So everyone that’s a hunter understands the importance of being in good shape both mentally and physically. Or do they? It occurred to me the other day when I was watching one of the unrealistic hunting shows with my kids. The hunter was a big over weight lug of a man who was wheezing and snorting more then the rutting bulls he was hunting as they hiked into the woods. My daughter says to me, see daddy you don’t have to go to the gym all the time even big people can hunt too.
Wells let’s be real here, not everyone can afford thousands of dollars to go onto a private land hunt with a top notch guide service. Getting on a bull and hunting elk country takes a person who is in good physical shape in order to have a higher success rate. So what do we do and how do we do it? It starts first with a good diet and couple that with a good work out routine and you can keep yourself in good physical shape for your hunt. And it is no coincidence that people who are in good physical shape are usually less stressed and all around healthier.
I am not going to go too in depth about diet and exercise here but I will give a quick layout of my off season routine that may be able to help you get on the right track. First I eat a healthy diet everyday and try and keep my protein levels higher then my fats and balance the rest of my nutrition between good fats and complex carbs. I don’t live at the gym and you don’t have to either, I go 3-4x per week. I balance my time at the gym between cardio and weight lifting. Usually no more the 30-45min of cardio (I’m a big fan of the stair stepper, really gets those legs ready for climbing mountains) and then about 30min or so of weights alternating muscle groups each time. Alternating upper body, lower body, and core.
Then once we get closer to season not only will I be ready to scout and be in shape but it’s going to make it so I have more free time to spend out in the woods and will have to spend less tine trying to shedding that 10lbs or so that I may have put on in the off season. Be prepared and be focused all year and you will see your success rates climb. No one wants to tell a story around elk camp bout the one that got away cause you were too out of shape to get up the mountain.
With hunt time drawing closer It is so important to be sure you pattern your animal prior to your hunt. What does patterning your game mean? Well you need to know as much about the animal as possible. Where does it feed? Where does it water? Where does it bed down? When does it water, feed, bed? These are really important pieces of information and will help you secure an opportunity at a good shot. So how do you do this?
First you find the animals and then you watch them early in the season. This is the time of year that the game feel the most secure. They are not being pressured by hunters, they are growing and developing their seasonal habits. What I like to do is get out early and find a good glassing point. Doing this will give enough distance between you and the animal that they won’t even know your there and won’t feel pressured and go out of their normal routine. Now you watch and time, write down when you found them and mark the area on gps. Watch where they go too and write that time down, keep a good log and this will help you develop their pattern.
Once you know what area they are in during the early season this pattern won’t change a whole lot, but it will change having this info will help your regain your advantage. Now after the animals have left the area you need to find out where the water is. Typically they will start in one point (usually there bed) and work their way to the feeding area and then onto water, then make a loop and head back to their bedding area. Hanging a camera in between the feeding and water area is a good spot. WARNING, never hang your camera on a water hole, especially one that is easily accessible from a road that is the easiest way to lose a camera to theft.
Once your camera is hung, leave it be for a couple of weeks. Check it once a week at the most. You don’t want to be going in there to much and messing up the game in the area. Doing these techniques early in the season will certainly give you the edge on your prey and make your hunt that much more memorable.
Remember it’s called hunting for a reason if it was easy to do and didn’t take much time and effort it would just be called killing. So do your homework the season starts WAY before opening day. I pattern my animals almost year round and suggest you do the same. At the very least you should be starting 2 months prior to your hunt to gain as much information as you can. Good luck and happy hunting.
Paul@archeryallstars, twitter
Copperstatoutfitters.com
Pro-Staff member Win Hunting Gear
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Everyone has wanted to do it, everyone has thought about doing it, but very few of us actually do it; hunt unfamiliar territory on public land without the help of a guide service. I think the reason this happens because we are comfortable with the area we always hunt and don’t want to get away from it or because getting away from it will take a lot of time to learn the new area. Well today we are going to talk about how to do it and expand our hunting horizons and utilizing more of the great public land we have access to.
