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

[DonBo]

Well, it's that time of the year that most of us are puting our archery gear away for the season. For some of us the fun of a new season is just about to start. You remember all those new gadgets you heard about last summer that you thought would be interesting to try? How about those fancy new arrows? Different release? With Christmas coming quick, how about a new bow?

Most every archery club and pro shop has indoor leagues that are the perfect way to get a jump on practicing for next years hunting seasons. You can shoot spots, a perfect way to get your shooting form in shape, or you can shoot animal targets from different positions you may face during the fall hunt. It is also a great way to get yourself out of the house one night of the week during our long winter months. Everyone standing in line with you has the same interests hopes and dreams as you when it comes to next years hunting.

Most leagues start around the first of January, so start looking now to decide where you want to shoot and what type of shooting you would like do. Just get out there and do it! Your shooting will definately benifit from year round practice and you may meet new friends, get access to new hunting grounds, etc. who knows?

[cpinkert]

Hey everyone,

I was going through this forum for the first time today and saw this thread, great idea. A lot of good ideas/tips have been posted, and I just wanted to share a few I've discovered over the 10 years of bowhunting I've done.

The first couple have to do with practicing. I preach the value of practicing to everyone I know because I don't want them to endure what I have in the past - missed shots on two really nice bucks my first two seasons bowhunting. Additionally, for those of us fortunate enough to have access to private land it is not fun at all telling the landowner that you wounded a deer and can't find it. Out where I hunt, a number of landowners don't let bowhunters on their land anymore for that exact reason.

So, I have become a bit of a practice fanatic.

I think there have been some good tips thus far, particularly the focus on the first shot tip, but there are a couple things I do now that I feel help me be more succesful when it really counts.

#1 Practice at varied distances.

The first few years I owned a bow I only practiced at an indoor range because I didn't own a target. This meant that my practice was pretty much done exclusively at 20 yards. Great, I was an ace at 20 yards. However, how often have you had a deer walk past at exactly 20 yards? Almost never. More likely, the deer is going to pass by at 18 or 27 or 35 yards, etc. You get the point.

So, once you have all your pins dialed in for 10 yard increments, or however your sights are set up, practice between the pins. That is, practice at 24, 28, 17, and on and on. This will give you a much better feel for where the arrow is going to be at those in between distances.

#2 Practice at Greater Distances:

Take yourself out of your comfort zone and practice out at 40, 50, even 60 yards if your bow will allow. I promise that short shots will become much easier after practicing at greater distances for a while. Does that mean that you should feel free to sling arrows at deer at these longer distnces? Maybe and maybe not. But at the very least, practicing out at these distances will make those 30 yard shots feel like chip shots.

Personally, I began shooting out past 40 yards two years ago and my accuracy within 40 yards has gone up enormously. This year I really focused on practicing out to 60 and beyond with the thought that I wanted to shoot a deer at 50 yards. As it turned out, I was able to get to the point that I shot a doe at 62 yards this September - she tipped over 30 yards from where I shot her. Anyway, the point is that after practicing out at those distances, the second doe I shot this fall at 27 yards was automatic.

The third tip I have deals with scent control, specifically, activated carbon suits.

#3 Have a procedure for scent control...and follow it.

I know a lot of people who have spent a good chunk of money on carbon suits (scent lock, scent blocker, etc.) and have no idea on how to use it properly. I don't claim to be an expert, but here is the procedure I follow along with some things to remember. I have a Scent Blocker suit that is a few years old. It has a removable carbon liner. You may need to adjust this procedure to your suit, but this has worked for me for a few years now.

First, wash everything (including your undergarments, but minus your boots) you plan on wearing out into the field in some form of scent killer detergent. I personally wash my scent blocker suit separate from my other stuff, but whatever.

Second, dry your clothes. Obvious I know, but I wanted to include the tips below.

Tip #1: when pulling your clothes out of the washer make sure to use rubber gloves...no need to contaminate your stuff right away.

