Tag Archives: Bowhunting

Simplifying the Late Rut

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Use these tactics to fill your tag during the last days of the chase season 

During the later stages of the rut, food sources are still the best place to spend the last hours of daylight.

By Steve Bartylla

It had already been an amazing morning. I’d passed on two very mature bucks within easy shooting range in under a half-hour. With firearm season a day away, the only thing that gave me the resolve to pass was my belief that I could still take a larger buck.

The stand location was an obvious choice when I had scouted the area that spring. With three points dropping down and meeting together and a doe bedding areas above the intersection, bucks would surely be using the points to get between the doe groups. As an added bonus, the bottom also narrowed at this location, pinching any bottom running bucks to within shooting range. The cherry on top was the water hole 15 yards away from the tree I’d selected. Continue reading →

Down-to-Earth Ambushing

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If you think ground blinds are ridiculous for deer hunting, think again 

More and more deer hunters are finding that a well-placed ground blind makes for a hot ambush. Pictured is a blind from Hunter's Specialties.

 

By Ron Rohrbaugh

Everyone knows that to kill whitetails with a bow you have to be at least 15 feet off the ground, right?

Wrong. Today’s combination of safe, inexpensive portable treestands and an extreme focus on hunting trophy bucks has turned ground hunting into a dying art—a trend that’s likely causing bowhunters to miss out on some great opportunities and a lot of fun. On nearly every property I hunt, there are excellent ambush sites that offer no possibility of placing effective treestands. I emphasize the word, “effective,” because there are sometimes trees available, but those in poor position relative to deer movement don’t offer shot opportunities, and trees with too little cover are sure recipes for getting busted. Continue reading →

Hunting Your Way

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By Joe Bell 

Do you hunt for yourself? What I mean by that is, do you hunt the way you believe is best, or do you hunt the way others do?

Personally, I find myself doing both, but as I become older, more experienced and hopefully wiser, I do prefer thinking for myself. There are two reasons I believe this is important: Every hunting situation is different, so improvising is best; and hunting the way I want usually increases satisfaction and reward.

Continue reading →

Musk-ox!

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An adventurous bowhunter braves extreme conditions pursuing an Arctic trophy 

David and the author pose with the trophy musk-ox bull. Note the lunar-like landscape in the background.

 By Steff Stefanovich

 Plumes of frosty steam billowed from the big bull musk-ox in the frigid Arctic air. At 25 yards, he angrily pawed the ground and rubbed his pre-orbital gland on his hairy foreleg. He was obviously unhappy that I’d come this close to his eight buddies and him and was letting me know it.

We had stalked the group for a while and finally got them to form the classic protective circle, with each bull facing outward. The bull I was after was to my left, still within the group. I was trying to keep track of him, but the aggressive bull to my right held my undivided attention. (While purchasing our licenses, we had been warned that this behavior indicated an imminent charge.) Continue reading →

Elk Hunting

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There’s nothing easy about bowhunting elk on public ground, but it can be done effectively—if you put in the necessary time and hard work and employ the right strategy

www.donaldmjones.com

 

By Dan Staton

A quiver full of unspoiled broadheads, a fine-tuned bow rig, some tread left on my boots and thousands of public ground acres to hunt. No cell phone service, no wireless Internet connection and an alarm clock that I don’t mind hearing in the morning.

This is what September is all about. This is the one month of the year when my life is free of distraction and disquiet. There is only one sound on the mountain uniquely designed by God to transform an old man into a young man, turn tired feet into hooves like a deer, and rejuvenate achy joints into leopard speed. This phenomenon is something I’ve felt firsthand each fall. Just when you think the elk rut is shut down for the day and you cozy up next to a spruce tree for a midday siesta, a bull’s bugle rings out and ignites Supermanlike strength into a once-dejected bowhunter. Sound familiar? Continue reading →

Product Tests: The Helix Broadhead and the Ghost Blind Products

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Superior Two-Blade 

The Helix broadhead is unlike other two-blade heads. This one features a unique blade angle that actually enhances the spin ratio of the arrow, which enhances accuracy and creates more of a "drill-like effect" as it penetrates, cutting a gaping hole rather than a slit. Bow & Arrow Hunting Editor Joe Bell found it to shoot amazingly accurately, despite speeds beyond 280 fps.

The key to a good blood trail and fast recovery is to shoot an arrow that penetrates well and to use a shaving-sharp broadhead that cuts a large wound channel. When these two criteria are met and proper shot placement is achieved, animals usually fall within sight.

However, modern bowhunting equipment has forced us to compromise a little in this area. After all, today’s bows are amazingly fast, and when combined with fairly light carbon arrows, big broadheads don’t fly well from such setups. This has brought about a unique line of compact-style fixed-blade and mechanical broadheads.  Continue reading →

New Products

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 Wicked Fast and Smooth

Diamond’s new Dead Eye shoots a blazing 343 fps IBO! This makes it the most efficient bow this company has ever developed. The bow features the revolutionary Throttle Cam (with rotating draw-length module), FLX-Guard, seven-layer laminated limbs, fully machined riser and the new twin-machined center-lock limb pocket system. Bow’s specs include 80 percent letoff, 32 inches axle length, 6 1/8-inch brace height, 3.95 overall weight and draw length adjustability from 26 to 30 inches. Visit www.diamondarchery.com  Continue reading →

Hunting Coues Buck

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It took 12 days of hiking and searching and four tedious stalks, but this bowhunter finally found himself within striking distance of one spectacular coues buck. 

The best coues deer country is remote and well away from road access. The author prefers to hunt areas between 4,000 and 6,500 feet elevation.

 

By Joe Owens

These three-day, over-the-weekend “bomb” hunts were really beginning to kill me. For the past month, I had been departing my home every Thursday evening after work from Chandler, Arizona, and driving several hours to my hunting spot, then backpacking into a remote hunting area in the dark.

At first light the next morning, I’d hike my way to a good vantage point and begin glassing, searching for rutting coues bucks. I’d continue the search and glass throughout the weekend. Late on Sunday, I’d hike my way back to my truck in the dark and head for home. Come Thursday evening, I’d do it all over again. Continue reading →

Halloween Ghost

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This bowhunter’s dream of owning his own land and managing it properly for big bucks finally comes to life—and in a way beyond belief 

The author with his 2010 Halloween-day buck, which was the buck he and his friends had called “Palmy,” due to his heavy, palmated 12-point frame.

 By Eyad Yehyawi

Living in Iowa my entire life, I had always dreamed of owning my own farm, a sacred place where I could pursue my passion for hunting and the outdoors. That dream became a reality in the spring of 2005, when I purchased a small acreage right out of school and vowed to make it the best I could in regard to bowhunting and wildlife management.

It wasn’t the typical property so commonly advertised today; big buck photos were absent, there were no massive rubs or scrapes tattooing the property, and food plots were non-existent. Continue reading →