5 Stand Setups To Avoid – By Mike Strandlund
Bowhunting World Annual 2004

No matter how good they seem at the moment, don’t get sucked into setting stands in these tempting situations.

Bowhunting World Annual 2004-2005

Are you familiar with the story of the Sirens in Greek mythology?
They were the beautiful temptresses who sang a wondrous song
that ultimately lured sailors and their ships to a tragic death on
the rocks. The moral of the story? Looks can be deceiving.
Bowhunters have their own Sirens to deal with: treestand
spots that appear ever so attractive on the surface, but will ultimately
break your heart and dash your spirit asunder-onto the rocks, so
to speak. The lure that these five stands present can be nearly over.
powering. Here’s how to identify these sites before you become a proverbial moth,
nose-diving full throttle into the flames of bowhunting disaster.

Ravine Crossings
This tempting location probably claims more victims than nearly all the others combined.
Even experienced hunters can fall for its raw appeal.
Here’s how this site casts its spell: You’re scouting for a stand that will work during the rut. One good choice is a funnel between two bedding areas used by does, so you look for just such a perfect buck trap. In rough country bedding areas are typically on points and short ridges overlooking large ravines or valleys. They’re predictable sanctuaries and will show heavy
signs of bedding activity everywhere they’re found.

When crossing the ravine to check out the points on the other side, you’ll invariably notice some
tremendous trails crossing the bottom. They cut deeply into the soft earth where several trails come together to cross the ditch. Wow! A mother lode of sign! At first glance it appears to be a great funnel between two bedding areas, made even better by the fact that you can sneak up the ditch to get to the stand. They’ll never know what hit them.

You’ve just stepped into the snare that’s going to make you miserable and ruin what could have been a great area. It’s darned tough to walk past such an obviously-attractive location without spending a half hour looking for the perfect tree to place a stand. But, hold your horses for a minute. What’s going to happen when the wind blows, or worse yet, when it gusts? Your scent is going to wash all over that ravine until every deer within a quarter-mile radius knows you’re there. That’s not going to help them feel very relaxed and comfortable around home, is it?

From the number of stands I’ve seen in ravines while I’m scouting, it would appear that many bowhunters fall victim to the tremendous sign found in these places.  Remember this rule of thumb: If the spot you are considering is protected from the direct flow of the wind by features of the terrain, it ls not a dependable spot, regardless of how much sign you find. There are definitely better places to hunt the deer that made that tempting sign. The ravine crossing is a seductive spot, but it’s one you should walk past.

Beware, The “Easy” Stand
Most of us prefer a stand that’s easy to travel to, over one that requires a GPS, reflector
pins, and maybe even a bit of luck to find. Some bowhunters are comforted when they roll out of bed in the morning to know they are heading for a stand they can easily walk to. They may even go out of their way to hunt only such spots-and they pay the price.

I have a friend who loves the easy stand. In the back of Ron’s mind lurks the ever-present fear that he will get lost in the dark woods and end up spending his entire morning hiking up and down hills, trying to find his vehicle. As a result, he makes many mistakes in the type of stands he hunts. And, they are deadly mistakes for old Ron.

The classic blunder occurs when he chooses to approach his morning stands by walking directly across open fields.  Typically, in the agricultural country where we hunt together, that means he’s walking across a harvested crop field- a feeding area. And, where do you think the deer are
going to be a half hour before first light? Right Either they’re still out feeding or on the very fringe of the cover, picking their way slowly toward their bedding area (and maybe toward one of my stands). When my buddy Ron rams right into them, all bets are suddenly off.

On one edge we have treestands placed about 100 yards apart. It takes me about an hour to make my entry the back way (away from the feeding areas), while staying in the timber and using ditches, draws, and creeks to get to my stand without spooking any deer. It takes Ron about five minutes to drive his ATV along the edge of the field, walk the remaining 150 yards across the bean field, and then 100 yards through the woods to his stand. Sure, his approach is a lot easier than mine, but he may as well stay home -that’s easier yet.

Don’t fall victim to the temptation to take the easy route to your stand areas. If you are thinking about hunting a morning stand and plan to walk across a feeding area to get to it, do yourself a favor and reconsider.

“Hot” Scrapes During Peak Rut
In the first place, there is no such thing as a “hot” scrape during the peak of the rut. Bucks don’t use them then-at least not with any consistency. Beyond that, we need to resist the temptation to become too sign-oriented. Granted, buck sign sets our imaginations to churning, and we soon envision thick-necked bruisers ripping up a tree trunk or pawing dirt like some antlered Brahma bull preparing to charge.

Yet despite its affect on our imaginations, buck sign can be a seductive killer. Rarely is it a useful indicator of a great stand location and never is this more true than when you decide to sit over a scrape during the peak of the rut.

Admittedly, I’ve been sucked-in by big scrapes many times. I remember an entire season more
than a decade ago when I hunted them exclusively. All my spring scouting had been focused on finding the biggest and best scrapes on the farms I had permission to hunt. That year for a full two weeks of hunting during the rut I never saw a buck actually freshen one of those scrapes. In fact, most of them became covered with leaves as I stubbornly waited for the buck that made them to return. I became so discouraged that year that I vowed never to hunt a scrape again. And, I’ve Pretty well stuck to my guns.

Once the rut peaks, bucks are far too busy chasing and bird-dogging does to worry about freshening scrapes. If they do hit one it is purely a chance event. Sometimes they just pass through and come upon it-they’d be there with or without the scrape. Once the bucks start chasing does, I stop intentionally hunting scrapes.

There may be a time in late October when bucks actually go out of their way to hit a scrape and make them worth hunting, but during the rut these patches of pawed dirt are worthless. It will also
distract you from hunting the doe concentration areas and the travel routes between them, where the bucks can actually be found at these times.

Unless you have located a good scrape line and plan to sit above it long before the does come into estrous, you are reducing your odds by focusing on scrapes.
When you scout your hunting area, keep your eye on the ball: terrain, bedding
areas, feeding areas, and the best funnels you can find-and forget about scrapes.

Whenever you hunt a high-activity area that isn’t perfect (and very few of them are), you
run the risk of educating nearly every deer in your hunting area.

Ridges in the Evening

I love hunting along ridge top bedding areas during the morning, but I’ve stopped hunting them anymore during the afternoon. I’ve tried, and I’ll probably try again. And, I’ll come away with the same conviction: I just wasted a good afternoon hunting a dead area. It’s not like bucks don’t walk through the bedding areas in the afternoons looking for does-they do, but not for very long. The real action is already up on its feet and walking toward a feeding area.

Hunt the places the deer are moving toward, not the places they are coming from. This simple philosophy can nearly double the length of time the deer are active around your stand. Suppose the deer get up from their beds an hour before sunset and start drifting toward their feeding areas. You have a brief flurry of activity and then everything is moving away from you. Within a half hour everything is pretty well finished in the area near your stand.  That little dab of activity is just not worth the risk you take of bumping and educating deer when you try to enter the stand spot.

That brings up the second reason why you should skip bedding areas in the afternoon: it’s nearly impossible to approach them during the day without blowing the hunt.  Deer don’t pick their bedding areas randomly-they are the safest places within their home range and where they have the ultimate advantage. Your approach can either be seen or smelled by every deer within a pretty large area. You might as well just drive to your stand on your four-Wheeler trailing 10 feet of your dirty laundry behind.
These are my favorite morning spots. You can sneak in easily while the deer are close to their feeding areas and be waiting for them. But don’t let the great action in the a.m. tempt you into thinking these are good afternoon stands. You’ll be sorely disappointed.

Early Season Bedding Areas
The temptation to hunt your best morning and evening stands as soon as the season opens is almost irresistible. I used to do it, but discovered it’s another deadly mistake. Accelerating the education of your deer well before the rut means they will be tougher to hunt when prime time finally arrives.

It is only natural after being away from the hunt for several months to want to jump right into it with gusto. On top of that, you’re accustomed to a normal hunting day that includes a morning and an evening session. Unfortunately, there are few spots for a decent morning hunt during the early season, other than in a bedding area. The desire to hunt mornings will have you invading bedding areas without a clear idea of their patterns at a time when the deer are living fairly close to home and highly sensitive to hunting pressure. That’s not such a good idea.

Ramming around in bedding areas early in the season may seem logical on the surface (where else are you going to get them in the morning?), but the damage you can do to your hunting area and your odds later in the season outweighs the benefits of being in the woods a few more hours each day. Besides, if you keep them acting naturally and on a Patten, you’ll have a decent chance of taking the buck you want in the evening by hunting only where he feeds.

When deer are in feeding patterns, concentrate on your home-front honey-dos in the morning, so you’ll have them out of the way before the rut Instead, focus all your efforts on hunting the feeding areas in the evening. You can Patten them from a distance, producing almost no impact until you move in for the kill. If that honey-do list is already complete, spend your mornings watching the deer leave feeding areas from a distance. This will give you the best possible feedback about where the bucks will be found that afternoon. If you insist on hunting in the morning, definitely
stay away from your best areas and hunt bedding areas in places that you don’t plan to hunt much later in the season.

I hunted the Milk River in northern Montana a few seasons back. It’s a river bottom with very limited cover, most of it located inside the river bends and in low swampy areas nearby. The bucks are very visible from the bluffs over-looking the river and we spent our mornings watching them leave the alfalfa fields so we could peg the trails most likely to produce action when they came back out in the afternoon. It would have been hunting’s version of suicide to sit back in those river bends in the morning. Sure, we might have gotten lucky and picked off a buck when he
came back to bed, but the impact more likely would have pushed them into the surrounding coulee country or at very least made them nocturnal.

