Archery 365

As the final days peel off the calendar in the 2016 whitetail season, an unimaginable fate looms for countless compound bows. The bow case. Far too many bows are tucked away at season's’ end, not to see the light of day until school busses crowd the streets and antlers are neatly wrapped in velvet. I, for one, cannot imagine going 8 months without shooting my bow. I find it therapeutic.  Every shot taken while practicing brings me 1 shot closer to making an ethical shot when the moment of truth presents itself in the fall. If that’s not reason enough, how about the fact that we all enjoy hunting, don’t we all enjoy shooting as well? Here’s a few ways to keep your bow active when you are not able to chase those monster bucks.

Join a League

Some diehard bowhunters will scoff at the idea of lining up elbow to elbow with “target archers” to fling three arrows 20 yards down range, wait for it, indoors. I get it, we do not hunt indoors, but an indoor spot league has its advantages. With a lack of daylight and much of the country engulfed in the icy grip of Old Man Winter, I seek refuge at my local archery clubs indoor range. Most leagues are cheap (about $10 a week) and run from January till April. I find it a great way to work on my shot mechanics, form, and develop more muscle memory. Plus, you can always pick up some pointers from other archers that may help you in the woods. The friendly competition and camaraderie of a spot league is a sure fire way to navigate through the winter doldrums.  

Shoot 3-D

I am lucky enough to live in an area where I can shoot a 3-D archery course every Sunday from March till November. The mistake I see made by most bowhunters is that they wait until August to dust off their bows. Bows are not bears. They do not need to hibernate. As soon as the local clubs open their outdoor courses I am there. After being cooped up for the last few months it feels great to walk through the woods again. Most courses consist of 30 foam targets laid out at varying distances. It is a great way to practice kill shots on life like animal targets, while shooting at different intervals, elevations, and terrain. If it is competition that drives you, than you may want to check out organized IBO or ASA shoot to test your skills against your fellow bowhunter. Either way, I cannot think of a better cure for cabin fever.

Techno Hunt

Still too cold outside and the thought of punching paper targets is sacrilegious? Find a Techno Hunt to have the comfort of the indoors, with the adrenaline rush of a true hunting experience. Most of these hunting simulators will place you in a dark room with a projector screen at the opposite end. A computer will load countless images of game animals walking through their natural habitat. You are provided mushroom blunt tips for your arrows that you fire at the screen. After the shot, the screen will inform you if your shot hit vitals, was non-lethal, or a clean miss. Some archery shops also offer Techno Hunts leagues if you are up for the challenge.

Turkey Hunting

Half way between the completion and the opening of whitetail season lies a magical time of year known as turkey season. Although most hunters will take their shotgun into the woods, why not take your bow instead? Some will say the challenge involved with harvesting a spring gobbler with a bow is second to none. The keen eyesight of a turkey makes drawing on a bird a feat in its own right. Plus, with the decreased range of a bow compared to a shotgun, it forces you to wait for a close encounter. At the end of the day, isn’t that what we crave as bowhunters?       

There are also less organized reasons to get out and shoot your bow. I have shot my bow because; it’s Tuesday, I don’t want to go grocery shopping, I fixed the faucet last week, or there is nothing on TV. The point being is that everything can become a reason to shoot your bow. Shooting year round gives you a more intimate feel for your bows’ overall performance and tuning. As bowhunters, we place a season’s worth of goals and anticipation on a single shot. Wouldn’t you want to be 100% confident that you can make it?

Crunch Time...

What started out as an endless string of weekends covering more than a quarter of the calendar, has dwindled down to the final three. Long gone are the "chilly" evening sits where a hoodie would be warm enough. Today's high temperature struggled to get out of the teens, factor in the wind, and we are talking serious cold temperatures encountered during late season. By this time of year, the deer have smartened up. They have been chased, bumped, driven, and shot at for the last four months. The only reason they need to leave the safety of their bedding area is to feed. Extremely cold temperatures get the deer on their feet earlier in search of food. Seems like an easy equation for a late season whitetail, Food + Cold = Deer. Well things in the woods are rarely that elementary, I throw in a variable x for weather condition, such as post front, high pressure, wind direction, ect. For those of you who still remember Algebra 101, the revised equation would read F + C(x) = D. Time to sharpen your pencil and figure this one out.

This doe knows where she can get a free meal.

Food is the easy part to figure out. If you have been in tune with your deer herd all season, you know what is left, and where it is. Food sources are less abundant this time of year, so deer tend to congregate around remaining feeding areas with regularity. It may be a cut cornfield, a food plot full of sugar beets, or a timed feeder. The deer know where to go, so should you.

Right Temp, Wrong Pressure

Cold is good, the colder the better. The deer will get on their feet earlier to feed the lower the mercury drops. Unfortunately it needs to be the right cold, that's the "x" factor. Last night I had the food source and cold temperature in my favor. The problem was I found myself in the middle of a front passing through, with snow falling and a swirling NNE wind. To go along with the winds, was a falling barometer in the 29" range. My experience told me it would be a long sit, but with limited time to fill tags, I put in my time in, in vain. My friend several states away was telling me that he was seeing deer all over, feeding in places he had not seen before. That's because he was on the other side of the front, cold temperatures around 13 degrees, with a rising barometer into the 30"'s. That "x" variable of pressure is very important in the late season. Deer will feed before, and after a storm, but if I had my choice, it would be to hunt post storm with rising pressure.

Now that I have the whitetails figured out, will I wait to hunt the perfect equation for the late season? Not exactly. Limited time to hunt makes any available time to sit in the woods a good time. If I do not have all of the F + C(x) ingredients in my favor I could still harvest a deer. If I plan on taking a day off of work to hunt, I will make sure that all the components are in place. Remember, this is crunch time, not couch time. The sofa will be there for you all winter long, now's the time to get after those whitetails one last time!

View from the blind on a snowy evening.