Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting New to Deer Hunting - Need Gear Help

Went the other day for the first time - Loved it! I didn't get a shot off but had a blast. This will be mainly in Oklahoma and Texas. I borrowed a Marlin 336 30.30 and liked it - is that enough gun for this two hunting areas?
What I really would like is what kind of gear do I "need" and what would be "helpful" to have. What is the best long underwear (it was 32 degrees when I went - a tad cold for me!)
What thinsulate number am I looking for in gloves and boots.
Knife, hats, etc. I'm pretty much looking for a good list.
Thanks in advance!

Best bino's you can afford.

It would have to be MUCH colder than that for long john bottoms, for tops I like Under Armor, Patagonia etc. I like tops with buttons or zippers so you can vent out if getting warm.

Layers is the way to go for cold weather, don't need anything fancy. Some fleece/wool is fine. Cotton for warm weather will work.

Obviously good boots, can't tell you what works for you. I'd worry about changing the rifle last.

Steelhead is right on layering for cold weather. You can get your self outfitted on outer wear at a wally word or kmart after the season pretty cheap with close outs. I do like the Under Armor and SmartWool underwear but you can't get those at a discount store. As far as a knife a Buck 110 folding hunter is an American classic and should be under $40.

Agreed.

Buy good Binos first, and use them a LOT. Id doesn't do anygood hunting if you can't see them first. Spend some time in the off season playing around in the areas you plan to hunt (and take your binos) Train your eye to see parts of deer. Horizontal lines in nature don't occour too often. Lots of times its a critter. Deer are very "Twitchy" when not alarmed. Lots of times you'll see a tail or ear flicker. Glass in the thick stuff, even at short yardage...

I use a lot of Polarmax longjohns, Silk poly blend. If I'm moving, I'm good to 0 degrees easy. I prefer wool for an outer layer. Its quiet when moving through brush, and will stay warm even when wet. Fleece sucks if its wet and/or windy for an outer. If its really cold, I'll wear a fleece top under my wool hunting coat. Make sure you can move freely in your hunting clothes, you're not out there to win popularity contests, so if its baggy, oh well...

As far as rifles?? If you post that question on here, you'll get at least 8 pages of Ballistic Masturbation about whats perfect. That 336 would be great for shots out to 100-150 or so. If you plan on shooting farther, get a bolt action with a 2-7x variable on it. Try a few on for size, make sure it feels right. Caliber isn't important... But you don't need the latest ooberginormous magnums to kill deer. If it were me, I'd get a 308, because I'm assuming that you're not a reloader, and there's lots of cheap ammo out there you can use for practice (like Ultramax reloads in military brass)

Which brings me to my next point. Take your rifle out as much as you can, and shoot it. Don't obsess about how accurate it is off the benchrest. Once its zero'd, practice shooting from the positions you'll most likely encounter while actually hunting... Practice at all kinds of yardages as well. Once you can keep all the bullets inside 6-7" at that yardage from that position, you should feel pretty good about taking a shot like that on game. Continue to challenge yourself, always...

Mr. Bulbboy,

I'm also somewhat new to deer hunting . . .

I'll tell you what I learned over the last few seasons.

In advance, please excuse my verbosity - I only wish to be thorough.

+1 on the binos - my pair of Minox 8x42's arrived from Cameraland NY about a week into this season, and they made a huge difference to my being able to spot deer.

I suppose cold is all relative. 32 (I assume you're speaking Fahrenheit) is pretty nice weather for hunting season up here. That being said, it seemed to hover somewhere around that temperature for most of this season. I wore a pair of fleece mitts with the "flip off" cover for the fingers (so you end up with a pair of fingerless gloves when it's time to shoot) and they worked great for me. Couple pairs of socks - something made of a "wicking" fabric and then wool on top worked for me. I hunt some pretty rough country looking for muley's (to put it in perspective for you, it reminds me of pictures of seen of Texas panhandle country - oddly enough - only its greener - but the shape and size of the coulees and hills seems roughly analogous) and I found this year that I liked wearing a good pair of shoes - North Face, for example, better than I liked wearing hiking boots. Anything that keeps your head warm (within reason) is probably fine.

+1 on the "layers" recommendation. I find it's also good to have a wind-breaking layer of some sort packed along.

I suppose whatever gun you can shoot well with is fine. I used my Rem 700 in .25-06 this year, and it made the deer as dead as any other gun I've seen.

I like a short fixed blade - somewhere in the 3-4" range - for dressing out deer. I have a Kershaw Antelope hunter II - it's good to handle, and seems to hold an edge well - I've worked on seven deer with it this season.

Also, a decent folding saw can be nice - I use an el cheapo Coughlin's, and it works fine.

If you're planning on long walks, a good pack is indispensable. After a couple really long, tough drags (and one solo 2 mile carry with a little button buck) me and my hunting partner have taken to quartering and taking the meat off the ribcage in the field. One spends more time on the initial "getting ready to go" but, I think, it balances out because of the length of time dragging takes versus packing (This year, 3 deer of 7 have been packed out - I've timed the process nearly every time, and quartering in the field, at least if you're a long, long ways from your vehicle, is faster). I've heard external frame packs are nice, but I only have an internal frame 60 liter Lowe Alpine. I used it yesterday to pack out all four quarters from my friend's buck, and it worked OK.

Rubber gloves are nice for the field work.
Old pillowcases work well for holding meat.
Food and water come in handy occasionally.
A couple of flashlights or headlamps can be indispensable.
Lightweight shooting sticks, if you use that sort of thing.
Fire, if you get stuck out somewhere, and possibly a small first aid kit and some sort of blanket in case of emergency.
If I think of anything else, I'll add it to the list.

With a little more experience, you'll probably be able to distinguish better for yourself between what is a "need" and what is merely "helpful to have."

I wish you all the best with this year's hunt.

-Brendan

don't buy cheap equipment EVER!

Some good advice, but remember equipment needs constantly change depending on location and your own skill level.

For clothing wool can cover a large temp. variation with layers and proper rain gear. Since I've gone almost all wool for Pa. deer hunting I've noticed the number of times I get close or see deer before they detect me has increased. I wasted a lot of money and time on the "latest" great high tech gear.

It is a journey that never ends. Eventually if you get it right you will find what good basic gear is needed and what is unnecessary for a particular situation. I'm not there yet, but the trip has been a gas. Have fun.

there's several posts above with some good advice from people that i have reason to believe are both experienced and serious about the sport of hunting...

before i offer much in the way of advice, i'd ask some questions...
you mentioned that you were new to deer hunting...

how much experience do you have hunting other game???

what is your level of experience in the outdoors in general???

if i assume that you are completely new to hunting, and new in general to outdoor sports i think that you ought to first determine what it takes, in terms of knowledge, skills and equipment, to wander the country that you hunt in safely and comfortably...

i also think that, regardless of your age or any such requirement, you should take a hunters safety course...

buy a rifle and shoot it a lot... shoot sitting, standing, usiong a limb or weedstalk as a rest for your rifle... shoot from every safe position that you can... when you're hunting you'll find need of ways to steady your rifle... use what you can....

spend time where you hunt... the more the better.....

and if you have the place and the opportunity, hunting squirrels is the best practice for deer hunting.....