It was the opening day of archery season and I was ready. I grabbed my gear from the back porch of my father’s house and headed off in the thick darkness. The walk to the stand was relatively short and easy. I had to cross an open pasture field to get to my spot that morning and knew I’d probably jump deer on the way in but I honestly wasn’t too worried because of the location I’d be hunting. My stand was constructed by Chris Barnett, a long time hunting buddy and myself, several months prior. It was situated in the head of a wooded draw which led up to the top of an open pasture ridge. The eastern side of the draw we placed the stand had a small brushy clearing inside the field edge where the deer would feed and travel in near total seclusion, making it a great daytime stand. Sure enough, I jumped deer on the way in. But I just continued on until I was up in the stand and ready well before daylight. When daylight came, the deer weren’t far behind. However, instead of walking through the trail 20 yards in front of my stand, they were along the field edge I walked through earlier! Deer never seem to know where the hunter wants them to go or maybe they do! Regardless, the deer moved along the brushy field edge, putting way too much honeysuckle and well, brush, between us for a clear shot. They finally did make it into the field I was hunting except the lead doe was already 40 yards out when she entered the field. She turned onto the trail and took a few steps. By the time I was up and at full draw she was at 50 yards and before I released the arrow, she managed to take a few steps at 52 yards. It didn’t matter though. The 125 grain broadhead found its mark behind her right shoulder and it ran only about 150 yards before piling up. I was downright proud of that doe. Yes, a doe. Why? Because that was and remains the longest bow kill I have ever made – 52 yards. However, it came about because I was ready. My shooting form and bow came together to make that shot and because of lots of perfect practice, I had venison jerky for the weeks to come.
Too many hunters think you can pick up your bow, dust it off from last year, drag it into the woods and harvest deer. Sure, it has happened and I admit I’ve done it myself. Yet to be consistently successful, you’re better off if you have practiced and tuned your equipment and yourself. This article is written to help you, the bowhunter, get yourself ready.
The first thing we’ll start with is the bow itself. Given the popularity of the compound, that is what we’ll discuss. A compound should be at least 50 pounds in draw weight, in my opinion, for whitetail deer. If not, adjust the bow limbs according to the manufacturer’s specifications. Confirm the weight with a bow scale. Next, we want to make sure that bow is camouflaged. We’re not shooting Olympic competition here, we’re hunting, so you don’t need the shiny metallic blue flek limbs and silver stabilizer coming off it. If you have such a rig, camo it with paint (they even have removable paint if you are dead set on keeping it in the original finish). Next, we want to take some bowstring wax and wax the heck out of the bow string to preserve it. I have always used and will continue to use a peep site. Get one that has a large hole through it so you can see through it in low-light conditions. I don’t think brand is very important and the cheap ones work just fine for me. We also want to add some string silencers to quiet the bow down. There are a wide variety of them ranging from felt to rubber whiskers to yarn balls. I prefer the whiskers since they won’t soak up any rain that happens to fall while hunting. You want to tie these through the fibers of the bow string about a quarter of the way down from each compound wheel. I say through the fibers because they will stay in place better and quiet the bow down better. If your bow doesn’t have offset cables, you’re going to need to get a cable slide. Most manufacturers have already taken care of this, but if your bow doesn’t have the cables offset or a cable slide, you’re going to need to get one. Otherwise, the fletching of your arrow will catch the cables and cause erratic arrow flight. The rest. . . This is an important thing for your bow. There are a variety available but look for these features: fully adjustable, quiet and allow complete fletching clearance. The drop away rests are all the rave now and I can see why. There is no chance for the rest to make contact with the fletching which would cause erratic arrow flight. They’re expensive but I think they’re worth it and will be installing one on my bow before this season. Another good option is the whisker rests which hold the arrow in place. They will catch your fletching and slow it down, however it probably isn’t significant. Fletching on this setup and most rests should be straight and not helical. An added bonus to this type of rest is that it doubles as an arrow holder. Having had more than one arrow fall off my rest while hunting and clang against my bow or stand has ruined more than one opportunity – something this rest will prevent. However, I’ve used other models with good success as well. Next, you may want to add a bow quiver. Here, you are looking for something quiet and safe. I think that the Kwikee® brand is about as good as they come – made out of quiet rubber, not that foam stuff that will dull your broadheads and eventually wear out anyway. Your sights, which most of us use now, should be something durable and easily seen in low light conditions. The fiber-optic sights seem to be the real ticket now. They definitely gather light and don’t use any of the old batteries and lights to make your pins visible. You’ll probably want anywhere from 2-5 pins for your sight depending on how flat your bow shoots. Finally, you want a heavy enough stabilizer. A good rule of thumb is to place a stabilizer on that will weigh your bow down enough so that when you hold your bow with one hand, not grasping but simply resting between your thumb and forefinger, it is more upright than top heavy. If your bow leans back too much, the bow is out of balance and will want to let the top lean back or even topple. Though many people don’t bother, I like to add a Game Tracker to my bow. This has helped me on more than one occasion. The spool of thread attaches to the arrow and honestly hasn’t slowed an arrow down enough for any deer I’ve ever killed to notice it. The big drawback to it is that you can only hunt in very open situations like a stand, blind or stillhunting along an open trail. Otherwise the string will get caught on EVERYTHING. Your release is also important. Several good brands exist, usually the best cost $50.00 or more. If you decide to use a release get one that is adjustable, quiet, comfortable to use and most importantly one that lets the bowstring slide off from the same point consistently. The one I use has a solid steel bar that the bowstring slides off of. To grasp the bowstring, there is a claw that opens up and holds the string against the steel bar until released. You may use a metal or string release point to save wear and tear on your bowstring. So, as you can see, there are lots of things you have to add to your bow to get it to shoot well enough for hunting. |
