***Archery Tip of the Week 2007***

[Nate McVey]

Good tip Scoot......I am going to give that a try.

[Rotwieler]

excellent advice Scoot!!! I'm gonna do that! as a caveat on that, an old bow hunter told me that i should practice the same way your actually going to shoot. by that he meant practice shooting from a chair, twisted around behind you ect. just picture your deer stand and where your shooting lanes are, and practice the sometime awkward body positions you might get caught in if the buck gets to your shooting lane before you can get your ideal form.

[Cooter]

I agree, great tip Scoot. I'm up for Sept 2 tip but it very well might have to wait til Tues mornng with the holiday weekend - it might even be worth the wait....probably not

[Cooter]

Sorry for the late post, hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

In-season scouting

Here's a topic that I learned the hard way. Too many times I'd head out scouting, find good sign, set up, and then return later to hunt and end up with poor results. Finally figured out by the time I'd hunt that area, the deer were off on a different feed pattern. So many variables in most areas, especially the early and middle part of bow seasons.

A couple of examples: alfalfa or beans are hot and then the oaks start dropping; leaves on beans turn color; a couple apple trees start dropping; the neighbor plants winter wheat that is young and tender late in the year; corn gets picked or chopped....lots of possibilities.

The tip is to not get in a rut if you aren't seeing deer. Take a day or night off from hunting and scout. Do it smart - be scent conscious, bring your bow and combine scouting with still hunting, play the wind in areas you check out. Stay in tune with those whitetails and your results will improve. Good luck.

[Dark Cloud]

Sept 9th Tip of the Week

Morning Hunts...

Some guys prefer evenings, others mornings and most of us like any second we can be in the woods...

I hear alot of people complaining about mornings and not haveing success. Personally I really enjoy mornings and by adjusting our tactics a bit they can be real succesfull also.

My better morning stands have a few things in common. First they are very near bedding areas and on trails leadding back from major feeding areas. Dont be afraid to hunt close to bedding areas if you have a quiet easy way to slip out late morning and if your are willing to get in well before dark.

My better AM stands also are secondary feeding areas on the way back to bedding areas. Areas where deer just brouse through, like brushy scrubby areas, a small patch of acorns, and my favorite - a secluded apple tree or two. These areas are really hot during early season.

As the rut gets closer I'll look more to the travel corridor areas that bucks like to troll. These are usually identified by rub lines and scrapes. For the patient archer these areas will produce all day.

Another plus to mornings is the wind. Often times even during windy days the morning starts off calm. And as the temp rises you will get a thermal upwelling helping lift your scent above the deer.

The only down side to mornings the way I see it is actually getting out of bed. But once your on stand and seeing daylight begining to break and the birds chirping, followed by the steady walking of a deer towards your location, that warm bed is a distant forgotten afterthought...

[chucker34]

Great tip Dark Cloud! 90 percent of my hunts are mornings in the exact same set-up you described. Since the deer are headed back to bed or just getting up, I find the key is to get to stand a good hour minimum before legal shooting time.

[BLACKJACK]

My favorite hunts are morning hunts, I love watching the woods come, trying to identify that distang blob, only to find out its a tree. More than once I've had deer in shooting distance as it got lighter!!! Good tip!

[DonBo]

I keep a journal of all my hunting. I have approx 1/3 fewer morning hunts than evening, yet I have shot approx 1/3 more deer in the mornings. Gotta like those odds...

Also, more of my bigger bucks have come during morning hunts.

[Deitz Dittrich]

That is very interesting Donbo.. thanks for sharing that...

[bigbucks]

I too have shot a lot of morning deer, with far less hunts, but my evening deer totals have started to really climb the last few years. Okay I guess not last year, every deer I shot with, bow, shotgun, rifle, & ML were off my morning stand. 4 different stands, 3 different properties.

[DonBo]

Because of the opener, and Cooter stealing my topic a couple weeks ago, I will hopefully have my tip on Monday. I should have several hours on stand this weekend to think about it...unless those darn deer keep buggin me!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!

[Bassboy1645]

Hey Ill take the 23rd if no ones got that tip...

[Deitz Dittrich]

Bassboy.. its yours.. thank you!

[DonBo]

Tip Of The Week for Sept. 16th. Hunting large tracts of public land.

[b/Cooter hit on this a couple weeks ago. In-season scouting. In larger tracts of wooded areas, it is so important to continuously scout. Many of these areas don't have the agriculture fields nearby that can make bow hunting so much easier. Deer can move anywhere without fear of being in the open. Bedding and feeding areas are not as obvious as they are in farm lands. Changes in the woods can make deer move to new areas almost daily. Leaves thinning, white oak acorns gone, red oak just starting to drop, hunting pressure, etc.

