Innholdsfortegnelse for April/May 2019 i Petersen's Bowhunting

Perspective, as they say, is everything. Take, for example, the outcome of any sporting event. A single result sends half the spectators home happy and leaves the other half crying into their beer. It all depends which team you were rooting for. Much the same can be said of election results. Depending on your perspective — determined by where you fall on the political spectrum — a particular candidate’s rise to power can be cause for high hopes or an omen of certain doom. As bowhunters, I think it’s fair to say that — most of the time, at least — our perspective is determined by punched tags. We judge the outcome of a given season or an out-of-state hunting trip almost solely on whether blood was shed. I would…

In his book Plowman’s Folly, written in 1943, radical agronomist Edward Faulkner wrote, “The truth is that no one has ever advanced a scientific reason for plowing.” In fact, if you’re currently plowing, discing, fertilizing or spraying herbicides on your food plots, you’re destroying your soil health. Thanks to these common farming practices, our soils are completely depleted, eroded and in need of regenerative practices. If you want to truly make your food plot more diverse and (at least) as attractive as your neighbor’s agricultural fields, put your plows out to pasture and rent no-till equipment locally. I can see the letters to the editor now. Change hurts. Understand, growing crops was once done without additional fertility “help” from humans. What if I told you that a shift in mindset…

As a wildlife biologist, I’ve been involved in numerous efforts to establish special or controlled hunts to address nuisance deer issues. No matter how much data was provided regarding similar, previous efforts in other areas, every group, community or municipality had to go through the full process of debate, public hearings and delays. In the end, all of them eventually came to the same conclusion: Hunting represents the most effective, efficient and practical solution. Much the same is true when it comes to crossbows. Each time a state wildlife agency or legislature proposes some liberalization of crossbow use, the same old arguments are presented on both sides, despite the fact those of opponents have largely been refuted time and again. A recent proposal in my home state of Maine to…

Iowa Applying for a seriously expensive non-resident tag, I questioned my sanity — $200-plus to hunt a turkey? Oh well; a guy only goes around once. When my “papers” arrived in the mail, I determined to make the most of the investment by spending a week or so roaming the hills of southeastern Iowa. Priceless. As we rolled down the rural gravel road, I knew I was in the land of giants. Some of the largest-antlered whitetails in North America reside in these hills, and although the Eastern turkeys of these south-central Iowa woodlots play second-fiddle, some mighty large longbeards also claim fame here. Furthermore, much to my good fortune, a friend of mine purchased a small piece of this nirvana a few years back and recently offered access to…

Nocturnal Addiction Bowfishing specializes in fully guided outings on the famous Three Rivers — the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio — in and around the City of Pittsburgh. The fully insured outfitter operates two customized, 20-foot boats piloted by U.S. Coast Guard-licensed captains. Nocturnal Addiction’s five-hour trips begin at dusk. All necessary bowfishing equipment and instruction is included in the cost ($300 for two anglers, $400 for three anglers or $500 for four anglers). A valid Pennsylvania fishing license is also required for clients ages 16 and up. All fish that are not kept by clients are donated to local wildlife rehabilitators for use as animal food. For more information, or to book a trip, contact owner Jordon Miller at 724-747-7768 or visit www.nocturnaladdictionbowfishing.com…

I spent 25 days between Oct. 4 and Nov. 11 hunting one buck before finally getting a shot. The impact looked good to the eye — and to the camera, as my cameraman and I saw when we played it back on video — but I missed the spot I was aiming for by about two inches at 30 yards. I hit the deer right behind the heart; he mule-kicked and tore off. However, the buck showed back up on the other end of the field chasing a doe (though not too energetically) an hour after the shot. Finally, he gave up and went down into a draw, presumably to die. I produce a web series, Midwest Whitetail , and when I ran the shot on my daily video blog…

Ravin Crossbows continues to make a splash in the hunting industry with its innovative rigs. For 2019, it introduced the R26 and R29 models, which are super compact (the numbers in the names represent their overall length, in inches). Even with their more maneuverable footprint, both models still throw bolts downrange at 400 and 430 fps, respectively. Ravin’s HeliCoil Technology, featured on the R26, drives the company’s other features and technologies, namely the Frictionless Flight System, Versa-Draw cocking system and Trac-Trigger Firing System. Completing the package are Gordon Composite split limbs; an integrated, molded stock/foregrip unit; aluminum riser; roller rest and more. Technology Gateway The magic behind many of the R26’s other technologies and features is Ravin’s proprietary Heli-Coil Technology. It’s the heart of all Ravin rigs, as well as…

I was on pins and needles as the sun started to peek through the oak limbs on that cold, late-April morning. Like a soldier keeping watch, I sat motionless, waiting for the woods to erupt with thunderous gobbles. Not long after that, the first tom sounded off. The sun was rising quickly by then, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before the turkeys would fly down from their roosts. My anticipation was at a fever pitch, as there were five toms gobbling all around and I had yet to hear a single hen. Hopefully, these birds are roosted away from the hens, I thought as I patiently awaited the sound of wings coming down through the trees above me. A few moments later, I heard the first bird fly…

When it comes to black bears — whether you’re perched 15 feet up a tree, sitting in a ground blind at eye level or slowly stalking within bow range of Ursus americanus — there’s no doubt your heart rate continues to climb with each quiet step they make in your direction. Simply put, bowhunting for black bears is exciting — and it’s that excitement that keeps Vicki and I coming back for more every year! Although bears can be hunted in the spring and fall, Vicki and I prefer spring simply because that’s the better season for the hides. The bears have just emerged from hibernation and haven’t begun to shed yet; these hides are stunning. Once the shedding or rubbing starts, the hides are hardly worth keeping. Spring also…

If you go to pages 18 and 19 in this issue, you’ll find my Bowhunting 101 column about the buck I shot and was, surprisingly, unable to recover in mid-November 2018. After capturing the entire thing on video and then showing it to my Midwest Whitetail audience, the failure started a vigorous debate among hardcore bowhunters. Many knowledgeable individuals kicked around the reasons why a seemingly lethal shot might not produce a kill. It was educational, to be sure, but the discussion served to camouflage another disappointment of my 2018 season — that was the only mature buck I had within bow range. I spent 44 total days (many of them involving both morning and evening hunts) on a good farm and never killed a buck. I shot a truckload…

It was a hot summer day in western Pennsylvania, with bright sunshine and a high temperature of 87 degrees. As afternoon turned to evening and the sun crept ever closer to the western horizon, the shadows in downtown Pittsburgh lengthened, offering some welcome relief from the heat. It was certainly a beautiful night for baseball, and as my two sons and I walked out of our hotel adjacent to Point State Park and made our way down Fort Duquesne Boulevard toward the Roberto Clemente Bridge, we joined a throng of Pirates fans making their way to PNC Park for a game against the Washington Nationals. The only thing was, we weren’t heading to the game. As the crowd turned left onto the bridge, across the Allegheny River and into the…

She has been a fighter from day one. Claire was born with a partially collapsed lung and slightly blue lips. I was in the room when the nurse paged the doctor, could hear the anxiety in her voice when she said, “Something’s not right. She’s having a hard time breathing.” People in white coats filled the nursery. They pushed me to the back wall, but I could still see Claire’s chest collapse with each breath. When she tried to cry, it sounded like a gasp and a whimper. To this day, I’ve never felt more afraid than I did in that moment. But she’s a fighter. Over the next three days, Claire pushed through those physical challenges to become a healthy, beautiful little girl. That was 14 years ago, but…