New to Hunting and looking for help

Hello everyone. I live in Houston and am willing to travel. I have never been deer hunting before and I would like to learn so I can take my boys when they are older. Ive completed most of the process. I have my license, camping gear, .270 rifle zeroed at 100 yards, taken the hunters safety course, and I am capable of hiking around to find deer. Anyone with some free time that would like to be a mentor please let me know. I know its late in the season thank you for your time and happy hunting!

Have you gotten your hunter safety card? https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education
There are ranches that are under MLD permits that allows an extended season length, so you will have till end of Feb to hunt. There are also areas of the state that have an extended doe/spike season after the generals season ends.

Yes I took the test and passed.sorry I forgot to add that. I have some locations in mind but it feels so overwhelming when it comes to laws and the dos and dont’s. I am scared of breaking a law or wasting meat cause I didn't field dress properly. I figured it was a good idea for my first time not to do it alone. Ive been reading and watching videos trying to inform myself on the process. Thank you for the information on the extended hunts at least now I know I have more time.

Squirrel hunting is a good, easier access and lower stakes way of learning a lot of the and outs of deer hunting and woodscraft. Where there are squirrels there are deer; there is a lot of overlap between their diet and habitat and generally the same methods can be employed aside from the firearms used.

Thanks for the good information about the squirls. Im comfortable in woods I was in the Army for 8 years. Its just the actual hunt I would need help with.

Get your APH permit from TPWD so you can go hunt the Sam Houston National Forest just North of town. It is 100,000 acres of your own personal lease.

The season ended today for rifle but you can hunt hogs all year long. I learned to hunt deer by hog hunting the SAM.

Get signed up and get familiar with the rules in the packet they send you. Study it like a test! Basic rules are simple. 1. wear hunter orange 2. dont shoot within 100 yards of a road or trail. 3. Unload your gun well before you get back to your vehicle

Plenty of opportunities for hogs and deer once you het familiar with the area. I learned 100% on my own with no mentor. Never hunted before and I decided I needed to learn and learn I did.

Your 270 is just fine . Go walk the lowest lying major creeks and look for fresh wallows. Once you find wallows that has had pigs in it recently just find a spot up wind and wait for dark. This time of year I try to be in my spot by 3:30 or 4. I always hunt pigs in the afternoon. That gives you time during the day to go put some boots on the ground an look around. Stay near the creeks and the low lying areas and you will find em.

It isnt easy at first but then nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

Good luck and have fun!

Thank you for all the good advice.

ta HF....
Bigfoot gave an insperatuonal post...
Just get out thar...

Hog hunting is great time ta learn terrain...
Deer season over, so ya wont mess up thar hunts...
Ease threw woods pay attention ta detail...
i used a gps, wuth small pocket note pad.
Wrote down all findings.
Trails, droppings, rubs, scrapes, food sources. Sightings bedding areas..
Learn the terrain..
Creeks are good place ta start...
Best wish's &

Thank you for your service ...

Only hunting I grew up doing was shotgun/waterfowl hunting, almost had never even shot a rifle before I decided to introduce my boys to hunting. I strongly recommend you sign up your boys with https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/youth_hunting/tx_youth_hunt_program/

You'll meet some fine people who know want hunting is all about and can teach you and your boys the basics to get going. Each hunt is a full weekend and great fun for all. They can start out pretty young, so take a look.

Charlie

I made my way to Sam Houston National Forest. I walked about ten miles saw and lots of signs of hogs but didn't see any. I heard one pretty close at one point but crunching of the leaves under my feet scared it away I'm pretty sure. Its hard to stay quiet in thick brush. My oldest is 3 years old so they are not old enough to sign up for hunts however I have time to learn.

Keep at it. Once you begin to recognize signs that are fresh (within 24 hours) then you can start focusing on how to set up. It seems like those pigs are always going somewhere so find an area you know they are coming to and ambush them. Typically you will hear them coming before you see them but this rain will make things quiet.

I took your advice on following the creeks but they were pretty dry. I marked them on my gps so after some rain
when its warmer maybe they will be there trying to cool down. Thanks for all the good tips!

Downd trees, switch cain, pelmeto plants tall grass have found many hog beds...
i sued TopoUSA ta do scouting of areas, write down quardenance (military) , on WMA's hadnt been too..
Youll catch on like Bigfoot posted paying attention ta detail.
i wrote down all info then back @ house put it on my topoUSA .
Best wish's hog hunts are great way ta learn terrain, & gather info.
& helps knock down hogs, they compete with deer..
Best wish's...

My goof double posted same post...
hate whin that happens...

Thanks for the great info Colt.45. I finally got a hog. It took me an hour to drag it out of the thick brush to get back to camp. I learned a whole lot and plan to do things better on the next time around. Some of the issues I ran into I will mention below if anyone has a method they find is easier. First dragging the body through the thick brush against the floor was one hell of a workout. I did it but Ive been trying to find a small rollable sled i can put on the pack I carry. Second I didnt bleed out the hog because I didnt hang it so there was blood everywhere. I was still able to cut the quarters off but I took way too long dragging out and cutting so I didn't feel safe keeping the meat. It wasnt that cold outside. It was great practice I feel. The cheap knife I bought went dull half through which made it take even longer. I purchased a foldable game hanger off amazon so I hope to start the quartering process immediately next time. That will give me more time to be thorough before meat goes bad. I purchased game bags so I could hail meat back to camp where I will have ice and cooler ready.

Congrats on your 1st hog. You shouldn't be concerned about the meat going bad that quickly unless it's really warm. A sled will help on the drag, but you might just consider taking the back straps and hams and packing them out in a backpack if you're really that far off of a road.

I carry 1 contractor bag in my backpack and an avalon knife with a few extra blades. I keep another bigger pocket knife for chopping through the thick stuff. For me I just take the backstraps and leave the rest but if I shoot a doe or I want the extra meat there is no way Im dragging that thing on a sled or gamecart 1.5 miles back to the truck. Just quarter it up throw it in the bag and throw it over your shoulder. Walk it out like nothing!! the meat is only 40 to 50 pounds at most.

Much easier than pulling a sled or game cart. It takes me about 20 to 25 minutes to quarter a hog in the field.

That first one is a trophy for sure and something to be proud of. You will learn something on every trip!!

Im going to try what you guys said on the next one. When I quarter it I should still bleed it first or don't even worry about it?

Don't worry about bleeding it. Also, it takes a lot longer than that for the meat to go bad. You have more time than you think before it spoils.

congrats on the hog...

As dkershen posted earlier...

Back pack works best... Cut down back, get back strap
Front rear quarters, roll over repete... warmer the temps quicker need get on ice...

Stay safe...