I like to walk as many areas as I can during the midday when deer are not as active. Any type of edge is the place to start. These can be clear cut areas bordering mature oaks, pine bordering poplars, swampy edges, etc. Some of these edges can be quite large, others much smaller. I look for maybe not the most sign, but the freshest. Once I find the fresh sign I have been searching for, I will put up a stand as soon as possible and hunt it right away if conditions are right. When I find the spot I wish to hunt, I will put my stand on the downwind side of the AREA. Often in big woods situations there may not be well defined trails to help you pick the perfect stand location. As always, you should be as scent free and as quiet as possible while putting up your stand. You also need to find the best way to get in and out of this new area, take into account the wind direction and scent you may leave. I use a hand pruner to help clear trails. They allow you to move quicker and quiter through the woods while leaving as little scent as possible.

As you hunt a new area it may become obvious that you will have to fine tune your stand placement. It may also take awhile to figure if this spot is good only in the mornings or evenings. Few spots will be good for both.

One advantage to hunting big woods is I don't have to be stuck in a 40 acre woodlot. If deer are not there, I can move miles down the road. If I spook deer at my stand, I can go elswhere for awhile to let things settle down. I usually have several sites picked out over a large area so my stands rarely get burned out. Most mornings after stand, I will walk around my area, or through a place I have not been to see if there may be a better spot near me.

If you cover enough ground through the course of a season you should come up with several spots that produce year after year. You should also know what sites are best with which winds.

I also keep a journal of all my hunting. Simple input as to what stands produce during years of many acorns (like this year) or where to look when the acorns are scarce. Also where my best spots have been at different times during the season and with different winds.

By following a few of these tips and breaking down a piece of large woods into smaller areas that produce, you don't need to fear the big woods, just bring a compass...

[Bassboy1645]

ARCHERY TIP OF THE WEEK SEPT 23RD

In my mind and many others like me, access is half the battle in bowhunting for white tailed deer. Im no pro but I feel the only way to determine the best access is from experience hunting in that area.

Case in point: I hunt a strip of oaks about 20 yards wide and 200 yards long. Its bordered on the north by Crp grass and cattails and to the south by cattais and water. It hooks to another point of woods and then corn and soybeans in effect making it a classic funnel stand. However being on a WMA, it has a trail and a parking on the far side of it. Becasue of the extremely light pressure even during gun season, it remains a good spot despite being close to the road. Time and time again the few people I see hunt it wrong park at the end of the strip, walk down, and hunt. The first year I hunted it I was just as guilty. I also noticed how many deer I bumped everytime I walked to the spot in the predawn darkness. After a frusterating season, some hardcore spring scouting, and an hour or two of map reading I was able to figure out the route. Rather than walk the strip Id have to park half mile or so away. Then Id walk past the strip on a south wind and hit the field edge 100 yards to the north. From there I looped down to the marsh and into the strip via the west. Any deer in the strip werent bumped, and the veichle didnt prevent them from walking into the strip from the marsh. I THINK IT MATTERS WHERE YOU PARK!!!

If you dont have the luxury of experience in a particular hunting area, it can still be a great producer for you. With the arials in hand, and what you know from scouting (speed scouted midday or a full presason combing)look for areas you can remain undetected while keeping scent away from the area the deer are coming from or going to. Edges, ditches, big hills, head high trees or crops like corn can keep you hidden provided the noise is kept to a minimum( dont walk through corn unless its windy). Creeks and lakes are fantastic scent free access points. Creeks can cover noise and scent often allowing you to slip past bedded deer for the ultimate stealthy ambush. paddling is fog quiet and you can use a duck boat or a canoe to glide into unpressured and remote areas where the monsters lurk. In a perfect world deer will never bust you as you sneak or glide to your spot allowing for the ultimate suprise. But the reality is at least one or more deer will know whats up or at least hint at a problem with any human beings in the woods. After all, you know or figure out quick if someones in your house or bedroom. Your hunting in the deer's house. Think of it in that sense, and the best you can do is to suprise the deer with a deadly arrow as its too late for him do to anything.

