OT Pokin Critters With Sharp Sticks.

[Bullard4075]

I've gone to the Dark Side.

At the urging of my a couple of my hunting pardners I'm getting into archery.
Haven't given up my guns though!!
At Sportsman Warehouse (before they closed yesterday) I picked up a Ross Cardiac
29/60lbs bow. Bare bow, nothing on it yet.
Bought from ebay : The Field & Stream Bowhunting Handbook , which I hope is kind
of like an bowhunting 101 type of book.
I have been perusing the isles at Cabelas and Scheels dumbfounded by the varety of
sights, arrow rests, broadheads and quivers.
I don't know which to choose first , as to some extent each depends on the others.
Hoping the book will help (when it comes!) I would like to get started looking on the web
for information. Anyone know of a good bowhunting forum on the web , something like
this one where a newby would be welcomed asking (maybe) dumb questions?

And feel free to opine as to arrows, sights, etc.

Thanks guys.

[J Miller]

In a way I envy those who can become proficient with a bow and arrow. I can't hit a barn with one even if I were inside the barn.
I took archery in college and was dismissed as a total clutz. No matter what the instructor tried I ended up missing the target with the arrow tearing the inside of my left arm up with the string.
Protector not withstanding. So I gave it up for something I could so .... shoot guns.

Good luck on your endeavor. More power to you.

As for your questions I have no answers.

Joe

[2ndovc]

Go for it.

I'm in the same boat as Joe. I missed a woodchuck from ten feet with the kids bow last
summer!

I'm envious of those that are proficient with bow.


jb

[vancelw]

you'll poke your eye out...

I practiced with a bow until I was very confident I could hit the mark ....at 20 yards. I would sit in a stand (in my back yard) and the deer would walk around me in a circle....at 40 yards. And look up at me every now and then.

I swear I saw a grin


I was surprised at how much arrows and arrowhead had changed since the last time I had messed with bows. So many I looked at were the open-on-impact type. I'd probably have more luck with a club, except a club not a legal hunting weapon in TX.

[86er]

www.ARCHERYTALK.com

[deerwhacker444]

IMO, First, ask around and find a "GOOD" archery shop, probably not one of the chain stores. There's got to be a good Mom n Pop Archery store in your neck of the woods. A good archery shop will know how to set up your bow correctly and properly, which will save you alot of time and money and keep you away from frustration. It's well worth a couple hour drive and maybe spend a Saturday.

If you've never shot compounds before, plan to spend alot of time getting acquainted with your bow. Once properly set up, todays bows are super deadly and repeatable when using proper technique and release aids. Once proper technique is achieved, it's just like shooting a rifle with sights.

I second the notion that shot placement is everything. It really doesn't matter what type of bow you have. If you can hit the kill zone repeatedly then you're in business. Don't get sucked into the super-mega hyper fast bow mania. My bow shoots a heavy arrow and is super quiet and not smoking fast. I wouldn't trade speed for quiet IMO. I also shoot cut on contact broadheads, I'm not a fan of chisel point or mechanicals. Look around the web and read the reviews at places like Cabelas.com.

Talk to some people or just go hang out at the bow range. Ask alot of questions and do alot of research on the web. Good people will help you out and give you lots of information.

[JerryB]

These may not be your type of magazines but I like them. Primitive Archer, and Traditional Bowhunter.

[Batman1939]

I'd suggest visiting a local archery range or trying to find a group of bowshooters in your area. Watch these folks shoot and ask for advice. It'll likely be like the forum here; most people will be knowledgeable and helpful. They'll be able to offer suggestions on your shooting form; getting started with the correct habits is much better than starting off on your own and having to re-learn the correct form after a while. In my humble opinion, correct form when shooting a bow is even more important than it is when shooting a firearm as the shooter's body and major muscle groups are more involved in the shot.

Bowhunting can really be exciting and provides a real "up close and personal" sort of experience with your game. Good luck with your new toys.

[bsaride]

I had a compound in the early 80's, been shooting a barebow recurve ever since.

It will take me about two weeks to get into form but I prefer it that way.