Four or five bowhunters may hunt that stretch of river during a week, but almost no one actually sits in a treestand during the mornings. The odds of ruining whatever feeding patterns we’ve been
able to uncover are too much of a risk.  We focused on the easy patterns (where they feed) and forgot about the hard patterns (where they bed). It’s good advice for anyone hunting early-season bucks.

Conclusion
Obvious spots are often the worst locations for a stand-not because they don’t contain deer, but just the opposite.  These spots are high-activity areas, loaded with sign, and probably the best
hotspots your hunting area has to offer.  But, as you’ve hopefully gathered from my observations, therein lies their greatest seduction. Whenever you hunt a high-activity area that isn’t perfect (and
very few of them are), you run the risk of quickly educating nearly every deer in the neighborhood.

There are few things you can do that will have a more damaging affect on your chances for success than spending time hunting any one of these five deceitful stands. If you resist their temptations, your success rate will reap great benefits from your discipline.

Archived by

ARCHERYTALK.COM

all rights reserved

Funneling Deer – By Steve Bartylla

Bowhunting World Annual 2004-2005

It was one of the most frustrating experiences of my young bowhunting life but it was also one of the most important. As soon as school would let out, I’d grab my stuff and, brimming with anticipation, head for the stand on the alfalfa field. Yet, as darkness fell, I’d leave feeling dejected once again.

It wasn’t that I didn’t see deer. I saw plenty when walking across the field
after dark.The problem was that they were playing “musical trails.” No matter which trail I’d set up on the deer would use another.  After a week of this, the breakthrough I needed finally came to me.

Truth be told, it was my trapping that led me to it. I was constructing a trail set for mink. To funnel mink movement down the main travel way, I had blocked several minor trails. As I set the trap, it occurred to me: Why couldn’t I apply the same technique to deer movement? From that moment on, I began to apply many of the trapping principles that focus animal travels to bowhunting.

BLOCKING TRAILS
initially, it was blocking deer trails. The alfalfa field boasted five heavily used deer trails. With the landowner’s permission, I headed out with a saw and began my task The first step was choosing the trails I wanted to hunt. Because of the level of use and flexibility for wind directions, I selected the two that exited the woods on opposite inside corners. Next, I blocked the remaining trails
along the field. To accomplish that, I piled brush and limbs at the entrances. Of course, deer still could go around, but it encouraged them to use mine.

To further encourage the use of my trails, I raked the grass and debris along the first 20 yards from the point the trail entered the woods after completion, it gave the illusion that they were the field’s only primary entrance and exit routes.  And, as important, they appeared as the easiest and most popular routes.

Finally, I followed the chosen trails into the woods. Where lesser-used trails splintered off toward the field, I blocked them as well. Unlike the trails entering the field, I only used enough branches to make it inconvenient to cross Because the splinter trails ran to the same field, it didn’t take as much encouragement to get deer to continue to follow the main trail.

Although these alterations may seem minor, they did make a positive difference Deer are lazy by nature. When everything else is equal, they will take the path of least resistance to where they want to go. After giving the farm a week off, sightings on the corner trail were noticeably up. On my third sit, even that young kid was able to arrow a deer.   The best part of this technique is that it can be used in any situation where trails break off before hitting your stand. Furthermore, the further ahead of season this is done, and the more the blockades that are maintained, the better the results.

SETTING THE TABLE
ln later years, I began creating food plots to help funnel deer activity. Outside of the rut, most deer movement consists of traveling between bedding and feeding. Therefore, introducing a prime food source can lead deer past more advantageous stand locations.

Donnie Mc0lellan runs a very successful guide service in Grant City, Missouri Bucks
& Beards Outfitters consistently sends high percentage of their bowhunters home with trophy whitetails. One of the key reasons for this is the food plot strategy they employ.
“Finding big deer has never been a problem for me,” states Donnie. “They are here.’

It is getting my hunters into stands without tipping any deer that takes work. To avoid that, I spend countless hours walking ditches.  They are one of the best ways to get in and out. In areas that don’t have good routes, I put in food plots so they draw deer through areas I can get my hunters into. I put a lot of work into it, it  is worth it, though.  A lot more hunters go home happy ”

To get the most from a new food plot, several factors should be considered. Because they can alter deer travels, the plots should be positioned to provide the most productive hunting. To do so, identifying bedding areas is key The plot should be located so stands can be positioned between bedding and feeding.  Positioning the plot so a funnel lies between it and bedding is also advantageous. Also, undetectable routes to and from the stand should be available.

Donnie agrees with these food plot placement strategies wholeheartedly. “It all keys off of the bedding areas,” he says “I’m often shocked at how many people slap food plots out without first analyzing how they will affect deer movement and how they can place them to their own advantage. If I’m going, to go through the work to put one in, my plantings are going to be positioned so they funnel deer through areas that will do my hunters the most good !”

Additional steps can be taken to make them even better. Locating plots where deer feel safe leads to better hunting.  Openings within the woods, remote corners of fields and areas bordered by thick cover all help provide the illusion of safety. If plots are positioned between 100 and 500 yards of the bedding areas, that also increases the likelihood of catching daylight movement.
Although plantings are more common, natural food sources can be manipulated to accomplish the same effect.

For example, spring fertilizing and removing competing species can increase a mast tree’s food production. Even overgrown meadows can be made more desirable through applying a lawn fertilizer and cutting them as a farmer would a hayfield. Taking these steps helps keep the grasses and weeds more digestible and nutritious, which will draw more deer. Like creating a new food plot, hunters can enhance existing food sources on locations that help funnel deer past potential stand sites.

MAKING THE BED
As stated previously, most non-rut deer travels are between bedding and feeding. Just as we can affect feeding locations with food plots and more desirable native forages, surprisingly we can also have an affect on bedding locations.  Creating a bedding area can be created with a chain saw.   First, select an are of woods and proceed to cut the trees within. When making the cut, begin it about three feet from the ground and cut down at a 45- degree angle, stopping about three-fourths of the way through. Now, the tree can be pushed over or left for the wind to do it.

One of the goals is to allow the branches  to maintain a connection to the root system.  Using this technique allows certain species such as maples and oaks, to bend without completely breaking. With the connection,  the tree will to continue to grow, albeit at a much slower pace. To increase chances of survival, the cutting should be done in the winter , well before leaf-out. Keep in mind that some trees, such as poplar, birch and most pines, will snap every time, but their tops still provide food bedding cover.

This technique immediately creates a thick tangle of cover, as well as a bounty of food. The forest floor receives increased sunlight, which promotes the growth Of new greenery and
saplings. Along with that, the trees that retain the root connection provide Leafy growth for browse and buds for winter months.

To make these locations better still, we need to understand what deer seek for bed ding. Although there are exceptions, you will find that most bedding sites offer a combination of:
At least two escape routes.
Either thick cover or good visibility
Conditions allowing them to use their
sense of smell to cover their back.

These cutting technique provide the cover deer seek. Putting these efforts into locations that meet the other criteria on our list almost guarantees that deer will use them for bedding.

For example, let’s say we have a food plot along a creek bottom, flanked by ridges on each side. Applying our cutting technique the ridge side, just below the crest, would give them everything they desired. Not only do they have the thick cover, the slope also provides visibility.

By creating a bedding area on the sides of both ridges, deer would be able to choose which allowed the wind current to best cover them from the backside of the ridge. If they sensed danger, they could drop down, cut over, or dash along the ridge in either direction.

Because Nature rarely provides all of this, deer will pack into our constructed bedding sites.

Creating Trails
As in every technique discussed up to this point, knowing how the resident deer use the area is very beneficial. However, in creating trails, knowing whitetail travel patterns is essential. In order for this method to work best, you must know where the bedding and feeding areas are. Before we discuss how to create such trails, we should discuss what deer look for in selecting a travel route:

* Cover: Deer feel safest when traveling
in heavy cover.

* Gentle corners: Because they like to
see the path ahead of them, deer don’t like
taking 90 degree turns on their trails. Gently
sweeping corners allow the whitetail to see
the path before them and anticipate the dangers
that may lie ahead

* Ease of travel: Deer are lazy creatures by nature and,
all else being equal, will take the easiest route between
two points.

* Quickest route: The quickest route
between two points is a straight line. Deer
will usually select the straightest route that
provides cover, gentle corners, easiest travel
and a favorable wind direction.

With these factors in mind, we can now begin connecting food sources and bedding
areas By cleaning 5 foot-wide trails through the thickest cover between bedding and
feeding areas, we create trails that offer ease of travel, the feeling of safety and a
corridor that will be used heavily by deer. In areas that receive significant snowfalls, pulling a weighted sled along the.- trails can achieve outstanding results. In the winter months, two of the Northern whitetail’s top priorities are conserving energy and acquiring nutrition. During this difficult season, a whitetail’s life depends heavily on the amount of energy expended compared to nutrition taken in.

Creating trails through the snow that lead to the food sources creates an irresistible draw to deer enduring these conditions. So much so that once a trail is established, the heavy traffic from the deer will keep it open all winter long Because of this, the greater the snow depth, the more concentrated the deer activity becomes.  Although it may seem like a lot of effort to create these trails, they are worth the effort.

FENCING
Yet another method of funneling deer is altering fences. Deer often travel significant distances to cross at the easiest point in a fence. For hunters, this is an advantage.

