montanagal........
a woman's voice
Bow Hunting, page 2
OUT THERE WITH THE ANIMALS
When you spot your first big buck, you heart starts pounding. Your breathing quickens, and you are sure the animal can hear you, chances are he can, his hearing is very acute. There is no way you can stop this from happening. When this happens to me, I try to wait it out, but most of the time, the buck is aware of your presence, so there isn't any reason to even try to get that one. After sighting about 15 or 20 tho, as I have, the physical reactions change. I am now ready, and steady.
KNOW YOUR GAME
Here we have the option of hunting whitetail, mule deer, elk, bear, and moose, if you have won the 'moose lottery'. We have spent many days and evenings watching the game around here in the off season. One of the benefits of bow hunting is that your season is usually before the gun season, and the game isn't as aggitated by all the extra activity in the woods. The drawback is if you have a late summer, it is too hot to hunt, and the meat may spoil before you can get it quartered and frozen, canned, or however you like to prepare it.
Learning the various signs of the game will help you when you scout for your site where you plan on hunting. This will not be a problem for me this year, we live on 20 acres, and all the game we will have tags for are known to be here, or cross thru certain areas of our property.
Some of the things we look for are 'scrapes' where the buck will rub his anters on a tree trunk during the 'rutting' (mating) season. The most obvious sign will be spoor or tracks, which you can tell after a little bit of time, the amount of time that has passed since the animal came through the area. You can also look for evidence of hair on barbwire fences and antler sheds (evidence of the animals survival through the winter).
MORE ON PRACTICE
With bow hunting you have to get within 60 yards (or way less for me) in order to get a good shot, Anything over that and you will most likely fall victim to wind or poor aim. If you practice in any weather, you can see the effect of wind and rain on the arrows trajectory, as well as the discomfort you will feel. A mistake I made in a previous year was not to practice during the cold weather, when I was wearing more heavy and definitely bulky clothing. Face it, it is not the same trying to stand on a tree stand, where you platform is very limited, and wearing 20 pounds of clothing and safety equipment.