You don't need all the stuff people add to bows these days (wheels included).

When I'm in good form I have no problem hitting to 40 yards easily and 50 when in top form.

[AJMD429]

I'll tell 44MagHunter to chime in. He knows this stuff.

[pokey]

These may not be your type of magazines but I like them. Primitive Archer, and Traditional Bowhunter.

my kinda archery. a stick and a string.

[Mac in Mo]

I would add this. Once you get your set-up done and get comfortable shooting, try to find a hunter league to join. Those around here are pretty laid back and you will learn a lot. The leagues around here that I shot in used 2D paper targets, tree branches to shoot around/through, and were a lot of fun. The only pressure will be what you put on your self. I would still be doing it but the only one within a reasonable driving distance had to shut down when the shop went out of business. Oh, another thing about the hunter league is that you use your hunting rig to shoot. Welcome to the fascinating world of archery. I have been at it for about thirty years and still can't get enough. Kevin

[Rusty]

I'm another one of those stickbow shooters. I shoot a 50# longbow with wood arras. Cut on contact broadheads by Magnus. I started my son on a Bear Montana Longbow, but he went over to the dark side. He now has a Darton with training wheels. He uses a whisker biscuit arrow rest and I'm not sure about the sights. As stated above you need to find a good archery shop and give them your business. The bow has to be set up to your length of pull with the proper poundage to work right. Since you bought the bow someplace else they might charge you for the setup unless you buy sights and rest and release and arrows from them. That's fair. If you had bought the bow from them you would have set it up for free. Hopefully the shop you choose will have an indoor range where you can try everything out after you purchase it and ask any questions along the way. As you're shooting most of the other shooters will help as well if you'll just ask. You might go to the manufacturer's website who made the bow and find another dealer close to you. He might be a little more apt to help you but remember you bought the bow else where so a lot of the "free" extras might not be forthcoming.

[ceb]

I too am of the simple stick and string crowd, have shot longbows and recurves since 1970, my advice is to use the Kiss principal. I am amazed by some of the stuff on the market these days. I shot a compound for a couple of years, and found I could do quite well with just a simple straight forward rest and pin sight, just didn't like them and went back to shooting my traditional bows. I guess I think of archery the same as I look at muzzelloading, its about what I can do with the equipment and not about what technology can do for me. I guess thats why I still hunt with sidelocks and not inlines.

Bowsite.com is one of the best on the net I have found. Course I frequent Stickbow.com and Tradgang.com

[piller]

I admit to having put a few holes in a hay bale in the back yard, but I haven't used my bow for hunting as I can do no better than keeping 12 shots in a row inside a 9 inch paper plate at 40 yards. I want to do a bit better than that for when I start as I have been known to get a little rattled and miss easy shots. Maybe I should get 86er some spurs in case he has another rodeo.

[44magHunter]

WARNING!

Archery is a VERY addictive way of life (not just a sport) and you will not be able to quit once you get started.

You will find that it is also very, very fun (and expensive at times.)

Congrats on your fine purchase (your bow) and I hope it serves you well over the years. I have only been into it for 3 years now, but as soon as I started flingin' arrows I got completely obsessed with it and cannot stop. I absolutely love archery and so will you!

As far as gear goes, there are endless combinations of stuff that "works." Everyone is different. Since you already have the bow covered and you have nothing on it, you will need a (few) things to go with it.

1) The first thing you will need is an arrow rest. You just can't shoot your bow at all without an arrow rest. There are hundreds of different ones, but my two favorite ones are the "Whisker Biscuit" (made by several companies) and the QAD (Quality Archery Design) "UltraRest" series. Both are great, but they work totally different. If you like to keep things simple (which is a good thing for a beginner,) you should probably go with the Whisker Biscuit. It has ZERO moving parts and supports you arrow all the way throughout the whole shot. It is quite accurate too. Many people use this one with great success and have never changed. The UltraRest is completely different than the latter, but it works just as well, if not better. It DOES have movging part though. It actually drops away after the shot as the arrow is coming out of the bow. This is so it does not affect arrow flight at all and does not hurt your accuracy. I like it better (BTW I have used both rests) because it it really does seem a little more accurate. Don't just randomly pick which rest you want and go with it though. You should really go to an archery "pro shop" and ask if you can try a few different ones on your bow.

