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Archery Basics, Uncategorized, Zen Hunting

Turkey versus Elk Hunting: Similarities and Differences

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Turkey vs. Elk

When I first started hunting turkeys, someone said they were very similar to elk. This sounded absurd considering the two animals are practically complete opposites. However, nine years later I have to admit that turkey behavior during the spring rut is very similar to elk behavior in the fall.

What this means is that any hunter transitioning from turkey to elk, or elk to turkey, will already have many of the necessary skills and knowledge to hunt the other creature.

In this article we’ll explore both the similarities and differences between the two animals.

Turkey and Elk Similarities

  1. Both animals have very loud calls (gobbles or bugles) that are used frequently to locate and communicate with other members of the herd. These calls are very useful for hunters trying to locate and call in animals. Also, both animals call more frequently in the morning and evening.
  2. In both cases, the flock or herd is led by a senior female, also known as a lead cow or hen. The bull or tom almost always pulls up the rear of the herd. This protects the tom or bull from threats and makes them more difficult to hunt.
  3. Both animals leave lots of sign and make lots of noise. Wherever turkeys or elk are living, they leave lots of tracks and droppings. This is key to locating the animals. Also, the both sexes of both animals make lots of noise or “flock talk:” Cows mew and chirp; hens yelp and cluck.
  4. Both elk and turkeys are difficult to drop with an arrow. In other words, your arrow must be perfectly placed in the vitals. Although turkeys are much smaller, they can really take a beating. Even a pass through shot can result in a lost bird if not placed in the 4-inch vital zone or head. As for elk, they are extremely tough. Even a single-lung hit can result in a lost animal.
  5. Both bulls and toms easily become call shy after just a couple bad experiences with hunters. Both animals are hunted hard out West and they learn fast. A call-shy or over-pressured animal might respond from afar, but they mostly hang up well out of bow range. If the hen or cow that you are trying to imitate isn’t willing to come to them, then the bull or tom will eventually lose interest and leave.
  6. Both animals use alarm barks or clucks when danger is detected. Turkeys immediately erupt into high-pitched alarm clucks when they see danger. Elk make sharp alarm barks. At this point the herd goes silent and moves off rapidly. In other words, it’s game over!
  7. Both elk and turkeys go silent during mid-day. Both animals feed heavily in the morning and go through their courting rituals before bedding down. Turkeys remain more day-active than elk—feeding and traveling around—but they are mostly silent. Elk just bed down and mostly sleep during the day. Then, in the last hour or two of light, both animals become loud and animated again.
  8. Both elk and turkeys are very exciting to hunt. A big bull elk is arguably more exciting, however, when you have a big tom strutting and gobbling into your decoy, it’s sure to get you riled up! Some elk hunters scoff at the idea that turkeys are exciting, but for the dedicated turkey hunter, it’s just as fun as elk hunting.

Now that we’ve examined the various similarities between elk and turkeys, let’s take a look at the major differences.

Turkey and Elk Differences

  1. Turkeys have excellent eyesight compared to elk. Elk can’t see colors in the red spectrum, nor can they see fine detail. Instead, they are forced to rely on scent or movement to detect danger. Turkeys on the other hand, being a bird, have extremely good eyesight. They see both color and fine detail. It’s also apparent that turkeys have a much faster frame-rate than mammals, which means they process visual information faster, and therefore see in slow motion. A hunter wearing camouflage and sitting still can easily be picked off at 30 yards by a turkey, where an elk won’t detect the hunter until he’s practically eyeball-to-eyeball.
  2. As mentioned before, elk rely on scent whereas turkeys don’t seem to use scent detection at all. This means a tom turkey can approach from any direction, but an elk must always be hunted with a favorable wind direction.
  3. Elk have a much larger kill zone than a turkey. The vital kill zone of an elk is almost the same size as an entire turkey (about 12 inches), whereas a turkey has a kill zone the size of a softball. Turkeys also move around a lot, which means they are much harder to hit with an arrow. Basically an archer needs to take his effective range (the distance where he can hit an 8-inch paper plate with every arrow) and divide it by two in order to be effective on turkeys.
  4. Elk leave much heavier blood trails and tracks than a turkey. A well-hit turkey can travel very long distances while leaving little to no sign to follow. Turkeys bleed very little and are nearly impossible to track without snow or mud. A poorly hit elk, on the other hand, will usually leave lots of blood and deep hoof tracks. Sure, elk are tough, but you can generally track them for much longer distances.
  5. There are far fewer turkeys than elk available to hunt. In Utah there are about 85,000 elk, but only 30,000 turkeys. That’s almost a 3-to-1 ratio. Although there is less demand for turkeys, you still might have a harder time locating turkeys.
  6. Aside from the major differences listed above, here are a few other differences:  a) Turkeys sleep during the night; elk sleep during the day, b) Turkeys have a much smaller home range compared to elk, and c) elk rut in the fall while turkeys rut in spring, mostly.

