Arrow Archery

Back in the Winter of 2008, I moved to a new home in a neighborhood that borders a section of woods. The neighborhood is on the edge of a populated county, but it is out on the edge of the county. My home border the edge of the woods, and my property actually extends about 30 yards back into the wooded area. It is a nice area with a lot of affluent neighbors.
The woods was a big draw for me when I selected the property to build on. I love the outdoors, and this lot gave me the best of both worlds. My wife is happy since we don't live too far away from civilization, and I'm happy, because I feel like I am in 'the country'. These long wood runs extend for miles. They may only be a few hundred yards wide, since they border neighboring subdivisions. But they are loaded with deer and other wildlife. There is very little hunting pressure in the area, so I have seen some quality bucks frequently. I keep a couple of game cameras back there, and even hung a stand for the last days of this past season.
Once I hung this stand, I did have a big concern with the legality of hunting near a populated area. I posted some questions in some popular hunting forums, and the consensus response I got was "if it is your land, and there are not state or regional laws against hunting on it, then by all means ... hunt it".
I was happy with this response and checked the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife hunting guides. While there may be some local ordinances against discharging firearms in the area, there is nothing that would restrict me from bow hunting the land. Since I am an avid bow hunter, that made me VERY HAPPY.
This past Spring, I learned from a neighbor that the block watch captain in the neighborhood discovered a deer stand in a section of woods near his home. My neighbor knew I was planning on hunting my land, so he brought me this news ASAP. The block watch captain went on the war path. He is apparently against the whole concept of hunting, and called the state capital to complain. I was happy to hear that they told him that if it was bow hunting occurring on the area, and the individuals were hunting on their own land, that there was nothing he could do to stop it. This confirmed the information that I had gathered from my own research, and again I was happy to hear this news.
My only concern now has to do with pissing off my other neighbors. This block watch captain's home is close to mine, and I am concerned that I could still have issues with him if he discovers that I am hunting back there. I will obviously do my best to keep a low profile, and not offend anyone, but I'm still worried about it. My big worry is that this individual will instate a neighborhood ordinance restricting hunting for residents.
This whole situation rubs me the wrong way. What makes a person with an opposing view of hunting think that they can dictate what others do? I have always considered myself to be a respectable hunter, and don't want a conflict situation. But I AM going to hunt my property. Every year, I donate several deer to needy families. It helps to keep the population down, it helps families in need, and it helps me spend more time in the woods hunting, which I enjoy.
I'd be interested in hearing what you think of this situation. Have you ever encountered issues hunting near populated areas?

Have you ever been disappointed when you have harvested a nice buck?  I have.  It was back in the late 1990's when I was hunting some leased property in Nelson County Kentucky.  I was on the lease with several other guys who loved to gun hunt.  At that time, I didn't own a deer rifle, but I had my trusty Jennings Buckmaster bow with me.

The night before the opening day of gun season, we all met up at the deer camp.  Everyone talked about where they would be hunting and who had laid claim to which areas.  I already had a stand hung up on the side of one of the knob ranges.  It was rough land, but the kind of land that the better bucks seemed to like.  I didn't mind the uphill hike to get to the stand, because I had been seeing good deer in the area throughout the bow season.  None of them had been close enough for me to take a comfortable shot though.

I told the guys that I would be bow hunting on the back of the property, and they were shocked to hear that I would pick up my bow instead of a rifle.  I didn't own a rifle, so it was an easy choice.  I had a couple of guys offer me their extra rifles, and I declined.

With my bow in hand, I sat through the morning hunt, and saw several deer.  I passed on several shots on smaller bucks.  I even passed on a shot on one of the biggest bodied does I had ever seen on that land.  I heard several shots that I knew came from our lease.  I was pretty sure that my partners were scoring.  After sitting in the stand for longer than planned, I got down and went back to the camp.  They had four bucks hanging when I pulled into camp on the Arctic Cat.  None of them bigger than a 6 pointer.

After a rest and some lunch, everyone got ready to head back out to get on stand until dark.  Again, I was hit with the pressure to take a rifle.  "You're gonna see that buck of a lifetime, but it is going to be just out of range of that bow.  How will you feel then?" The  pressure got to me, and Charlie gave me a quick once over on his extra Remington model 700.  It was a .270 and a flat shooter.  A good gun for whitetails in Kentucky.

I saw little action until about an hour before dark.  Several does moved through and I saw a couple of small 6 pointers.  I let them walk in hopes of seeing a larger buck.  Soon after, I looked over my left shoulder and saw a decent buck.  He was an 8 pointer whose rack was outside its ears.  A pretty decent buck that I'd be happy to shoot.  He was coming straight towards me and was at about 40 yards when I decided to take the shot.  I raised the gun up layed the crosshairs on him, and he turned about 30 yards out.  I pulled the trigger and the buck covered about 40 yards before he crashed.

