Bow Hunting | Opening Day Archery Hunting

Early Season Bow Hunting Strategies

Bow hunting early season can be challenging because of the heat. The warm temperatures is something bowhunters have to become used to if they don’t want to give up a good part of the early season. Early season bow hunts require some strategies we can apply to succeed when the temperatures are far better for swatting mosquitoes than hunting. Deer are somewhat predicable the first week or two of the season although the weather may alter or delay when and where deer move, it will not totally eliminate the need deer have to travel at least short distances as they head for the dinner table. So that means they are bedding close to their preffered food source.

How Heat Affects Deer Movement

Remember deer are wild animals that have to eat to survive, sooner or later every evening and morning they will have to move to find food. When whitetail deer shed their summer coats, they are physically prepared for colder weather even though the seasonal temperatures don’t cooperate for them. This is why deer movement is slim, so they tend to arrange their patterns so that they don’t have to move any more than is absolutely necessary. From past experience deer will bed very close to their food and water source is early bow season. Placing a stand between their late summer bedding area and the food of choice is the best thing you can do.

Control Your Scent

Scent control is a major problem when hunting in the heat. Make sure you keep the wind in your favor because if they smell you your early season is generally over. Keeping your clothes scent free and clean should be your top priority in early bow season for scent control. Scent free containers along with odor killing soaps, detergents and field sprays should be things every bowhunter uses to cut down and eliminate human odor. Not only do I spray down before I head to a tree stand I will spray again or use field wipes that I carry in a zip lock bag after settling in my stand.

Don’ forget practice makes perfect as far as target shooting your bow. When selecting an ambush site make sure that the deer have a secure place to bed far enough away from your stand so that they won’t see or hear you entering the area or climbing into your stand.

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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.

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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.

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