Conclusion

On the surface, turkeys and elk might seem like completely opposite animals. But hunting them can be very similar. Hopefully the above comparisons will help you transition between the two animals. The majestic bull elk are considered by most hunters to be the most exciting animal to pursue out West, but any dedicated turkey hunter will argue that the lowly thanksgiving bird ranks right up there with him.

Archery Basics

Eye Dominance in Archery

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Dominant Eye and Archery

Occasionally I have a beginner student consistently missing wide of the bullseye. At first it appears they’re doing everything correctly, however it quickly becomes apparent that the person is aiming with the wrong eye. Even after pointing this out, he keeps shooting with the wrong eye, or the eye that’s farthest from the arrow.

Knowing which of eye is dominant is imperative to accuracy in archery. If you try aiming with your the wrong eye, the target won’t be in the right place.

When I first hand out bows, I hand them out according to a person’s dominant hand (left or right-handedness). But some people have an opposite eye dominance. They write and throw a ball with their right hand, but they are left-eye dominant. How do you correct for this? Is it better to shoot a left-handed bow?

The answer is NO.

No matter which eye is dominant, you should still shoot with your dominant hand. Your dominant hand is your release hand, or the one that controls the arrow, string, and the final release. This means that you’ll shoot more accurately and naturally using your dominant hand.

Fortunately you can easily train yourself to aim and shoot with your non-dominant eye.

The Fix

One fix is to simply close your non-shooting eye. This will immediately force you to aim with the correct eye. However, shooting with one eye closed is not recommended. Keeping both eyes open gives you a better sight picture and allows you to see depth and distance more accurately.

Eye patch method for fixing eye-dominance problems in archery.

A better method is to wear an eye patch (temporarily) over your non-shooting eye. Yes, you will look like an archery pirate for a while, but in a short amount of time you’ll train yourself to shoot with the eye that matches your shooting hand.

What is Eye Dominance?

Your dominant eye is the one that sends the most information to your brain. It tends to be the eye that gets the most use. Some people have one eye that is much more dominant than the other, while others have an eye that is only slightly more dominant. You can find out which of your eyes is the dominant one using a simple at-home test.

Testing for Eye Dominance

The Miles Test, described below, is considered to be a good indicator of eye dominance:

  1. Extend your arms in front of you with your palms facing away.
  2. Bring your hands together, forming a small hole by crossing the thumbs and forefingers.
  3. Choose a small object about 15-20 feet away from you. With both eyes open, focus on the object as you look through the small hole.
  4. Close one eye and then the other. When you close one eye, the object will be stationary. When you close the other eye, the object should disappear from the hole or jump to one side.
  5. If the object does not move when you cover one eye, then that eye is dominant. The eye that sees the object and does not move is the dominant eye.
Determine eye dominance using the test mentioned above.

Final Thoughts

Although it is possible for a right-handed person to learn how to shoot a left-handed bow, it is much more natural (and more accurate) to learn to shoot with your non-dominant eye. If you are wondering where to get an eye patch, just look to your local pharmacy.

Zen Hunting

How to Blood Trail Wounded Animals

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Blood-Trailing Wounded Animals

Sooner or later every bowhunter will have to deal with a poorly hit animal. An ethical hunter must do whatever it takes to follow-up and recover wounded game. Arrow-hit deer rarely go down immediately, so every hunter needs to understand the basics of  blood-trailing. In this article we’ll look at some tips and tactics for tracking wounded deer.

An arrow kills a deer differently than a bullet. Bullets rely more on shock and devastating tissue damage, whereas an arrow kills either by massive blood loss due to arterial damage, or through asphyxiation by deflating the lungs.

A third and much less effective method is septic shock. Septic shock, or blood poisoning, is the result of gut-shot animals slowly dying as their stomach contents and bacteria gradually overwhelm the blood stream. Basically the deer dies from a full-body infection over the course of several hours or even days. Oftentimes the animal is lost because it bleeds very little and covers lots of ground.

Give it some Time

Unless the animal goes down within sight, you need to give it some time to die. Even if you’re confident in a heart or lung shot, you should still wait a half hour minimum before tracking.

If you suspect a gut shot, wait at least two or three hours before tracking, and then proceed very cautiously while glassing ahead. If it’s very cold out, it would be probably be fine to leave it over night.

Whatever you do, don’t go barreling in on the deer. Arrow-shot deer sometimes don’t realize they’ve been hit and will only run a short distance before bedding down. You do not want to bump the animal, but if you are able to stalk close enough, try to get a second arrow in the animal to put it out of its misery.

Weather Factors

You do not want to leave a mortally hit animal sitting for several hours in hot weather. Even a marginally hit animal will slow down and stiffen up within a few hours, so possibly bumping him is still better than letting the whole animal spoil overnight. Just use your best judgment based on the conditions you’re dealing with.

