Ask most bow hunters why they prefer using a bow over a rifle and they will answer because of “the thrill” or “the challenge”. It might come off as a surprise or a puzzling answer. After all, isn’t bow hunting much harder to do and much more taxing on the body to get done properly?
Indeed, for these hunters, their goal is not just the endgame of how many deer they can shoot, but rather, the thrill of chasing these beasts down by way of their physical prowess and catching them by their very hands.
This is not to say that hunting with a rifle doesn’t equate the same way, but the efficiency presented by hunting with firearms means that there is less challenge overall for a hunter. Good for people who care about the results and bagging as many deer as they can, not so much for those who want to experience some excitement in the hunt instead of sitting on a tree stand all day.
If you’re going for bow hunting, then perhaps you got curious after seeing it from someone else, or maybe you want to experience the thrill that these hunters feel, or you might even want a change of pace from hunting with a rifle or perhaps it’s a combination or all of these! If you want to try your hand out in bow hunting, then here are a couple of tips you should keep in mind.
Choose the right bow for you
That’s right, like how there are many types of guns, so too are there different types of bows. Are you someone who likes the simplicity of the recurve bow or longbow? Do you prefer using something that is easy to shoot like a crossbow? Perhaps you want to try a more modern and powerful bow, like the compound bow? You can try out any one of these.
However, bow hunting also has an additional caveat: The bow you choose must be fit for your body type. That means that not just any old sized bow will do, the draw length and the draw height of the bow matters. The longer your arms, the longer you will want your draw lengths to be.
This will not be a problem for crossbows, however, as they are fired completely different compared to a regular bow, making them more akin to a more primitive rifle than a bow.
Learn from a seasoned bow hunter
What better way to learn the tips and tricks of bow hunting than from your fellow hunters? If you have a friend who enjoys the hunt with a bow, then you can ask for him to teach you some tricks on the next time he goes out.
Bonus benefits are that he will likely already know some great advice exclusive to the forests nearby, giving you an advantage when you eventually try out bow hunting on your own.
Practice makes perfect
But even with all the tips and advice that you get from your friends or from articles all over the internet, none of this will matter if you’re out of shape.
Before you even begin bow hunting, practice aiming and firing with a bow. Exercise and make your body and arms more fit. If you truly want to try out bow hunting, you want your body to have high stamina and endurance to keep up with how active deer are.
Practice more, but this time in the forest
As you can probably tell, being proficient with the bow is a great step in the right direction of proper bow hunting, but it’s not enough.
Now, you need to make sure that you can actually adapt and adjust according to the environment you are in, instead of a fixed place like an archery range. Forests are wild and unpredictable, and the best way to gain experience in them is to properly go in there, yourself.
In fact, you can even consider “bow hunting” for deer as practice in and of itself. After all, you will need to practice on the real deal to actually get a grip on how to hunt in the first place.
Scout the place out
Like any good hunter, bow hunters will want to scout out the most important places where game animals will be, namely, feeding areas, sleeping grounds, and even water sources. Having this knowledge means that you will be able to set up your stands in the best spots of the area, ensuring that you are prepared once hunting season rolls around.
Ideally, this means that you’ll be setting up your tree stands early as well, around a few weeks before hunting season. With them around for quite some time, deer will get used to its presence and not get startled as they would when they see something unknown in the vicinity.
The location of your tree stand is important as well, as you don’t want the wind to blow your scent to the deer.
Knowledge is half the battle, and nowhere is it shown to be as important as here, when bow hunters are needed to get really close to their game.
Pay attention to the wind
For hunters, this is already a given. As mentioned earlier, wind blowing in the wrong direction can give your scent away, prompting any deer to scatter, and leaving you with an empty field.
But this goes doubly so for bow hunters. Not only do you have to watch the wind to ensure that your scent doesn’t get blown towards deer, (which is made even harder as the usage of a bow means you have to approach the deer to get a proper shot) you’ll also need to make sure to take in account of the wind direction and speed when you’re aiming your bow. This isn’t too big of a problem with rifles, with some minor aiming adjustments, but a powerful gust can send the arrow of a bow hunter in an entirely different direction than they were hoping.