The above map is from the Arizona Game and Fish Department it is a brake down of all the Game Management Units (GMU) in Arizona. You can ask a room full of hunters whats their favorite GMU and you might get different answers from everyone in there and you might get a few that say the same GMU. The fact is that many of the GMUs in the state have great ability if you have a good understanding of them. Whats that you say, it takes to much time to learn a new unit, time you don’t have. It sounds a lot scarier than it really is and its an awesome way to expand your opportunities. So here is where you start…
Lets say for example using the map above that your favorite GMU is 23 and you always hunt it for every season for Deer, Elk, Turkey, Bear. Well guess what now you can learn at least the four surrounding areas by simply making a day trip up there and getting a map of the GMU. Find roads that take you in and drive them, say where they go according to your map, what ridges do they take you to, what valleys and draws do they take you to, what water holes are near by? Find an area that looks good and get out and get walking, take notes of the sign you find and any animals you may encounter. Do this in each of the sourrounding areas and within no time at all you will have expanded your arsenal of hunting areas opening up that many more opportunities if the public land you usually hunt is getting hit hard during the season or your just not seeing the quality animals you would like to see. You can easily pack up camp and move a few miles down the road to the next unit.
Another way to find out about new areas is to talk to the game managers in the area, calling the wardens can be frustrating however because not always are they very willing to help but you may just get lucky. Do your homework before even going a field and it will make learning that new area that much easier. Me for example I have a number of areas I am very comfortable hunting multiple species of animals (for many reason I will not disclose those areas) but they total more then 10 GMUs in the state of Arizona. If I go to one area to pre-scout and don’t see the quality or quantity of game I am looking for I simply hop across the street and check out the next area and proceed with my scouting.
There are also ways to get a little help without paying a high priced guide service. Looking into scout services is a great way for the DIY hunter/huntress to learn new areas on the cheap and very easy. One company that I like and know does fantastic work is Copper State Outfitters (www.copperstateoutfitters.com) they are guide/scout service that offers scouting packages for the DIY hunter/huntress. They offer a variety of scouting packages that range from just getting you started to getting you all the information your going to need to get the job done.
Check out new areas make it a point to learn at least one to two new areas each year and you will be very surprised at how your public land success will begin to increase. The more you can increase your opportunities the more your going to increase your success. But don’t lose sight of whats really important, “Its not all about the kill that makes it a great hunt, but the adventure you took to get their”-Stan Potts.
TARGET PANIC!!! Does that term ring a strong nasty bell in your mind, does it bring fear to the top of the surface and make your skin boil? Well it does mine and if you have ever shot a bow for a period of time you have felt a small bit of it or more. You may not have realized it but you have, some call it buck fever, some call it just plain crappy! I call it a chance to get into your subconscious mind and become a stronger shooter and person.
You and only you can stop or cure target panic. You gave it to yourself now get ride of it. Wait is that possible? Yes, yes it is. Target panic happens when you are not totally prepared for your shot or situation. You have to dig deep into your subconscious mind and get your self prepared for the situation at hand. Shooting a bow is more then just knocking an arrow, pulling back, aiming and releasing it is a process that must be prepared both conscious and subconsciously. Only when you are truly focused will you be able to shoot perfectly. You must train your conscious mind hard enough that the actions all become a subconscious action. Take steps in your shooting. First visualize the shot before you, then prepare for the shot. Take the steps to prepare the shot and do them the same always. Knock your arrow, check your bow arm, check your grip, anchor your shot, then sight (at least this is the process I take to help me get ride of target panic).
Remember you give yourself target panic. It happens when you try to hard to AIM your shot in instead of being completely prepared for the shot. Then you develop excuses for why the shot went bad instead of fixing the problem. After that it only gets worse and next thing you know you look at your target and everything is shaking like an earthquake. All because you didn’t prepare the shot and have complete concentration on the action at hand.
So to re-cap: Prepare the shot, then anchor, then aim and release. There is no need to aim your shot in, no one can stand and hold their arms so perfectly still that it will not shake or move a little bit so use your bodies movements began to get into your own rhythm and be completely focused and make the shot. Don’t be in a rush its going to take practice and time, but the right type of practice is the most important. Good luck and happy shooting.