In rainy or snowy weather you should hasten your tracking job. Water will quickly wash away any blood, and snow can cover it up.

Where to Start

Immediately following your shot, mark the spot you shot from with orange tape, and then mark the place where the deer was standing. Next, see if you can find your arrow and inspect it carefully. Bright red, bubbly blood is usually lungs. Any green smears or foul smells indicates stomach, and very dark blood can anything from muscle to heart or liver. Heart shots are obvious as they tend to bleed profusely.

Once you’ve determined the quality of your hit, try to pick up the blood trail. The secret to successful animal recovery is moving slowly, as if you are still-hunting. Make very little noise and glass ahead frequently. If at all possible, move with a favorable wind.

While blood-tracking, plan on following both blood and tracks. Sometimes a deer will bleed completely internally, in which case you will rely more on tracking than blood-trailing. Fortunately running deer tend to leave very deep and obvious tracks accompanied by torn-up ground.

Inevitably you’ll get stuck with a very sparse or problematic blood-trailing job. If the blood trail is very light, you should follow these guidelines:

Tips for Following Sparse Blood Trails

  1. Don’t step on or disturb any blood specks or tracks. You may have to return back to these clues later on.
  2. Continually mark the blood trail as you go, either with a GPS, orange tape, or toilet paper. By keeping track of the trail you may be able to determine the general direction the buck is headed.
  3. In places where you are unable to see tracks, you can still determine the direction of travel by reading blood splashes: they always splash forward. If the blood trail is sparse, you can tell the direction of travel by which side of the grass the blood is on.
  4. In the evening you might have to track faster. It’s much harder to trail a buck in the dark, but if you must just be sure to have a very bright flashlight. This will not only help you locate more sign, but will light up the deer’s glowing eyes far ahead so you don’t bump him further.
  5. If the trail runs cold, consider enlisting the help of a blood-trailing dog. Dogs trained to follow blood trails are becoming a popular method for recovering wounded game. Once the deer goes down, it won’t last long sitting in the field, so consider getting the dog handlers contact information before the hunt.
  6. If you lose the trail completely, you will have to employ a “grid-search” beginning where the last sign disappeared. At this point you should be able to “guestimate” the deer’s general direction of travel. Use your GPS to keep track of everywhere you’ve been and where you haven’t. Because you are now on a timer, grid-searching should be done with as many helpers as possible.

Final Thoughts

Contrary to popular belief, wounded animals don’t go directly to water, nor do they run directly downhill. Rather their first inclination is to put as much distance between you and them as possible. Given enough time the animal will eventually seek out water, but don’t count on it.

As for direction of travel, I’ve seen mortally wounded animals run uphill or downhill. But more often they side-hill or slant downhill over very long distances. Once again, every shot situation is different, so use your best judgment.

On rare occasion a deer that seems mortally hit will escape and make a full recovery. This happens a lot with high hits in “no-man’s-land,” as it’s sometimes called. Other times the arrow may have only contacted muscle tissue. Either way, you’ll likely never catch up to the animal. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try; it just means there are times when you must throw in the towel. Only experience can tell you how to proceed.

Archery Basics

Extending Your Effective Range

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Extending Your Effective Range with Compound Bows

Let’s say you’ve mastered the fundamentals of archery, but you’re stuck with an effective shooting range of 50 yards. Any farther and you begin to miss the 9-inch bullseye. At this point, how do you extend your range?

Extending your effective range starts with shooting a flatter arrow trajectory (reducing the arc of the arrow). There are only three ways to do this.

#1.  Increase Draw Weight

First, you need to transfer more energy to your arrow by increasing your bow’s draw weight. Assuming your bow isn’t maxed out already, you can increase draw weight by simply tightening down the limb bolts. Depending on your bow, this will increase draw weight by 3-4 pounds per full turn. Just be sure to tighten both limb bolts equally or it will mess up your tuning.

#2.  Reduce Arrow Weight

The second way to flatten arrow trajectory is by reduce your arrow weight. This should only be considered if your arrows are already overweight for the game you’re hunting. For example, you wouldn’t want to go below 400 grains (total arrow weight) for deer, or 450 grains for elk. If you’re strictly a target shooter, then you can go as light as you want. However, going too light can be hard on your bow because not enough energy is transferred to the arrow.

Now, the only way to reduce arrow weight is by using lighter points, lighter fletchings, and/or shortening your arrows. In most cases it would be best to start with a brand new set arrows from your preferred manufacturer. Look for an arrow with a low GPI (grains per inch). Lighter arrows are generally rated around 8.0 GPI or less.

#3.  Super Tune Your Bow

The third way to flatten arrow trajectory is by super-tuning your bow. Tuning improves arrow flight by removing slight deviations  in your setup, resulting in more efficient arrow flight. The longer it takes for an arrow to straighten out in flight, the more energy is lost due to air friction. Too much wobble also decreases arrow penetration.

