Petersen's Bowhunting August 2017

I’ve always been a bit of a baseball fanatic. In fact, much of my childhood was spent curating an extensive baseball card collection that still occupies a dusty corner of my attic. I was certain those endless stacks of cardboard statistics would make me rich someday! Not surprisingly, the better the player, the more valuable the card. And the most expensive cards depict players with a three-letter acronym after their names in the price guides: HOF. Indeed, induction into the Hall of Fame is the pinnacle of athletic achievement, validation that you not only mastered your craft but earned a place among the very best to ever play the game. While Hall of Fame credentials were good for the value of my baseball card collection, I can’t say they brought…

The 99 Percent I am not a biologist or deer manager. I am, however, a New England deer hunter with over 30 years of experience. I read Jason Snavely’s Whitetails column about finding shed antlers (April/May 2017) with great suspicion. If his statistics are accurate, he expects his clients to have one antlered buck for every eight acres they hunt. That’s just plain ridiculous. From what I understand, in the Northeast, most [state wildlife] agencies strive for 15-20 deer per square mile. By my math, and his ratio of a shed antler for every four acres, Mr. Snavely hunts and manages an area with 80 antlered bucks per square mile! I understand winter deer yarding and the effect it could have on deer densities in certain areas. However, more likely,…

DOUBLE TROUBLE Steve: A few years back, my wife and I bought a 53-acre farm in southwest Ohio, smack dab in the middle of whitetail paradise. In October 2016, I got trail-cam pics of a giant 6x6, which I nick-named “Ribcage” since all the tines looked like a ribcage. On November 5, I was hunting over a large thicket. There wasn’t a deer in sight, so I got on my phone to take care of some business matters. Right about that time, I looked up, and in walked Ribcage. He was 35 yards away, upwind and walking into the thick woods where I would have no shot. As he was walking into the woods and out of my life forever, I mouth grunted. He stopped with his head behind some…

Few bowhunters spend much time worrying about the serving thread on their bowstring and/or cables. However, poor servings can cause major inconsistencies in how your bow performs. Whenever you are working with servings, there are several keys to make sure they will hold up and perform well. The most important difference between how I serve and how I see most others serve is that I weave the lead line in and out of the main serving. This holds the entire run together and keeps the serving from separating or “crawling” up and down the string. I’m sure you’ve seen it. You take the D-loop off your string and there’s a big gap in the serving where the loop material was tied onto the bowstring. Unfortunately, when this happens, the serving…

As the “rookie” Whitetails columnist, I welcome your questions, comments and criticism with open arms. After all, aggressively managing whitetails in states not known for giant bucks sometimes requires creative tactics and constant questioning of the norm. Growing up in Pennsylvania — where I still live and conduct 30 percent of my work — I’ve heard it all. My skin is thick, and I’m not alone when I say the time has come for a shift in attitude about whitetail management. Many bowhunters are unaware of how simple it is to impact whitetail herds and create incredible hunting opportunities. It’s nearly impossible to find another game species that responds so readily to proactive management practices. I am elated any time we can openly discuss what makes the whitetail America’s greatest…

In its original form, the “KISS” approach stood for Keep It Simple, Stupid — as if to imply that one might be stupid. In today’s kinder, gentler culture, calling someone stupid might get you sued, while 20 years ago it might have just gotten you a bloody nose. Either way, we are going to venture into this harsh world where we could end up wearing the dunce hat if we mess up. At the very least, we might miss a few animals we didn’t need to miss — and in my mind, that is the very definition of stupid! This month’s column is all about finding a simple bow and arrow system that is idiot-proof. That’s more name calling, but the excitement of bowhunting can turn even the most rational…