Try something different—and fun!—during the summer off-season. by Clint Stone   At its heart, bowfishing is fun. Modern bowhunters have turned venal as day traders, if the fascination with slams and draconian quality deer management schemes is any indication. So it has become necessary while selling the idea of bowfishing to appeal to readers’ logic or, perhaps, to some Calvinistic-like principle. There’s the obligatory bit about keeping the shooting eye sharp and string-tugging muscles toned. The author would also be remiss for failing to reveal that carp (the most popular bowfishing target) are a non-native, invasive species, directly competing with desirable game fish, rendering bowfishing a guilt-free enterprise. All of this is true, but at its heart bowfishing is simply fun. Hoot and holler, smoke a cigar (only to keep mosquitoes away, of course), share the adventure with friends, or, better yet, bring the entire family, tikes included. Hardy Asian carp manage to live in waters uninhabitable by more discriminating fish, meaning they’re seldom difficult to locate. I’ve shot them from desert lakes to mountain trout streams, though there’s more to bowfishing than carp. Depending on location, targets of opportunity might include native non-game buffalofish, suckers, gars, or ocean sheephead and stingrays. With more imagination bowfishing can assume big-game dimensions, trophies such as paddlefish (Midwest), alligator gar (South), shark (Louisiana), or alligators (Florida), which all provide unique challenges and bragging-size prizes. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Bowfishing can literally turn into year-round sport, but the best time for easy, nonstop shooting is normally during the spring carp spawn. From April through June, depending on latitude and altitude, carp invade the shallows of river riffles and side channels, lake and reservoir bays, even municipal pond storm drains and feeds. They splash and wallow in shin-deep water, sometimes flopping onto shore during their heedless frolicking. Carp are easily approached while spawning and often present “flock-shooting” ease. Summer bowfishermen are rewarded by patiently stalking or poling shallows or shelves for feeders. Consult area conservation officers for hotspot tips and rules of engagement in your state. At its most basic, bowfishing involves donning waders or old duds and jumping right in—an approach especially welcomed during hot summer months. Shooting from a boat is fun and sometimes more profitable, but not absolutely necessary in most waters. You’ll need some basic gear, first a bow that you won’t mind getting wet and muddy. The inherent resistance of water and the heavy scales and bone of “trash fish” calls for heavy fish arrows, normally something weighing 1,500-plus grains. This, in turn, calls for an arrow rest designed to accommodate that extra weight, plus barbed points to keep fish from sliding off an arrow after a hit. The arrow is attached to stout cord, stored and paid out smoothly from a bowfishing reel, that also allows retrieving your arrow (and fish) after the shot. Bowfishing accessories come in various styles, price points, and function. Any old bow serves as a bowfishing platform, but specially designed bowfishing bows often prove more viable. These are compounds with non-corrosive hardware and specialty, smooth-drawing cams, or metal-handled recurves with necessary accessory taps. Compound designs allow more deliberate aiming, and more power for shooting into deeper water or at the biggest targets (most notably from boats). Recurve designs are best for shooting in shallow water or where a quick-draw is needed for moving targets, like when wading for spawning carp. While bowfishing arrows are pretty standard—heavy solid fiberglass, fancy models with carbon or aluminum sheaths—points come in more variety. This is a matter of price verses ease of use and durability. For casual shooting, especially in soft-mud bottoms, budget-priced points work fine, but removing fish from arrows is normally more time-consuming. More expensive tips are typically more durable—important when shooting near rock or stumps—and include designs that make removing fish fast and trouble-free. All fish arrows should be equipped with an AMS Safety Slide that keeps the retrieval line safe from tangles and potentially dangerous bounce-backs. Reels are the biggest variable in price and function. The inexpensive drum reel stores hand-wound line on an open, large-diameter spool, which attaches to the bow via stabilizer mount or tape-on feet. They get the job done in shallow waters where ranges are intimate, but involve slower retrieval and added bulk or weight. Mid-priced, stabilizer-mounted, close-faced spinning reels offer extra-fast arrow retrieval after misses, drags to help fight bigger fish, and compactness. Just remember to push the “cast” button before every shot or risk losing arrows to break-offs or, worse, a dangerous arrow bounce-back. Finally, the AMS Retriever Reel includes trigger-activated rollers that stack line neatly inside a side-mounted bottle during retrieval, offering zero friction during the shot with no release buttons to push before shooting. The last bits of useful advice is to invest in quality polarized sunglasses, which help penetrate surface glare and allow you to better spot submerged targets. Remember to aim low when targets fin into view. Aiming low assures compensation for image refraction though the water. (Image refraction is akin to light bending as it passes through a prism.) Objects always appear higher than they actually are, depending on water depth and shot angle. There’s no set formula to offer. Experience is the best teacher, though a couple companies have recently introduced special bowfishing sights to tackle this phenomenon. While big-game bowhunting proves ultimately rewarding, the process itself often involves tedium or drudgery. Not so with bowfishing. From the moment you wade into cooling waters to the moment when you finally connect on your first fish, bowfishing is all about start-to-finish enjoyment.

