2010 July | Hunting Outdoors | Tips & Discussion on Deer, Turkey, & Elk Hunting

Hunting Knives – Fixed Blade Buck Knife

Buying Fixed Blade Hunting Knife!

As a hunter, you want a knife that’s easy to carry, not too heavy, but tough enough to get the job done. This knife must also feel good in your hand as well as offer protection for your hand from the blade. Fixed-Blade Buck Knives are an excellent choice to carry with you on your next hunting trip and many years to come.

A clip point(shown left) is one of the most popular blades simply because it can be used for hunting as well as general purpose work. This knife will not work as fast as the drop point, but it can perform the same functions. This knife does not have the same curving or thickness to the steel, but the tang is much thinner for use with Fine detail work.

One of the main types of hunting knives is a drop point. The top of the blade is curved downward and is slightly larger and made from thicker steel than other knives. This Blade style is great for butchering any size game.

Any of the previous knives can include a gut hook on the end. This can assist in splitting the hide in the belly area and will making sure that you not expose the meat to any toxins.

Knife Handle Selections

Deciding on knife handle material is also important to you because some materials are more for looks like the cocobola wood handle. The wood handle is more susceptible to water damage if not kept dry and when butcher may get slick when drenched with blood. The rubberized and composite knife handles are generally less expensive are easier to grip when wet.

This is a starting point in making your decision on which type of fixed blade hunting knife to buy. I myself carry 2 knives on my hunting trips. The first knife in my pack is a caping and guthook knife used for field dressing and skinning, and drop point with for boning out the animal.

Share/Save

Deer Hunting – Whitetail Buck Antler Growth

How do Antlers Grow?

Whitetail Deer Antler growth usually begins during the month of March or April, by August or early September, antlers are fully-grown. Antlers begin as bony growths covered with skin and hair (velvet). They grow at incredible rates, it is amazing what whitetail deer can grow during the summer months. This makes them one of the fastest growing living tissues known to man.

Antlers are very similar to bone. They are supplied with blood through blood vessels in the velvet and through the core of the antler. Antler growth is triggered by the increase in the amount of sunlight during the spring season. The necessary nutrients for antler growth may be taken from other bones in the body, thus depleting the nutrients in these bones and making them brittle.

In order to grow these huge racks, whitetail deer, elk and moose must eat around 50 kg of calcium each season. This is quite a feat when their diet is composed of plant material.

“Shedding the Velvet”

After the antlers have reached their maximum size, blood vessels at the base close down causing the skin to dry up and peel off. The owner assists this process by rubbing against trees. In many areas, you can see these rubbings as the thin bark of the aspen, pine and cedar trees is rubbed off along with the velvet. As the velvet peels away by rubbing their antlers on trees they will rub the dried blood from them as well. Once the velvet is gone, only the hard bony core remains as a formidable weapon in the annual rut.

The whitetail’s antlers grow from March until September. It is exciting to watch the antler growing season hoping to see monster bucks develop for the fall rut in your hunting area.

Share/Save

Bow Hunting – Buying the Right Bow Step 2

There is more than enough information available to a consumer than ever before, with the use of the Internet and a little knowledge you can find just about your heart desires in cyberspace. But when it comes to picking out the perfect bow for yourself there may be too much info available.

One thing I want to stress is before you purchase a bow is not to buy it on the Internet. Buying a bow is like buying cloths for yourself, if it doesn’t fit you will

not wear it. You should go to a archery shop to have the bow fitted to you. The first thing the pro shop will do is check your draw length. One way is to use the formula the other is by having you draw an arrow with a ruler on it to know how you actually draw and anchor a bow. Some bow companies have the ability to adjust the draw length on there bows this is a plus for younger hunters that are still growing. As they grow the cams on the bow have modules that can be changed to make the draw length longer.

Next you need to establish your anchor point. This means the point where you lock yourself at full draw and rest your cheek or the corner of your mouth against the string. You also need to figure out which is your dominant eye to aim with. This is very important because if you are right handed and left eye dominant you need to be shooting left handed. I have seen several buddies try to shoot crossed up, which means put there nose on the opposite side of the string to shoot. The are messing with there true draw length, anchor point is not solid and it looks just plain funny.

Getting started with archery equipment is both fun and challenging but going through all of the necessary steps to get started will be rewarding and you will enjoy your equipment for a long time.

Share/Save

Bow Hunting – Buying the Right Bow

How important is it?

The art of bow hunting has long been appreciated, dating along way back in history, using only a stick and string for a weapon and home made shafts for the arrows. The speed of the arrow was not fast but was relied upon for survival so the early archer had to be a good steady aim to put meat on the meat pole.

Today the archery industry has more options for its customers than ever before, offering bows that exceed 340 fps (feet per second) and crossbows that will meet the same speeds. It is not hard to find quality equipment, the hard thing is making the decision on which brand you like and the features each company have. Pick the right bow and you will love to use it for years, pick one that someone tells you is the best bow out there and you may regret it down the road.

There are several factors to consider when selecting a new bow. The length of the bow is high on the list. If you think buying a short bow is the answer you need to do research, normally a short bow is harder to hold steady opposed to a longer bow. On the other hand a short bow is easier to handle in a tree stand as well as a ground blind. The next thing to consider is the brace height. The longer the brace ht the more forgiving the bow shoots, meaning it is easier to control for novice archers. The last thing I want to mention is the draw weight of the bow. If you are a first time archer you will want to buy a lighter weight bow to get used to. Many friends of mine think they need to pull 70 plus pounds (a macho thing). If you get a bow that is to heavy for you your shooting form will be in jeopardy from the start. So do your home work and don’t be afraid to ask the Archery shop people questions they will steer you in the right direction.

Share/Save