My first attempt at creating  a fence crossing occurred many years ago on my uncle’s dairy farm I had spent a summer’s day walking a barbed wire fence line that cut through the middle of his woods About every 100 yards, I would intercept a trail that crossed the fence The problem was that no trail seemed better than any other.

Luckily, I took care of this with a little work. After selecting the fence crossing that was best for hunting, I invested a day in discouraging deer to use any other. To do that I clogged the other spots where deer crawled under and fixed up the places where the top wire strand was broken or drooped.

Finally, I made the crossing by my stand even better Wrapping a strand of wire around the fence and cinching it tight created both a low spot over which deer could jump and an easier path to crawl under.

Shoveling out some dirt underneath the fence was the icing on the cake. With that, I had the best fence crossing point. Opening day of bow season found me perched in the tree that overlooked my new fence crossing. Because of the deer sign I saw during the times I inspected and maintained my fence blockades, I was brimming with confidence So much so, that I passed
shots on the first four deer that came through That may not sound like much, but in those days shot opportunities were rare and they were the first deer I had ever taken a pass on. By the fifth, a large doe, I couldn’t resist any longer and shot as she paused before crossing.   This demonstrates another advantage of these fence crossing funnels: Deer often pause, posing for the shot, before attempting to cross The result is often a perfect shot opportunity.

As productive as that technique is, we can take it a step further to promote the use of our crossing. Adding a strand to the top and bottom of the fence goes a long way towards discouraging crossings at other locations. It is best to use barbed wire when adding an extra
strand; however, bailing twine will also work.

Another way to use fencing is to erect it to funnel deer activity. A mere 20 to 50 yards is all I generally use.  Both snow fence and chicken wire work very nicely for this.

Although I use this technique very sparsely, it can be extremely effective.

For example, I have a stand that is 75 yards south of a river The most commonly used trails are within 30 yards to the south of the stand. However, every now and the- . buck skirts the river without offering me a shot opportunity. Still, if I relocated closer to the river, I would miss more opportunities.

Then, one day it hit me. Just make it so that the deer couldn’t skirt me along the riverbank. Although I could have piled brush, placing 50 yards of chicken wire from the river toward my stand was much easier.   Doing so has resulted in harvesting several three-year-old bucks that would have otherwise escaped unscathed.

The techniques discussed here all are proven for focusing deer movement When combined in a thorough plan, they provide a hunter the ability to dictate movement patterns to deer. Obviously, this greatly benefits those who want to make their lands produce the best possible hunting. However, without exception, the landowners permission must be sought before taking any of these steps.  To not do so is simply wrong.

Archived by

ARCHERYTALK.COM

all rights reserved

Bowhunting  trophy mule deer is no cakewalk, but every now and then it all comes together oh so sweet.

http://www.bowandarrowhunting.com

Bow & Arrow Hunting September 2005

Bruce was set to arrive in Montrose on Aug. 27, and I was sure his best chance at a “wall hanger” would be the first week of the season. When Bruce got here, he shot his bow to reassure that everything made it OK, and we went and got him an elk tag.

With the best time to hunt these bucks being in the evening, we would do some elk hunting in the mornings. I also have a ranch on the Uncompahgre Plateau, which harbors many elk and mule deer. We would spend our mornings chasing bugling bulls here. The evening before season started, I took Bruce on a short drive through some of the property we would be hunting. I have been after a large 3×3 on the strip for about five years now. Encounters with him are so common that my good friend Evan Baise began calling him “Pot Belly,” aptly named for his 350-pound frame. As we drove along the dirt road, I pointed out different fields where many large bucks had been taken over the years. When we approached a particular alfalfa field, I warned Bruce to keep an eye out for “Pot Belly,” because we had spotted him there all summer long. There he was, 40 yards from the truck, just feeding away. Bruce was amazed by the sheer size of this old mature buck. I urged Bruce to take him whenever the chance presented itself. Bruce laughed and said “Sweet!”

After a fairly uneventful first day, our second morning dawned with bulls bugling in a distant draw. We quickly cut the distance to about 400 yards of the screaming bulls. The bulls seemed to be heading toward a large ravine on a neighboring ranch. After setting up three or four times, we were nearing the fence line ourselves. I decided that we needed to get to a stand of aspens, near the lip of the large ravine . Bruce and Cassie quickly raced forward to set up, and when they got about 50 yards in front of me, I began cow calling. The bull responded with a low guttural roar from about 150 yards through the aspens.

Almost instantly another bull in the bottom of the ravine answered him. We were in the driver’s seat now! It seemed that the two bull elks were racing to see who could get to me first. I was pleading frantically with my cow call for the closest bull to come in. He responded by coming to the fence line about 30 yards in front of Bruce. When the bull jumped the fence, Bruce seized the opportunity and drew his bow. The bull was now 25 yards and nearing broadside. When the shot went off, Bruce’s setup was so quiet, the bull barely even moved. I assumed Bruce must have missed, so I took my cow calling into overdrive. I was so focused on watching the bull that I didn’t notice that Bruce had nocked another arrow. This time I watched as another arrow passed completely through the bull from only 35 yards this time. The bull stumbled stiff legged a mere 60 yards before expiring. Bruce had hit the 5×6 the first time, but an extremely quiet setup allowed a follow-up shot to be made.

I can’t begin to explain how impressed I was with Bruce’s choice of a broadhead, the 100-grain Turbo. I think it is one of the best penetrating heads that Barrie Archery has ever designed. After 20-plus years in the wapiti woods pursuing these beautiful animals, I can clearly say that the single most important aspect I look for is a broadhead that provides excellent penetration. With a large bull sometimes tripping the scales near 1,000 pounds, everything is bigger, so you need good penetration just to get to the kill zone.

It was time to shift our focus to chasing mulies the following morning. This for me, is bowhunting in its rawest form – you versus an animal with extremely keen senses on level ground. I cut my bowhunting teeth spotting and stalking mule deer, and I am proud to say that I am a much better bowhunter because of it. After blowing thousands of stalks, you become much more aware of the noise you may be making and things going on around you.

It was Aug. 30, a cool snap had hit, and we had a full moon. It seemed like everything was going our way. With a southwest wind, the game plan this morning was to slip south, with the wind in our faces, along the edge of a large marsh. Hoping to ambush a mature buck there, we set out. We quickly covered a mile or so, and as we were nearing a field edge , suddenly a large buck appeared 200 yards to our right. It was apparent that he was already aware of our presence. A mature 4×4 with good width and deep forks, I quickly judged him at 180 gross.

With the buck already aware of us, we decided to leave him alone and possibly look for him later that afternoon. We then turned and went straight east for a mile or two to a large draw. The west-facing slope of this draw is covered with a jungle of large cottonwoods and small willows, and I had seen many bucks in here all summer long.

To get to this draw we would be crossing the same field where we had seen Pot-Belly a few days before. We were both optimistic, it was still early, and we just knew good things would happen. We slowly crept our way to a large drainage ditch in the bottom of the draw. Just as quickly as we arrived, I spotted bucks, sky-lined by the rising sun. Bruce looked at me and said, ” What should we do?” I quickly replied, “I think we are in a good spot.”

Bruce must have thought I was nuts! These bucks were 300 yards away, and still showing no signs of coming our way, but over the course of scouting this draw, I had seen this same group of bucks work their way to the drainage ditch that we were now hidden by. There were six bucks in this group, and while not our largest, some showed potential. The bucks were just about parallel to us when they started down into the draw. we agreed that the largest buck might go 170 gross. I asked Bruce if he was interested in taking this buck and he gave me the combination head-nod and “Uh-Huh.”

When the bucks reached the bottom of the draw, tamaracks and willows engulfed them. We weren’t sure where they were when suddenly Bruce muttered, “Here they come.” All we could see were velvet-covered antler tips until they stepped out 30 yards from us. The big buck was the fourth to come out into the open, and he moved toward us slightly and then turned perfectly giving Bruce a quartering-away 25-yard shot.

As he drew his bow, all of the bucks peered at us. Luckily for us, there was a huge cottonwood behind us and there must have been a glare from the rising sun. With this glare in their eyes, Bruce reached full draw. When the shot broke, I could clearly see the arrow strike through the buck.

We hadn’t gone 30 yards on the blood trail when Bruce yelled, “There he is!” Bruce couldn’t wait to get his hands on him! With nearly 40 inches of mass, and 4-inch brow tines, this buck is truly magnificent! As a testament to the great habitat on the Strip, this was only a 3 1/2-year-old buck. They say give your bucks time and food. Well, I like to say give my bucks sweet corn and alfalfa, and me some time to hunt them!

Archived by

ARCHERYTALK.COM

all rights reserved

Bowhunter’s Bonanza – March 1970
Five Lucky Hunters Win Trip To Fabulous Alaska In Ben Pearson’s National Contest

James Marcoux of Fox Lake, Wisconsin had often dreamed,
as have most bowhunters, of making a trip to Alaska for moose and caribou. Imagine the thrill experienced by Marcoux and four other men scattered across the United States when they learned they had won a place on Ben Pearson’s fantastic Bowhunters Bonanza.
Stanley Spilecki, New Britain, Connecticut; Al Miller, Rockwood, Pennsylvania; Dave
Pederson, Landing, New Jersey; and E.L. Knight of Pryor, Oklahoma all received word that
they would accompany Ben Pearson’s Jim Dougherty on an all-expense trip to a remote camp on the Mishik River, 160 miles west of King Salmon on the Alaskan Peninsula.  Winners were selected by a drawing after entering the Bonanza Contest.

