Hunting is an excellent hobby that allows hunters to experience being one with nature, their ancestors, and their equipment. However, it does get frustrating when the hunt doesn’t go your way.
There are several factors that seem insignificant back at home that may make the difference between an enjoyable hunt and one that can be seen as a failure.
Let’s go through some tips and tricks to make your next hunting trip as enjoyable as possible. This means ensuring success and making the experience more pleasant to go through.
Tips to Make Your Next Hunting Trip More Enjoyable
Here are some important tips to remember the next time you go hunting. These will allow you to make the most out of your experience and bring your A-game to your stomping ground.
1. Buy Quality Gear and Equipment
At its core, hunting is the act and now the art of tracking an animal and killing it for its meat, horns, fur, or simply for the sense of achievement. Early humans only had rocks and spears as equipment.
The modern hunter has more options than our forefathers would have ever dreamed of. It would be a waste not to use them. These include wearing the right clothes and using the right weapons.
A hunter will need steady, waterproof boots, camouflage jackets and pants, a reflective or orange vest or cap, gloves, and other articles of clothing that either conceal your appearance or your scent.
This means buying a shotgun for hunting ducks and birds, a hunting rifle for deer and big game, a crossbow for silent kills, or a compound bow for the extra challenge.
- Read more: How To Keep Your Feet Warm While Hunting
2. Use the Right Scope
Rifle scopes aren’t just for soldiers anymore. One of the best ways to ensure a successful hunt is to get the perfect shot. Rifle scopes make it perfectly possible.
Whether you use a hunting rifle, a crossbow, or a compound bow, a good optic with zoom capability and the right crosshairs will allow you to hit your target truly and humanely.
Investing in a good quality scope, in addition to a weapon system you can continue to buy ammunition for, will allow you to hunt competently and make the hunt more enjoyable.
3. Train and Practice
Having all the best equipment won’t make you a better hunter if you don’t know how to use them. A good hunter with a hunting rifle and a knife beats an inexperienced hunter with trail cameras and thermal scopes.
Becoming more proficient makes the experience more enjoyable because you bring success closer every time you fire a practice shot or scout your hunting ground.
Make sure that you practice with your equipment and calibrate and modify them to your needs and preferences when needed. Pack only what you need and what you know you will use.
Go to a firing range and practice with your rifle, scope, and ammo. Practice identifying your targets and hone your skills. The more competent you are, the smoother your trip can go.
4. Hunt With Friends
The surefire way of making anything more enjoyable is to bring a friend or two along for the ride. It also allows you to cast a wider net and increases your ability to hit your target.
The best hunters often never go alone. The hunting community grows stronger when people go in groups, and it gives inexperienced hunters a support system and even a group of friends to share a beer with.
Hunting with friends raises your chances of successfully tracking and killing your prey, and it allows you to communicate and share stories with like-minded people.
5. Scout Your Hunting Ground Before the Hunt
Familiarize yourself with your hunting ground, and you can keep yourself from getting lost, find the most likely route your prey will pass through, and know where any dangerous spots may be.
Scoping out your environment will also allow you to set up trail cameras or markers to help you keep track of your target.
It’ll allow you to plan ahead, strategize, coordinate, and use the environment to your advantage.
6. Learn How to Track Your Prey
Running around like a headless chicken trying to keep up with a deer faster and with more endurance than you get old quickly. You will need to understand your prey.
Learning their habits, the tracks they leave behind, and where they commonly drink water or go for shelter will allow you to ambush them on the trail, ensuring success.
7. Cover Your Tracks + Move with Stealth
As civilized as we are now, hunting is still a primal experience. You are a predator, and you need to think and act like one to hit your target. Stalk like a panther, pounce like a lion.
Move slowly and deliberately. You don’t need to outrun your prey. You just need to get the most stable shot without alerting it to your position. This means concealing your shape and your scent.
Cover yourself in natural foliage to blend in with your surroundings. Build a “hide” and practice sniper-like patience. Wear boots that don’t squeak and minimize your scent.
8. Make a Plan and Stick to It
This is especially important if you’re hunting in a group. You need to properly plan and coordinate to prevent accidents and ensure success, hitting multiple targets at once.
Planning involves knowing which routes to take, what kind of animals your hunt will entail, which guns you will use, what tracking equipment you will need, and where you will set up.
Discuss your game plan and see it through. Be patient when stalking your target, and don’t lose hope if you know that it’s part of the plan. You’ll succeed in the end.
9. Stay Safe
Safety is paramount when hunting. Before stepping out of the car, make sure that you have all your hunting permits to save yourself the hassle of arguing with a park ranger.
Ensure that you have reflective clothes to let other hunters know you’re in the area. Don’t stay near jagged rocks or stand near trees animals can knock down.
Practice proper gun safety and storage and be careful when handling knives. Always have extra hygiene and first aid kits to allow you to have a worry-free expedition.
10. Enjoy the Hunt
Frustration and coming out empty-handed are part and parcel of being a hunter. After all, you won’t go hungry if you don’t hit your target, but your prey is fighting for its life.
Hunting is a contest of wills between predator and prey. You may not always win, but every hunt and every struggle in the forest or a plain is a lesson that you can bring to your next trip.
Never give up and enjoy the experience. Breathe in the fresh air, touch the trees, and take in the green views. You’re in nature. Enjoy the tranquility and enjoy the adventure of the hunt.
Conclusion
Hunting is enjoyable, but making a few small adjustments can make it even more worthwhile and memorable. These include developing your skills and abilities.
You can also prepare better and involve friends and fellow hunters on your trip, go through all safety precautions before hopping in the car, and enjoy the adventure.