I have taken the plunge into archery hunting

[rundrave]

Just signed up for archery lessons at a local outfitter. Had a buddy who just upgraded give me a bow to use, nothing special but for the time being it will work for now. I got it fitted today, draw adjusted etc, put on new sights and a whisker biscuit.

 

I am almost 36 yrs old but I have never shot a bow in my life so I have no idea what to expect. My first arrow flung will be next week when I start a private class 1 on 1 with an instructor a week from Friday.

 

I have also never taken any big game ever with exception of turkeys and those were with a shotgun and rifle. No desire to deer hunt but maybe it will come some day. My main focus will be for turkey. I am tired of hunting public, and although I appreciate the challenge over the years I have had too many close encounters. I have also found knocking on doors with a firearm to hunt turkeys isn't as welcomed as it is with a bow. I already have some contacts lined up to use my bow if all goes well.

 

Wish me luck!

[Scoot]

Good luck!  I think the way you are getting started is excellent and I hope you find it fun and an exciting ride.  Good luck!  If you have questions or problems, post 'em up here and we'll try to help.  

[ozzie]

I took up the sport at the same age basically (2-3 years ago) and it is fun and a good way to pass time.  I have increased my shooting as time goes as I didn't shoot as much as I should have the first year or 2 and am now making a weekly routine to shoot a couple times all year round to keep muscle memory and just cuz it is fun!  Hope you enjoy the sport!!  Good Luck

[nofishfisherman]

I started up the same way 3 years ago when I was 33.  A buddy gave me an old bow to use and I took it into a shop to get it fit for me.  Its an older bow but still shoots just fine.

 

I didn't do any private lessons more than the pointers I got from the guy at the shop. I just went out and shot a ton of arrows the first year and then a ton more the next year.  Every trip out I could see my groups shrinking and becoming more consistent.

Last season was my first full season of deer hunting with a bow and I loved it. Only got out a few times due to having a baby at home but I had some close encounters that got the blood pumping.  Turns out I put all my energy into bow and didn't even rifle hunt last year and I see that as probably being the trend for awhile. 

 

I just enjoy getting out to shoot which I try to do 2-3 times a week from spring through the fall.

 

[ZachD]

Been Shooting for 14 years and it still hasn't gotten old. Deer hunted for 13 or those years and just this year shot my first Archery turkey. Next year hopefully arrow my first bear.

I think you will have a blast it is a fun sport, even if not to hunt 3d shoots are a good time.

[lungdeflator]

Sweet!  Let us know how it is going.  I started shooting with my dad when I was 10-12 and we never thought about draw length, poundage, and tuning at all  haha.   It took me 7-8 years to really get comfortable with a bow and shooting good groups past 20 yards.  

Part of me wishes we had the money for better equipment and lessons, but its all good and most of what I have learned over the years has been self taught.  

 

[Archerysniper]

It's a great sport and stress relief. I have been doing it for 30 years now and see no end in site. 

[rundrave]

Traveling out of state has kept me from getting lessons started. Shot my first ever arrows today and it went well at 10 and 20 yards.

Took a few arrows to get it sighted in. In fact it went so well that I got my first Robin Hood.

At first I was upset that I ruined 2 arrows but then instructor got all excited and had to run and get his camera.

He asked if it was my first one and I was like first what? Then I learned what a Robin Hood was and started to realize what all the fuss was about lol.

Hopefully the first of many memories made in a new hobby. 

Im using an older bow and was told handle is a little wide where newer ones are more thin. I'm finding I'm clenching and maybe rolling my wrist gripping to hard and need to relax my grip. 

I saw improvement with each arrow I shot so will just have to keep practicing.

Its crazy what you can spend on a release, sights, whisker biscuit, arrows, tips etc. gonna be an expensive hobby I think.

[eyeguy 54]

welcome to the addiction. yes indeed relax that grip. a small wrist sling is something to consider if you havnt. 

the vid below is a good start and the guy has lots of videos. have fun!