Super-tuning starts with a good paper tuning. This involves adjustments to your arrow rest and/or nocking point. Throughout this process you may need to adjust your bow’s cam timing or cam lean. These adjustments require the use of a bow press, so unless you have the one it would be best left to a professional.

Additional Methods

Aside from flattening your arrow trajectory, there are a few other ways to increase accuracy. They include:

  • Regularly practice shooting at very long distances. This makes shorter distances much easier.
  • Practice “surprise release” drills. This is especially important for people struggling with target panic.
  • Shoot smaller diameter arrows that are more wind resistant.
  • Consider using a one-pin sight. Single pin sights provide better target visibility, especially at longer distances.
  • If you are shooting an older bow, consider upgrading to a newer, faster bow, preferably with two cams. Single-cam bows tend to shoot slower because they don’t transfer as much energy as modern two-cam “speed bows.”

Conclusion

There you have it, everything you need to expand your effective range. With today’s fast-shooting, dual-cam bows you don’t have to sacrifice speed or energy to get a flat-shooting arrow. Just make sure your bow is finely tuned.

When it comes to hunting, shot placement is more critical than speed or kinetic energy. Shot placement means putting the arrow in the precise kill zone for maximum damage.

Above all, make each arrow count during your practice sessions. Always shoot for quality over quantity.

Zen Hunting

Confidence is Key to Hunting Success

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Confidence in Hunting

A trophy hunter believes he can do it, and not in some cliché way. He actually believes he possesses all the right skills to find and arrow a giant deer. He trusts his decisions afield. He hunts in a relaxed manner while drawing from years of experience and a deep understanding of his prey. On any given day he expects to locate the biggest buck in the area. Having a couple big mounts on the wall back home certainly helps to boost his confidence.

One tenet in business is that success breeds success. Successful entrepreneurs often share a familiar story:  It takes years of work and many failures to earn their first million dollars, but only a short time to earn their second million. Success in any arena requires confidence.

Newbie bowhunters often struggle with confidence simply because they haven’t arrowed anything big yet. People transitioning to the bow from the gun sometimes lose confidence when they realize just how difficult it is to close the distance on a cagey old buck rather than sniping it from 600 yards across a canyon.

During my first bowhunt, after spooking several bucks out of bow range, I remember looking down at my 80s-model hand-me-down bow and feeling completely helpless. What I didn’t realize was that I was learning a lot about deer behavior with every encounter. The next season I arrowed a little 4×4 buck that had me brimming with confidence.

Hunting Mentors

Without confidence, you’ll continually second guess yourself. Which direction should I travel? Where should I sit in ambush? At this stage it’s helpful to have a mentor. If you don’t have a mentor, don’t despair; there are innumerable books, magazines, and online resources available that teach various hunting skills including locating, stalking, and field judging bucks.

Confidence increases as you learn about your prey and its behavior. Even before the season starts you need to get out there and put in some time scouting, tracking, and observing deer in their natural environment. The woods itself really is the best teacher. Learning how to identify big buck sign and habitat is key. No longer will you waste time in small deer habitat or nursery areas.

Before I ever bagged a real trophy buck I thought I was a decent bowhunter. It wasn’t until I went up against a true 200-incher that I realized how little I knew. Trophy bucks act completely different than smaller bucks; they really are entirely different animals. For two years I played catch up, reading everything I could find on mule deer while simultaneously spending more days afield. It finally paid off and I got my trophy. Now, when I enter the woods I truly believe I can find and harvest a trophy buck with some level of consistency.

Confidence in Archery

Confidence plays an important role in shooting skills too. You’ll be lucky to get one shot in a season, so you need to be intimately familiar with your bow. I recommend shooting your bow year-round in order to maintain your shooting muscles and maintain your effective range. Everything, from loading an arrow to drawing your bow undetected should become automatic.

Finally, confident hunters know when to pull out. What if your honey hole dries up or is overrun with other hunters? This happens all the time, so you need to have the confidence to abandon your traditional hunting area and find a brand new one.

Conclusion

When I set my annual goal to harvest a trophy, I envision a real monster buck with huge mass and wide-sweeping antlers. I am confident that at least one giant, stud-buck lives in every unit of my state. I just have to find it. I can set such lofty goals because I know I will consciously and subconsciously do things every day to reach my goal.

The difficulty inherent in bowhunting may lead you to believe that trophy deer are impossible to hunt. Sometimes we elevate these animals to mystical levels, viewing them as unhuntable specters of the woods. Big bucks might be masters of survival, but they’re still just big, stinky animals. When they bust out and fly away from us with incredible speed and majesty, they still have to go somewhere. As quickly as they disappear, they reappear somewhere else. Go out and find them. You are a good hunter; you can do it!

Uncategorized, Zen Hunting

Field Care: Quartering and Packing

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Packing out a heavy mule deer.

