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 WANTED TO VOMIT. I was still in the first hour of a 2020 elk hunt with J&J Guide Service in Montana, and I had just let my “bull of a lifetime” slip through my fingers. An unexpected encounter led to a fleeting — but perfect — 52-yard, quartering-away shot opportunity. I came to full draw and stared through my peep sight as the monster bull posed perfectly for several seconds. But as I struggled to control my breathing and my nerves and settle my pin on its chest, the clock ran out and the bull stepped back into the pines. You idiot! I thought to myself. How in the world could you not get that shot off?!?! The look on my face, captured forever on video, said it all.…
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IT HAS NOW been 55 years since the scientific community first identified Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) — though no one really knows how long it existed before that. Over the past five-plus decades, CWD has spread throughout much of North America, causing major concern among government wildlife agencies, conservation organizations and hunters as we continue searching for answers about how to effectively deal with a disease that threatens not only whitetails but all cervids (mule deer, elk, moose and caribou). As I follow the CWD saga, I see a promising area of research that sheds some light on how nature may “manage” this disease: beneficial genetic mutation, through disease-driven natural selection. Perhaps, just as nature intended, these population-level genetic alterations are lowering the number of CWD positives and slowing the…
YOU CAN’T REALLY KNOW where a buck will be on any given day. All you can do is make assumptions, based on trends you see in his behavior. The more you know about the deer, the better your assumptions and the more often you will find yourself one step ahead of him. So, unless you have a good bit of information about the buck you are hunting, you will be wrong most of the time. That’s OK; it is still part of the fun, because sometimes you will be right. And all you need is to be right once per season! Gathering Info Before I used trail cameras, I had to base my hunting decisions purely on sign and sightings. I learned the hard way that the sign was not…
BETTER BOWHUNTING ONE OF THE MOST difficult phenomena bowhunters face when shooting at game is the animal’s ability to jump the string. At distances past 20 yards, deer can move a significant distance between the sound of the shot and the arrow’s arrival. The distance the animal moves depends on many variables including the volume and tone of the sound your bow produces, the arrow’s speed, the distance the arrow must travel to the deer and the attitude (spookiness) of the animal. The bottom line is this: If the animal is not there when the arrow arrives, it doesn’t matter how accurate your shot is — you will miss the mark. In the last column, we discussed whether making your bow shoot faster will help in dealing with the issue…
CROSSBOWS AS I PLANNED for my 2021 Alberta elk hunt, I laid my hunting gear out carefully on a table to assess each item’s overall weight and need. The following week would be a grind, but I knew I would love every minute! Bowhunting elk can be physically demanding, so having the right gear allows you to stay mobile to chase elk or get into position ahead of them. It all starts with your crossbow, where weight, size and other factors must be considered. The Crossbow Several compact crossbows on the market are easier to carry and maneuver through the rough country that elk call home. Speed, of course, always plays into the equation, as meadows and field edges can present longer shots of 40 to 50 yards. Some speed…
