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Featuring Archery Hunting
Dave's Archery Huntin' Tips
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Since 10/6/2001
Preparing for Archery Season
Practice - I
can't emphasize how important practice is to archery. Both in
ensuring a successful hunt and in assuring a quick, clean kill.
No one wants to spend hours tracking(my tracking page) a
deer. Practice will make you the best shot possible for your
abilities. All the while making you more familiar with your
equipment (this also goes for gun hunters). At first, don't be
concerned with where the arrows are hitting. Concern yourself
with getting your arrows grouped together. This tells you that
you are becoming consistent. This also gets your shooting muscles
working together to achieve the desired accuracy. Then you can
start to bring your arrows closer to the bull's eye. Practice
from different distances. Concentrate on distances to 20 yards
mostly. Most deer are shot at distances under 20 yards in archery
season. As you improve you can move back further. Know your maximum range by the
season and don't shoot farther than what you are sure you can
make a clean kill. Another good and fun way to practice is to go
to one of the many 3-D archery shoots that clubs hold during the
summer months. This not only aids in your shooting ability it
also gives good practice in estimating distance. Proper distance
estimation is important in field shooting. What good is all the
practice if you can't recognize the difference between 15 and 25
yards? The effects of distance judging can be reduced by using
faster, flatter shooting bows. 3-D shoots also allow you to shoot
at something that is 3 dimensional. You can note the entry and
exit of your arrow and note what vital organs/arteries your arrow
may have encountered and whether you would have hit a bone which
may have deflected your arrow. Here are some pictures of the deer's circulatory
system, its
skeleton and its
vital organs. Also in your practice sessions you should
always be checking your equipment (bow, arrows, stabilizer, cable
guard, string, etc.). Inspect for wear or cracks. Listen for
squeaks or a rocking sensation when you draw your bow. This is a
sign that your bow needs to be tuned. Also, your arrows may fly
erratically. Check the tail of your arrows in the target. If they
are pointed in different directions you need to do some tuning.
Make sure your arrows are matched to the draw weight of your bow.
A too stiff or too weak shaft will shoot inconsistently. Also
consider that there is a minimum weight for arrows considered
safe to shoot. This takes into consideration the weight of the
arrow, fletching, insert, nock and point. This is usually given
in grains per pound of draw weight. Consult Easton's shaft chart
for recommended arrows for your bow. You will need to know the
draw weight of your bow, the percentage of let off(if shooting a
compound), type of wheel on a compound(energy, round, semi
energy) and the weight of your broad head.
Scouting -
Start as soon as possible. Winter is a good time to start. You
may find sheds from bucks and tracks will be more prevalent in
snow. This will give you an idea of the traffic in the area that
you are looking. I do double duty in the spring. While I am
spring turkey hunting I am also checking for deer traffic since I
hunt the same areas for deer and turkeys. During the summer
months you can also get an idea of the food sources and their
abundance and whether the deer are visiting them at that time. I
hunt in farmland so along with the oak and berry crop in the
woods I am also looking at what local farmers have planted in
their fields and how they are growing. Let us not forget apples.
Deer love apples and apple orchards are a favorite stand of mine.
Toward the end of summer I like to start looking for bucks. The
antlers are almost to their maximum growth and the size of the
rack can be judged by then. Remember that bucks in velvet look a
lot more impressive than they actually are! Use their
ears(6" long)(16" tip to tip) to judge height and width
of spread. For those interested in the record books a "book
buck" should have at least 8 points and 4 as long as its
ears and the inside spread should be as wide as its ears. I like
to spot light deer.Iit is legal legal in my state. This lets me
see deer that I might not otherwise see. Usually this is the time
when I spot larger bucks and get an idea of where they may be
hanging out. I try to have all my scouting done by a month before
the season and stay away from the areas I plan to hunt. I
sometimes mark trees with ribbon where I might want to place a
stand. This makes it easier for me to find in the dark. I have
also used those shiny tacks on the market. They also do the job
as well. Find several areas to hunt as well as different trees or
ground stands where you may be able to hunt given different wind
situations. Designate some stands as morning stands and some as
evening stands. Try not to keep going to the same stand time
after time. This trains deer to avoid or "be spooky" in
certain areas if you hunt there continually. During the early
season concentrate on food sources as your primary concern. Some
of the deer's favorite foods are clover, alfalfa, corn,
acorns(white oak), apples, honeysuckle and grapes. I am probably
leaving out some foods but these are the ones I am familiar with
in my hunting experience. As the rut approaches concentrate on
rutting areas. These can be found by rubs and scrapes. Licking
branches are also a good place to watch at any time. A licking
branch is a twig that is broken, usually around a scrape, and
deer will stop to salivate on it chewing it and depositing
saliva(scent) on the twig and buck will rub their pre orbital
gland(on the forehead) on the limb. Click here to go to my
page 2 for archery tips and calls.
T's
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