The offseason is the time to hone your archery skills. Don't miss the buck of a lifetime because you didn't. by Mike Strandlund, Editor, Bowhunting World You’ve dreamed for years, planned for months, and spent weeks in the woods. The moment’s finally arrived: An awesome trophy buck is slinking along a trail, a boulder’s throw from your stand. With confidence built on hours of practice, you slowly raise and draw the bow. But you’re shaking with excitement, and suddenly confused. How should you aim? A pin finally settles on the shoulder, but you’re just not sure. Maybe I’ll be lucky, you think, as the arrow lurches into flight. But only your hopes die today, as you see the shaft sail harmlessly over the buck’s withers and a bowhunter’s chance of a lifetime crashes away. You can only stare after the bobbing flag in heartbreak and disbelief. For each tale of hunting glory, for each animal taken with a bow, there are a dozen stories like this. I’ve got several of my own. The first arrow I ever shot at a deer missed by three feet, even though it was an easy shot. The biggest, closest buck I’ve ever seen lost a handful of hair but not a drop of blood when my broadhead took him low in the brisket. In the first analysis, these misses are puzzling. I practice a lot, am a pretty fair shot, and shoot only within my effective range. But when you examine the factors involved in shooting an arrow at game, you begin to see the wide difference between target accuracy and hunting accuracy. The archer on a target range shoots with no pressure, in a controlled situation, and repeatedly under the same conditions. But when he faces game, it can be at any distance or angle; the archer’s physical position or mental condition may be the worst for shooting an arrow. A friend of mine who has a room full of archery trophies, who regularly shoots quarter-size groups at 20 yards, discovered this the hard way when he completely missed a standing deer at 10 paces. Keys To Bowhunting Success There are two things of paramount importance in bowhunting. The first is perseverance. It’s easy enough. You learn to enjoy (or at least endure) boring sits and grueling stalks, or you concede to second-rate success. The other crucial key is the ability to come through at the moment of truth – to make the shot. Months, even years of preparation, as well as thousands of dollars and precious vacation time may be invested in the hopes you can execute a task that takes mere seconds. Many bowhunters work so single-mindedly on getting within range of an animal that they don’t plan what to do once they get there. But preparation will maximize your chance of success at the climax of the hunt. The average bowhunter can train himself to be better than a tournament archer at scoring on game. This level of excellence is accomplished through practice that is systematic and simulates the real thing. An ambitious bowhunter must train mentally and physically, as well as gain shooting knowledge and woods wisdom, all of which will contribute to his odds of success. I Know I Can, I Know I Can Job One is mental preparation. Once an archer has a working knowledge of bow-shooting fundamentals, the most important things for consistent accuracy are control, concentration and confidence. Train yourself to focus attention and be sure of yourself in any situation – but without being cocky or careless. Your attitude should be, I know I can do this job if I give it my fullest effort. Prepare yourself to face a living, moving, ready-to-bolt target at an uncertain shooting angle. I don’t think a bowhunter ever quite gets used to it. Most archers are aware that the vital zone of a big game animal can be much harder to hit than a target of the same size, but they don’t give it enough thought. Have you ever found yourself within 20 yards of a trophy animal beyond your wildest dreams? If not, take it from a hunter who learned the hard way: Be prepared. Strandlund’s