Quartering and Packing

In the old days hunters often avoided hunting too far from roads simply because it would be too difficult to drag the animal out if they got one. A lot has changed since then. Today, backcountry hunters quarter or bone out their meat and then pack it out in a trip or two.

Quartering means removing the skin, all four quarters, the back-straps, and whatever other parts you wish to keep, including the ribs, neck meat, liver, heart, etc.

Boning means removing meat from the bones. Boning reduces pack weight by several pounds, but this method has its drawbacks. First, boning takes time to do it correctly. Secondly, it exposes even more meat to contamination from dirt, bugs, and hair. For this reason I advise against boning meat unless absolutely necessary.

Quartering and hanging an animal is much more sensible than gutting and dragging the animal out whole. A boned-out mule deer weighs about 90 pounds and can be packed out in a single trip if necessary.

An elk is about 3.5X larger than a deer. Boned or not, an elk will take two people several trips to pack it out. Whatever the case, just be sure you have an exit plan before launching an arrow.

The basics of quartering big game can be learned from numerous video tutorials found online. Then it’s just a matter of practice.

Quartering can be a daunting or even dangerous task when performed alone, especially on slippery or uneven terrain. Until you’ve gained some experience, try to enlist some help from fellow hunters for tasks like holding legs and hanging quarters. With a little practice, it can be accomplished alone.

Temperature and Spoilage

Heat is the number one concern with meat care. Bacteria grow  exponentially on a carcass if allowed to stay warm too long. Meat begins to spoil in temperatures above 40 degrees (fridge temperature). In 90-degree weather—which coincides with many archery seasons—meat can spoil in single a day.

The higher the ambient air temperature, the greater chance of spoilage. Ambient air temperature determines how much time you have to get quarters packed out and loaded into coolers.

When daytime temperatures are above 70 degrees, the animal should be packed out within 24 hours. If daytime temperatures are  below 50 degrees, you can take your time, even several days if needed.

Other than rapidly cooling your meat, there are a couple additional ways to extend meat freshness. First, there’s a company out there that makes anti-microbial game bags. These bags can help slow bacteria spread on the surface of the meat where most  contamintatin takes place. Second, when flies are an issue, simply rub black pepper all over the surface of the meat.

Quartering Tools

Be sure to carry the right tools for quartering your animal. This includes a very sharp hunting knife with a built-in gut hook, a lightweight folding bone saw, a knife sharpener, and a 4-pack of lightweight game bags.

My favorite knife for skinning is the Outdoor Edge Swingblade. The locking blade converts to a dedicated gutting knife. Besides gutting, this extra blade easily unzips the hide and cape without cutting too much hair.

Outdoor Edge Swingblade skinning knife and gutting blade.

Some hunters prefer razor knives with replaceable blades like the Havalon models. Havalons are extremely sharp and capable of breaking down even the largest animals. But they aren’t ideal for skinning as they can easily cut through the hide.

I personally carry a small surgeon’s scalpel with cheap replaceable blades and use it in conjunction with my skinning/gutting knife. The scalpel is especially useful for caping and removing the hide from delicate facial areas.

Lightweight surgeon’s scalpel w/ replaceable blades.

Cooling Your Meat

The first step in cooling meat is to open the chest cavity and use a stick to spread the rib cage apart. Next, skin the carcass as soon as possible. The hair and hide is very good at insulating and will hold heat for a long time. An elk carcass left with the hide on can spoil even when left lying on snow.

Skinning is best accomplished systematically as you remove quarters if you’re using the “gutless method.” (See YouTube for videos on the gutless method). In this fashion, the hide is left intact and spread out on the ground as a barrier between dirt and the meat.

Once quartered and bagged, hang the meat in the shade to cool. Either hang the quarters in a tree or prop them up on rocks, logs or bushes to increase air circulation. Even in hot weather, meat will cool rapidly in the shade and will extend pack-out time.

Whenever possible hang the meat in the bottom of a valley and/or near a stream to cool overnight.

You can further cool meat by placing pre-cooled quarters in plastic garbage bags and securing the bags in a stream or river. Just make sure the sun isn’t hitting the bags as they can heat up even when submerged.

Finally, consider packing the meat out at night as this can keep both you and your meat from overheating.

Once the meat is hung you will need to figure out how many pack-out trips it’s going to take. This depends on your physical conditioning, distance, and terrain. Try to figure out how much weight you can safely carry long distances before going afield.

When dealing with trophy animals, the head, antlers and hide will add significantly more weight. You can always remove the antlers and cape from the head in the field, but take extreme care. Without adequate caping experience you could easily damage or ruin your trophy cape.

Using Pack Animals

Whenever possible try to enlist a number of friends and/or pack animals for the job. With today’s lightweight frame packs there’s practically nothing you and a couple buddies can’t pack out given enough time. The problem with backcountry hunts is that you may not have enough time to get the animal out before it spoils. This is where pack animals come in handy.

