Teach a beginner

[Hawthorne]

I’d teach him about transitions because deer are edge animals. Have him learn trees and vegetation and what deer eat. Intro him to the legendary writings of Fred bear, aldo Leopoldo, ted Roosevelt, and Saxton pope. Get him into nature first then killing second. When he gets this down pat, then he can learn more advanced tactics for big bucks.

[brancher147]

I didn't start hunting until about 21 or so. I had a main mentor who was and is a buck killing machine, and he never told me how to hunt or where to hunt. I paid attention to what he said and did (and asked many questions), while doing a lot of research on my own at the same time. I started out gun hunting and have only gotten serious about bowhunting in the last few years. My bowhunting knowledge has all been self taught.

So, to answer the question, I guess I agree the most with Dan's post. But would add that your friend will only get out of it what he puts in it. If he wants to tag along with you and you to show him where to sit and how to hunt then he is not going to learn much, and you are going to get tired of doing that pretty quickly. If he is doing research on his own and finding his own style while asking questions and learning from you, he may become a good hunting partner. I would suggest, as Dan did, try to get him started watching old dvd's and listening to podcasts and doing research on his own, since he lives in NYC and can't just hit the woods whenever he wants.

[Evanszach7]

I’ve got a couple buddies similar to what you speak of. These guys often times do not have the ability to hit the woods as often as us, or they haven’t gotten to “that” level yet where they make sacrifices to hunt.

Regardless I’ll try to put them in high deer traffic areas and let em have fun. The biggest thing is having fun and try not to get discouraged at them. Even if they play on their phone or nap half the time and miss deer walking past

Spot on. My older brother is one of those guys. Took me a while to realize he’s passionate but not as much as me. After 2 years of him bow hunting and occasional shooting and scouting with me we had to have the talk. I just asked him what his goal was... “shoot any buck every year”- stress relief for both of us. I’ll keep putting him on deer but we go our separate ways from the truck. I use Huntstand and will drop him a pin with the access route for a high odds stand. He doesn’t feel the pressure of not knowing/doing what I do, I don’t feel like I’m teaching more than hunting. As long as you’re both happy with your own goals that’s all that matters.

[ChasingFLATS86]

While teaching my 2 boys I have made it more about enjoying nature and being in woods, field, etc. Alot of times we will just go for a walk and it will naturally turn into scouting or learning about a different animal, bug, bird, or plant. If they learn to enjoy the outdoors for what it is, I figure it won't be just the kill that gets them out there and they most likely won't be burnt out. I take them out picking mushrooms, hunting different animals, cutting trails, fishing, canoeing, shed hunting. We look at maps together. Heck my 12 year old will text or email me maps on occasion all marked up. Then we will go through them at night when we get home and discuss what he has marked up. It seems the lessons are learned at the oddest times. Alot can be taught from a distance look at all of us on this forum. Have fun and enjoy the time you spend teaching somebody, You may just end up with one of those "I'm proud of you moments".

[Killtree]

I have a 40 year old friend that I have been trying to put on a deer , any deer, for 2 years.
He hunts by himself some, and hunts with me some.
All on here know that you may kill a deer the first 5 minutes on stand, and sometimes you won't even see a deer for a week.
My friend gives me the impression that he expects to see a deer an hour because he seems to get bored after about 2 hours and leaves the stand.
I put him in high traffic Doe spots, and point out why I put him there. I also point out anything of interest on the way to the stand.
If he wants to leave the stand an hour before dark then so be it.
When he is ready to up his game I will teach him a little more. I just let him do what he does at his level and try not to take any of the fun out of anything for him.

[Grant]

I have a 40 year old friend that I have been trying to put on a deer , any deer, for 2 years.
He hunts by himself some, and hunts with me some.
All on here know that you may kill a deer the first 5 minutes on stand, and sometimes you won't even see a deer for a week.
My friend gives me the impression that he expects to see a deer an hour because he seems to get bored after about 2 hours and leaves the stand.
I put him in high traffic Doe spots, and point out why I put him there. I also point out anything of interest on the way to the stand.
If he wants to leave the stand an hour before dark then so be it.
When he is ready to up his game I will teach him a little more. I just let him do what he does at his level and try not to take any of the fun out of anything for him.

I like your approach. At the end of the day, it needs to be fun. I can't expect someone else to exactly match my intensity, I may be more gung ho or less (e.g. my neck hurts sometimes enough that I can't go Beast Mode every day), so find where they're at and meet in the middle. Enjoy the day. Point out what an oak looks like and which ones can help out hunting, blah blah blah, just keep it light hearted and interesting. If he asks more questions certainly feed the baby bird, but don't try to "push" anyone to go harder and be successful. Believe it or not, a life long friend is more important than any booner. Now if they EXPECT you to spoon feed them your best places to kill a buck, then back off and let them do their own thing a while so they see it ain't so easy.

[Ajazwinski88]

I’d teach him about transitions because deer are edge animals. Have him learn trees and vegetation and what deer eat. Intro him to the legendary writings of Fred bear, aldo Leopoldo, ted Roosevelt, and Saxton pope. Get him into nature first then killing second. When he gets this down pat, then he can learn more advanced tactics for big bucks.

Reading the adventures of folks like the definitely helps instill the mystical side of the outdoors. Great advice! I cut my archery teeth on the writings of folks like theses. Granted I was a youngster (10-20), but some of these stories helped me search for a deeper meaning to hunting than killing. I believe it let me appreciate everything I saw out in the woods and even let me enjoy my many failures as frustrating as some were.

[Scratchman]

Have home listen to the Dave priebe episode's (basics, and mature buck)......and Ken norberg (sp?) Episodes (2 parts the five stages of the rut) on the big buck registry......available on youtue.......seriously. it will help his foundational knowledge a TON. You guys can build from there.

[Hatchetman]

Based on the guidance he's already gotten from you and the drive he seems to have,I would really try and encourage him to scout on his own and pick his own spots to sit.
Nothing will give him that great a level of satisfaction when he connects, and if he's gonna be a hunter, he will get a major "aaah haa" moment from it!
If he's like me, i'd rather shoot a six pointer from a spot I picked then a 150"er from a stand someone has manicured for me.