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When it comes to fair chase hunting, we bowhunters take a back seat to no one. Let’s face it; a bow is hardly the most efficient weapon at our disposal. If filling the freezer is your primary concern, you’re much better off carrying a rifle capable of downing game from hundreds of yards away than you are toting archery tackle that limits shots to 40 yards or so. Over the course of a lifetime, those who head afield with stick and string will have far fewer opportunities than those who hunt with firearms — and I have a bin full of unfilled tags to prove it! Yet, while a bowhunter’s successes may be fewer in number, each one is made richer and sweeter by the simple fact that failure isn’t…
The Simple Joys I really enjoyed The Measure of Success by Steve Flores in your September 2017 edition of BOWHUNTING . I totally agree with and relate to his article about the joys of simply bow-hunting in our wonderful outdoors, under God’s gracious hand! I’ve been hunting in different ways (bow, muzzleloader, shotgun) for over 30 years and taken only three small deer (which are huge to me). Yet it’s all been good and such a blessing to just be out there in the woods enjoying it all, whether deer come my way or not. I’m also thankful to my family — my wife especially — for handling the domestic duties with the kids for years, freeing me up to head out to the woods to hunt. I’ve been a…
Focused Aiming One thing we all do as archers is aim. Some do this differently than others, but to shoot with any consistency we must incorporate some form of aiming into our shot. Several factors, including breathing, heart rate and focus, affect aiming. In one of my previous articles, I talked about aiming drills, but here I am talking about actual things that help or hurt how well you aim. Breathing techniques are used quite often in archery competition but are normally overlooked while bowhunting. Sometimes we forget to breathe altogether when that big buck is coming in. Obviously, taking breaths while aiming causes your pin to bob up and down as your chest heaves; this is not ideal. I like to breathe as I draw and take a final…
I just finished unpacking from a successful caribou hunt in northern Quebec. Although I thoroughly enjoy everything adventure hunts for North America’s “other” big-game species have to offer, I always prefer whitetails. I attribute this to the rewarding nature of being able to directly impact the success of my future hunts through calculated efforts I employ today. Conversely, failing to properly prepare for future bowhunts is a sure bet on failure. I’d like to address a few common but underexposed blunders sure to sabotage your hunts. They say those who fail to plan are planning to fail. Hopefully, the topics I address here will help focus your planning efforts for your next whitetail hunt. Lack of Mental Preparation This is my “favorite” blunder, and one I believe gets too little…
Like all bowhunters, I have had my share of misses. Sometimes the shots were tough or the animal moved or I nicked a branch I didn’t see. But sometimes, the shots were easy and I missed anyway. All misses stink, but those easy ones really stick in your craw and eat at you for years. I missed a giant deer in Alberta a number of years ago that was walking through my shooting lane at 19 yards! It was a slam-dunk shot. But I shot right under him and had to watch the deer add insult to injury when it walked out into a nearby alfalfa field and started feeding. Not only could I not kill him, I couldn’t even scare him sufficiently to make him change his destination. I…
In the last two columns, we talked about three of the five characteristics a hunting bow needs to be maximally effective in the West: accuracy/forgiveness, durability/reliability and power. This month, we’ll cover the last two qualities necessary for a bow to work well in the West: stealth and low mass weight. Stealth By stealth, I mean anything that makes the bow and arrow less likely to be detected by the animals you are hunting. There are several things you must do to make a bow stealthy. Your bow needs to be camouflaged. Just for clarity, I don’t think it matters a lick what camo pattern you use. The bow is such a thin, irregularly shaped item that it could be painted a solid color and still be plenty stealthy. The…
