Bow season is close!

Every year I read about guys that are just starting and it takes them several years to make their first bow kill. each of us has something se can share to help the novices get that first kill. Of course practice, practice, then practice till it's second nature. Then there is making sure you don't rush the shot and if hunting elevated practice that way so bending at the waist is second nature too. I'm talking about woodscraft more than technique. Something you feel will help them put a deer in range. For me it would be scouting, finding a crop they are using and setting up there. It may be a hot acorn tree or an ag crop. Make sure you set up to when the prevalent wind isn't blowing your scent over the area where you think the deer will present a shot. Get in early and sit till legal hours are over. Too many young hunters come out too early when they haven't seen anything. What advise do you experienced killers have to suggest?

For me it was really understand the basics of wind. That, plus finding a great tree with lots of acorns that was right in the middle of a funnel, and remembering to bend at the freaking waist. I'm not an experienced killer, but remembering all that got me my first and second last season. I missed one because I didn't bend at the waist, but got another chance a week later.

Perch, I remember you saying you used to hunt around Troy. Did it ever happen to be anywhere from banks to brundige?

- Sit there as long as you can.
- Don't drop your bow arm. Watch the arrow connect with the animal before you move off target.
- As soon as you see the deer, stand up (when its safe obviously). I can't tell you how many guys I know waited to stand and even when they managed to stand, they were so nervous the shot high. Go ahead and stand as soon as you can and get ready to make the shot. Getting a deer that close does something to a man and if you wait to the point where you're afraid to stand up where he'll see you, the shot will be much much harder.
- Keep your shots close. Someone may need to correct me on this but, your shot in a stand at a deer will be about 50% as good as it is in practice.
- Ignore the rack when you draw.
- Put in your hours in the field. I sat for 160 hours last year and only got 1 opportunity. It happened to be a ~150. He came up the ridge 100 yards or so to my left and I gave him a couple grunts. He circled back and I made a rookie mistake. I wasn't ready and he came out 8 yards from me. Going back to point 3, I was standing but didn't have my bow in my hand.
- Shoot at any legal deer that makes you happy. It ain't all about the rack and shooting a bow at a deer from 15-20 yards is a lot more personal than shooting at one from 100 yards+. It helps manage your adrenaline to shoot at smaller deer/does.
- Never take advice from magazines or books. New bowhunters don't have enough experience to know what is good and bad advice.

Perch the part about sitting all day is what I'm still trying to master and would help me most. I'm still waiting on my first bow kill. I've had a couple of opportunities, and made a couple of bad shots on deer. That's made me at least not want to rush a shot and made me much more careful about shot selection since then. I hope to close the deal this year.

CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!

Learning to get to full draw with deer standing around is one of the hardest parts of learning to be a good hunter.

TC is right. A lot of new guys have their bow maxed out. They have to point their bow skyward to come to full draw. Back that bow down at the first of the season. You can increase the poundage the closer we get to the season. Let those muscles get used to drawing. It's funny to see big guys grab a 70lb bow and not be able to draw it when a smaller experienced bowhunter can with no strain.
PaPa is dead on too. Close is what bowhunting is all about. anyone can sling lead 100 yds. It's much harder to get a live animal close(within 25 yds) , stand, draw and fire.

I backed my weight down to 60 lbs about 2 years ago so that I can point the bow toward what I'm shooting at and pull straight back with not much effort. No need for me to look like I'm drawing an English longbow while in the stand.

Jono , you sound like you are making it hard on yourself. First find the food source they are using. Second decide where the wind comes from most in that area. Then it's just a matter of finding the tree. Then deciding if you can climb or you need a loc on. We are lucky in the South. In most places there are plenty of climbable trees. It may be hard to understand, but in the mid west they are very few. they fork or are limbed out at a low height. Something I failed to mention is safety. Get a harness and use it. wear it during practice and get used to it. It is not a good feeling to be hanging upside down 20 ' up before daylight. I can assure you of that. Don't get me wrong, if there is a mistake. I've made it. HUNT SAFE

That's what I was saying. I was making it TOO hard on myself, but stopped and just realized the basics of it all. Then I started seeing plenty of deer.