2) Next, you will need a bow sight. Oviously, there are several, but most people use a fiber-optic sight with between 3 and 6 pins. You will have to depend on your sight always, so don't be afraid or suprised to spend $100 on it. I personally like TruGlo sights, so that is what I usually use. They are priced affordably and work very well. One of the sights I like is the TruSight Xtreme sight which can be sold with 3, 5, or 7 pins on it. It is availible with .029" diameter or .019" diameter pins. Most people like their pins to be very skinny so that they don't cover the target up, so they go with the .019" diameter pins. That's what I like anyway. (You will also need a peep-sight to go in your bowstring and be the rear sight to your bow. Most people go with one that has a rubber tube attached to it that rotates it to the proper position at the shot. This is a matter of personal prefernce and it's purely up to you.

3) One of the most important things (after the above two) is your release. Unless you are shooting with fingers (which would kinda be a bad idea with that kind of a bow,) you will want a nice release. They are not cheap though, and you will want a high-quality one. I have had great experience with Scott releases, which are very high-quality (and also expensive too.) They are awsome though. Two of the nicest ones I have ever used are the Sabertooth (my dad's) and the Little Goose. They are both wrist slings that have caliper-stile jaws. The Little Goose is a single-caliper, so it only has one jaw that actually moves. The Sabertooth is a dual-caliper that has 2 moving jaws and works basically the same. Both are under $85 (I know, still alot) and work great and are VERY accurate releases.

4) You will probably want a stabilizer to quiet your bow and keep it from vibrating so much at each shot. They also keep the bow in line with the target and help a great deal with accuracy. You wil probably want one under 8" though, so that it doesn't get caught in brush while in the field. Octane and Limsaver (same company that makes the stock pads for riflels) both make great stabilizers that I like. You should shoot several different kinds and lengths before you buy any, so you know that it works right.

5) Oviously you will need arrows, practice tips and broadheads. There are several brands of arrows that are all supposed to be "the best," but they are all really great. For hunting, you will want a fairly heavy arrow that is very tough. If you are planning to hunt whitetails, you will probably not be taking a shot past 30 yards, so it will not really matter how fast your arrow goes. It will still get there before the deer can move out of the way. Beman and Easton (makers of Beman) make really nice arrows that are great for hunting nearly everything. Bemans are more affordable than Eastons, but are not any less high-quality. For practice tips, they are all the same and none are really any better than the rest. You will probably want 125grain heads for a 60pound bow. As far as the broadheads go, you need to get the same weight as your practice tips. Contrary to all the hype about expandable broadheads, yo should not use them. They are not guaranteed to work effectively and do not go through bones as well. Probably the best broadheads out there are the Magnus "Stinger BuzzCut" heads. They are very affordable ($30 for 3) and have a lifetime warranty. Also, they are what Ted Nugent uses, so they have to be the best.

As far as everything else goes (type of quiver, what kind of fletching yo put on your arrow, etc.....) you will figure that out with experience. Oviously, the items I mentiouned above are just suggestions and you shoult use what works for you. I like to shoot alot (everyday when I can) and am really obsessed with what gear I use. One thing you should do is invest in a good bow target. The good old blocks of styrofoam (spelling?) don't work at all for a compound like yours. You should get a target that you can shoot both broadheads and field points into. This way, you can just put it in your back yard and you don't have to pay to shoot at some public range.

Here is a link to my favorite archery blog. You do have to become a member to view some of the content (and oviously ask questions.)
Just to let you know, this sight is full of VERY experienced archers, many of whome have thier own pro shops and bow stores and make their own strings, etc.
Most any of the people on the sight are very nice and will give extremely helpful advice. Nobody that I have seen on this sight will give you a hard time about being new to the sport and will not make fun of anything you do or say. I just joined this blog a few months ago and have learned ALOT in that time about shooting form, what gear works the best, how to make archery gear myself, etc.... You should be very welcome on this sight and you will learn a bunch of stuff that I probably don't know about archery and bowhunting. Here's the link (just click on "register" in the upper left hand tool bar menu and it wil tell you where to go from there.) http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/index.php

Welcome to the world of archery! Good luck and good huntin'!