Also accompanying Dougherty were three members of the famed Ben Pearson
Bowhunting Staff: Don Mclntosh of Billings, Montana; George Wright of La Crescenta,
California; and Danny Lloyd of Columbus, Ohio, Lloyd is also a Ben Pearson sales representative.

The week-long hunt was headed by guide Ed King of Naknek, Alaska who guided Dougherty to his record class moose and caribou in 1969 for the filming of Record Book Bowhunting – Alaskan Style recently released by the Ben Pearson Film Library.

Led by King, Dougherty and the Staff Members, the hunt was action packed from the first day
in spite of worsening weather that ranged from winds to 70 knots, rain, sleet and snow.
While not stalking moose and caribou, the group fished for salmon with marginal success in
the flooded Mishik River and hunted ptarmigan in the vicinity of camp.

In terms of hunting success the trip was fabulous with a 60 percent success ratio, three moose and three caribou for ten hunters. AII participants got good shooting, getting chased by several belligerent moose in the process and on one occasion literally tripping over a brown bear laying up on a caribou kill.

It was for all involved the trip of a lifetime into the last big game frontier, an adventure that will long live in the memories of those that found it was truly a Bonanza.

Archived by

ARCHERYTALK.COM

all rights reserved

Bowhunting with the Dutchman – by H.R. “Dutch” Wambold
Archery World March 1970
The Bull Moose Gan be timid or mean–but never a PUSHOVER ! !

“Yeah, I’ve been moose hunting. It’s like shooting some farmer’s cow in a pasture!’, Words to this effect have been said time and time again, by word of mouth as well as written in many outdoor stories. A lot of hunters have shied away from hunting this great trophy simply because they
have been misinformed as to the actual status of the largest antlered animal that ever lived on this
earth.

Without any doubt, these opinions have been uttered by hunters who shot bulls at long range
with their scoped rifles-far beyond any appreciable distance where even the eagle-eyed ram would be aware of the hunter’s presence.  Meeting this patriarch of the big forest on his own grounds, stalking the bull to within 100 feet or less, and facing better than half a ton of bone and muscle that carries a set of antlers that reminds one of the stabilizer on a piper Cub, can be mighty
interesting-especially when the man is bowhunting, and the bull is itching for a fight!

Let’s stop tor a moment and consider the dimensions of this big fellow. A mature bull stands
about seven and one-half feet at the shoulders, weighs around 1800 pounds on the hoof, and may
carry a set of antlers you could stretch out in!

His four and one-half foot stilt-like legs can strike like a deadly cobra, and are capable of carrying that big heap of steaks into the forest without any more noise than a chipmunk if the need be! When a bull feeds on overhead browse, he can stand on his hind legs and pull down foliage growing twelve feet above the ground!  If the bull is really intent on some succulent birch tips that are higher, he merely runs his chin up along the saplings forcing the branches lower , and strips the leaves off up to 20 feet above the ground!

Primarily, a bull will stick fairly close to an area of about five square miles as his territory, and
leave only when the mating urge during the rut will find him on the prowl looking for cows or another bull to fight.

Hunters who have shot bulls before or after the rutting season will find the bulls drowsy, eating
and chewing their cud, and presenting a somewhat easy target at 100 yards or better.

The bowhunter realizes that the best time to hunt a bull is during the rut. This changes the
picture considerably, finding the bull as nervous as a thoroughbred at the starting gate, ready to
fight at the first sound of your approach, and as formidable as an army tank that has run berserk!

When a mature bull has that love light in his eyes, nothing is too big to challenge. Many a
hunter has been driven up a tree and kept there for hours. Snow plows have been charged, and the Canadian Pacific railway engineers have stopped many a train when some bull squared off in the middle of the tracks-ready to take on the diesel engine without any qualms!

I will never forget one experience encountered with a rutting bull while hunting Stone Sheep in
the Cassiars of British Columbia. The hunt took place in the middle of October, and the moose
were at the peak of their rut. We had spotted a group of five rams and made three unsuccessful
stalks on each of three days. The fourth day, we found our five rams high on the lee side of a peak, bedded in the open of the barren, snow-swept shale.

After studying the sheep for over an hour with the spotting scope, my camera-man, guide, and I
were suffering an acute case of sheepitis. The rams showed no indication of moving down. We
were about five miles away, and across a large basin of firs from the timberline that fringed the
summit of the peak.

I suggested riding our horses into the fir basin where we could hide them from the eyes of the
rams, and then work up to the timberline on foot.  Hopefully, I thought the rams might start moving
down in the meantime, and we would meet them halfway.

It was a long climb up the side, and we kept dodging from one tree to the next to keep from
alerting the rams above us. The deep snow tired us; but we were within 100 yards of the last of the
timber when we stopped for a breather, huddled together beneath a clump of firs.

When i heard the sound of antlers against a tree, I asked my two companions if they had heard
the noise. They replied in the negative. There it was again, up to our left, and coming down the
side towards us. Again, neither of the other two heard the sound of the approaching bull. Finally,
as the bull worked within 100 yards of where we stood, everyone heard the sound of the cracking
branches as the bull moved in, and before long the deep grunts could be heard.

“That bull is hunting us,” I muttered to Rawhide, my Cacoose Indian guide. Rawhide whispered,
“Don’t let that son-of-a-gun come too close or we’ll be in trouble!”

All three of us remained quiet and tense as we could hear the bull’s path of advance but not see
any sign of the large animal! There! I spotted the bull standing in the only open spot around-about
30 yards uphill and to our left.

The huge body presented a perfect broadside profile for the most ideal bowhunter’s shot. The
bull kept swinging his huge rack from side to side, testing the wind with his nose, while deep gutteral grunts kept rolling from his innards. He looked smack in our direction, but the wind favored us and our scent was carried downhill and away from him. It was a perfect bow shot, but all three of us were on the wrong side of the trees! Bob, the photographer was unable to get any footage of this big bull, and Rawhide’s first concern, was a possible charge as he whispered in my ear-“Bust him if he makes one step in our direction!

The bull presented a complex problem. If he charged us, I would have to shoot. If he spooked,
he would crash through the timber. Regardless of which, it would spook the rams that were 1000
yards above us!

When you dog a group of rams for several days, and all you have to show for miles of riding,
climbing, and freezing in the sharp winds on the high peaks is a big fat zero-your first concern is
for the game above you-especially when it means the three-quarter mark towards a Grand Slam in sheep!

After several minutes, the bull moved silently across above us and out the side. We sighed in relief, relaxed, and resumed our strategy as we moved up towards the rams above.

The skies were heavy with overcast, and a cloud started moving in to shroud the top of the peak,
and with it our sheep! I grabbed Rawhide’s sleeve. “Hold it! That bull is coming back again, and he is below us this time!”

This time, the bull appeared in a small opening below, about 60 yards away. Facing us, the bull
stared right in our eyes. The large rack ripped into several branches as he signaled his defiance.
There was no doubt in our minds, this guy had a chip on his shoulder, and the next move might lust be a sticky one! “Got a tree picked out?” Rawhide’s whisper had both of us looking. The
bull advanced several steps, stopped and grunted. His.would be an uphill course, which would give all three of us a slight edge.

The sound of a cow’s bellering sounded in the basin below, and the bull turned his head to listen.
We waited, tensed and ready to scramble up a nearby tree. The bull looked back at us again.
Another couple steps in our direction and he stopped. Again the cow called below. The bull
turned, and as quiet as a mouse he vanished into the firs as he left to go about his courting!

This stroke of pure luck again found our rams still bedded above, and our stalk had not been
ruined by this ornery bull!  It took us a bit longer to get over the shakes from this second encounter, but we finally resumed our stalk and ended the day with my taking a fine trophy.

While hunting Alaska, I spotted the sun glistening on a huge set of palms on the side of a pek across the river from where I had stalked and shot a caribou. I studied the spot carefully
with my glasses, and finally spotted this large bull feeding in the alders.   We quickly field dressed the stag, loaded the quartered meat on our saddle horses, and started leading our mounts toward the river below. I wanted to try for that bull!

Caching the meat along the stream, we mounted our horses and started up the side.  My guide rode within several hundred yards of that bull before I spotted the critter! Sliding off my horse, I started towards the bull with an arrow ready to nock in one hand and the bow in the other.
I made a circular stalk in order to remain in the crosswind and avoid having my scent reach the
feeding bull.

Moving in directly from the side, I worked within 80 yards of the bull when the huge head turned in
my direction. I froze, wondering what had alerted the bull.  As I stared back at the bull waiting for its next move, I heard the sound of cracking branches behind me. Turning, I spotted the head-on view of another bull, velvet hanging on his rack in shreds, and coming towards me at a trot!

Now, at a time like that a fella don’t know whether to run or where!  Looking back at my first
bull, I noticed that he was standing his ground.  I decided not to run, and took off down through the timber at what I thought was a prompt but unhurried exit, trying to keep both bulls in view
and ready to do a Jesse Owens if demanded!

Having moved no more than 40 feet to the side of the path of the oncoming second bull, I spotted
the first bull wheeling and taking off up the side.  The second bull breezed past me, branches flying in his wake, making like a Sherman Tank as he bust through a tangle of firs-showing no
indication of being aware of my presence and hell-bent on chasing that first bull!

I had been on the verge of panic for several seconds, for that stalk had placed me smack between two bulls who were anxious to mix things up a bit, and only my movement had spooked the bigger bull!  Although either of the two bulls would have satisfied my personal qualification’s for a trophy, you sort of forget hunting at a time when two sets of racks that look like the front end of a payloader appear to meet head-on with you in the middle!

