TOPIC: DeerHunting 2012

rootman,

Glad to help.

PS... the backtension relesae will be a struggle to get a handle on at first.

Once you are used to just punching a trigger when you are ready to shoot, it can be very difficult to get over that.

But that is where the large majority of shooting problems come in. You are all right (aiming) up to the point that your brain has to say, OK now pull the trigger. Then - MAN - the jerks and flinches can sure set in, and pulling a trigger can also cause follow thru issues too. Your body will react in various ways that adversly affect the shot, unless the shot itself is a complete suprise (while aiming intently).

The official term for the flenching and jerking that often happens is \"Target Panic\".

Few people posess the abilty (control) to squeeze a \"trigger\" every time until it goes off..
Especially when the pressure is on (like a sudden death shoot off) to determine the winner from a tie.
Or when there are 500-600 folks watching you in a indoor competition.

He may struggle with that back tension release, but if he will stick with it, until he masters it, it will give him the edge that he needs to really compete. If a man has the ability to aim (very low wobble) and can eliminate the target panic - you got a good part of it whipped. The rest is really just working on consistency. You have to be able to do it the same way (exactly) over and over and over again (even when you get tired) so being in good shape helps.

When I was competing I could do 50 one arm push ups (just like Rocky)

Below is a pic of a couple of releases... the very old black one is a stanie that I won hundreds of tournaments with. The blue one is a newer release (well was in 1992) called a gorilla. I shot a IBO tournament up in Indiana (best I remember) and was competing with Randy Ulmer - and he was shooting a gorilla then. So I bought one to try it out.

It is nice - it has a trigger - but when you push the triggger in - it does not go off - but it does off when you release the trigger. So it sort of changes the game a little. Can help with TP some. I never liked it as well as the old stannie though.

Another thing that can help with TP is another form of backtension shooting - using a clicker device. If you watch the olympic archery, many of them use clickers. Basically they draw back, and this clicker device rest on the arrow and when you draw it back the final 1/8 inch or so, past the tip of the arrow it makes a clicking noise - and then you release.

I was using a clicker when I shot those 5 arrows in a 5\" group at 100 yards and I used a type of clicker in most of my 3D unmarked distance bowhunter competition too.

Best of luck with the shooting...

TNhunter

Thanks Tn,

And if anyboby else on here wants to shoot competetion listen to what TN is saying.

rootman

I can't wait for some treestand time! Going out to Illinios for a bowhunt this fall. A trip out west every fall is where my seng procedes go. Hunting is aweful here in Vermont.

I'm on my 4th season with the bow. I've not taken a deer with it yet, however appreciate the being out there and the hunt. that's 75% of for me anyway, that being on the hunt. I always like the hunting more than the killing... and having said that, venison is sure good to eat.

Last year I saw lots of deer that were out of range. I shot twice during bow season, one that I never should have loosed, however that buck was too nice not to try... even tho he was out of my range. I missed on the doe that ventured near.

This year will be different...

Pretty interesting reading on the bow competitions, guys.

Whitjr, good luck this year. I teach bow hunter ed, and one thing I teach is to know your effective range. Take care to make good ethical shots and not let those big racks get the best of you. There is nothing worse than loosing one. I've lost two. One w/ a bow and one with a gun. Those sleepless night afterward get ya shortening your yardage. I can dime the heck out of targets at 40 yards, but I don't shoot at a live deer at much over 30 and sometimes even limit to even less, like on a windy day. I passed up a world class mulie in Wyoming on a relativly short shot w/ a gun. It was blowing hard that day and I had about 6-8 seconds to make a decission. I passed but I don't regret not taking the shot.

Your time will come, think hard about stand placement so you can have that short chip shot. Good luck this fall.

Been hunting deer for a very long time, and I am with you about the ethical shots. I, too, have passed on deer that I didn't think I could down effectivly.

I got three last year, however none with the bow.

Whitjr...

After you do kill a deer with a bow... you might just decide to hang that rifle & muzzleloader up.

I did for 10+ years... hunted with nothing but bow & arrow. When it gets really cold and you have to wear more bulky stuff to stay warm - that makes the bowhunting a little difficult, but I did it - hunted thru rifle season into late winter with bow.

I have only killed around 60 deer with rifle/muzz... but near 200 with bow/arrow.

There is definately a big difference in the thrill of it. Once you get used to that with a bow, the big guns are sort of a let down in comparison.

