Petersen's Bowhunting September 2018

As I’ve often noted in this column, bowhunting success rarely comes easily — if it comes at all! Because of that, successful bowhunters tend to be irrationally optimistic, goal driven, tenacious and resilient. After all, learning to deal with failure is a prerequisite for achieving your “advanced bowhunting” badge. This month’s issue is filled with tales of adventure from bowhunters who refused to let temporary setbacks stop them from pursuing their dreams. Perhaps no one better exemplifies this “never say die” attitude than Field Editor Eddie Claypool, whose public-land bow-hunting success has long since surpassed legendary status. In One Wild September Out West (p. 64), Claypool shares the story of how he killed not one, but two, great public-land bull elk last September during trips to Wyoming and Idaho. For…

Worried About Crossbows I read The State of the Sport Report in the July issue with interest and concern. I’ve enclosed a report that was written some 35 years ago (in 1983) and would like to share it with you. I believe it’s still valid today. We (the Ohio Bowhunters Association) were passionate about protecting bowhunting and our bow season from being exploited by crossbow manufacturers and their lobbyists. We knew the manufacturers were targeting gun hunters for their crossbow market but needed bow season to sell them — mainly because bowhunters did not want them. We lost the battle because we couldn’t compete with the money, power and big-time crossbow manufacturers lobbying the Ohio Division of Wildlife. Today, crossbows dominate the market because they are easily mastered. Why take…

Most bowhunters put very little thought into their arrow vanes or vane align ment. The majority do the same thing I did for years; they either have the local pro shop fletch their arrows or they buy them pre-fletched. But I’ve learned there really is a lot of accuracy and consistency to be gained from understanding the role vanes play in your arrow flight. You ought to take into consideration the distance you are going to be shooting, how heavy your point weight is, how quiet you need your setup to be and your bow’s natural launch rotation. The longer the distances you shoot, the more you need to think about the balance between having enough vane guidance for your arrows but not too much. Once you get past about…

How do you decide whether to dump the string on a buck? How will your decision impact the quality of your future buck population? If you lack a vested interest in the antler size of bucks in the future, perhaps your decision won’t impact the quality of your hunting. However, if you’re like the majority of bowhunters, and the thought of wide, tall and heavy-racked bucks is what gets you out of bed in the morning, you should continue reading. When deciding whether to come to full draw on a buck, what distinguishing characteristics are you observing? Undoubtedly, most of us are scrutinizing boney headgear when deciding whether to shoot or pass. Maybe he’s bigger than the one you shot last year, or even bigger than your best buck to…

#DeerWeek, brought to you by Leupold, Kimber, and Old Trapper, runs Sept. 17-23 on Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel. Each night from 7 p.m.-midnight you’ll find the networks’ very best deer-hunting shows. Additional #DeerWeek programming is available on the MyOutdoorTV mobile app, and a wide variety of #DeerWeek videos, articles, hunting tips and prize giveaways can be found across our social media platforms. For full schedules, contest info and more, visit www.deerweek.com.…

When our son asked me a few years ago if he could ride the four-wheeler over to a friend’s house and blow up Tannerite with a .30-06, I remember thinking, That sounds like a good idea; what could go wrong? When my best friend, who was sitting on the bank behind me as I cast for trout, started throwing big rocks to see how close he could get to my head without actually hitting it, my otherwise predisposed mind registered, That sounds like a good idea; what could go wrong? “What could go wrong?” are the famous last words of many a You-Tube hero. Fortunately, our son still has all his limbs and senses. I wish I could report the same result from my trout stream experience. So, this month,…