From all I've seen and heard we might be in for another good acorn crop this year as well.

Sounds simple except that the woods, at least early season, are absolutely covered up with food. Seems like acorns are the ticket as long as they are available, and then clear cuts. I hunt public land and they plant a bunch of fields every year but for the most part, I don't think the deer could be bothered. I never hunt the plots. It's pretty tricky to try and predict which hardwood finger they will want on a given day. I will start off this year on white oaks or sawtooths as close to known bedding areas as I dare go and after that I think I will be focused on trails and concentrations of oaks, and of course places where I've seen deer in the past. I've seen the most deer though on trails leading into clear cuts (I think I'm going to save those spots until the rut). Still learning, but I'm a lot more confident. Of course last year I was pretty confident too and wound up killing 1 deer ... with a rifle.

One of my keys each year is hunting my go to spots from the outside-in. In other words don't go barging into the middle of your property on early season hunts. Work the edges and easier access points and as season progresses post up deeper and deeper. You'd be surprised how effective this can be especially on smaller tracts.

- Sounds silly but, don't make eye contact with the deer when he is in bow range. Bastages have a sixth sense about him and will know. Probably a predator/prey relationship thousands of years old
- Again, any legal deer is a good deer for your first bow kill. Don't get caught up with its rack.
- put down the rifle. After your first bow kill that's all you'll need to hunt. There is nothing like bow hunting. Hey, maybe one day you'll graduate to a bow without training wheels

When I got my first compound, an old guy that worked with my dad told him to tell me the following.....

If you can't sit with you feet flat on the ground, point the bow at the target and draw it straight back without pointing it up..... you're pulling too much weight. It took me a few years to figure out that old dude was right.

You need to be able to shoot sitting down because you never know when you'll get caught in situation where you won't have a choice. I shot my biggest buck sitting down because that joker slipped in behind me and suddenly appeared 15 yards to my left.

Don't get too hung up on you bow speed. Stealth and accuracy is where it's at. I don't even chrono my hunting rigs. I hunt with a single pin sight with a yardage scale that is calibrated to my bow speed. So the actual speed of my bow is irrelevant.

Always always always make the angle with your waist. If you don't, you will shoot high from an elevated position. Always aim for a heart shot in case the deer jumps the string. 99.99999999% of the time an Alabama doe will jump the string. Most of the time a buck will not. Study some anatomy pictures of deer. Learn exactly where the vitals are. Don't aim at a live deer like you would a 3D target. Aim lower. The 10 ring on a 3D target is too high. Trust me on this. I struggled with it for several years.

If you don't have one, get a rangefinder. Skimp, save and do whatever you have to, but get one. Get a Thermocell also. Don't worry about the smell it puts off. If a deer smells it, it's already smelled your stinking butt anyway.

When setting up a stand, pay close attention to your background cover. Without it, those smart old does will skyline you. Don't climb too high. Over 25' is too high for bowhunting. Don't over scout your areas. I know too many guys that burn areas out by constantly stomping around looking for the lastest and greatest sign or checking cameras. Do your homework. Study the topo maps and aerial photos. Look for pinch points and funnels. Pick a spot and slip into the area with a climber on your back. Based on your homework, you should be able to pinpoint a spot to set up without stomping all over creation. Your best opportunity will be that first time you hunt it.

Shaw, good point about draw weight. I used a bow up until 2006 that drew 45# @ 27".

Not really Smells. Read the first line again. All acorn trees are not created equal.
"First find the food source they are using" It's easy to spot broken shells and crap. In ag fields you can see half eaten leaves, tracks and crap. It's woodsmanship.

Yes I understand but you may have to cover so much ground to find a spot they are hammering so as to make it counter productive by leaving evidence of your presence all over the woods. Also, lets say you find a honeysuckle patch that's half eaten, that still doesn't mean they will be at that patch in the afternoon. There is literally food in every direction.

