposed to how bad I was 4 to 5 years ago. Get the proper equipment for your hunt. Camo head to toe including your face which needs to be hidden. Take a shower with unscented soap and shampoo and unscented deodorant. Washing your hunting clothes in unscented detergent. And keep them in a scent free bag and only put them on in the field. Spray down your boots and clothes. Do everything you can to hide your odor!!! DO not go to the bathroom anywhere near your hunting spot. Keep the wind in your face on your spots. If you are in a treestand which I recommend then go find some acorns and hang your stand and begin your process of scouting/ hunting. I dont do treestands so it is 10 times harder for me since I hunt off the ground. WHat I have learned is that shooting lanes are what you are looking for along with an area with no vegetation over 2 feet high spread everywhere and preferably on a hill looking down in to a bottomland where you can see a hill going up the other side. Then you have a long range of area to see and hopefully a few shooting lanes between the trees. I have a ground blind made up in my spot which is just 2 dead branches pulled in front of me to hide my body. (photo below) Have a predetermined spot like this to go to get in there early and stay still and dont move. You may have to move around a bit which is called scouting and putting your time in. After I finish my hunt about noonish I will go scout some new area and look for a new spot based on a different wind direction. Yesterday I found a good spot for a west wind which I will hunt again on Tuesday and I already have the blind set up and waiting for me to arrive in. Hunting the Sam is super hard so dont expect to see much your forst year or 2 until you figure out a pattern. I have hunted pigs there and have gone 35 times in the past 4 years and have only seen them on 4 to 5 occasions and have only gotten 1 shot off. NOT EASY! All that time pig hunting I saw a lot of deer so last year I starting hunting for deer and already had a good idea of where to look from hunting pigs so much so once I figured out the proper techniques that I just described I have now seen deer on my last 2 of 5 trips. And could have had at least 1 shot both days if they would have been legal deer.

SO get out there and start scouting for acorns and shooting lanes. Time in the woods is what will put a deer in front of you. Put your time in and be dedicated and it will happen.

Thank you so much for that awesome advice, really appreciate it! I will definitely be using a lot of the advice!!

I would expect a 30 to 80 yard shot at the most so adjust your optics and gun accordingly. Make sure you have a low power scope. Fast acquisition and fast shots are my experiences so far so my AR in 6.8 SPC is the gun I like best in the woods. Easy to manipulate. the 3X is all I need for that close of shots


My bolt gun isnt as fast to acquire and is not not as comfortable in the various shooting positions from sitting at the bottom of a tree. I recommend a strike eagle by Vortex since it is cheaper as a good example of a low power scope needed for hunting thick woods

No 1 thing -- go out and buy a climbing tree stand and a large hunter's backpack for lugging your stuff in and out. A deer cart to pack your deer out is also a good purchase.

Would a ground blind work fine or does a treestand help a lot more? Also are single shot rifles 7mm-08 okay for deer hunting?

A climbing treestand would be ideal for the SHNF but a ground blind would work just fine if you place it right.
As far as the 7mm-08 single shot, that is a beautiful choice in my opinion. I love hunting with a single shot rifle and the caliber is perfect for deer and hogs.

A tree stand will make your hunt 100 X easier than being on the ground. The sam is relatively flat so being able to see over 50 to 60 yards is a problem unless you get height. I have one spot only that I have found in the SAM that I can see deer at 150-200 yards from sitting on the ground that actually has deer moving through it. In fact I probably walked 4 or 5 miles on Tuesday after my hunt. I went exploring for new hunting areas and shooting lanes and set ups and couldnt find any even comparable to my one "honey hole". I found plenty of deer and hog tracks and great hunting spots but not having a treestand limits me to not being able to hunt those areas at all because of lack of visibility.
So yes treestand for sure!!!

7mm08 is a fantastic caliber for deer and hogs!

NE wind is back tomorrow so I will be in my honey hole again in the morning.

ta HF & public hunting... Some very good advice from others... Never been ta Uncle Sam's ta hunt, but plenty on OSBWMA, so not familiar with it.... huntsolo myself....
Pic up a cheap GPS, i use the blue, Garmin, spelling is wrong... If not mistaken Sam is a lot bigger than Sabine... On my hog hunts, many a times would get turned around, getting too caught up in exploring, paying too much attention ta sign... They also store info, still carried a pen & pocket size note pad ya write info on.... Rubs, scrapes, sightings, time of day, & such...
A buddy tis nice if ya get something, on hogs a back pack beats dragging or any other means when ya mile or more back in that....
Not sure type of trees found at Sam, in one location had a pattern on a nice buck at Sabine during archery... Set up was 20 yards from a trail crossing, buck was using different trail out of archery range... Can use a rifle at Sam so it not as important, but couldn't find a tree for climbing stand close for the buck...
Hug hunts tis were did my scouting hunts... Found several sheds, scrapes & rubs can still be found & used the info for next season archery....
Gun hunts for deer, one person can cover a large area, were archery, my limit for shooting was little over 20 yrds, & two people can cover bigger radius, & again will have help if get something, & always nice ya share experience of time spent...
GPS can come in handy... Best Wishes...

Thank you for the replies, appreciate it.

Nearly all set with buying equipment and boy there are a ton of things to buy. Now i need to get out into the woods finally.

It never ends. the buying that is. This year was my first year not to go crazy buying stuff and trying to catch up since I just started hunting 4-5 years ago. Lots of stuff to buy just to get started from scratch

I have spent thousands and thousands on equipment so far and have only killed a gator a pig a doe and 2 coyotes. But I am finally getting to that point where I have everything I need (almost everything) and I am starting to gain some experience from so many trips to the field

As a novice hunter, I also appreciate all this advice.

Be good.