 

good video

[lungdeflator]

Sounds like you have a good instructor for him to be excited for you when you are shooting well.  

Positive encouragement!  

[rundrave]

Recently discovered the SD Gfp just put up a range on some state land about a mile from my house:

 

Did a little sundown shoot and it went well except for one oops. Lost an arrow that got stuck in the wood after a mosquito messed me up.

I am pretty confident at the 15yard target and thats where I did most of my shooting. I did move up to 25yards for a few shots and I was on the target but not very consistent.

[nofishfisherman]

My first year of shooting it took some time for the groups to come together.  Then once the did I starting moving my groups all over the target.  One day high , next day low left, next day something different again.  It took a lot of work to develop a consistent and repeatable routine.  For me it was all tied to my grip and then consistent anchor point.

 

Having a nice range like that close to home is awesome.  I have a range about 10-15 minutes from work that sneak out to over lunch a few days a week.  Some days I'm out there shooting in a dress shirt and dress pants but whatever I'm still out shooting.  The first year I caught myself on the forearm with the string on 2 consecutive shots so had a pretty nasty welt on my arm when I got back to work.  That was hard to explain.

 

[ZachD]

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 2:59 PM, nofishfisherman said:

My first year of shooting it took some time for the groups to come together.  Then once the did I starting moving my groups all over the target.  One day high , next day low left, next day something different again.  It took a lot of work to develop a consistent and repeatable routine.  For me it was all tied to my grip and then consistent anchor point.

 

Having a nice range like that close to home is awesome.  I have a range about 10-15 minutes from work that sneak out to over lunch a few days a week.  Some days I'm out there shooting in a dress shirt and dress pants but whatever I'm still out shooting.  The first year I caught myself on the forearm with the string on 2 consecutive shots so had a pretty nasty welt on my arm when I got back to work.  That was hard to explain.

 

sounds like draw length is too long

[nofishfisherman]

On ‎7‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 1:21 AM, ZachD said:

sounds like draw length is too long

 

When I took my bow into a an archery shop to get it set up for me the guy said he felt like it was actually about a 1/2 inch too short after maxing it out. I believe he said its set for 30" or 30.5".  Keep in mind I'm 6'4".

 

Either way those issues were a couple years ago and I got them resolved in a couple weeks of practice and establishing a solid anchor point.

 

[rundrave]

Well officially passed the South Dakota Bowhunter Ed Course and now have my Certificate. Test was a breeze but was good learning opportunity for a newbie like myself.

 

Shooting the bow has definitely taken a backseat though and I need to get better at making time for it. 

 

Not sure if I will target anything this fall yet for deer. But the plan for sure is to target turkeys in the spring.

 

Been shooting an older bow and arrows are grouping well for me but I have been looking to upgrade already to something newer.

[rl_sd]

On 6/5/2017 at 8:46 AM, rundrave said:

Recently discovered the SD Gfp just put up a range on some state land about a mile from my house:

 

Did a little sundown shoot and it went well except for one oops. Lost an arrow that got stuck in the wood after a mosquito messed me up.

I am pretty confident at the 15yard target and thats where I did most of my shooting. I did move up to 25yards for a few shots and I was on the target but not very consistent.

 

 

Is this in Brandon at the state park?

 

[nofishfisherman]

If you've got the opportunity to target deer this fall and are confident in your ability I would highly encourage you to get out there and try it. Even if you don't take a shot there is still a rush to be had by playing the game and trying to get close to deer. My first year in the field with a bow turned into a series of mistakes that prevented me from taking a deer but it was still a great season of hunting.  I feel like bow hunting requires about 100 things to go right in order for you to take a deer, if only 99 things go right and 1 thing goes wrong it won't work.  After my first season it seemed like all 100 things had to go wrong at one point or another in order for me to learn from the mistake.  Fortunately I think i got them all out of the way the first season.

 

Last season was my 2nd season and it went much better.  I took my first deer in the afternoon of my first day out. 

