Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Deer Hunting Advice for A Newbie

Hey y’all I’m new here and this will be my first deer season. I’ve hunted hogs on occasion but my family was never too big into hunting. I think it can be a bit daunting simply because I have no idea where to start and no one to show me the ropes. I will be hunting some mountainous terrain (public land) if that makes a difference. I have multiple rifles and I am a pretty good shot so that won’t be too much of a factor. Like should I use game cams, what to look for when picking out potential stands etc. Anything and everything is appreciated, thanks!

Find an outfitter and sign on.You will learn more in that one season,than 5 years of hiking around with a rifle in your hands

What state are you in?

I am in South Carolina but during the season I’ll be near the Georgia and NC borders.

I had not thought about that, thanks! Hopefully I can find one in upstate SC that would be willing to take someone with no experience I guess. I’ll start making phone calls!

Set your stands with the wind direction in mind.

Depends on what type of deer hunting you will do. Stand hunting overlooking a field or a woods hunter. Woods Hunting ---- read the book " The Still Hunter " TS Van Dyke--- Twice- Then spend hours and hours in the woods you plan on hunting.----- Find and pick the brain of older hunters that don't BS (????) --- More hours in the woods the more you learn

You probably will not find many outfitters in the upstate .
Do you have any friends that hunt or are you new to the area?
Stands are going to be the most prevalent type of hunting you are going to see. The terrain you hunt will generally give you some nice views and good chances of seeing deer.
Pick an area where you can see such as a gas line, meadow, logging road , or clear cut and put in time sitting and watching. Portable blinds are a big help. Be patient above all and it will happen.

GreggH

Likely going to be woods hunting since it’s public land. I’d like to hunt areas with longer shots but most of the public land around here seems to be pretty short line of sight. Yeah the older hunters part is hard because I have an uncle in Iowa that I don’t see very often who hunts, but other than that I don’t know anyone who does. Good tip on the book though I’ll look into it!

I am only up there during the school year (Clemson), so my scouting time is limited until I get up there a month or two before rifle season starts. I’ll make sure to get out multiple days a week though and learn the area and put in some seat time.

Download HuntStand. You can use it to become familiar with the land your going to hunt way before you get there.

GreggH

Find someone with experience, they can help a lot. Good luck to you!!!

Lots of country boys at Clemson. Shouldn't be hard to make some friends who hunt. Good luck and welcome to the best activity there is.

There are 1000's of acres of forest land that Clemson owns. They used to have some sections open to public hunting, especially south near the Fants Grove area, 18 Mile Creek drainage into Lake Hartwell and the shoreline of the lake. I'm not sure if they still do, but it would be a lot closer. There were quite a few nice deer killed there in early 80's...just not sure of the situation now. Clemson also has a Wildlife Biology Department as I have my MS from there. They would be a great local resource for you and could steer you in the right direction in location and people with knowledge of how to. Check them out as well.

Several of us would go deer, squirrel and duck hunting before classes when the seasons were open....but like I said, that was a long time ago. My guess is they still have some these areas. Definitely check out the Wildlife Biology Department.

I just Goggled SC Gamelands and the Fants Grove area is still there.

Since you’re hunting public land, I wouldn’t put any game cameras out. That’s just asking for idiots to damage them, or steal them. Check the state regs about treestands on public land as well, because it differs from state to state. If you can find a draw, or a bank near a creek, or follow some obvious deer trails and find where they intersect…use those spots. Any places you can find that have good bedding cover(thick stand of pine or hemlocks) or feeding areas(oak flats, lots of acorns) would be good places to watch as well.

Welcome to the forum SC_Mark, good luck, and happy hunting!

Doc_Holidude

Fants grove is still there and has a good deer population but it is quite pressured from what I hear…. It is also archery only like all the land clemson owns now. I do have a compound bow but i am not super confident with it and it obviously limits the range that I can hunt at. 18 mile creek drainage is something I’ll look into though. Thanks!

There definitely are a good number. Sadly most of them have never even hunted public land and just hunt over feeders on farms so they don’t have much knowledge to pass on haha. I guess I’ll just have to suck it up and go bowhunting since it seems all the serious hunters in clemson that I’ve met do the same.

Always keep the wind in mind.

In bigger woods settings, it's very helpful to be able to ID what the food sources are. Especially oaks/acorns.

Natural edges/funnels, be able to ID them from maps/aerial photos/on the ground. Some are more subtle than you think.

Get out there as much as possible. You'll figure out where deer like to be. I like to squirrel hunt new places I'm interested in deer hunting. It's like scouting, but with a purpose.

Have fun!! Too many let a lack of quick success get them down.

And good luck!!

It’s important to know what deer do all day. Where they bed and where they feed (outside their bedding areas). You cannot beat their nose and generally the advantage goes to whomever is not moving when the other is. When you move, remember you’re a predator not a mall walker.

Good luck 👍