EARLY SEASON TREE STAND SITE SELECTION - It’s mid August and the weather is still hot. The lawn seems to be in constant need of attention, the kids are continually begging to be taken to the pool or local lake, your wife is always out shopping for new school clothes, and the fish will be biting again soon. But in the back of your mind lurks the knowledge that archery season is just around the corner. Note to reader…archery is always at the forefront of my mind.
Anyway, if you haven’t already, now is the time to begin thinking about where you’re going to place that tree stand on opening morning.
During the late summer months, deer frequent crop fields. These food sources are readily available, are often bordered by woods that offer a quick means of escape, and are high in the nutrients that deer are bulking up on for the upcoming mating season and winter months. One of the luxuries that crop fields offer to hunters is that they are often within spotting scope or binocular distance of roadways and we can sit back at a distance and watch deer feed without spooking them. This is also a fun family time if you can get the kids to stay quiet.
It’s been at least six months since the last hearty hunter has left the woods and the deer are now the most relaxed you will find them. They are in a routine. The does and yearlings will generally enter the fields well before sunset to begin feeding. Young bucks will be close behind. The big boys will make their appearance usually within the last 30 minutes of daylight. And while it’s entertaining to watch the deer through your binoculars, that’s really not what you should be looking for.
Get to your vantage point early…well before the deer start filtering out of the woods into the field. Then watch the field edges closely and mark the spots where the deer are entering the field. Pay special attention to where the bucks enter the field because it’s not always the same place where the does and yearlings enter. Please understand that the feeding habits of deer may change from August until the opener, especially if acorns start dropping. Deer will abandon every other food source in favor of acorns. White oak is the favored variety followed by red oak. If you can find a white oak ridge littered with acorns about ready to fall, you need to abandon any other hunting plans you have and find a spot nearby…right away. The deer will only stick around until the acorns in that area are gone. But since most archery seasons open before the acorns start to fall, field edges are your best bet in the early going of the season. Try to identify more than one point where the deer are accessing the field. You may need more than one stand location depending on wind direction. And you must be very careful with this. You don’t want the wind blowing out into the field where feeding deer may alert those who have yet to arrive and you don’t want the wind blowing in the direction the deer are coming from or you will never see them.
Accessing and leaving the stand are of great importance as well. Try not towalk through the bedding area on the way to the stand and attempt to get out of your stand and vacate the area without disturbing the deer feeding in the field.
I like to set my stand back from the field’s edge where I can cover any buck that might be visually checking the field out but also close enough to the field where I can reach it.
Another good tactic is to find a ridge that overlooks the field. Many times, bucks will utilize the ridge just before dark to visually check out the field. This is called a staging area. It’s the places bucks hang out after they get out of their beds but before they hit the feeding area. The bucks will also stage in an area with heavy cover anywhere from 50 to 150 yards away from the field. Once the sun sets, they’ll leave these staging areas and make for the fields. If you find a good staging area, you’ll want to set up between it and the bedding area to give yourself every advantage of available daylight.
There are a lot of options for early season archery hunters who want to try field edge hunting. But remember, if you’re not very careful about entering and exiting your stand and paying strict attention to the wind, you will only have about a week to score before the deer realize they are being hunted and go nocturnal on you or switch fields.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
***ARCHERY TIP OF THE WEEK***
STRING JUMPING - The buck is casually walking along and enters your shooting lane at 28 yards. You came to full draw just before he presented himself. Suddenly, hecomes to full alert! His head is up, his nose is working the wind, and his body twitches with the not-so-subtle indication that he might bolt at any second. Something isn’t right and you can tell that he isn’t going to stick around to find out what the problem is. You know you only have a few seconds to get the shot off. You set your pin right behind his front shoulder and gently trigger your release. And then all heck breaks lose.
It happens so fast that your brain doesn’t even register what just happened. In the blink of an eye, the buck is gone and you know you’ve shot over him.
But how could that happen?
You knew the distance, you had the right pin, and you were steady on your release. What could have possibly caused you to shoot high?
The answer, my friend, is that you didn’t shoot high….your arrow went right where you were aiming.
What happened was that in the time it took your arrow to travel that 28 yards, that buck was no longer is the same position he was when you triggered your release. This is what we call string jumping.