For backcountry wilderness hunts, consider hiring a horse packer. My brother once harvested a 2000 pound bison at the bottom of a snowy chasm. Retrieving his once-in-a-lifetime animal was only made possible by hiring a horse packer. It costed several hundred dollars, but was well worth the expense.

Horse packers with bison.

Another option is renting llamas or pack goats. My brother has a string of pack goats that have proven invaluable for packing elk out of the backcountry.

Having a couple horses will open up the vast wilderness to more hunting opportunities. Legendary trophy hunters like Kirt Darner and Robby Denning frequently relied on horses, not only for access, but for getting their trophies out of the backcountry.

The biggest drawback to owning pack animals is the year-round expense and maintenance involved, not to mention the burden of caring for them afield. But in my opinion, these trade-offs are tolerable if it means consistent success on trophy bucks.

Conclusion

It’s much easier to spend a couple extra days packing a critter out of some hell hole than hunting easy-access country for weeks on end without success. You just need to have an exit plan. This means being in good enough shape for an arduous pack-out, or using pack animals for the task.

Archery Basics, Zen Hunting

How to Cure Target Panic in 5 Easy Steps

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Like many archers, I’ve struggled with occasional bouts of target panic over the years. After trying just about everything to cure target panic, I’ve found that some techniques work better than others. In this article we’ll focus on the five best cures for target panic.

What is Target Panic?

What’s so scary about targets that we might panic? Target panic is a breakdown of the natural shot process caused by bad shooting habits. Simply put, it’s a fight or flight response to the pressure of hitting the bullseye. When a victim of target panic tries to acquire the bullseye, he either rushes the shot or fails to settle the pin without panicking.

What Causes Target Panic?

The worst contributor to TP is punching the trigger on a release aid. Shooting a heavy bow beyond fatigue can also lead to TP. A third contributor is mental stress from shooting competitive archery.

When an archer develops bad shooting habits (like punching the trigger), he begins to miss the bullseye. The more he misses, the more he tries to control the shot. Pretty soon this stress turns into a full-on panic. Just holding the pin on the bullseye becomes a physically impossibility. In extreme cases the archer is physically incapable of even raising his sight pin to the bullseye no matter how hard he tries.

Anyone who shoots regularly can develop target panic. Target panic is a maddening condition that wrecks ones confidence and can last for years if left untreated.

The goal of these exercises is retrain your brain not to react to a shot. This article focuses on compound shooters, but applies to traditional shooters as well.

Best Cures for Target Panic

  1. Use a back tension release. You can literally cure target panic in one day by using a back tension release aid. A back-tension release has an adjustable, hinged hook that rotates with your elbow during the shot process. As your shoulder blades squeeze together, the shot eventually breaks naturally. There is no physical way to trigger the release without pulling through the shot using your back. Unlike finger releases, the back-tension release creates a surprise release with every shot. Finger releases are great for hunting, but can cause target panic. Back tension releases are fully adjustable to your desired shot sequence. There are several good models on the market, but the one I used is called the Scott Longhorn Pro Micro.

    Scott Longhorn Pro Micro
  2. Hold on the Bullseye, then Let Down. This is a very simple, yet effective technique. It won’t cure target panic in a day, but it will gradually retrain your brain to hold on the bullseye without stress. Simply draw your bow, let the pin float on the bullseye for a few seconds, and then let down. Whatever you do, don’t shoot! Do this drill several times per session. After a week or two start releasing an arrow with every other draw. If stress creeps back into the shot, start over. Eventually you’ll be able to release the arrow without stress. It’s important not to hold the draw too long or you’ll fatigue out, which only exasperates target panic. It’s never a good idea to keep shooting after exhausting your muscles.
  3. Shoot a Giant Bullseye. Basically you create a huge bullseye out of paper or cardboard and pin it to your target. Shoot the big bullseye from just 10 yards away. Similar to blank bale shooting—where there is no bullseye—this drill is designed to take your focus off aiming, and focus instead on what a surprise release feels like. Be sure to use your back and not your fingers to trigger the release. Gradually reduce the size of the bullseye until you can shoot normally again.
  4. Shoot a Lighter-Draw Bow. A lighter bow removes all the physical stress involved with shooting. Shooting a very heavy-to-draw bow creates physical stress and can lead to target panic. Basically as you fatigue out your mind gets anxious to get rid of the stress. Pretty soon you’re rushing the shot instead of pulling through smoothly. During the off-season I switch to a bow that’s 15 pounds lighter than my hunting bow. I did this initially to save my shoulder, but it has the added benefit of letting me shoot longer sessions without fatigue.
  5. Use a Longer Stabilizer. A long stabilizer on the front of your bow creates resistance to movement at full draw. The longer the stabilizer, the less movement. This is why you see tournament archers with ridiculously long stabilizers protruding three or four feet in front of their bows. For our purposes you’ll do just fine with a 12-inch stabilizer. A person struggling with target panic is prone to quick, jerky movements towards the bullseye. A long stabilizer resists these movements. Once you settle the pin on the bullseye, it stays longer. Whichever stabilizer you choose, just make sure the weight is out front. You don’t want a big, bulky stabilizer that will just add more weight to your bow. The B-Stinger is a great option and even comes with extra weights for customization. Or you could always make your own out of an old carbon arrow and weights found on eBay.