Come to think of it, don’t discount the cow moose as merely being of the weaker sex.  The
memory of an encounter with mama moose while hunting Alberta is still quite clear. I had been, working along the shore of a lake intent on cutting into some big timber along the far side in the hope of finding some elk.   The walking was easier along the lake shore in the fresh snow and I was enjoying the scenery when I spotted a moose calf stepping out into the clearing ahead of me.

Not interested in moose on this bowhunt,  I decided to try and stalk into close range of the youngster in the hope of bouncing-one of the rubber-tipped blunts off the little fella, I was
carrying them for just such a possibility and to sharpen my stalking ability.

I decided to slip into the fringe of brush and young firs and circle ahead of the calf for it appeared that the critter was intent on working the other way.

I found a moose trail just a few yards in the timber, and quickly worked my way ahead of the
calf, and cut back out to the shore.   A clump of low brush screened me, and I nocked a blunt and
waited for the calf to come within range. Instead of letting the calf work past file,  I stepped out and shot when the calf was still about 30 yards away and coming toward me.  I hit the calf dead-center between the eyes, and the blunt bounced off in an arc and into the lake.  The calf let out a beller, jumped into the water, and splashed around in confusion.

Satisfied to a degree with my shot, and fully aware that I had not hurt the youngster, who was
about the size of a young heifer, I turned to continue up the shore. I stopped at the sound of a snorting crashing sound ahead of me.   The next thing I knew a big bull trotted into the clearing
looked down the shoreline toward the calf it turned his huge rack the other way, and started up
the shore away from me.   It was then that I first spotted the large cow farther up along the shore.

The bull trotted towards her, and she lowered her head waiting.  When the bull got within about 40 yards of her, the cow started toward him at a gallop,  and squealing in a high-pitched yell like a scared Holstein!

At the moment I had to laugh, for that bull put on all four airbrakes, spun in the shale, feet flying
for a grip, and came back down the shoreline in overdrive!

Gutting into the timber and out of sight, I could hear the bull busting through the timber for quite a
distance as he headed for other parts of the Province. The cow had stopped her charge where the bull turned into the brush, and now was coming down the shore toward me at a slow walk, head stretched forward and low, and every hair on her neck standing straight out!

Only then did I realize that the calf behind me was hers, and that her present disposition was due to the racket the calf had made when I bounced the blunt off its head!

With ample distance still between the two of us, I decided to get out of there as quickly as possible; for if that bull had deemed it best to avoid an argument, who was I to have any words
with the old gal!

I looked for an opening to duck into the timber, but the brush was thick and would resist any attempt to do so!  Back-pedaling, I kept looking for an opening, and mama kept a’coming at that
determined walk. Now and then she snorted and called to the calf. The calf kept splashing around
in the water behind me.

I finally decided to turn and run, hoping to find the opening where I had circled ahead of the calf,
duck into the timber, and hope that the cow would go to her calf instead of taking after me. I found the opening, took a quick look over my shoulder and saw that the cow was still at a fast walk, and headed in on the game trail.

As I moved in along the trail as fast as footing would permit, I heard a noise ahead of me. That
darn fool calf had run back into the timber, and was heading up the game trial which I was on!
A small back-water lay to my left, and on the opposite side was a boulder about 10 feet high. I
turned and splashed through the water which was about thigh deep in the middle, made the other
side, and scrambled up on top of the boulder. I had barely made my perch when mama came lumbering down the trail, caught up with the calf, and stopped and stood her ground! The two moose were no more than 75 feet away from where I clung to the rock, and the old gal kept grunting, moaning, and looking in my direction as she kept lowering her head with her ears laid flat against her head.

I kept looking around my boulder to make sure there was no way for the cow to get at me, and
crouching as low as possible so as not to reveal my outline. The cow started back on the trail in my direction, and I drew another blunt from my quiver, figuring that it might turn her if I bounced one off her body. Luckily, the calf started running the other way on the trail, and the cow turned and followed.

I built a fire, took off my shoes and socks to dry them, staying close to the boulder-just in case.
My guide yelled from the shore and I answered to give him my location. When he joined me at my
fire, and I related my experience, he remarked that a cow moose with a calf was just as unpredictable as a bull on the prod. I had surmised that the size of the calf meant it was on its own. The guide said this was not the case, that many times a cow will keep a calf with her long
after it has been weaned. He also said the cow had run the bull away because the calf evidently was a female, but the bull had wanted to court her instead!

The case and point is that any moose can be a problem when you meet the animal within the ranges at which a bowhunter must work. Rutting bulls may spook or charge you. Sometimes they merely are coming closer to get a better look at you. This can prove an added advantage when a
shot is planned. The important thing is to be ready for the right move if necessary.

You may hunt moose and never experience other than tire conventional crashing exit of a spooked animal. It seems that most of the desired trophies are prone to leave in a hurry-but-you
may run into one that has other intentions. If you do, give that moose all the room he or she
wants!

As for the claims that moose are a pushover -I’d say it could well be the other way around. After you take your first bull with the hunting bow, you tell me whether it was easy, or whether it turned out to be one of the biggest thrills of your bowhunting experiences!

Archived by

ARCHERYTALK.COM

all rights reserved

Dream Buck- By Randy Templeton

September 2005

Bow & Arrow Hunting September 2005

When Dan Nordstrom of Coal Valley, Illinois. crept into the woods one afternoon last November, he had no idea what was in store for him. For sure Dan didn’t know what he’d see, much less shoot one of the largest bucks, killed by any archer in the state during the 2004 season.When Dan started bowhunting 14 years ago, he had a dream of someday shooting a buck that would break the 200-inch barrier. That dream became reality when a giant non-typical stepped into a clearing this past fall. Let’s take a look at the exciting events that led up to Dan scoring on this buck of a lifetime.

Post season Scouting Pays Off

“I spend a considerable amount of time in the woods during the post-season, and I don’t worry too much about spooking deer since the season is still several months away, and any intrusion will be forgotten Dan explained. ‘That’s why the off season is a good time to thoroughly dissect a piece of land. I typically search for rubs, rublines, old scrapes, bedding areas and trails that lead to and from feeding and bedding locations.”

In the late winter and early spring, Dan also spends time hunting for shed antlers. In fact, in the spring of 2003 he picked up a set with striking similarities to those on the buck he shot this past season” Although Dan said he can’t be certain, it’s quite possible the sheds are from the same deer or perhaps from another in the same gene pool.

In addition to scouting, Dan utilizes the post-season to clear shooting lanes or drop trees to create a funnel. By the time the season rolls around the deer are pretty much programmed to travel where he wants them. For example, if a buck is traveling just out of bow range, Dan says, dropping a tree in the trail can shift his travel pattern enough to put him within range.

Dan continued; ‘Late winter is also a good rime to identify potential locations for food plots. When planting time arrives in April or May, I’m ready to get started. I’m still experimenting with food plots, like clover, alfalfa and recently chicory.

“Several years ago I purchased 90 acres from a friend of mine who’s a logger by trade. The property is unique- there’s about 25 acres of creek-bottom marsh that borders 65 acres of hardwood timber. The big, mature trees were logged off, but it sparked a lot of new growth, and it’s gotten pretty thick since. It’s become real deer habitat.

“A couple of years later I bought an additional 10 acres that butts up to the other” Dan added. “That piece consists of 20 acres of pasture and 10 acres of timber. It might be only 120 acres total but it’s got a little bit of everything to offer in terms of habitat. When considering how the land is laid out, plus all the improvements I’ve made with adding food plots, it’s a hunter’s dream come true .”

Dan’s Bowhunting Strategy

“Face it, in the Midwest we’re not hunting Large-timber whitetails. The woods are typically small ranging from 25 to l00 acres. We have the upper hand after harvest, mainly because most of the deer are funneled into and concentrated in these small wood lots, and we’re able to take advantage of that. Our biggest challenge is getting to and from stands undetected. I do a lot of edge hunting to avoid burning out my timbers.

When it comes to hunting big deer I think we’ve all got different opinions on how to go about it. Likewise, I’m confident that we can all pretty much agree on what not to do. For example, if I already know there’s a big deer running on my property, it doesn’t make any sense to penetrate his bedroom or private area and risk bumping him out altogether. Throughout the summer and until the season starts, I stay completely out of the woods. Instead, I spend a lot of time glassing crops from a safe distance to learn where and when deer enter the fields to feed. “My favorite time to hunt whitetails is during the hard pre-rut, which begins about Oct. 25 and ends around Nov. 10 in Illinois. I think it’s the best time to identify a big buck’s pattern, which makes it possible to
close the distance.”

Scent Control A Must

Although I’d like to believe most hunters throw caution to the wind and take measures to avoid detection, Dan suspects that some hunters are more concerned about what the wind is doing at their stand, rather than what it’s doing as they go to and from it. The savvy hunters feel that it’s important to know and understand what the wind is doing all the time. Like many, Dan takes all the necessary precautions before a
hunt, showering with unscented soap and storing his outer clothes in a scent-free bag or container. Most important, Nordstrom claims that wearing a full-length Scent-Lok suit, rubber boots, and spraying himself down and gear with HS Scent-A-Way spray has been the key to bearing a whitetail’s keen sense of smell.