And the name does not imply what actually happens.
An arrow traveling 290 feet per second (fps) takes just under a third of a second to travel 30 yards. Upon hearing the sound of your bow, a deer on high alert will drop towards the ground in an effort to gets its legs in position to vacate the area. Sometimes, this drop is so great the back of the deer will fall below the impact point of your arrow. It happens so quickly that the arrow sails harmlessly over the deer’s back. Even we humans do it.
Let’s say you’re going to sprint a short distance. If you are standing up in a normal position, your entire body will drop several inches vertically as you bend your legs under you to push off horizontally.
And if you don’t believe me, try this experiment with a friend. Stand up against a wall and have your friend draw a line on the wall with a piece of chalk at the top of your head. Now turn so that you’re parallel to the wall. Have your friend get about 20 yards away with a video camera. From an upright standing position, sprint as fast as you can for a short distance. Don’t run too far…we’re not as young as we once were. Now go back and review the recording in slow motion.
Just before you start moving horizontally, your body will drop vertically several inches as you get your legs and feet in position to push off. A deer does the exact same thing.
The deer is not trying to avoid your arrow. Instincts take over and all he’s trying to do is get away from the area that is causing him uneasiness. The sound of your bow prods him into immediate action.
So, how do we combat this?
There are two options. First, we can hope that the deer relaxes so thathe’s not on pins and needles. A relaxed deer will still jump the string sometimes but if their senses are not on overload, they won’t react as quickly and allow enough time for your arrow to impact where you are aiming. But this is taking a huge chance that a deer will come back to a more relaxed state. A big buck doesn’t get big by hanging around an area that makes him nervous.
The second option is to aim lower than where you want the arrow to actually impact. When the deer drops in the effort to gathers its legs under him, he will actually drop down into the path of your arrow. But again, you’re taking a chance that the deer will drop the right distance to put your arrow in the kill zone. A good rule of thumb is to aim about two inches up from the chest of the deer. Even if the deer doesn’t drop, you still get a bottom heart shot.
One other thing to remember about putting an arrow in a deer that is on full alert…every nerve in that animal is functioning at top levels. When that arrow hits, the deer is already in extreme survival mode. Be SURE to give the deer PLENTY of time before you pick up the trail. It could take awhile before the shock to the body registers in the brain.
Experience will teach you if you should let the deer calm down or take the shot right away. But at least now you have an option that may yield good results.
It happens so fast that your brain doesn’t even register what just happened. In the blink of an eye, the buck is gone and you know you’ve shot over him.
But how could that happen?
You knew the distance, you had the right pin, and you were steady on your release. What could have possibly caused you to shoot high?
The answer, my friend, is that you didn’t shoot high….your arrow went right where you were aiming.
What happened was that in the time it took your arrow to travel that 28 yards, that buck was no longer is the same position he was when you triggered your release. This is what we call string jumping.
And the name does not imply what actually happens.
An arrow traveling 290 feet per second (fps) takes just under a third of a second to travel 30 yards. Upon hearing the sound of your bow, a deer on high alert will drop towards the ground in an effort to gets its legs in position to vacate the area. Sometimes, this drop is so great the back of the deer will fall below the impact point of your arrow. It happens so quickly that the arrow sails harmlessly over the deer’s back. Even we humans do it.
Let’s say you’re going to sprint a short distance. If you are standing up in a normal position, your entire body will drop several inches vertically as you bend your legs under you to push off horizontally.
And if you don’t believe me, try this experiment with a friend. Stand up against a wall and have your friend draw a line on the wall with a piece of chalk at the top of your head. Now turn so that you’re parallel to the wall. Have your friend get about 20 yards away with a video camera. From an upright standing position, sprint as fast as you can for a short distance. Don’t run too far…we’re not as young as we once were. Now go back and review the recording in slow motion.
Just before you start moving horizontally, your body will drop vertically several inches as you get your legs and feet in position to push off. A deer does the exact same thing.
The deer is not trying to avoid your arrow. Instincts take over and all he’s trying to do is get away from the area that is causing him uneasiness. The sound of your bow prods him into immediate action.