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I have been releasing from recurves since I was 14 years old. All I have to say is Practice, Practice, Practice until you can hit a 6" circle. I start every hunting season the same... 10 yards. When I can put 5 arrows into that circle I make it 4". Then I start backing up 3 paces at a time until I am 5 for 5. 20 yards is my death zone. 25 yards I am only 4 out of 5. But I hunt river bottoms and have never had to release at more than 22 yards. My last whitetail was 11 yards while I was walking along near a creek bed.
Any one can do it... but if it was easy everyone would be at it.
Talk to the bow hunters about your area. Target shooters may be able to help you shoot but a hunter will help you learn how to hunt.

[TCB in TN]

At the risk of sounding even LESS cool than I am, let me opine!

I grew up shooting an old fiberglass bear recurve. We didn't have a lot of money and whenever I ran out of my allotment of .22's, and 12ga (which was pretty often) I would drag out the old bow. I have taken A LOT of squirrel, rabbit, and even a few birds over the years with a bow.

Fast forward a few years and I am 19, living on my own for the first time, and have some older friends who are hunting fools. They hunt everything that there is to hunt, and they decide to start bow hunting because that lets them get some more hunting in. Now these are good ole'boys, the kind that Jeff Foxworthy talks A LOT about. Stanley puts up deer targets in his front yard at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 yards. We all hunt out of tree stands to he puts a couple of phone poles in, and builds platforms at 15, and 25 feet high so we can all practice. Did I mention this was in his front yard? Did I mention his wife LET him do it.....

Anyway I was going over every evening with my GF (who was Stanley's niece) Stanley, his son, two of his wifes brothers, and another boy that he worked with would all be there "practicing". Well, did I mention I could shoot a bow???? It took me about 2 shots with the big fancy compound setup that Stanley had to figure it out and I just didn't miss. We spent about the whole summer over at his house 4 or 5 nights a week visiting and shooting. I broke down about a month before bow season and bought me one so I would be able to hunt too. Many evening a few beverages would be gone through and there were even a few friendly wagers placed on who was the better shot. By the end of the summer none of them wanted to play with me. I just took their money.

First day of boy season opens up, and I have a nice little stand about 10 yards off where two very active trails cross. I sit most of the morning and don't see anything, walk out to the truck for lunch and come back in about 230, to sit till dark. I had been in my stand about 20 minutes or so when I get my first action. Decent size doe, walks down from my left, never sees or hears a thing. I draw my bow, settle, pick out my 10 yard pin, and she stops right where I wanted her too, I release the arrow, and miss! Shot right under her. She kinda jumps when the arrow hits the ground (and I mean right under her), looks around kinda confused, but doesn't go anywhere. I quickly and quietly nock another arrow, draw, settle, pickout my 10 yard pin, release, and miss her low again. She still is looking around, and now I am getting REAL EXCITED! I nock yet another arrow, draw settle, pickout my pin, release, and MISS AGAIN! This time high! Well I am cussing a blue streak under my breath, but nock another arrow, which again misses low. This whole time the doe is still standing there looking around trying to figure out what is going on. I pull my LAST arrow, nock it, draw, settle myself, take 4 or 5 deep breaths, aim, and release, and I missed again! I yelled, and hollered, cussed, etc (which finally run the deer off). I couldn't believe I missed not 1 time, but 6 times, standing shot at 10 yards. We were shooting an average of 100 shots a night at various distances, out of a stand, and I would regularly hit the target (not necessarily the bullseye) on all 100 shots. I had not missed 6 shots out of 100 in months, much less 6 in a row, especially not at 10 yards, pretty much for 4 months.