Get out there and shoot!! Its all about getting out there and shooting right? Right? What does that mean? Where do you start, whats the first step? Do I just get up to the line and fling an arrow with all my might and hope it hits home? Well if you are the beginning archery and your just starting to shoot this post is going to give you a very basic lesson and a great starting point. If you are an experienced shooter and just want a recap on what you need to do to put it all together prior to the release this may be a great refresher lesson.
Before you can just get up and pull back and let the arrow go you must first work on your stance. I like the open stance myself as it makes me use my back muscles more and primarily, and the term back-tension is thrown around a lot in archery shooting. Stand up to the line with your back foots instep facing your target, take your front foot and put the toe in the instep of your back foot, now move that foot forward to should with apart. You should instantly feel that you have most of your weight balanced now and on the balls of your feet, you do not want to be putting to much pressure on the back foot or front foot it needs to be evenly distributed. Next step, move your feet 30 degrees towards the target.
Next step is to take your arrow and put it on the string, this is called knocking an arrow. Next step is to put your release onto the bow loop or D-Loop, now that your arrow is knocked your feet are in the right position and your release is on it is time to pull back, right? NOPE! Now we are going to concentrate on your grip. The key is to take your hand and line the bow arm up with the rest of the body, the riser should rest between your thumb and forefinger, with the weight of the bow being pushed against the meaty part of your hand. Now we take a look at the elbow, it should be in a perfect line with your arrow no higher, no lower. Now you want to create a bubble with your elbow as you bring it back rotating only your chest to square off the body. Anchor and sight in the target, now slowly and steadily began raising the elbow up and pulling it back with your back muscles until the shoot is triggered. If you are using a tension release this is the way it goes off, the key word being tension and you must have back tension.
If you are using a trigger style release before you begin this step after you have anchored and sighted in, put your finger or thumb (depending on the style of release you have) on the trigger then began to use back tension to set off the release. It should startle you if done correctly. Now those a few of the steps it take to put a shot together correctly.
This is going to take practice and at first probably wont feel natural but you will see with practice preparing for the shot is much more important then taking the shot. Good luck and Happy shooting. Next we will be discussing the mental aspect of the game and how to make yourself a winner regardless of how you shoot.
So you have drawn that big game tag you have waited so long for and now your not sure where to go find the animals in that area. Well it’s not easy but the hard work will be rewarded after its all said and done. Scouting is the most important, hardest part of any hunt but without a well thought out plan your hunt will not be successful and can lead to frustration. You will need some key pieces of equipment in order to do this and the following is a very basic list that I always have with me on every scouting trip whether it is one day or multiple days in the field:
Day Pack
Hydration system (camelback, water bottles, filtration system ((if you going on multiple day)), water sanitation pills)
First Aid Kit, with blister patches
Binoculars
Spotting Scope
Tri-Pod
Range Finder
MRE’s (never know when your gonna get hungry, or lost)
Field Journal (don’t forget the writting utensil)
Camera or camcorder
GPS/field maps
Trail Cams
Extra Batteries for all electronic components
So we got the equipment list out of the way now what? Where do you start? Unless you know the area or have friends that do and are willing to tell you you need to start to look at tale tale signs on maps. Look for good areas th
at look “Bucky” where the deer or elk (or whatever your hunting) may be living or going from point to point. All animals have bedding areas, feed areas, and watering areas. Until you pattern the animal your after you wont know where those areas are but finding good looking areas on the map are always a great starting point. Now lets say you don’t want to do all this homework, what do you do? Well you do like I did and contact a guide/scout service to help you. The one that I like to use when hunting unfamiliar areas in Arizona is Copper State Outfitters ( http://www.copperstateoutfitters.com). What a service like this will do for you is get you started in a new area or give you new spots in an old favorite area.
So now your ready to get out and get that animal spotted and patterned for opening day. Get out early is important, you need to be to a high vantage point prior to the sun coming up so that you can spot the animals without spooking them out of their normal routine. Don’t forget to take your journal with you to mark all of what you see, when you see it, and what it was or you were doing when you found it. This is also the time where you might want to get the camera out and get some footage of the area and the animals. Once you have found them it is also important to just look around you, see what other stuff is in the area. Water holes, canyons, scrapes, rubs, sheds any and all the stuff makes for great sign and shows the area you are interested in is holding animals.