So, how do we combat this?
There are two options. First, we can hope that the deer relaxes so thathe’s not on pins and needles. A relaxed deer will still jump the string sometimes but if their senses are not on overload, they won’t react as quickly and allow enough time for your arrow to impact where you are aiming. But this is taking a huge chance that a deer will come back to a more relaxed state. A big buck doesn’t get big by hanging around an area that makes him nervous.
The second option is to aim lower than where you want the arrow to actually impact. When the deer drops in the effort to gathers its legs under him, he will actually drop down into the path of your arrow. But again, you’re taking a chance that the deer will drop the right distance to put your arrow in the kill zone. A good rule of thumb is to aim about two inches up from the chest of the deer. Even if the deer doesn’t drop, you still get a bottom heart shot.
One other thing to remember about putting an arrow in a deer that is on full alert…every nerve in that animal is functioning at top levels. When that arrow hits, the deer is already in extreme survival mode. Be SURE to give the deer PLENTY of time before you pick up the trail. It could take awhile before the shock to the body registers in the brain.
Experience will teach you if you should let the deer calm down or take the shot right away. But at least now you have an option that may yield good results.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
A Picture Says a Thousand Words
Most of us, who have been fortunate enough to take a deer with a bow, have seized the opportunity to have our picture taken with our prize. Whether it’s that first doe or a trophy buck, most of us want the memories captured on film. Not only can we look at those photos years later and relive those moments but now we have something tangible to show our buddies who for some reason don’t believe half the lies we tell them.
But I discovered something you can do with your camera that involves archery and the whole family can participate. My father, who lives in northern Minnesota, told me on the phone the other day that he’d like some photos of the family in archery action shots since my whole family (both boys and the wife too) likes to shoot bow. So I grabbed our camera and my oldest son (McLane) and out to the back yard we went. I decided that I’d be the guinea pig for the initial photo shoot and McLane would be the photographer. Dressed in full hunting gear and armed with my bow, my son began taking pictures of me at different angles. At first, he didn’t want to be doing this because something better was on TV. But soon he was into it and was even directing me into different poses. He ended up getting some GREAT shots.
And then I thought what a great family thing this would be to do together. Let everyone get into whatever clothes they want, grab the bows and camera, and head outside. Let everyone get their pictures taken in whatever archery pose they want but the family members can participate in offering varying ideas. Take LOTS of pictures of everyone from different angles. Let the kids run the camera to get the photos of mom and dad in archery action shots. And change things up a bit…you could even pretend you’re in a treestand (McLane laid down on the ground and took some pics of me – looks just like I’m sitting up in a tree stand even though my feet are firmly on the ground). If you’re looking to take pictures that look like you’re actually hunting, be careful about your background. Watch out for your neighbor’s house in the background or power lines overhead. Have fun with it and give everyone a chance to be in front and behind the camera. My boys are NOT camera shy but they also love to take pictures. And who knows, you may find a new calling for one of your children or you may open yourself up to a whole new aspect of archery you never considered before.
After you’ve taken a lot of pictures, make some lemonade while you download the pictures from your camera to your PC. Then as a family, sip your lemonade and start going through the pictures. You can keep all of them or only the ones that you really want. You can then put them in a file, print a couple off, use them in a blog, or send a couple good ones to your parents.
Whatever you decide to do with them is up to you. Just get the family involved and have some fun.
But I discovered something you can do with your camera that involves archery and the whole family can participate. My father, who lives in northern Minnesota, told me on the phone the other day that he’d like some photos of the family in archery action shots since my whole family (both boys and the wife too) likes to shoot bow. So I grabbed our camera and my oldest son (McLane) and out to the back yard we went. I decided that I’d be the guinea pig for the initial photo shoot and McLane would be the photographer. Dressed in full hunting gear and armed with my bow, my son began taking pictures of me at different angles. At first, he didn’t want to be doing this because something better was on TV. But soon he was into it and was even directing me into different poses. He ended up getting some GREAT shots.