    A stabilizer measureing 12″ or more, and with front weights, will your bow help you stay on target.

A Final Note

The goal of these exercises is to relearn how draw to a relaxed state of mind and body. There are three ways to help you do this. First, don’t hold your breath. Archers oftentimes hold their breath when they draw, but that just adds more stress to the shot. Second acquire the bullseye quickly. Moving your pin slowly to the bullseye creates anticipation. And third, tell yourself it’s okay to miss. Miss on purpose if you have to, but teach your brain that it’s okay to miss occasionally.

Conclusion

If you’ve implemented these five steps then congratulations, you’re cured! If not, start over. Most archers will struggle with bouts of target panic now and then, but don’t panic, it’s easily cured.

You can avoid future bouts by practicing proper shooting techniques. Always strive to use your back muscles and have a surprise release with every shot. Avoid shooting a heavy bow beyond the point of fatigue. Instead use a light-draw bow with a long stabilizer during the off-season. A heavy bow turns archery a high stress activity when it should be fun and relaxing.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions and happy shooting.

Zen Hunting

Squirrels: The Bowhunter’s Nemesis

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A Real Threat to Bowhunters

I’ll never forget. Ten years ago I rounded a large fir tree and spotted a 180-class buck bedded in some deadfall at thirty yards and facing directly away from me. But before I could even pull an arrow, a nearby squirrel lit up with a world-class barking fit. The buck instantly stood up and walked into the deep woods without offering a shot. Since then, I’ve had innumerable stalks thwarted by these cursed tree rats, some ending entire seasons in failure by a single squirrel.

Aside from using other deer as sentinels, big bucks use a myriad of other forest creatures for safety too. As you travel through the woods you might notice that squirrels, chipmunks, and a variety of birds are continually announcing your presence. They do this to warn their own species of danger, but the deer pick up on their calls and use them to their advantage. Big bucks, especially, are completely aware of their surrounding and pick notice anything out of the ordinary.

How Deer Use Squirrels

If you’ve had the chance to observe many deer in the deep woods, then you’ve probably noticed that every time a squirrel fires up, the deer will stop whatever he’s doing and stare in that direction. Squirrels don’t bark randomly; there’s always a threat, even if it’s just another squirrel in their territory. Either way, if you agitate a squirrel, then just know that any deer within earshot is now looking for danger. Conversely, squirrels bark at deer as well as people. Several times I’ve found deer in places where I’ve heard a squirrel fire up. So don’t be afraid to investigate random squirrel barks.

Like elk, big bucks enjoy the security of bedding in thick, over-grown conifer forests. The problem with conifers is the abundance of squirrels and chipmunks that inhabit them. Like most animals, squirrels are territorial. Long ago I noticed that the whole conifer forest is gridded in squirrel territory. When you leave one barking squirrel behind, you’ll likely run into another and another as you move through the woods.

Squirrels aren’t too noisy early season, but it gets progressively worse in September as the squirrels begin to amass food stores (pinecones) for winter. In my neck of the woods, August 25th is the beginning of mayhem.

Chipmunks Too?!

If you have an abundance of chipmunks in your area, you might notice they’re equally bad, erupting with a myriad of alarming noises that deer pick up on. One time I stumbled upon a crabby 4×4 buck feeding off a trail at 15 yards. Immediately, a cantankerous chipmunk situated between us erupted into a machine gun-like, high-pitched chirping fit. The buck stopped feeding and spent the next five minutes scanning the woods for danger. Eventually he marched nervously away. Just last year my eight-hour, once-in-a-lifetime mountain goat stalk was nearly blown by a single chipmunk who threw an alarming fit in a nearby tree.

Knowing that squirrels and chipmunks are such threats to bowhunting success, what do you do? I’ve tried everything, but here are a few tried-and-true techniques that might help you.

Squirrel Avoidance Techniques

Unless you are sitting in a fixed ambush position, your best strategy is to just get up and move. Once out of sight, squirrels will soon shut up and go about their business. Fortunately, not all squirrels are bad. Some will even allow your presence, like if they’re too busy gathering pinecones to notice you.

A second option is to wait the squirrel out. Squirrels will generally bark for 30 minutes or less, during which time no deer will enter the area, guaranteed. After 30 minutes squirrels will tire out and go back to their business. Another effective technique is to walk directly towards the squirrel’s tree. Most squirrels will get nervous as you approach and shut up—but not always. Some just get louder! Fortunately chipmunks are more skittish and scare easily.