Scouting starts by doing your homework and being diligent about it. You can not go out and drive around all day in your pickup truck and find a good honey-hole that everyone doesn’t know about. You have to get off the beaten path. People are lazy and they want to take the short road to success, well my friends I have lots of news for you, those people may bag an animal every now and again but if you want a true giant, a true trophy to put on your wall or to fill up your freezer with, get off that path and do your homework.
Also please check out these great website and subscribe to my blog, I can also be found on Twitter at Paul@archeryallstars
Have you had a chance to check out http://www.tacticalarcherysystems.com? Well if you haven’t take a look because they have a new sight out called the S.A.B.O Gen 2 Holographic sight. The way this works is very similar to how most new sights with fiber optics work. It gathers light through the fiber optics and sends it to a housing at the rear of the sight and projects your sight pins onto the glass. It is a very cool technology much like what is used by today military for target acquisition. It produces a clear objective helping to eliminate hand torque on the bow, it does this by forcing the shooter to align the holographic dots onto a permanently-fused fluorescent alignment triangle line that is on the sight housing, when the dot are aligned it is time to make that great shot. Also there is no electronics needed to make this the best sight you have ever shot while archery hunting, or target shooting in competition or for fun.
With the new Tactical Archery Systems S.A.B.O Gen 2 bow sight you also eliminate the need for a peep sight as well. The sight gives you a huge sight picture and helps you to focus the dot exactly on the target you want. There is a spot on the side of the sight much like traditional bow sights that allow you add a light for indoor shooting. I recommend the Truglo Tru-Lite Xtreme Adjustable Sight Light sight package that has the adapter/reducer spacers in it due to the larger size threaded holes for the light on the S.A.B.O Gen 2 sight housing. I also found that the white light works best when using this sight
I got my new TAS S.A.B.O Gen 2 sight last week and have been using it in a couple of shoots so here is the good the bad and the ugly scoop on it.
The Good
Eliminates Bow Torque
Easy to install and sight in
light weight and durable
crystal clear sight picture
No Need for a Peep Sight
Has four sight points.
The Bad
mmmm, nope nothing here
The Ugly
Nothing, this sight has huge features that make it a winner and nothing that says not to buy
Even though hunting season is over that doesn’t mean there is nothing to do. This is the time of year when you should be thinking ahead to the next season, honing your hunting skills and learning how to pattern the game your after. Every hunter goes through it and no hunter ever looks forward to it; the end of the season. But as you read on you will learn to accept (notice I didn’t say like or look forward too) the end of the season.
The first thing I like to do when hunting season is over is look ahead to the next hunt. Where is it going to be? What am I going to hunt? How am I going to pursue my next target? What do I need to do to be successful? What do I need to work on to be successful this time and to continue being successful on other hunts.
After you ask yourself these questions you can then begin to get better. The first thing I like to do after the ol man winter leaves town is start looking for sheds. To me this is just like hunting for the animal itself and you can learn a lot about your targeted species. Where you find the shed tells you where they go for the rut and where they use to feed and bed. How big the shed tells you the size of the animal in your area and the amount of the animals in your area. It also gives you a better less stressful chance to better learn an area you may not know a lot about.
Other than looking for sheds off-season is a great time to get better at the necessary skills every hunter needs to be successful such as glassing, stalking and packing in and out. I like to head out during the off-season and go a take the longer cool days to go out and scout, this is the time of the year where other hunters that don’t share the same passion as you and I take a break so that means that the animals are out more and they feel a whole lot less pressure, that translates into you seeing more game. Also this gives you time to start patterning you animal, learn where they like to feed what paths they take and around when are they taking them. You get to watch the animals grow and begin to pick out your targets for the upcoming hunting season. Besides all that, it gives you the chance to get yourself or keep yourself in hunting shape. Perfecting your packing skills and making sure you are in tip-top shape is one of the biggest benefactors to a good hunt to come.
This also gives us time and chances to learn new areas that we have always wanted to hunt but never have because we didn’t know the area. Now we can spend a couple of days learning and seeing just whats there and if it is even worth our time to try to hunt that next season. Although hunting season may be over and you can not harvest and animal doesn’t mean you have to stop perusing them and getting better at what it takes to get that big buck, bull, or goat on the ground.