And then I thought what a great family thing this would be to do together. Let everyone get into whatever clothes they want, grab the bows and camera, and head outside. Let everyone get their pictures taken in whatever archery pose they want but the family members can participate in offering varying ideas. Take LOTS of pictures of everyone from different angles. Let the kids run the camera to get the photos of mom and dad in archery action shots. And change things up a bit…you could even pretend you’re in a treestand (McLane laid down on the ground and took some pics of me – looks just like I’m sitting up in a tree stand even though my feet are firmly on the ground). If you’re looking to take pictures that look like you’re actually hunting, be careful about your background. Watch out for your neighbor’s house in the background or power lines overhead. Have fun with it and give everyone a chance to be in front and behind the camera. My boys are NOT camera shy but they also love to take pictures. And who knows, you may find a new calling for one of your children or you may open yourself up to a whole new aspect of archery you never considered before.
After you’ve taken a lot of pictures, make some lemonade while you download the pictures from your camera to your PC. Then as a family, sip your lemonade and start going through the pictures. You can keep all of them or only the ones that you really want. You can then put them in a file, print a couple off, use them in a blog, or send a couple good ones to your parents.
Whatever you decide to do with them is up to you. Just get the family involved and have some fun.
Friday, May 1, 2009
***ARCHERY TIP OF THE WEEK***
PEEP SIGHT SIZE - There are many different types of peep sights for bows on the market and each year seems to bring with it yet another innovation or idea. I encourage you to experiment and find one you like. But when it comes to the size of the peep sight opening, there are some things you might need to be aware of. For purposes of this discussion, we’ll be talking about peep sight opening size for our hunting setup.
The rule-of-thumb is that a larger aperture allows in more light for us to sight through in low-light conditions. Early morning and late evening seem to be the magic time for hunters so many archers opt to go with larger apertures so that more available light enters into the peep sight thus giving us a clearer picture of our front sight and the animal beyond. The same holds true with rifle scopes. The larger the aperture, the more light the scope is able to gather and make the target clearer.
But there is a trade-off.
If you select an opening that is quite large, it becomes more difficult to center your front sight housing within the perimeter of your peep sight…there will be a greater gap between your front sight housing and your peep sight (see photo B.). Now you must determine if the front sight housing is centered correctly. If not, you could miss where you’re aiming. Too small of a peep sight opening, and you’re not able to see your front sight housing at all. This then forces you to center your PIN in your peep sight which allows for an even greater chance of being off target.
The ideal peep sight opening should just fit the front sight housing inside your peep sight with no gaps (or a very small gap) between the peep sight opening and the front sight housing (see photo A.). This is why many front sight housings have a bright colored ring around the very edge…it allows the archer to more easily center the housing in the peep sight. Your target practice and hunting experience will be much more enjoyable and less frustrating if you match up your peep sight opening size to your frontsight housing.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Overcoming a Missed Shot
It was 7:15 AM and I saw him a couple minutes before he entered my shooting lane. A nice racked buck stood on the other side of the road contemplating his crossing. I was on the opposite side of the road about 40 yards in. He was heading from his feeding area towards his bedding area and I was waiting for him. Earlier, I had ranged the tree where I knew the buck would pass by and I was all set for a slam-dunk 22 yard shot. I was prepared.
I was already at full draw as he entered my shooting lane. I let out a little bleat to stop him and he came to a halt broadside right where I wanted him to. I settled behind my peep sight and began lowering my pins from above him to drop them into the kill zone. I was confident.
And then suddenly, it all went horribly wrong.
As I pulled down on the buck and the top of his back came into view throughmy peep sight, the “connections” between my eyes, my trigger finger, and my brain all seemed to abruptly disconnect. Without conscious thought, my finger tightened on the trigger and the arrow was sent on its way. I watched in horror as the arrow sailed harmlessly over the top of the bucks back (in perfect vertical alignment with the kill zone I might add). He came unglued and bounded further into the woods, now hurrying a little faster than he had planned to. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I shoot indoor archery leagues and indoor archery tournaments. I’d be willing to bet that I shoot between 8000 and 10,000 arrows each year at targets that are at a fixed distance of 20 yards. So it’s not like I don’t know what to do when I come to full draw. Let’s just call it a form of buck fever or target panic (Ah…another topic) and leave it at that.