As a last resort, feel free to shoot the wretched beast. You don’t necessarily have to kill him, just whiz an arrow past his head. When he realizes he’s in danger, he’ll likely run off. For this reason, I always carry a cheap, aluminum “squirrel arrow” in my quiver—because you’re not likely to get your arrow back; believe me, I’ve shot at a lot of squirrels. My Spanish name is actually Squirlero! Okay, it’s not, but it should be.

Again, it depends on the squirrel you’re shooting at. Some just climb higher and bark louder. For this reason, a more lethal method might be in order. I know one hunter who carries a lightweight BB pistol in his pack…just in case.

Conclusion

If you hunt long enough, you’ll inevitably have an entire hunt go down the toilet thanks to a random tree rat. So be prepared by using the aforementioned squirrel-avoidance techniques. On a side note, I’ve actually eaten more squirrels than the average person. It was a long time ago, but eat them I did. They’re actually quite tasty; like chicken but with a nutty overtone. Bon appétit!

Archery Basics

How to Estimate Distance without a Rangefinder

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How to Judge Distance without a Rangefinder

To Range or Not to Range

A laser rangefinder is an absolute necessity for compound bow shooters. Whenever possible I implore you to range the distance of any animal. This is especially important over flat ground and long distances.

That being said, all bowhunters must learn to judge distance without the aid of a rangefinder. When hunting in heavy timber, bucks can appear and disappear quickly, so you need to be ready for fast action. The majority of my trophies were taken on the fly with no time to range. Learning to judge distance without a rangefinder is something that can be easily practiced at home. Here are some techniques.

Practice Makes Perfect

Set your target in the weeds at an unknown distance, and then shoot from random yardages without ranging. After your first shot, verify the distance with your rangefinder. Do this exercise at every practice session and your distance-judging abilities will increase rapidly.

When you’re hunting in the woods you can take advantage of the vast amount of downtime by guessing random yardages of distant trees or rocks, and then verifying the distance with your rangefinder. This is both a fun and productive way to kill time afield.

Another exercise is to figure out the farthest distance you can throw a fist-size rock (it’s usually 40-50 yards). In the field, ask yourself if you could hit a certain object with a rock. Your brain already knows, through muscle memory, how far you can throw a rock, so you can pretty much gauge whether or not you could hit something with a rock by just looking at it. Then use that estimation as a reference. This method is surprisingly accurate.

Judging distance can be especially difficult over longer distances and flat ground. In these situations try using the twenty-yard addition method. You already know what 20 yards looks like, so you can figure out longer distances by finding a spot 20 yards away, and then another spot 20 yards beyond that until you reach your target. Keep adding 20-yards until you reach the target. It works!

Archery Basics, Zen Hunting

Bowhunting Top 10 Tips for 2021

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Bowhunting Top Ten Tips for 2021

In reviewing notes for my last 25 years of bowhunting, I decided to compile a list of my ten tips for bowhunting success.

  1. Hunt where the deer are, not where you want them to be. Use the off-season to study, scout, and explore promising new areas. Always have multiple areas for opportunities.
  2. Be a wilderness athlete. At the very least maximize your physical fitness—especially cardio—so you can actually make it to where the deer are. Minimize your body weight and field gear so you can go farther and  move with stealth.
  3. Learn everything about your prey. Study books, videos, and actual deer behavior. Become obsessed with the daily lives of deer, not just hunting.
  4. Avoid people at all costs (it gets harder every year). Deer hate people more than anything! As a rule, you need to put as much energy into avoiding people as you do hunting. Nothing good ever lasts, and eventually you will lose your secret spot to the crowds. So be adaptable and mobile, ready to cut your losses and find a new area at any time.
  5. Maximize time afield. Hunting is equal parts skill, luck, and time. The longer you hunt, the higher your chance of finding or lucking into a big buck. Spending a more time afield is the only way to attain the experience you’ll need to hone your hunting skills.
  6. Scout effectively. Whenever possible, locate your target buck before the season starts. Off-season scouting begins the day your hunt ends.
  7. Get as close as possible, and then let things play out naturally. Rarely can you force the situation with big bucks. They are extremely wary and fragile. Hunt them on their turf and on their schedule. Success is simply the result of many good decisions plus time and luck.
  8. Flawless shot execution. Shooting your bow must be effortless and subconscious. If you can’t shoot straight under pressure then nothing you’ve done up to this point matters.
  9. Hunt alone. The ultimate goal in bowhunting is not to even exist., to become invisible to the deer. Hunting alone reduces your scent, sound, and visibility. More importantly it allows you to focus on your instincts and innate skills rather than hunting by committee.
  10. Be eternally open-minded and humble. Great hunters learn something new every single day they spend afield. The moment you become an “expert” is the moment you stop learning.

I hope you enjoyed my tips. Did I miss anything?