Petersen's Bowhunting is the source for the tactics, tools, and techniques necessary for successful bowhunting. Get practical shooting tips and useful information on archery, equipment tests, clothing, and product evaluations.
I’VE SHOT a lot of targets during my 25 years as an archer. I’ve shot bag targets, layered foam targets, 3-D targets, rotten tree stumps, hay bales and even clods of dirt. I’ve also shot dozens of live deer, antelope, elk, bears, wild turkeys and a variety of other game. But one thing I have never shot is a pie plate. If you’ve never heard the old adage about “hitting a pie plate at 20 yards,” you’re either brand new to archery or you’ve been living under a rock. Although I can’t speak from personal experience, apparently there was a time — long before my time in this sport — when grouping arrows within the confines of a 9-inch-wide piece of tin from grandma’s kitchen was an impressive display of…
I LOVE HUNTING any chance I get. I don’t even care if it’s my wife sending me to the grocery store for some crazy vegetable I’ve never heard of; I’m up for the challenge. Even after 20 minutes in the produce aisle, wandering aimlessly with a blank stare on my face, I still feel like Superman when I finally lock eyes on my prey. Yep, when it comes to hunting, I love it all! Still, there are certain times of year that stand out above the rest, offering incredible adventures that truly bring me joy. Somewhere near the top of my list is bear hunting in June. Let me ask, have you ever been sitting on the forest floor, all alone, surrounded by bears? And there are so many of…
SITTING DOWN to write this column for “The Shooting Issue,” my mind immediately focused on the science and physiology of a successful bow kill. Throughout this series, I’ll discuss shot placement and the potential physiological outcomes of various “hit locations.” It’s my hope these columns will help you avoid heartache and the waste of a precious wildlife resource we all value so greatly. No one I know understands the lethality of arrow-inflicted organ injuries better than Starkville, Miss., native and retired surgeon Dr. Joe Bumgardner. Bumgardner practiced abdominal and chest surgeries for 30 years and is an avid, lifelong bowhunter. He has also assisted Mississippi State University by lending his medical knowledge to a number of deer research projects. Perhaps even better, Bumgardner enjoys applying his experience from the ER…
IF YOU READ this column regularly, you know my primary focus is on sharing the most important things that I have learned in 45 years of bowhunting. A lot of these lessons came through failure, so my hope is that I can save you from those patches of thin ice. This month, I am offering my list of the Top 10 things I have learned about shooting a bow over the years. In no particular order, they are: Practice Treestand Technique When bowhunters miss from a treestand, they usually miss high. There are two reasons for this, with the first being the deer itself dropped. Since I started to video my hunts, the number of deer I see that attempt to drop to load their legs after hearing the shot…
MAKING A GREAT SHOT at the end of a long hunt should be an extremely rewarding experience. However, if the deer is gone when the arrow arrives, you will miss and it’s anything but. Amongst all the negative experiences a bowhunter can go through, there are few that are more painful than having a deer of a lifetime jump the string. The reason it’s so hard is that you may have done everything exactly right, yet you failed. Nothing under your control could have changed the outcome. "String jumping" is not a good descriptive term for this phenomenon — it is a misnomer. However, the phrase has been part of bowhunting’s lexicon for a very long time, so I will continue to use it here. The term originated before the…
ARCHERY IS A GAME of consistency and concentration — if you ignore the small details, chances are your arrow will miss the mark downrange. Well, the best way to ensure the little things become second nature is through practice. It doesn’t matter whether you are a vertical or horizontal bow enthusiast; practice makes perfect. This rule holds throughout the hunting world. For example, the best wingshooters often shoot clay targets when bird season isn’t open. Long-range shooters become proficient at ringing the gong at extreme ranges by paying attention to the environment and knowing their equipment. There is a misnomer that crossbow enthusiasts do not need to practice, and anyone can pick up a bow and head out hunting, but nothing could be further from the truth. Shooting any bow…