What I want to talk about is what to do after a miss. In archery, we have the luxury of not spooking the deer too badly on a missed shot. There are many instances of a deer being missed with an arrow, only to bound a few yards, stop, and give the archer another chance. When something like this happens, our mind does not have a chance to go over what happened with the miss. Our bodies go into action in an attempt to notch another arrow and try it all over again. But usually, as was the case with my buck, when we miss, the deer will not present itself with another shot. Now our bodies have nothing to do and our mind takes over. We all react differently over a missed shot. For me, the adrenaline rush is quickly overpowered by disappointment. But we must get over a missed shot and get over it quickly because another opportunity could be just down the trail. Getting over it does NOT mean we should just forget what happened. If something in our mechanics, concentration, or thought process went haywire, we have to analyze that and make mental adjustments while we’re there in the tree stand. We should mentally go over the sequence of events that led up to our miss beginning with the deer’s approach and ending with the missed shot. Identify what went wrong and make the adjustment in your head to do what you’ve been practicing in the backyard for the past several months. The same concept holds true if we are shooting paper targets in a league or tournament, 3D animals on a club course, or bag targets in our back yard. Don’t dwell on the miss. Rather, analyze it and make the necessary mental corrections.
As I tried to stop my right leg from shaking violently from the excitement, I had to sit back down in my stand for fear of falling out. I had to concentrate on calming myself down to try to get my body to resume its normal heart rate and breathing. As the heart rate and breathing slowly came back to safe levels, I went over my miss on that buck. I knew what I had done. I’d done it many times on paper targets. My pin was not on the spot I wanted to hit when I triggered my release. I had failed to pick out a spot on the deer and wait for my pin to settle on that spot. I was focused on the deer as a WHOLE rather than the SPOT I wanted to hit.
Ten minutes later, a nice doe came into another shooting lane and I forced myself to let the pin settle behind her front shoulder. I picked out a tiny spot and smoothly trigged my release. She ran 40 yards before expiring to a heart/lung shot.
Mentally recovering after a missed shot is one of the hardest things I think there is to do in archery and it’s something that you must overcome in the backyard as you practice on paper targets. You won’t experience the intense adrenaline rush like you do when you miss a deer during archery season but you’ll have an idea on how to make your mind and body overcome that miss so you’re ready for the next shot.
I was already at full draw as he entered my shooting lane. I let out a little bleat to stop him and he came to a halt broadside right where I wanted him to. I settled behind my peep sight and began lowering my pins from above him to drop them into the kill zone. I was confident.
And then suddenly, it all went horribly wrong.
As I pulled down on the buck and the top of his back came into view throughmy peep sight, the “connections” between my eyes, my trigger finger, and my brain all seemed to abruptly disconnect. Without conscious thought, my finger tightened on the trigger and the arrow was sent on its way. I watched in horror as the arrow sailed harmlessly over the top of the bucks back (in perfect vertical alignment with the kill zone I might add). He came unglued and bounded further into the woods, now hurrying a little faster than he had planned to. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know I shoot indoor archery leagues and indoor archery tournaments. I’d be willing to bet that I shoot between 8000 and 10,000 arrows each year at targets that are at a fixed distance of 20 yards. So it’s not like I don’t know what to do when I come to full draw. Let’s just call it a form of buck fever or target panic (Ah…another topic) and leave it at that.
What I want to talk about is what to do after a miss. In archery, we have the luxury of not spooking the deer too badly on a missed shot. There are many instances of a deer being missed with an arrow, only to bound a few yards, stop, and give the archer another chance. When something like this happens, our mind does not have a chance to go over what happened with the miss. Our bodies go into action in an attempt to notch another arrow and try it all over again. But usually, as was the case with my buck, when we miss, the deer will not present itself with another shot. Now our bodies have nothing to do and our mind takes over. We all react differently over a missed shot. For me, the adrenaline rush is quickly overpowered by disappointment. But we must get over a missed shot and get over it quickly because another opportunity could be just down the trail. Getting over it does NOT mean we should just forget what happened. If something in our mechanics, concentration, or thought process went haywire, we have to analyze that and make mental adjustments while we’re there in the tree stand. We should mentally go over the sequence of events that led up to our miss beginning with the deer’s approach and ending with the missed shot. Identify what went wrong and make the adjustment in your head to do what you’ve been practicing in the backyard for the past several months. The same concept holds true if we are shooting paper targets in a league or tournament, 3D animals on a club course, or bag targets in our back yard. Don’t dwell on the miss. Rather, analyze it and make the necessary mental corrections.