 

If you do plan to hunt deer this fall I would recommend you start figuring out which broadhead you plan to use and then make sure to practice with them before hitting the field.  I went with the Muzzy 3 blade and they do have the same point of impact as my field points but they are a bit less forgiving and tend to show any breakdown in form.

[rundrave]

2 hours ago, rl_sd said:

 

 

Is this in Brandon at the state park?

 

just north of Lake Alvin right off of 273rd street

[rundrave]

1 hour ago, nofishfisherman said:

If you've got the opportunity to target deer this fall and are confident in your ability I would highly encourage you to get out there and try it. Even if you don't take a shot there is still a rush to be had by playing the game and trying to get close to deer. 

 

I get that and I am still undecided. I am not sure where my confidence ranks yet, and who knows where that all goes when you get buck fever lol. But in all seriousness I think I could make a good shot if I got a deer in range.

 

I would have good deer hunting on private land minutes from my home. No desire yet to trophy hunt for antlers if anything I would be out shooting a doe for some meat in the freezer. I also have never taken any big game ever in my entire life outside of turkeys. Biggest animal I have shot has been coyotes. Just never been a big game hunter. Any free time I have in the fall is dedicated to my dogs and hunting grouse and pheasants.

 

Someday I could see me catching the deer bug but right now with a young family athome I am already limited on any outdoors time. If I get any free time outdoors my #1 passion outdoors before anything else is shooting a bird over my dogs on point. Maybe bow hunting will replace that but as of right now it hasnt  perhaps that will change

[nofishfisherman]

I'm in the same situation in a lot of ways.  Young family at home and also a lot of other fall activities that pull me in multiple directions. I'm also not really a trophy hunter, I hunt more for the meat and the experience.  If a trophy walks by then great but I'm ok with whatever deer presents an opportunity.   I also hadn't hunted big game until was in my 30's, a couple years with a rifle (unsuccessfully) and then 2 years with a bow.  Last year was my first archery deer and also first deer ever.  

 

I'm lucky if I get 3 weekends during the entire archery season to hunt. I also hunt private land that my aunt and uncle own.  Having them there affords me a nice place to sleep and the opportunity to bring my kids along which is amazing.  I can go hunt in the morning and they'll feed the kids breakfast and keep them busy until I come in mid morning.  Then I get to hang with the kids and eat lunch together and then go back out in the afternoon for the evening hunt.  I can then be back in for dinner and to put the kids to bed.  Without that luxury I probably wouldn't hunt more than 1 weekend a year right now. 

 

In terms of confidence in my ability I didn't take to the field until I was solid at 20 yards.  By solid I mean I could shoot a full practice session and not have an arrow stray outside of maybe a 4 inch group with the bulk of the arrows within a 3 inch group.  The first year I limited my range in the field to that 20 yards.  If a deer was outside of 20 I let it walk.  Last year I was able to stretch my range comfortably to 30 yards but the only shot I was presented was exactly at 20 yards.

 

Now that you're over the hardest hurdle which is actually picking up the bow and starting you've got lots of time to decide what you want to do.  If you don't hunt this year there are many more years ahead to give it a shot. If you never hunt simply shooting your bow at the practice range is still a lot of fun. Plus you can always look at doing 3D shoots or winter leagues if there are any near you.  

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Careful..... my fall used to consist of grouse/pheasant hunting and the fall run of steelhead on the Brule, all leading up to the rifle deer season.  But then I found archery........Once bowhunting entered my life, bird hunting is something I rarely ever do now and I struggle to make time to hit the river (never even went last fall).  But I also have young kids, so I'm in the same boat with finding free time.  But the few times I do find some free time these days, sitting in a tree usually wins.  It's very, very addicting!

 

I was never a hardcore bird hunter though. I had lots of fun (and still do the few times I still get out there), but for me it was usually a good excuse to go on an armed hike with the dog and look for deer sign. But, I was/am still a diehard steelhead guy, so the struggle is real! 

 

Have fun!