First Law of Bowhunting reads that the size of an animal’s antlers is proportional to its chances of being missed by arrows. A corollary to that law is that if the animal walks by a bowhunter who has mentally rehearsed the encounter, chances are it will take a ride in a pickup truck. If we weren’t thrilled by the approach of a game animal, we wouldn’t have much reason to hunt. But bowhunters must learn to control that excitement. First, don’t psych yourself out. You must realize it won’t kill you to blow the shot (unless you’re hunting polar bear, which requires a frame of mind that I cannot explain here). Another method for developing control is visualization. As you practice, visualize the real thing. Olympic athletes and champions in all shooting sports use this technique to rehearse mentally as well as physically. Pretend that each of your practice shots is at a trophy buck. By the time you are in a real deer-shooting situation, you’ll feel that you’ve been through it a thousand times. It will take away much of the pressure and strangeness of a close encounter with a desirable animal. To visualize, muster all your imagination and make yourself believe you are in a real hunting situation. Imagine you see the animal approach, stop, and offer only a few seconds to shoot. Raise and draw as if it might see you. Pretend that each and every arrow is your only shot at that buck of a lifetime. If you do it right, you can simulate the pressure you’ll experience in an actual hunting situation. Your heart rate will even increase. Train yourself to shoot accurately under that stress. Visualization includes not only imagining you are in a real situation. It includes imagining a perfect shot. It’s the power of positive thinking, and it’s been proven to work. Practice Techniques It was in a bar in northern Wisconsin that I first heard it: Bow season’s coming up. I guess I got to get out and sight in my compound. I’ve heard similar statements a couple of times since, and am always baffled. I don’t think it’s a widespread problem. I believe most of us know that we can never attain decent accuracy with archery gear without long hours of practice. But for hunting success, practice must emphasize quality as well as quantity. Practice in a way that enhances your shooting in a hunting situation. The most important bowhunting fundamental is consistency. For an accurate shot, you need a rock-steady anchor point, string release, and follow-through. In the heat of the moment, this is where the bowhunter makes the most mistakes. A buck has an uncanny ability to make an uncertain shooter lower his anchor point, pluck the string, and lurch after the release. But if you’ve established an absolute shooting style, practiced like a robot, and prepared mentally, it can be just like target shooting. Experiment with equipment and shooting techniques. Make any needed changes before you begin serious preseason practice. A surprising number of bowhunters fail to tune their bows and arrows as well as they can, then blame their equipment or themselves for lousy shooting. If your hunting arrows don’t fly like your practice shafts, try changing broadheads, fletching, and spine until they do. Because broadheads are expensive and a bother to shoot at targets, most bowhunters don’t experiment enough with them. Examine your shooting style to see if you need any changes. I improved my instinctive shooting immediately when I switched to a string hold with three fingers beneath the arrow nock. A common mistake is for a hunter to make too much motion as he shoots, either raising the bow in the air as he draws or moving his head and bow arm about as he aims. All game animals are attuned to spotting close-range movement as the most critical sign of danger. If you’re careful to hold still and draw with the bow in shooting position, the only movement visible from the animal’s perspective is the elbow of your string arm extending outward.