The Season Begins
Here is Dan Nordstrom’s account of the start to his season: “For years, my friend Dan Coons and I have always hunted together on opening weekend. We both try to put a doe in the freezer early so we can then concentrate on hunting a buck. As it turned out, Dan shot a doe
the first afternoon and I killed mine during the second. “l actually hunt several places, but to avoid burning any of them out too early, I typically spend the first three weeks of the season spreading out my days hunting different spots.

“On Halloween my brother, Mike, and my nephew, Ross Nordstrom, came in to town and wanted to do some deer hunting. I took them out and tried to put them on a deer, but it just didn’t happen. ‘A friend, Jonathon Lujan, was up from New Mexico that same week hunting with another friend of ours, Jeff Campagna. It was Nov. 1 and I remember it was raining that day. We all got together for lunch and sat around dis-
cussing whether or not we were going out. The rain let up a little, so I ended up going out that afternoon and it paid off.
“I gathered up my gear and headed for a stand along the edge of a small picked cornfield. About 3:40 that afternoon,
three big bucks entered the secluded corner on the far end of the field to feed. The deer seem to like that corner because
it’s isolated and hidden from any roads. It’s not unusual to see 15 or more does feeding there in the evening. During the pre-rut and rut, the bucks seem to hang around the edges and come out every so often to check on the ladies.
“Unfortunately, I d forgotten my good binocular. Using my small compacts it was difficult to tell just how big the bucks were, but one was exceptionally bigger than the others and definitely a shooter. “The bucks fed for a while, then slipped back into the woods using the same trail. I already had a stand set up close to where the biggest buck went in. In the worst-case scenario, I figured my longest shot would be 30 yards.

The wind was out of the northwest and if it stayed steady, I’d hunt the stand the next evening. If the buck came from the west again, the wind would be at his back, so chances are I’d get a shot off long before he winded me. “The next afternoon, I was running a bit late. When arriving, I quickly slipped into my Scent-Lok suit and sprayed down my outer clothes and gear with Scent-A-Way.

I made way toward the stand and arrived about 3:20. “After getting settled in I bleated a few times on ‘The Can.’ I normally do this because I think it has a calming effect on any deer that might have heard me walking in. Chances are they think it’s just another deer and not a threat.
“Shortly afterward, a doe and button buck cautiously moved through and began feeding. I don’t think they smelled me, but the doe knew something wasn’t quite right. It was exactly 20 minutes after climbing into the stand (3:40) when I spotted a buck walking up the fence
line. He was coming so fast I didn’t have a lot of time to look him over, but he was definitely a shooter! It looked like the same buck I’d seen the afternoon before.

“I got in position to shoot, but just two or three steps short of giving me a broadside shot, he stopped. Only a few seconds passed before he turned and started walking away. I quickly drew the Hoyt UltraTec bow and mouthed a murrp. The buck stopped quartering away, so I tucked the pin behind the last rib and punched the release. The arrowed buried itself to the fletching and the buck charged off with his tail tucked between his legs. I visually marked the location 50 yards away where I’d last seen him. Seconds later I heard a crashing noise that led me to believe he’d gone down.

“I waited maybe 30 minutes or so before climbing down to take up the trail. I went to where I last saw him, but didn’t find any blood right away.
With my binocular I scanned the area ahead and spotted his white belly just 40 yards further down the hill. I approached cautiously, but he was down for good. It wasn’t until I walked up on him and grabbed the antlers that I was able to grasp how big the buck reality was. I’ve been waiting a long time to shoot a buck like this, and words can’t express how I felt at that moment. This was the fourth buck I’ve shot that will qualified for the Pope & Young Club record book, but also my biggest to date and a dream season come true!”

One thing that’s interesting to note is the time of day Dan killed his deer. The giant came meandering down the same trail heading toward the
field to feed and check on the does at exactly the same time as he did the previous day. It goes to show that big bucks can be patterned and killed during the pre-rut.

After the mandatory 60-day drying period, Dan took his Warren County giant to Tim Talmsley and had it officially measured. The buck had 18 scorable points and gross scored 203 6/8 and netted 194 0/8 inches. There were a couple of deer killed in 2004 that scored higher than the Nordstrom buck, but from a personal viewpoint, none were nearly as impressive.

Archived by

ARCHERYTALK.COM

all rights reserved

Understanding Arrow Trajectory – By Roy Marlow
Bow Hunting World  – February 1995

The Effect of Arrow Speed and Weight

Bow Hunting World - February 1995

On a pretty autumn day several years ago. I was cooking breakfast  after a morning’s deer hunt when I looked up and noticed a nice buck several hundred yards away. I watched him for several minutes before realizing that if he kept to his course, he would pass on a trail only about a hundred yards from camp. When he moved into the woods, I quickly donned my camouflage, grabbed my bow, and moved into the timber across the creek to intercept him.

Just as I got to the edge of a small opening, he appeared at the far edge. The setup was perfect except for a large oak tree in the middle of the clearing which had a tangle of low limbs right in line with the deer. I knelt down to allow for the estimated trajectory of the arrow under the tree and made what I thought was a perfect shot. Unfortunately, I did not allow enough room, and the arrow neatly centered a 3-inch branch. So much for that opportunity!

In reviewing the situation over my cold breakfast, I realized that I had not clearly known the arc of my arrow. In this regard, I was probably not much different from many bowhunters. A lot has been written in the last few years about depth-of-kill for different arrow speeds, and most serious bowhunters have a pretty good feel for the trajectory of an arrow just in front and behind an animal.

But very few hunters have an intimate knowledge of an arrow’s trajectory over its entire flight path. I know I didn’t, and this cost me a nice buck that morning.  In this and the next issue of  Bowhunting World, I will be discussing arrow trajectory.  I will cover the general effects of arrow
speed and weight in the absence of wind drag. The examples given are the flattest trajectories that can be obtained for the speeds listed. Drag can dramatically affect trajectory, but many clean-flying, low-drag arrows used today can come very close to the trajectories given. In each example, I am assuming that the shot is over level ground and that the shooter is anchoring three inches below his eye at the comes of his mouth.

The Effect Of Speed
The trajectory of an arrow is determined solely by its speed at any point in time. In the absence of wind drag, it will have a constant speed, and its path can be described by a type of curve called a parabola.
The only force on an arrow between the time it leaves the bow and it hits the target is
gravity. Since gravity is pulling it downward, the arrow must be shot at a slight upward angle with respect to the line-of-sight. This is called the angle of departure. The initial direction of the arrow before it starts dropping is known as its line of departure. An arrow will usually start off below
the line-of-sight and will cross it several yards in front of the bow. It will then rise to its maximum height about mid-range before starting its descent to the target. If shot corrects, the point where it crosses the line-of-sight the second time is where it will hit the target.

Table 1 and the accompanying graph shows the trajectories and several other items of interest for three different speeds of arrows shot at several different distances. I used 180 feet per second (fps) to represent a recurve or longbow, 210 fps to represent an eccentric-wheeled compound, and 240 fps to represent an overdraw cam bow. These are typical speeds for most hunters using
average-weight hunting bows and average arrow weights.

Trajectory Height
Most hunters today shoot bows that are faster than those of a few years ago, but still, their trajectories are anything but flat. At 20 yards, a 180-fps arrow will rise about four inches above the line-of-sight. A 240-fps arrow will rise by almost two inches. At 60 yards, the 180-fps arrow will rise by a whopping 47 inches while the 240-fps arrow will rise by 26 inches.

These values are interesting in light of the opinion that some hunters have of their equipment. At a 3-D shoot a couple of years ago, I heard one shooter tell another that his speed bow would shoot as flat as a bullet out to 50 yards. After listening to the conversation a few more moments, I realized that he actually believed this. I have often wondered how he would have explained the multiple pins on his bow.

Depth-Of-Kill:
For hunters who use sights, knowing the depth-of-kill of an arrow is usually much more important than knowing its maximum arc. This is the distance over which the arrow will pass through an
animal’s kill zone if the shooter misjudges the range. Most whitetail deer have a vertical kill zone of 1 to 8 inches. However, it is common to assume a 6-inch kill zone to insure that the arrow hits the vitals solidly instead of just nicking the edges.

The right-hand columns of Table 1 show depths-of-kill for a 6-inch kill zone. If a hunter using an average 210-fps bow shot at a deer that he thought was 30 yards away, he would kill the deer if it was actually standing anywhere between 26.8 and 32.4 yards. At the closer distance, he would hit the top of the lungs while at the farther distance, he would cut through the bottom of the heart.
(this assumes, of course, that the deer cooperates and doesn’t jump the string.) This gives a margin of error of 3.2 yards on the close side and 2.4 yards on the far side of the animal, or a total of 5.6 yards. For the 180- fps bow, the total margin of error would be 4 yards, while for a 240-fps bow, it would be 7.8 yards.

Because an arrow is always dropping faster at the tail end of its arc, the margin of error in range estimation is always greatest in front of the animal, as shown in the “In-Front-Of-Target” and the “In-Back-Of-Target” values in the table. At long distances, this difference is minor, but closer in, it can be significant. For example, using the 210-fps bow above and shooting for an estimated distance of 20 yards, the maximum rise of the arrow would be 2.6 inches above the line-of-sight.

If the deer were actually standing anywhere between zero and 20 yards away, we will kill it. If he was beyond 20 yards, however, we would have to guess the range correctly to within 3.8 yards to kill it.