[delmuts]

ok! so this isn't so much of a tip as it is of a whine???

when will the manufacturers of archery products come to realize , that things for a HUNTING BOW ! shouldn't be shiny!! ( i.e ; the hardware on rest,sights, and such!) i was preping my bow,( our season starts oct. !)with a black magic marker.on the rest; the screws,the bar,are shiny , and the prongs are white( i shoot a n.a.p. two prong fallaway!)?? gees! why can't they make this stuff in a powder gray or black?

my tip is take a good look at your bow. see anything shiny? a black magic marker well cover it well! del

[harvey lee]

Thanks Bassboy.

[UMDSportsman]

There hasn't been any action on here in a while. I have something to add. Most of you guys probably know this and maybe it was already covered, but i found it out the hard way.

Mark everything that could move or is adjustable on your bow. I don't know what the best medium for marking is, maybe a pencil, or liquid whiteout. When i first got my new bow this summer they marked the location of the peep with liquid whiteout, a small line on both the peep and the string, this gives you a reference so you know if it moved and if so how much and where to return it to. Lately my rest moved on me. The screw that adjusts the 'windage' of the rest is tight, but not tight enough. Since i did not mark the location on the slide where you can adjust it, I will be spending some time at the pro shop tuning it again when i could be in the stand.

Once again mark the location of everything that can move or be adjusted on your bow (rest, peep, sights, etc.).

[harvey lee]

Thanks for the post UMD. Sometimes we forget about the little things that can really help if we take the time to do it.

To anyone else, if you would like to post a few tips for all of the viewers, please feel free to do so. Many times one thinks what they know is not important but we do all learn from each other.

Thanks to all who took the time to write up a post of tips and I wish you all a safe and successfull season.

[snapcrackpop]

I like the tip someone mentioned about tying your antlers to your long rope then "rattling" by pulling the rope.

I tried this a week ago and pulled in a little 8-point to 25 yards. The sound of the antlers hitting the ground is good, and best of all you can do it one handed.

[huntnfish]

This isn't much of a tip but it might save some tracking. This isn't something I came up with but I have done it and it works a lot of the time.

Immediately after you shoot a buck, grab your grunt tube and grunt a few times. I have done this 5 or 6 times and most of the time the buck will stop and take a look back. I shot my first deer with a bow last night, a small 8 point, and I did this. After I shot he took off running but when I grunted a few times he stopped about 50 yards away to take a look and fell over in that spot about 15 seconds later. I have done this with a rifle, muzzleloader and now a bow. I'm not sure how far he would have went with only one lung but there wasn't much of a blood trail so it sure helped to see where he fell.

[Meat-Run]

Huntnfish,

thats a really good tip. Never have thought of that and in some cases it might really make or break a search and rescue effort on a possible bad shot. To add to your tip one should have his grunt call handy or ready to go and not get in the way of your bow string when you release. This is something that I'm very aware of because one could "hang" himself or get hurt if your grunt call is around your neck.

mr

[sticknstring]

Great tip... Often after a shot they'll run out 50 yds and turn around looking back wondering what just happened... it's during this key time that one should remain motionless on stand as to not spook the animal - a few added grunts could further help calm him/her down.

If you're looking for a great grunt call that doesn't hang around the neck and is always hands-free give the A-way Bowgrunter Plus a try... pin it on near your collar and again under your armpit. It's an inhale model so it won't freeze up. Great sound too.

[so haaad]

Add "pre-hunt" practice rounds to your hunting gear list

I think we all know that bow shooting skills will diminish by the mid-season without practice. It is the same as lifting weights, jogging or any other physical or endurance activity. Shooting during the season will help maintain shooting form, work out those shooting muscles and boost your confidence.

For bowhunters who don't practice much during the actual season, most use the excuse that they would rather be hunting instead of practice shooting. So combine the two. I carry a "block" style portable target in my vehicle. At least once or twice a week, shoot a few quick, "pre-hunt" practice rounds. I usually shoot practice rounds in the field right before heading into the stand. Pre-hunt practice rounds should take just a few minutes and should be short enough so they do not wear out your arm or cut into your hunting time. Mine consist of a round or two at 30-yards (or more) and end with one round at short yardage shots near 20 yards. I end with short yard shots for two reasons: 1) It's a huge confidence boost shooting a round at short yardage right after shooting longer yardage rounds. 2) It doesn't matter how good of a shot a person is, most "smoked him" shots for bowhunters are usually 20 yards or less.

[harvey lee]

I think the biggest tip I can offer is for all of us to go out and enjoy the opportunity we have to do the hunting we do. If we could all be that little extra safe with our guns and bows and know whats behind the deer we are shooting at, just maybe no family will have to recieve the bad news that a family member was shot.

Lets all really try to make this year a year where no bads news is in the newspapers or any type press.

Good luck to all.