Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2022 i Petersen's Bowhunting

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…

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…

IF YOU ARE UNSURE of Elite Archery’s goal for its customers, let me use the company’s own word to sum it up: shoot-ability. This has been at the forefront of its design efforts for quite some time, and I am a fan of the focus. Elite continually tweaks, improves and adjusts its designs to offer the shooter the highest levels of comfort, balance and forgiveness, all wrapped into the best overall shooting experience, something that comes from combining the company’s mastery of shootability with raw performance. Elite’s 2022 flagship bow, the EnVision, is a total package that combines a new riser configuration, great balance, customizable cams, significantly shorter and wider-stance limbs and much more. So, let’s dig in! Versatile Cam System Elite built significant versatility into its ASYM Tri Track…

You never want a deer to come within easy bow range and then get away because you don’t have a shot in that direction. Hence, when you select the tree for your stand, you need to keep that in mind. It is great to have branches around you at stand height to break up your outline, but don’t box yourself in to the point where you can only shoot in one direction, even if that is the direction from which you expect the deer to approach. Remember, whitetails don’t always do what they're supposed to do, and they don’t always use trails. The ideal scenario is to place your stand so that the branches are at hip height. You will still be high enough above them so that they don’t…

The Easton Sonic 6.0 ($89.99 per 6, fletched | eastonarchery.com) is a brand new arrow made from scratch using the company’s seamless Acu-Carbon process to ensure weight and spine perfection. Sonic 6.0 shafts feature a lighter overall grains-per-inch weight than most other carbon options, giving shooters the option to build hunting arrows exactly how they want them — either as is for maximum speed or with some added insert and/or point weight for boosted FOC and deeper penetration. The Sonic 6.0 comes factory fletched with Easton’s accuracy-enhancing 2-inch Bully Vane in a helical configuration. The Carbon Express Maxima Sable RZ ($164.99 per 12, bare shafts, and $89.99 per 6, fletched | feradyne.com/carbon-express) is a lightweight hunting arrow featuring TriSpine Technology with 360-degree spine consistency. Designed to help you maximize speed…

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…

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…

Manufacturer: Elite Archery, 877-503-5483; elitearchery.com Model: EnVision Riser: Aluminum, dual cages Grip: Machined, narrow, side plates Limbs: Gordon Composites, past-parallel, split Draw Weights: 40, 50, 60, 65, 70 and 75 pounds peak Draw Lengths: 23.5-30.5 inches, in quarter-inch increments; rotating module Cam System: Dual, ASYM Tri Track Letoff: 75-90 percent (advertised); 75.12 percent (as tested) String: Winner’s Choice, BCY 452X, 57.75 inches Cables (x2): Winner’s Choice, BCY 452X, 35 inches Brace Height: 6.875 inches Axle-to-Axle Length: 31 inches Weight: 4.45 pounds (advertised); 4.5 pounds (as tested) Finish: Realtree Excape and 14 other hunting and target bow colors Advertised IBO Speed: 334 fps MSRP: $1,099 Comments: Next-level balance and aiming precision.…

SOME YEARS AGO, Ravin Crossbows burst onto the scene with innovative technologies such as HeliCoil Technology, a floating trigger box, Frictionless Flight System and more. The company, however, had no intention of being a flash in the pan! Fast forward to 2021, and Ravin was the first crossbow manufacturer to top the once unthinkable 500 fps speed mark when it announced its R500. Built to handle high-output performance, the R500 sports a stout machined riser, heavy limbs and a rock-solid rail. The new HexCoil Technology takes Ravin’s HeliCoil cam design to the next level, as the cams rotate 360 degrees before launching a bolt through the Frictionless Flight System for increased accuracy. Plus, the VersaDrive cocking system effortlessly cocks and de-cocks the bow, with no buttons to push or hold,…

QUALITY SHOOTING RELEASE $199.99 Tru-Fire; feradyne.com/trufire Tru-Fire’s Exert offers the quality, fit and function of a competition-grade shooting aid in a release designed specifically for bowhunters. Highlighting this index-finger release aid is a precision milled, internal, dual-sear system designed to eliminate bow weight stack while offering a crisp, clean feel. With micro-adjustable tension and travel, as well as more than an inch of adjustment on the body post, the Exert is completely customizable to your liking. The weight of the release is designed to improve follow-through, while the heavy-duty buckle strap keeps it firmly secured to your wrist. Setting the Exert’s trigger is done by pushing a button, and attaching the release to your D-loop is easy thanks to the open-hook design. A major plus is that…

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…

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…

HINGE RELEASES: As discussed at length in the main feature, hinge-style releases are designed to help you shoot using back tension by using a continuous “push-pull” resistance between your bow arm and release arm. This causes the release head to pivot until the shot is fired. Hinge releases are an excellent training aid to teach yourself to execute each shot with a true “surprise release” and are also favored by many top target shooters and bowhunters because of the consistent accuracy they provide. The B3 Archery Ranger ($164.99 | b3archery. com) offers a hinge release in tandem with a familiar wrist strap, making it a great choice for competition, training and bowhunting. Featuring a wide-track, aluminum, three-finger handle that delivers consistency and comfort, the Ranger comes with B3’s patented flex…

The AMS Bowfishing Retriever TNT ($149.99 | amsbowfish ing.com) is an upgraded version of the company’s best-selling Retriever Pro, featuring a larger, internal brass gear, stronger line and a stronger, high-torque handle. The made-in-the-USA Retriever TNT also features an improved gear ratio, allowing you to retrieve an amazing 27 inches of line with every crank of the handle. That means you get your arrow back to the boat faster, so you can shoot faster and put more fish in the boat! Like all Retriever reels, there are no buttons to push; simply draw and shoot. The 35 yards of included Spectra line is rated at 350 pounds but is very thin to allow for long, accurate shots. The new Cajun Bowfishing Sucker Punch Pro RTF ($449.99 | beararchery.com) is a…

Manufacturer: Ravin Crossbows, 715-718-3574; ravincrossbows.com Model: R500 Safety Features: Anti Dry Fire, auto trigger safety, safety wings Cam System: HexCoil Axle-to-Axle Width: 7.6 inches (at rest); 3.6 inches (cocked) String: 32.25 inches Cables (x4): 9.44 inches Limbs: Split, machined Avient Fiberglass Draw Weight: 17 pounds, via Versa Drive cocking system Power Stroke: 15 inches Grip: RTP Pistol Grip Forearm: RTP Flared Foregrip Finish: Black Advertised Speed: 500 fps with 400-grain bolt* MSRP: Starting at $3,049.99 Comments: A unique rig with phenomenal speed and hassle-free cocking/ de-cocking. *Bow must be shot with Ravinapproved bolts only.…

JANUARY 1997 found me searching for big Coues deer bucks in some extremely remote, rough country in the bootheel of New Mexico. Some years earlier, I’d found this whitetail paradise, only a few short miles from the Mexico border, and had fallen in love with the strange and intriguing flora and fauna of the high desert. This was the land of the Apache; the land where all the Westerns I’d watched as a child had originated. Nearby were landmarks such as Clanton Draw, Cochise Peak, Geronimo Trail and the Cowboy Rim. And it seemed to me this land was still just as wild as it had ever been; adventure was in the air. Finding a small spit of public land, I’d parked my truck under a large live oak and…