Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Five Bow Hunting Tips


Bow hunters don’t kill good deer consistently because they have a rabbit’s foot in their pocket. It is true sometimes deer hunters are lucky and a monster walks by, but those are isolated incidents. To kill deer consistently with a bow you need to practice and be using some sort of plan to outsmart the deer.

Location:
When picking a hunting location, you want to make sure your stand has some of the several necessities. First you need to be able to access your stand without spooking deer. This is one of the harder items to accomplish. One way to help accomplish this is to cut a path to you stand during the summer. You also will need at least two stands for different wind directions. Also, you will need a location where deer will pass within thirty yards of you stand during shooting hours.

Pack it Light:
Another tactic is packing light so you can do more stalking and still hunting. What you need for this set up is a light tree climber and the minimum of gear so you are not dragged down during you hunt. To be successful you need to hunt slowly and patiently so you do not spook or miss deer.

The Little Things:
The little things all add up to be very important and can be the difference between a shot and staring at a bobbing white tail as the deer jumps away. First thing to do once up in a stand is check you safety harness (What do you mean you don’t have one!?) and your bow to make sure they are functioning properly and that you can make a complete draw and release without getting a twig caught. Also, double check you shooting lanes, even a small twig can move your arrow enough to be off target.

Know the Land:
To be successful every year, you have to know every foot of the land you are hunting. This allows you to be able to change your plans quickly and to be to know where the most likely places the deer will be during a certain time. To do this you have to be able to observe deer and the signs throughout every season. Then once you file away that knowledge you will be able to be more consistent during the hunt in the coming season.

Start Early:
Trimming shooting lanes and putting up stands several months before the season will help let deer settle down after you disturbed their peace. Also, while you are trimming and setting up stands don’t forget to make a path to your stand so you can get their quietly. I have seen times when a person does all the work for the season a week before and they don’t see anything because they have spooked all the deer.

Being a successful hunter isn’t all about luck (though it certainly helps), it is about the preparation and practice you put in before the season. So, practice, be smart, and kill a deer this season.

For more deer hunting tips check out:
Post-Rut Deer Hunting Tips I
Post-Rut Deer Hunting Tips II

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Excellent article. I believe that if more people tried bow hunting, they would be surprised how much fun this can be. I invite you and your readers to visit my new site, Silent Draw Outdoors. This is a new breed of hunting and outdoor adventure. Watch bow archery hunting videos of big game in North Ameri

TaurenChieftain said...

The Bowtech Destroyer 340 is rated at 340fps and the Destroyer 350 is rated at 350fps. Some will say this is nothing new, but you would be wrong. Never before has a bow returned this much swiftness and still had and still had a smooth draw. Not only are these bow fantastically fast they are also very quiet and shock free. The add on of the FLX Roller Guard, another industriousness first, means you have a bow that tunes very easily. Stop in and see why this is one of our hottest sellers.

Anonymous said...

I like your article you madelots of excellent points that even though seem begginer-ish, experienced hunters over look them so often its rediculus. Ive been bow hunting a while and it really is alot of fun, but proper steps must be taken, and you will always land the 10-12 point buck that walks right in front of your stand 15-20 yards away. I would just like to add one thing ( please dont take this personall your article was great) but that one thing is Silence. Even though smell is a part of the equation I belive some people over do themselves on it and forget simple things like to stop breathing like a moose and shutup. You have to remember how crazily antsy deer are and you rustlin around and whatever you do tomake noise does not help. So for any of you who never shoot $%&# maybe yoy should see if your being loud ( no offence but sometimes tha will shake some one out of there stupidity). But anyway Silence and the surprise attack is how you bring down the monsters. If you are not stealthy say good by to some good jerky and hello to dissapointment. You have to as the writer of the article said, plan in advance (way in advance) and prepare your strike. Like the auther said we are Out Smarting these animals not playing their games. And this works for bow and rifle hunting. I personally only bow hunt. No offence to any shooters but I hate gun hunting.. Besides do you fellows like dressing up in blazing orange and stuff. Bow hunting takes just as much skill and a little because you have to be practically be on the deer to kill it and your arrow wont shoot through twigs and stay in coarse. Any bow hunter should be nodding up and down right now haha... Anyway great article and all you hunters start paying attention!!! I can't tell you how many times iveseen failure because someone comes barelling through the woods like a diesel truck.

Anonymous said...

I like your article you madelots of excellent points that even though seem begginer-ish, experienced hunters over look them so often its rediculus. Ive been bow hunting a while and it really is alot of fun, but proper steps must be taken, and you will always land the 10-12 point buck that walks right in front of your stand 15-20 yards away. I would just like to add one thing ( please dont take this personall your article was great) but that one thing is Silence. Even though smell is a part of the equation I belive some people over do themselves on it and forget simple things like to stop breathing like a moose and shutup. You have to remember how crazily antsy deer are and you rustlin around and whatever you do tomake noise does not help. So for any of you who never shoot $%&# maybe yoy should see if your being loud ( no offence but sometimes tha will shake some one out of there stupidity). But anyway Silence and the surprise attack is how you bring down the monsters. If you are not stealthy say good by to some good jerky and hello to dissapointment. You have to as the writer of the article said, plan in advance (way in advance) and prepare your strike. Like the auther said we are Out Smarting these animals not playing their games. And this works for bow and rifle hunting. I personally only bow hunt. No offence to any shooters but I hate gun hunting.. Besides do you fellows like dressing up in blazing orange and stuff. Bow hunting takes just as much skill and a little because you have to be practically be on the deer to kill it and your arrow wont shoot through twigs and stay in coarse. Any bow hunter should be nodding up and down right now haha... Anyway great article and all you hunters start paying attention!!! I can't tell you how many times iveseen failure because someone comes barelling through the woods like a diesel truck.