Deer will always have a source of water within a short distance of their bedding areas. It could be a lake, river, pond, bog, or even a puddle left from rain. Water is the first and last place a deer stops. Deer droppings are how you can find out what the deer are eating. A deer feeding on apples or some other form of soft food will drop dark, moist, clumped pellets. When their diets shift to acorns, the droppings will be dry and lighter in color. By examining their droppings, you can tell what their diets are. One of the first deer hunting secrets that I will tell you is that you need to know deer if you want to hunt them. You need to know what makes them special as a game animal. You need to know some things about deer. First is that they have a very keen sense of smell and they are particularity sensitive to the smell of human beings. If you want to increase your success in deer hunting therefore, one of the things that you can do is to get s spray that will mask your human odor. Some deer have grown accustomed to these smells as well so be wise with your choice and experiment if needed. Another thing that you need to know about deer is that they can communicate quickly to other members of their herd. This means if one deer senses danger, he can send out warning signals rapidly to other deer. This is the reason why you need to be very careful not to startle deer. Your movement must be silent and calculated. Even a faint noise will alert these animals. One of the best deer hunting secrets that any experiences hunter can tell you is that you can always exploit a deer’s strengths against it. A excellent example is that you can use its elevated sense of hearing to attract it. The use of a turkey call is a very effective method of luring these animals. Your call will be heard by deer even from miles away so if you will be patient enough you will soon see deer in your vicinity. Whitetail deer are among the most adaptable animals in the wild. They can survive and even thrive in places most people wouldn’t think they could. This means hunters should look for these animals in unusual places as well as more typical woods, thickets and other commonplace areas.

TRY TO WEAR A PAIR OF AMBER GLASSES WHEN YOU HUNT ON DULL DAYS. THE GLASSES WILL AID IN SEEING MOVEMENT!  Deer will use the same travel routes many times from bedding to feeding areas year after year. This can change though all depending on hunting pressure. Keep in mind that deer will take the safest easiest route when traveling from their food source to bedding areas. Most Deer hunters agree that rub lines indicate one thing: the presence of bucks. Deer rubs are made late summer into early fall by bucks shedding velvet from their antlers.Note: some rubs are territorial rubs where bucks mark their "territory" in pre-rut. Sometimes bucks will use the same tree as a rub, but most of the time they are random. The best time to clear shooting lanes is the winter or spring before the fall hunt. I will clear shooting lanes about 2 months before the season starts. Whitetails like to feed close to their bedding areas. In the fall, they may bed within a couple hundred yards of a food source such as soybeans, corn, alfalfa, clover, apple trees or acorns.  

Will be filming spring turkey and fall deer. Also will be filming coyote hunting this summer  all will be uploaded for you to view. Allways looking for the next big hunt! allways willing to go hunt with others on thair land and film also. One goal is to teach the youth of america the art of hunting. will be holding a youth camp this summer..   

October 16th was a very cold and windy opening day for bow season this year. I barely saw chip monks running around the woods let alone a deer. At one point, the wind was blowing so hard that my tree stand was moving from side to side. I thought that I was going to get sea sick. Around mid afternoon, I decided to climb out of my tree stand and stalk around the area for a while to see if there was any movement. Still- Nothing. I was going to meet my hunting partner, Bill Hogan at the bridge around dark to head back to camp. This really was not much of a bridge but it allowed us to cross the stream without getting wet. So, around 5:30 I headed over to the bridge to wait for Bill. I sat down on a small boulder that had just enough scrub brush in font of it to use for cover. I was sitting there about a half hour when I saw a flash of black through the trees about 100 yards off. I saw it again before this bear appeared making its way down the mountain. As luck would have it, it was coming in my direction walking along the stream. This Bear was walking but it was closing ground fast. It seemed like the closer it got to where I was sitting, the bigger it was getting! I knocked an arrow & attached my release. I was still a ways off but it was moving like a man with a pourpose. Finally, it reached the spot where he was going to cross the stream... 35 yards from me! This was a nice big bear. It had to be at least 300 pounds! It stopped, his nose in the air. I froze. Not moving a muscle. I kept thinking- 5 more feet. All you have to do it move five more feet down the embankment & I will have a nice new rug! It kept scanning the area and then looked right at me. He lowered his head & it seemed like he was looking right into my eyes. And then- just like that- It turned and walked briskly away from the stream. As I watched the Bear walk away it seemed strange- but I was so focused on getting a shot that I did not have any fear what so ever. That was my second encounted  being up close and personal with a bear in a 6 week period. the first time I was only 15 yards away from a small 170lb bear. I am confident that I will fill my bear tag before the end of the season. Until then - Good luck to everyone