I climbed down, and retrieved all 6 of my arrows (which were in a nice grouping on the ground), I climbed back up into my stand, completely tore up, I went over everything in my head, I know I was using the right pin, for the life of me I couldn't figure out how I could possibly have missed. I sat about an hour, when along comes a little 4 pointer. He walks up nice and slow. I am REALLY ready this time. While I was down collecting my arrows I stepped off the distance again, used my boot to scuff a mark on the ground at 5, 10, and 15 yards. My best shot was right on the 10 yard mark. I whistle real softly just as he comes to the mark, he stops and looks around trying to figure out what the noise was, and as I release the arrow, I can remember the feeling that it was ok now. I wasn't near as nervous, wasn't upset, had really focused on the shot and I KNEW I was going to make it, ALL the way up until the arrow hit the dirt right under his belly! He jumped straight up and took off like a rocket. I knew right then that something HAD to be wrong with me equipment. My pins must have moved or something. I climbed down, and headed back out to the truck, drove straight over to Stanleys, and proceeded to hit 40 or 50 straight shots at 10 yards.

I went back out 1 time after that with my bow, missed a big doe 3 times at about 20 yards, decided I would just stick to my guns after that. Now I have made shots with a rifle at over 350 yards, killed a coyote on the run, 1st shot with my Ruger M77 .270 at a laser ranged 347 yards. I even killed a big ole yellow tom cat that had been getting into my little chickens at over 300 steps, so I know it isn't all buck fever, or anything like that. I could shoot a bow, like no one's business, but I sure couldn't hit a deer with a bow. Gave my setup to Stanley's 14yr old son and told him to enjoy it. He killed 2 deer with it that first season. I don't know what it was, but I decided that bow hunting wasn't for me.

[AJMD429]

TCB in TN, I liked that story.

Sounds like some of the things I've done (or tried to do). Glad you passed that bow along. I've had guns like that - almost as if they knew when the shot was important to me...

[vancelw]

I still have it, and I used to shoot a 35 lb fiberglass recurve. I bowfished with it a lot. Could hit a needlenose gar in the eye every time. But I never got the hang of shooting with a compound bow. Not having formal instruction from a mentor probably has more than a little to do with it.

[O.S.O.K.]

I got my Hoyt compound about 4 years ago. Very compact and lightweight. I also suggest going to a good bow shop with an indoor range - and having them help you set-up your bow. Mine is set at 50 pounds at the advice of the man that sold me my bow - he said you just don't need any more and the lower poundage allows you to hold at full draw a lot longer - which will often be a factor in bown hunting! He told me that he's hunted with a 50 pound bow for the last 20 years and takes deer every year - full penetration. This is kind of like using a 300 Savage or 30-30 instead of a 300 Win Mag to hunt deer - you just don't need the magnum.

I can shoot decently with mine but I have yet to get a deer stupid enough to come within 40 yards of me so I can poke it! It really does lower your odds of taking game but, when you do, it means more... good scouting can really help with this but most all of my hunting is done from existing stands on a farm...

Oh, and get the broadheads that have the dummy/practice blades (dull) to use to practice with - they shoot to the exact same point of impact as the broadheads. Mine are muzzy's FWIIW.

[Bullard4075]

Thanks for the replies everyone, especially 44magHunter.

I started bowhunting (just shooting really) back in 86 up in Fairbanks.
On reflection it was a bad place to start (only big game to shoot...Moose) and
anyway I only shot for 6 months or so and gave it up.
Never did shoot an arrow at anything live.

I think I am ready to try again.
This time I am much more interested.

I have to get practiced up for spring turkey!

[44magHunter]

Thanks for the replies everyone, especially 44magHunter.

I started bowhunting (just shooting really) back in 86 up in Fairbanks.
On reflection it was a bad place to start (only big game to shoot...Moose) and
anyway I only shot for 6 months or so and gave it up.
Never did shoot an arrow at anything live.

I think I am ready to try again.
This time I am much more interested.

I have to get practiced up for spring turkey!

I sure hope you have fun this go around. I really LOVE archery and I know you will too if you get the chance, which it sounds like you will. Hope ya get a big ol' gobbler wif yer bow this spring.

Later,
44mag