As I tried to stop my right leg from shaking violently from the excitement, I had to sit back down in my stand for fear of falling out. I had to concentrate on calming myself down to try to get my body to resume its normal heart rate and breathing. As the heart rate and breathing slowly came back to safe levels, I went over my miss on that buck. I knew what I had done. I’d done it many times on paper targets. My pin was not on the spot I wanted to hit when I triggered my release. I had failed to pick out a spot on the deer and wait for my pin to settle on that spot. I was focused on the deer as a WHOLE rather than the SPOT I wanted to hit.
Ten minutes later, a nice doe came into another shooting lane and I forced myself to let the pin settle behind her front shoulder. I picked out a tiny spot and smoothly trigged my release. She ran 40 yards before expiring to a heart/lung shot.
Mentally recovering after a missed shot is one of the hardest things I think there is to do in archery and it’s something that you must overcome in the backyard as you practice on paper targets. You won’t experience the intense adrenaline rush like you do when you miss a deer during archery season but you’ll have an idea on how to make your mind and body overcome that miss so you’re ready for the next shot.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Video - McLane's Corner - Parts of the Bow
This video was produced and sort of edited by myself and McLane.
Friday, April 24, 2009
A Developed Obsession
My boys think I have an obsession with archery hunting. My wife calls it a developed interest…God bless her! I think they are all kind of right…I call it a developed obsession! I took the family with me last night to help set up my turkey blind for the upcoming gobbler season which opens on April 25 (tomorrow). I’ve got a spot where I have seen several gobblers over the past couple of years. This year though, I’m moving my blind closer to where they roost. But even though I was consciously in turkey hunting mode, that deep “developed obsession” I have came bubbling up from within me before we even hit the wood line. Bubbling might not be the correct word to describe it though. It was more like it erupted from me like a volcano. I had decided to take my family to my turkey spot by the easiest means possible so we drove about a half mile behind our house and parked the van on the side of the road. We had to walk through about 50 yards of sparse woods before we got on the field that would take us about 400 yards back to my turkey spot. But as I led my little troop towards the edge of the woods, I suddenly stopped. When my wife asked if I was lost (we weren’t 20 yards from the van yet), I pointed out all the deer trails. As my children milled around like fawns do when the lead doe comes to a stop, the eruption inside me occurred. Now, we’ve all heard the stories, read the articles, and seen the pictures and videos that show some deer trails that look more like cattle paths. I was of the belief that these special types of trails were only created on property where hunters had VERY limited access. But I am here to tell you that we were standing near not one such trail, but three…and they converged to a point where all three were in bow range! Suddenly, I had transformed into archery mode and was looking for that special tree in which I could hang my stand. Now remember, here I was on my way out to set up a turkey blind in April and I had instantly “fast-forwarded” to October! I could already picture myself perched up in atree watching these three trails that you could easily ride a motorcycle on. As my fawns…um…children started to get restless, I decided a quick scouting session was called for. As we moved through the area, I was quickly able to determine where the deer were bedding and where they were feeding and that this little travel corridor was the perfect bottle-neck that all hunters seek. I carefully looked at all three trials and could see tracks moving in both directions so I knew they were using the same trails to access the field in the evening and vacate it in the morning. The set up is perfect because thanks to a large and steep hill across the road, I know that even the bucks would prefer to cross at this point. Especially since the property they bed in across the road is untouchable to hunters. The steep hillside on one side of the road and the field on the other funnels the deer to this pinch point. After setting up the turkey blind (my troops were under strict orders to maintain radio silence), we stepped back out into the field. As I looked down the wood line, I saw a deer standing in the field watching us. Is that a sign or what?! Here it was 6:30 in the evening and the deer were already hitting the field to feed with two hours of light still left. I knew right away that the deer in this little corner were very much at ease. I did not have the chance to find that “perfect” tree yet but I’ll be back. Oh yes, I will be back.
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