Time Of Arrival:
One reason frequently given for using faster equipment is to minimize movement of the animal due to the sound of the shot. Even the fastest equipment, however, falls short of meeting this goal totally. Humans have a simple reaction time to sound of about 0. 15 seconds. This is the time required for our brain to receive and process the sound and instruct our body to start moving. Although a deer’s reaction time has never been scientifically measured, evidence suggests that it is significantly faster than this. Once he hears the string, a deer still has to have time to move out of the way of a shot. Videos have shown that a deer can drop by over twelve inches at 20 yards
and can completely duck a 200+-fps arrow.

As shown in the second column of Table 1, a 210-fps arrow will take almost three-tenths of a second to travel 20 yards. This is twice the reaction time of a human and probably several times faster than a deer’s reaction time. At 20 yards, a 180-fps arrow has an arrival time of one-third second while a 240fps arrow will take a quarter of a second to cover the same distance.

At 60 yards, a 240-fps bow will take three-quarters of a second to reach the target. This is about four times longer than a subsonic .22 Short bullet. A 180-fps bow will take a full second. Even for the fastest equipment shot at normal bowhunting distances, a deer can react to the sound of a shot by enough to spoil the best of aim.

Effect Of Weight
Just as many hunters often don’t have a good feel for an arrow’s arc, they often fail to appreciate fully just how much the weight of an arrow can affect its trajectory. On a Westem mule deer hunt a few years ago, a good friend of mine leamed this point the hard way. Bill normally shot heavy 650-
grain arrows for his close shots on whitetails.  For this hunt, however, he switched to 500-grain arrows to give him a little flatter trajectory at the longer ranges he expected. When he packed for the nip, he threw the 650-grain arrows in the truck to use as backups. He had sighted in his bow with the lighter arrows but had no idea how the trajectories of the two shafts differed.

We got to the hunting area late at night and assembled our equipment the following morning by flashlight. Unknowingly, Bill put the hear,y arrows on his quiver and did not realize the mistake until it got light.  About mid-morning, he spotted a beautiful buck and was able to work his way to within 40 yards without alerting him. He was shooting what he considered to be a pretty fast bow and figured that the difference in arrow weights wouldn’t make that much difference. He aimed a few inches higher than normal, released, and watched as the arrow passed just under the deer’s chest. Later, back at camp, we found that the difference in trajectories between the two arrows was almost a foot at 40 yards.

If there is no wind drag, two weights of arrows which are shot at the same speed by different bows will have identical trajectories. But if shot from the same bow. their speeds will be different, and they will have different trajectories. Table 2 compares the trajectories of different weights of arrows to a 500-grain arrow that was sighted in correctly. The launch speeds are typical of a 60- pound eccentric-wheeled compound.

At 20 yards, a difference of 50 grains in arrow weight will move the impact point by over an inch. A difference of 150 grains will move it by 3 to 3-1/2 inches. As distance increases. the effect of weight differences becomes much greater. At 60 yards, adding or removing 50 grains of weight will change the impact point by over 10 inches while for 150 grains of difference it will change the
impact point by about 30 inches.

Small differences in arrow weight should also be addressed. For example, I shoot resharpenable broadheads, and I will often use the same heads for several years as long as they don’t become dinged up or bent. Before every hunting season and several times during, I will resharpen them. Recently, I went back and reweighed a dozen arrows that started out with identical weights and was surprised to find that several of them had changed by 20-25 grains due to resharpening. I usually shoot at close ranges, so this has never caused a problem. But if I had taken a little longer shot-say 40 yards- this difference would have been enough to throw my aim off by a couple of inches or so. In some cases it could have been enough to cause problems.

Measuring Trajectory
In the real world arrows have drag, and their trajectories will be a little higher than the examples -given above. For this reason, it is always a good idea to test your equipment so that you have a good feel for what it is  actually doing. This is especially important for hunters who use a single sight pin.

Measuring trajectory is a simple task that can be done as part of your normal sighting- in procedure. First, find a piece of cardboard or other material that is 1 to 3 feet wide and
several feet long. Three-foot by 5-foot panels work well and can be bought at businesses that sell packing supplies.

Next, put an aiming spot in the center of the cardboard and sight in your bow at a given distance. Then aim at the spot from several different distances and see where your arrow hits. For example, if you have sighted in a pin at 30 yards, you might shoot at distances of 7.5 yards (1/4
range), 1 5 yards (mid-range), 22-1/2 yards (3/4 range), and at something beyond 30 yards.
Shoot several arrows from each distance to get an average, and then commit these figures to memory.

To determine depth-of-kill for deer, find the distances where your arrows hit 3 inches high and 3 inches low. For larger or smaller animals, you can adjust these values to correspond to the different-sized kill zones.

Summary
With the increasing interest today in long- range shooting, some of the examples given above are very sobering. They show fairly dramatically that even with today’s fast equipment, bowhunting remains a short range sport.Even the fastest equipment will have trajectories at longer ranges that
are high and looping and that will require the ability to estimate range at very exacting levels. Taking the time to become intimately familiar with the trajectory of one’s equipment should help any bowhunter to understand its limitations and to capitalize on those hard-earned opportunities.

Archived by

ARCHERYTALK.COM

all rights reserved

Aspirin Busting at the Famous Iowa Deer Classic

(Des Moines, Iowa) The Iowa Deer Classic is one of the country’s premier hunting shows.   This event is held the first weekend of March and is always a popular show for TV hunting celebrities, well known seminar speakers, and features booths with everything the sportsman needs.  You can see trophy whitetail bucks and talk to expert taxidermists, deer hunters, and outfitters.  There are also manufacturers at this event.
 
There were three big seminar rooms and there was a variety of speakers each day.  The stage set up at this event was first class.  Each show started with Ted Nugent’s “My Bow and Arrow” song playing on the PA system. I like Ted’s “Fred Bear” song but his “Bow and Arrow” song is perfect to play before each performance.  We had good sized crowds at each show even though Saturday’s 2 shows  were scheduled at the exact same time as my friends Nic and T-Bone with the Bone Collector Crew.  My assistant Garrett did a super job tossing targets for me.  At the end of the shows I did a Question & Answer session which the audiences seemed to enjoy. 
 
The Bone Collector crew is a great buch of guys and my parents enjoyed having the gang in bear camp last Spring.  Nic and T-Bone told me Michael Waddell was at the Dixie Deer Classic in Raleigh, NC while they were in Iowa for this event. 
 
I also ran into Myles Keller,  Pat Reeves and Nicole Jones, and several other well known hunting personalities.  I also got to visit with Tom Hoffman, a well known bowhunter who took the SuperSlam with his bow.  Tom had been the guest speaker at a bowhunter banquet and stopped by the show to look around.

Antler Dog’s Roger Sigler and I had dinner one evening.  Roger’s seminars are always popular and he was there Friday night.  Roger tells his audience how to train their dogs to find shed antlers.   These are entertaining seminars and I always enjoy seeing Roger.
 
The new Hoyt Formula RX bows are shooting great!   The audiences seem to like the six arrow shot, the two balloon shot, and the smaller balloons.  During Sunday’s performance I nailed the baby aspirin the second shot and then it was time to wave so long and head for home and get ready for the next show.  The Iowa Deer Classic is a legendary show and is a great time.  I look forward to getting back to Des Moines and this show.  Special thanks to John,  Garrett, and the rest of his family & staff for the great time.

Martin Pro Series Scepter – February 1995
Bow Hunting World

Bow Hunting World - February 1995

New level in Bow Design
The Ultimate Bow Available in Hunting or Target Colors

Discover the Magical Wizardry of Martin’s New Scepter
DISCOVER THE MAGICAL WIZARDRY OF MARTIN’S NEW SCEPTER!

The R & D Wizards of Martin Archery have produced a riser that is so well
balanced, so vibration free and so accurate that you won’t need to ask the
mystics why your scores have improved!

A new level of machined aluminum riser design! The Scepter riser
features Martin’s new Tru-TrackTM Arrow Rest System (patent pending) as an integral part of it’s design, Like no other Arrow Rest System, the Tru-Track (patent pending) incorporates on extendable arrow rest mount that extends from within the riser in any position.
Shoot full length, long overdraw or anywhere in between for ultra fine tuning!

An arrow shelf pocket enables the Tru-Track rest to recess completely below the path of the arrow’s flechings,  No other riser design provides this level of clearance!

The Scepter owes it’s total lock of noise and vibration to Martin’s new V.E,C, System (patent pending), The V,E,C, (Vibration Escape ChamberTM) system incorporates a vented riser chamber that is designed to accept optional vibration absorbing inserts.

As the Wizard wields his staff of power, this year’s top shooters will be wielding the new Martin Scepter

Speed Rating: Equipped with new “Z” Cams

the Scepter provides on IBO rating of Over 300 f.p.s.
Machined Aluminum riser in anodized brite blue, red, violet, and hunter grey

Archived by

ARCHERYTALK.COM

all rights reserved

80 Years With Fred Bear – By Bob Brandau
March 1982

We’re damn lucky to have Fred Bear around.  In a time when folks tell us there are no heroes left, we only need look to Fred to know it isn’t true.
For the bowhunter, Fred has done it all. He’s taken world-class big game on every continent and built a career around his love for a sport. He stood and was counted as a conservationist when the word was still unknown to most sportsmen.

The John Wayne of the bowhunter’s world Fred attracts a crowd wherever he goes. Autographs, handshakes and flash bulbs are as much a part of his day as the sun. Yet unlike many other people in that position, his sincere smile never fades and his patience while listening to another
hunter’s whitetail adventure is unending.

His ability as a woodsman is equalled to or surpassed by his talents as a businessman, and inventor. Much of the archery tackle we use today is based on inventions cultivated in his fertile mind decades ago. Along with a few other adventuresome pioneers, Fred turned an obscure hobby into a national pastime and industry.