Now this is where I will probably offend some people, but that isn't my intention.  I felt kind of let down after that shot, even disappointed.  It was too easy.  I had only been bow hunting up to that point, and I just didn't feel the rush killing that deer with a rifle like I would from killing a deer with a bow.  It was at this point that I knew I was a bow hunter at heart.

I am definitely ready for the bow season to get here.  September 5 is opening day in Kentucky.  While I am eager to get in the stand, it can be tough hunting on those early days of the season due to the heat.

It isn't uncommon to see days in the 90's still in early September.  It gets so hot, that not much of anything moves during the day.  It seems the only good time to be in a stand is for that first hour after sunrise, and that last hour before sunset.  That is typically when all the action is.

It can be tough to keep you scent down this time of year.  You break a sweat just walking into the woods, especially if you are carrying any gear.  You can be dripping sweat by the time you climb the tree to get into a stand, especially if you are using a climber.  For early season hunts, I definitely prefer having a hang-on stand ready and waiting for my.  Some screw in steps, or ladder sticks are ideal.  I like to hunt high this time of year to keep my scent from being as much of a factor.  With all the foliage still on the trees, I typically end up having to cut some shooting lanes.  The higher up you hunt, the more of an issue that canopy becomes.

I have to admit that I am sometimes hesitant to shoot in the hotter weather.  You have to rush to field dress your game, and get it to the processor as quickly as possible to minimize the chances of spoilage.  Bags of ice in the body cavity can buy you more time.

While I definitely look forward to the bow season opening, what I really look forward to is the cooler weather coming in.  The deer start moving more, and you aren't so rushed to keep you game from spoiling.  Either way, I'll be happy to see it get here.

I remember when I first starting shooting, how I was a bit on the inconsistent side.  I was holding fairly decent groups, but they were no where near as tight as I would like to see them.  On occasion, I would have a stray arrow land well off of the rest of the group.

A shooting buddy of mine stood back and analyzed a few shots.  He gave me a couple of tips still comes to memory today.

The first thing he told me is that it appeared I was dropping my bow too soon after shooting.  He told me to be conscious of holding my pin on the target, well after releasing the arrow.  Concentrating on holding the pin on that exact spot will help to ensure that you are not pulling off the mark.  This made a big difference for me.

Another thing he told me relates to the actual hunt.  He told me not to just shoot at the deer, but to pick out the exact hair that you are going to shoot at, and hold on that mark.  Now this may seem a little extreme, but it made sense to me.  When practicing on a target, you typically have the vitals marked on it, for example, lungs traced in black and heart in red.  This gives you something exact to shoot at.  When shooting a live deer, you don't have that red dot to shoot at.  So don't just shoot at the area where the vitals are located, pick that exact spot on the deer that is going to give you that kill shot, and hone in on that 'exact hair' as he put it.  Hold on that spot, even after releasing your arrow.  Don't drop your bow until you hear the impact of your arrow.  Shooting more consistently will result in more kills.

If you have been bow hunting for a while, I'm sure that the following scenario will sound familiar.  You are in your treestand, and a shooting opportunity presents itself.  You raise your bow and come to full draw.  Your pins come in sight through your peep, and you trail your sights towards your game's vitals.  But that clear shot you had is now obstructed.  Maybe that whitetail took a step or two and its vitals and that heart or double-lung shot is obstructed by that oak tree.  Maybe the deer turned and that it is facing you.  Many times I've had another deer step up next to my shooter, and now it is blocking my shot.

You are stuck at full draw, and what will you do next?  You could try to let your draw down, but you might get busted and you can kiss your chances of shooting goodbye.  You can try to hold at full draw, but how long can you hold it?

I can recall this situation all too well.  I was hunting on Nelson County, Kentucky up in the knob ranges in mid-December.  It was an abnormally cold day.  I'd passed on a couple of smaller bucks that morning, and was considering getting down when a respectable 8 pointer peaked the finger ridge next to me.  He gave me a 25 yard broadside shot, which became an obstructed shot by the time I got to full draw.  The vitals were completely covered by a mature oak but his head was in plain view.  I had plenty of time to study his rack as I held at full draw praying for him to take just one good step.  After what seemed like an eternity, I finally let my draw down when he dropped his head.

Less than a minute later, he took a step, and I went to draw again.  I struggled, and was unable to get my draw back.  I was shooting a Jennings Buckmaster that year, which I had set to a 70 lb draw.  A combination of the heavy draw weight, a stiff bow and still body from the cold weather, and gassed muscles from holding my draw for so long cost me that buck that day.

I made some changes after that.  I dropped my draw weight and resighted my bow.  I did this to ensure that I would have ample room to ensure this would not happen again.  Up to this point, I was always about having the maximum speed an power I could get.  But I learned it isn't about all that.

I also developed an exercise to assist in gaining more strength.  While practicing, try adding some long delays between full draw and shooting your target.  Mimic these real life situations of getting to full draw and waiting for your shot to redevelop.  This will help to add needed strength and have you prepared.