Here's an example, last year in my preseason scouting I found an area I decided I was going to hunt. There was good sign and I was hopeful. I might not should have done it but I just couldn't stand it and 3 days before opening day I went back to check the place I thought I would sit on opening morning. Sure enough I found a white oak that had dumped hundreds of big green acorns. I thought this was weird because they were green. Opening morning I get there and climb in the dark. Saw nothing and got down around 10 or 11 or so. Walked over to the oak and there was not a single acorn on the ground, not even a shell. I don't even know if it was deer that ate them and it could easily have been turkeys I suppose or even something else. The point is, to find a "hot" tree you have to go looking for it and once you find it you better be ready to hunt it the next day or even that day. How long does it take a doe group of 4-8 does to clean out an oak tree's offerings? It'll produce more but they may not come back for a week or more just because it's too easy to find higher concentrations under other trees and they're everywhere. Things change fast. I think to some degree deer are like people. Maybe some people eat lunch at the same restaurant every day but most people don't want the same view or taste two days in a row.

I don't claim to know much though so I could be full of it. I may target specific trees very early but after that I'll be looking to intercept them on travel routes.

I just hope its below 80 degrees.

The way it's going I hope it's below 90!
Got a feeling it's gonna be warm.

Yep

The trick is to be lucky rather than good. Got my first bow kill within the first two months I bow hunted. Only killed one since.

But to add to the post, if there is one thing you can do to better yourself for that first kill. PRACTICE GETTING YOUR ADRENALINE THROUGH THE ROOF! Then shoot, once your accurate under duress, things will slow down.

I like to find thick bedding areas and start working from the edge out looking for acorn trees. Acorns will still be on the trees so you wont see any sign. Hang a stand or pick out a tree to climb close to the tree that has the most acorns on it. Actually better if there are several trees in a small area and you will probably have to adjust your setup a couple of times till you find the tree they prefer.When the acorns do start falling sneak in and check it out.For me the best time to kill a deer with a bow is over acorns or before they get pressured when gun season starts.

Not much I can add. Great advice so for.

The things that helped me the most when I started:

Pay close attention to the wind.
Be mindful of your entry and exit.
Be "stealth like". If and deer is close and you can see one of their eyes then they can possibly see you.
Practice some with the exact set up you will hunt with. This include everything from the stand to the clothes to the broadheads.
If your unsure about a shot then don't take it.
And of course practice practice.

All great advice above.

Google "Warren Womack" and read his page and his accounts of his hunts. He talks about finding the "hot" tree and how important that is. I typically go to his page before the season starts and can spend hours reading about his hunts.

Never heard of him, I'll have to check him out!

Smells if you find a hot briar or honeysuckle patch sneak in there during a rain storm and fertilize it. The rain will wash away your scent and the fertilizer won't take long to work. I try to check my cameras just before a storm for the same reason. All scent gets washed away.

I had 3 chances to take a deer with a bow. The first I snuck in walking a couple of steps at a time then freezing. Had a doe blow at me but i stayed still and waited. then I finally made it to my tree with my stand that was set up on a trail. Heard a family of deer coming and panicked. Through my stand on the tree and tried to get in the stand. As i was climbing on my climber i looked back and there was a 2 yr old doe looking at me but didnt know what i was . The bow was on the ground and i was upside down lol. I should have just sat beside a tree and waited instead of rushing to get into one. I still have not killed a deer with a bow yet but i learned so much last season and finally started seeing deer after 1.5 years of hunting the property. This year i got some climbing sticks and a hangon so i can hang and hunt this year to get in some good trees i saw last year. Also i have some trail cameras that i will be setting up sometime this week and not checking them until the last week of September. I love this blog cause i have picked up a few things as well. hope i can get any deer this season with a bow.

Advice?

Find a place to hunt with a lot of deer. Good luck.

I've been caught climbing a tree by deer a couple of times and once when I had just climbed down from a tree, turned to walk away and a pretty large bodied spike was 10 yds away just staring at me.

be still in the tree and pay attention. stay awake and stay off your phone. man i sound like my dad

I m with Shaw and Top Cat. No matter how many are around you
Ya still gotta draw back and not he seen.
Not always a easy task.

It's amazing how much this helps your odds