Tip #2: make sure the lint trap is emptied prior to drying.

Tip #3: I like to dry my underlayers first so that the dryer is "clean" - meaning scent free - by the time my outer layers are put in.

Third, your suit needs to be activated! This is a separate step from drying! I am not sure on the exact details of how this works, but basically you need to put your carbon suit into the dryer for an extended period of time on high heat in order for it to work properly. Every suit I've seen comes with a different recommendation, but putting the dryer on high for an hour seems work for me.

Tip: Make sure that your dryer is on high for an hour, if it has a cool down period that is not high heat.

Tip: If you are putting clothing into a dryer that has cooled down, run a couple of "clean" towels in there for 10 minutes to get the dryer up to proper heat.

Fourth, wearing rubber gloves again, pull clothing out of dryer and insert into some form of airtight container. Nothing is perfect, but do your best to ensure that no air is getting in. Personally, I use a large "dry bag" that I bought at walmart for $10.

Fifth, don't get dressed in your hunting clothes until you are where you are going to park. At that point, a whole separate procedure begins.

i) change into undergarments

ii) put on rubber gloves, spray with scent killer

iii) remove carbon suit from airtight container and spray down exterior liberally and entirely with scent killer spray.

iv) spray rubber boots, or whatever boots you wear, down with scent killer and put them on.

v) being careful not to touch exterior of clothing to skin, put on carbon suit.

Tip: if you have just bought rubber boots and think they are scent free, you are wrong, you need to air them out for days prior to using them in order for them to be scent free.

Tip: Make sure that if you buy a carbon suit you buy everything for it, including gloves and a hood/mask. I see so many people on t.v. who don't have the mask and I don't get it. Most of the smell your body exudes comes out of your mouth. If you aren't wearing an activated carbon mask, you might as well not wear a carbon suit at all!

Tip: don't forget to spray down your release, backpack, and even your bow if you have cloth on it - such as on the grip.

I realize that I probably come off as a bit anal, but I have learned a lot of lessons the hard way and I am just trying to spare other people the heartache. Hope this helps.

-Chris

[Meat-Run]

AWESOME, AWESOME, tips cpinkert. After getting preached at by my coworker on scent contral (he's a little particular too) and getting busted most of last year and the opener of this archery season I had to do something and something fast.

1. expect that I can't get away with ho-hum washing and throwing my clothes in the truck "good enough".

2. So before I even bring clothes into the house I make sure that the candles, perfume, and yes diaper can is emptied or not burning.

3. Turn on air circulator in the house a minimum of 24 hours prior to washing my clothes.

4. do a "sterile" wash prior to my hunting clothes, more or less just an already clean towel.

5. Wash my clothes and then dry partially till they are just a little damp.

6. then hang dry ONLY late at night or during the day during weekdays when the neighbors are not barbecueing smelling up the hood.

7. then bag in a ziploc 11 gallon bag and put outer layers in one bag and under layers such as socks, long-johns, etc in another.

Then I do get dressed "afield" to keep the contamination to a minimum. I'm still on the fence regarding scent killer sprays or cover scents like acorn or dirt. Since this procedure I have only had maybe one alarmed doe since the second weekend of archery opening. I do play just as close attention to wind direction then ever before and that helps put me in a better setting for a successful hunt.

mr

[Deitz Dittrich]

Cpin- Welcome to FM and HotSpotOutdoors... great to have you with us!... 2 posts and this one is a doozy!... Thanks for joining us, and I look forward to reading more of your posts!

[Nate McVey]

Good post cpin...thanks for sharing and there's nothing wrong with being a little anal about scent control. I went out this morning and it was a little chilly strippin down and getting dressed at 0 but I did it. I will add that scent wafers have proven (to me) to be very valuable. I use dirt in the fall and pine in the winter and when I'm elk hunting, I can't get enough cow elk urine wafers on. Thanks again for the great post.