Starting in a depression torn 1933 in the United States, Fred slowly built his archery company from a garage in Detroit to the world leader it is today: His factory now produces products known around the world and employs about 350 people.

Fred’s cunning as a hunter and friendly nature have brought him many honors and thrills. He’s dined with royalty and dipped beans out a can with African bushmen.  Some of the adventures he’s had would seem outlandish even when printed in a young boy’s favorite book.

And of all the game Fred has taken through the years, what has been the toughest
to hunt? The whitetail deer.

“There’s no doubt about it, the whitetail deer is the smartest craftiest game animal a man can hunt with a bow,” he said- But what does Fred consider to be the toughest most dangerous game to chase with bow and arrow? Excerpts from the book, Fred Bear’s Field Notes, and an article printed in Outdoor Life in the early 1960s show that to be the African lion.

“Of all the “if-you-start-it, I’ll-finish it” game a hunter can go after with either gun or bow, the two big wonderful cats of Africa and Asia, the lion and tiger, head my list. There is something about them that no other animal can match, a mysterious, regal quality of fearlessness and arrogance and terrible power. In my book the man who kills either of them has reached the pinnacle
of the trophy hunter’s world.”

Fred said recently that the animal he had long considered to be the top hunter’s trophy also provided him with his most exciting and memorable hunt “Well, I had a lot of most memorable hunts, I guess. The most exciting of course, was when we were ambushed by a lion for half a night in Africa. I’ve spent a few nights in a tree with a grizzly down below and a couple cape buffalo have come close and then there were the polar bears. I guess you can call them memorable in terms of excitement.   In just the case of excitement my most memorable hunt would be the lion because in most of the exciting experiences I have had, the high point was over in a second or two. You knew you were either going to get in trouble or not. But the case of the lion went on for about six hours and that certainly was memorable.”

A short time after his encounter with the lions of Portuguese Africa in 1965, he recalled the story like this:

“I eased to my knees and picked up my bow. There were two lions, both big-maned males lying beside the wildebeest carcass.  Quietly as I moved, they saw me instantly, stopped feeding and stared balefully at the blind.

“One was broadside to me, with his head turned in my direction. The other lay
behind him facing us head on. I picked the closest one and drove my arrow for a spot
behind his shoulder.

“There wasn’t enough light to follow the arrow’s flight but the lion left no doubt that it had been hit. He ripped out a roaring blood chilling snarl and both animals sprang to their feet.   The rear one shot off to the left running in long bounds. The other curved hell-bent toward the blind, growling and roaring But when he was only yards away, he swerved off to the left and streaked past
within a few feet of us. The last we heard of him was an ear-splitting roar out in the gathering darkness.

“For another 10 minutes; there was dead silence, with five pairs of ears straining for some sound that would tell us where the lions had gone and what they were doing. When it was full dark one of the pair announced his return with a roar that came from no more than 20 yards away and rattled the very leaves of the blind

“One thing we knew for sure. If either lion was bent on revenge, our brush blind would no more stop him than a garden fence stops a hungry deer. He wouldn’t even have to smash through it. He’d come sailing over and the last we’d see of him would be his black silhouette against the faint light that still lingered in the sky.

“There was half an hour of agonizing silence. Nobody moved, spoke, coughed or even cleared his throat My legs were getting stiff and cramped but it was imperative to endure it without stirring. It was cold but no one so much as touched his blanket Tension and suspense filled the blind like fog.

The lion ripped the night apart once more with a long series of roars and snarls, again only a few yards beyond our barricade. I’ve heard bears, tigers and even elephants scream their anger and defiance, and any one of them can make the hair on a man’s neck stand up like porcupine quills. But I don’t believe any other sound that comes from an animal’s throat is as awesome and frightening as the roar of a lion close up.

Another half an hour went by, seeming like half the night.  Then the situation took a new turn.
A lion spoke up from half a mile away giving the half purring half moaning get-together call and another answered farther off in the distance. I had listened to those typical sounds of the African night before and thought them interesting and thrilling. Now they turned my blood to water. Our lion didn’t give us much time to worry about any other, however he let go another bone-shaking roar.

After a few minutes, the lion roared again. The silence settled down and nothing happened for an hour. At the end of that time, Luiz (one of the native guides) inched over to our side of the blind.
“Baas, I can hear lion eating,” he said. ” I think he feed on the dead one.”

We cocked our ears and sure enough we could hear the ripping of flesh and the clicking of teeth out there in the dark, 50 or 60 feet away.

For the first time we had something to go on. It was very unlikely that a wounded lion would be feeding and if this was the unwounded one, quarrelsome as he was, we were in less danger than we had feared. But if Luiz’s hunch was right by morning, the pelt of my lion would be torn and worthless.

“Will one lion really eat another?” I asked Wally, my guide. “Indeed they will,” he assured me.

By this time the tension in the blind had become too much for the native guides to bear, and they issued the ultimatum of either climbing the trees or going back to camp. Knowing that the trees would not support the three natives, and that any commotion was likely to bring on a charge from the lion, Freds party decided to make a break for it in the car.

Taking nothing but the guns with them, they piled into the car, stomped on the starter and knifed out into the African darkness.

“To my immense relief,” Fred continued, “the first thing we found when we went back the next morning was what was left of the python (shot the day before by Fred while making the blind). We agreed that it might have been the snake on which we had heard the lion feeding and our hunch proved good. When we picked up the blood trail of the lion I hit and followed it for 200 yards,
we found a magnificent cat stone dead since the evening before. Needless to say, I didn’t give the python another thought “My arrow had gone in low, back of a foreleg and ranged through both lungs, causing severe hemorrhage. A full-grown male with a heavy mane, he weighed 460 pounds and measured an even 10 feet pegged out.

“Looking back on those thrilling hours in the blind, with the lion growling and feeding in the darkness, I couldn’t blame the guides for not wanting to lion hunt again. But when I got back to camp, and I saw him reaching four feet above my head with the tip of his tail brushing the ground, I knew I wouldn’t trade that night for anything that ever happened to me on a hunt He was the greatest trophy I have killed, and he left me, as a bowhunter, no place to go.”

But Fred’s conquests as a hunter did not end after that long six-hour wait in a blind on the flats of Portuguese Africa He went on to down a polar bear, after three trys, 500 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska and a 1,800 Asiatic buffalo in Brazil. Even today he is a familiar face around many campfires in the United States, offering a tale of adventure or two.

Anyone who has been lucky enough to hear Fred spin a tale has heard one of the masters. You may be sitting in an auditorium, but when the griz growls and the guide’s hands are skinned as he climbs a tree for safety, you can taste the adrenalin in your mouth. With the gestures of a magician.  Fred can tell a story that rivals those of Davey Crockett and Mark Twain. Those
who have heard his tales more than once may notice slight changes in “fact’ as he draws them together for the audience, but it doesn’t matter since the end result of excitement is always the same.

Fred is one the few individuals who has had the opportunity to hunt most of the game animals the world has to offer. He has hunted above the Arctic Circle, at the Equator and in lands untouched by modem civilization. Based on that experience, he said that if a hunter had only one “exotic” hunt to go on in his life, he should go to British Columbia or Alaska.

“Now, Africa is great,” he said, “but in British Columbia or Alaska you can drink from any stream you happen to run across.  The hunting conditions are much better and the terrain won’t be burned up like it is in Africa during the dry season when you hunt. The mountains, the snow capped peaks and trees-yes, that s what I’d recommend. You won’t see nearly as much game, but after all the kill is the anti climax. You go to enjoy yourself and to have fun in the outdoors with the birds, the bees, the animals, and the people.”

To say that Fred represents that last generation of the wild and free American hunter would be unfair. To say that his contributions to both bowhunting and conservation make him an outstanding American would be much more appropriate.

And although Fred’s tales of excitement are untarnished with the years, the role of the hunter has taken on an increasingly important duty. Today’s hunter, Fred said, should be more concerned with environmental issues. With the nation’s foremost conservationist Teddy Roosevelt, to serve
as his “idol,” Fred has taken a leadership role in backing sound conservation practices. People should take time out of their leisure hours to help promote conservation practices, he said
“Too many hunters today place too big an emphasis on the kill. When you read the stories, the emphasis is too much on the kill-instead of being in nature’s great outdoors,” he said.
“Too many people are uncomfortable in the woods. They don’t feel at home when actually they should be. The woods is a friendly place. Yes, the woods is big place to get lost in, or to get into trouble in, but the main thing when outdoors is to use good judgment stay out of trouble and have a good time.

“A downed animal is most certainly the object of a hunting trip, but it becomes an anticlimax when compared to the many pleasures of the hunt.  A period of remorse is in order. Perhaps a few words of forgiveness for having taken a life. After this there is a self-satisfaction for having accomplished a successful stalk and made a good shot.

“But a hunt based only on trophies taken falls short of what the ultimate goal should be. I have known many hunters who, returning empty-handed, have had nothing to say of the enjoyment of time spent in nature’s outdoors.

“I like to think that an expedition should be looked upon whether it be an evening hunt nearby or a prolonged trip to some far off place, as a venture into an unspoiled area. With time to commune with your inner soul as you share the outdoors with the birds, animals and fish that live there.

And  in another vein, if it is a lengthy trip, select your companions well. A hunting trip
is a great place to test the mettle of your friends.  “I feel like one of God’s chosen people, having had the experiences I’ve had in his great outdoors,” said Fred. <–<<