Hope you get some good close shots at a nice buck this year. And for some good eating - get one of those 60-70 lb yearling doe's...

Good Luck !

TNhunter

Was out checking the bilnds last weekend. I've got several areas of downfall from some of the bad weather last winter. That stuff makes perfect ground blinds, especially if located in the woods near a cornfield or bean field.

I found one area about 5 - 10 feet inside the woods. It's on the edge of a cornfield. There's about a dozen stripped corncobs dropped there. And, a certain deer trail leading into and away from the cornfield. I've got a blind set into some downed big tree limbs that are 6 -8 \" in diameter. It's perfect, only about 20 yards away.

Been scouting a lot, really, and where I had a nice overlook into a field, the farmer has decided to harvest everything, and come back with rye. Should be a great late season hunt there.

I'm really looking forward to it! Can ya tell?

Whitjr wrote:

I'm on my 4th season with the bow. I've not taken a deer with it yet, however appreciate the being out there and the hunt. that's 75% of for me anyway, that being on the hunt. I always like the hunting more than the killing... and having said that, venison is sure good to eat.

Last year I saw lots of deer that were out of range. I shot twice during bow season, one that I never should have loosed, however that buck was too nice not to try... even tho he was out of my range. I missed on the doe that ventured near.

This year will be different...

Pretty interesting reading on the bow competitions, guys.

Whitjr,

Don't give up, you will eventually get a deer then you will be hooked!

I got a late start in life to bow hunting! It was 1985 and I was 32 years old when I took up the sport in West Virginia. I had problems the first year and tried out several bows...mostly older ones. Although I could hit the targets everytime, deer fever or whatever would take over when I took a shot at a deer in the woods. Lots of misses! I believe at times, the deer fever or whatever you want to call it, causes us to unconsciously squeeze the grip and torque the bow (to not \"V\" the grip as we should) when shooting at a deer. When it comes to great Bow Hunting and great Archery Shooting, I found two things that you must do. First, you must find a bow that you are comfortable with from the first time you pick it up until you retire it and Second, after all of the practicing for Bow Season, you need to get out and shoot a shotgun or rifle (go Dove Hunting, skeet or trap shooting or just target shooting at the Range) to work out the Bow Hunting or Pre-Hunt jitters. The story below is how it happened for me and I took a lot of deer over a 16 year period before arthritis, carpal tunnel and pinched nerves in my' neck ended my compound or traditional bow shooting.

In 1986, I attended a Divorce Auction at the Sheriff's Office the first day of Bow Season and came out of the woods by noon to get to the auction. Although I was looking for a new deer rifle, I ended up bidding on and winning an Oneida Eagle H-500 Bow. I took the bow to a local sporting goods shop to get it tuned-up but the Bow Tech nearly destroyed the bow since he was unfamiliar with these hybrid compound/recurve/lever bows. I went home and called Oneida Labs Inc. and ordered a manual for my' new bow (actually it was built in 1983) and learned how to tune it up and do all of the maintenance myself. Since they sent me both the bow manual and a repair manual, I was able to learn all of the ins and outs of my' H-500 and other Oneida Eagle Bows. I practiced for two weeks and the bow just felt so comfortable to me, that it felt like an extension to my' arms (this is what you want in a bow)! On my first day off after practicing the two weeks with the bow, I headed to the woods. I was halfway to a treestand (about one and a half miles in) in the National Forest when I noticed a big Doe feeding in the brush to my right some 35 yards away. I turned, drew the bow and when she stepped into a clear area, I let the arrow fly. The arrow hit her squarely behind the shoulder, penetrating the lungs and severing several arteries to her' heart. She ran about 30 yards and crashed onto a pile of brush in an Apple Orchard. After taking this Doe, I hardly ever missed another deer and took many over the years, including some nice Bucks. The very next year (1987), I ordered a new string and cables as well as an upgrade for my' bow from Oneida Labs Inc. and had a long discussion with one of the bow builders. They were so impressed with my knowledge of the Bows, that they made me a Factory Authorized Repairman for Oneida Eagle Bows for the Northern West Virginia area. Although, Oneida Labs Inc. changed names and owners a few times over the years and was bought out by C.P. Oneida Eagle Bows in the early 2000's, I am still on their' Call List as a Repairman.

Good luck, be safe and great shooting and Bow Hunting!


Frank

we start Oct. 6th here. How bout all of you? We had a few nights in the 30's the past week, I think my neck is starting to swell!!