Grow the Hunt

Buying a Bow for Your Child

-By Brandon Wikman

Strolling into your local archery pro shop, or simply thumbing through the pages of last months hunting magazine in search of a new bow is like trying to pick your favorite candy off the shelf! It can be a real sticky situation that is sure to make any archer nutty.

The Crunch - It seems nowadays bows may retail as much as last month’s paycheck! At the rate manufacturers have been slapping price labels on bows, there seems to be no limit. When looking for a quality bow, putting the crunch on your bank account isn’t necessary. People seem to have the common belief that if it’s more expensive, it’s better. That is often times a false accusation.

In today’s day and age, the latest technology and super radical gizmos built in, on, or around bows seem to draw the most attention. It is important that we let the bow speak for itself, rather than putting faith into the wise and witty marketing team that creates the fancy designs, eye-popping ad layouts, and power to force you to buy their product. There isn’t a way to draw upon conclusions until you actually have the bow in your hands and in action. Let the sales gurus put their ad money where their mouth is, and see if the bow does what it’s supposed to do.

The Taste - I’ve always believed you can tell a man by the bow he shoots. A bow is a mirror image of what we crave and expect, whether it’s looks, feel, or performance.

There are several bow manufacturers who make great youth bows, including PSE, Browning, and Whisper Creek. Whisper Creek Archery’s new lineup consists of the Panther and Phantom. These bows fill a gap in the current archery market between youth and adult bows. The Panther is 31" axle-to-axle, set with parallel limbs, and was carefully built for a newcomer or seasoned hunter. It’s adjustable from 20 to 50 pounds, and has draw length capabilities from 17-27 inches! It’s important to look for versatility in a bow with the ever so changing teenager.

The Phantom is specifically designed for people just getting into the sport of archery, a perfect bow for a young gun that has never shot or held a bow in their life. This 29" axle-to-axle also comes with the works. The draw length can be adjusted from 14 to 24 inches without the use of a bow press.

We all know that the future of hunting is in the hands of today’s youth. We must equip them with not only the right gear, but demonstrate leadership and role modeling skills to preserve our heritage. I cannot stress the importance of getting kids involved into shooting and hunting early.

The After Taste - Savoring your purchase to the very end is imperative. If you’re willing to make an investment on a brand new bow, you need to know your satisfaction is guaranteed. Take time to talk with several people, surf the web, meet with dealers, and don’t be afraid to call the company directly to ask questions. Purchasing a bow for your newcomer is a ‘sweet’ deal!

Planting the Archery Seed

-By Randy Cooper

I love archery and it’s my passion. I’m into it heavy and love to help people who want to learn how to shoot or just need a little help tuning their bow to get them back into action.

This past weekend I met a young man that is about as enthusiastic about bow hunting as anyone I’ve ever met. He reminds me of myself when I first started shooting a long time ago. Bart bought a great bow two years ago and in the span of those two years has managed to take two deer, four hogs and a rabbit. That’s quite an accomplishment considering he had never shot a bow before. Did I mention that he had never shot ANYTHING before? Not even a gun. In fact, he had never hunted before, at all, ever! His first weapon was a bow. I had to pinch myself when I found out he wanted to meet me and have me take a look at his bow.

Upon meeting Bart, I could see the passion in his face as we talked about archery and hunting. I looked at his bow and began to notice a few things that could be adjusted to make it shoot better. After walking him through everything I noticed and showing him how to fix it, he was more excited than ever. We paper tuned the bow and it shot well. It was late evening and we gathered our bows and headed for the range. Once there, Bart shot a few times as I watched his form. It looked really good. I shot his bow and noticed that for some reason, it wouldn’t hit the same place twice, even at close range.

After once again watching him shoot, I found the problem. Someone had tied in a D-loop so tight that it was pinching the nock of his arrows to the point that it was pulling the arrow completely off the rest into the air. It’s a wonder we hit the target at all! I re-tied everything and now the arrow stays on the rest like it should. He was so happy he hugged me and told me thanks about 14 times.

That is a feeling I’ll never forget. It’s one I’ll never get tired of. I genuinely love helping people discover archery. I also really enjoy working on bows. Every bow is a new challenge. You learn as you work on different bows what the bow “LIKES” to make it shoot well. Some are easy fixes just like Bart’s. Some bows are very temperamental and you do a lot of head scratching to figure them out. The point here is that helping young people like Bart is what turns my crank. He is the son-in-law of a very close friend of mine and I was glad to help him. In doing so, I added fuel to the flame that is already burning in his heart for archery and hunting. I’m sure that he will, in turn, do the same thing for his friends with the knowledge he has.

This is how the torch is passed. This is what we all, as outdoorsmen, need to do every chance we get. Young people are the future of our sport. They are full of energy and like Bart, they will tell anyone who’s interested about what his favorite sport is and if they want, he’ll teach them too. I feel good inside every time I get to help anyone involved in our sport. If you get a chance to help a kid or an adult, take the time and do so. It’s time well spent and it will come back to you. As far as the kids go, my motto is, “TEACH A KID TO HUNT AND YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO HUNT YOUR KID.” Pass this along to someone you care about. You’ll be glad you did, so will they.

A New Trend In Archery

-By Randy Cooper

The ATA (Archery Trade Association) Show just concluded a couple of weekends ago. I’m envious of those who were able to attend the show in Indianapolis. I would have been like a kid on Christmas morning running around looking at all the great new gadgets and innovative inventions in archery built to make you a better bow hunter and tournament competitor. When I started shooting a bow some 40 years ago things were so simple. My first bow was a recurve made by the Colt firearms company of all things. It was a 58-lb. pull and was a bear to pull back and hold on target. I loved it and got pretty good with it. I’ll never forget the first deer I had a chance at with that bow.

A string of ten does started down a trail that ran parallel to the logging road I was creeping down. I was trying to make it to my stand quietly. One of the does peeled off and headed right for the road bed I was standing in. I ducked behind a tree and waited till she got right up to the road and was about to cross. I drew back and popped out from behind the tree. She didn’t see me as I aimed. I released the arrow at a mere 15 yards. The deer veered off to one side like she had hit a brick wall. When all was quiet, I went to see if I could find blood but didn’t see any. I looked at the tracks where she had changed direction, where I had been standing at the shot and where my arrow impacted the mud bank. I realized the deer had heard the arrow in flight and had managed to side step it. Some bow hunters call it jumping the string. I stood there in disbelief that an animal could react that fast.

In hind sight I realized that the bow I was using was way too slow. That was 1976. I had heard of compound bows and vowed that day that as soon as I could afford one I was going to buy it and a deer would never beat my arrow ever again. Since then I’ve bought and sold so many bows it’s a crying shame. Back then if you wanted a bow that would shoot well with accuracy, it had to be a mile long and you couldn’t even use it in a tree stand. Seriously, bows were commonly 40 inches.

My, how times have changed. I’ve noticed that the trend since ’96 has been for bows to become shorter and shorter. The technology of today’s bows is incredible. Bows now store so much energy by using the most advanced cams and limb combinations that it is common for high end bows to shoot over 330 feet per second and still be controllable. Now bows are short and compact. Easy to maneuver in a stand or on the ground in a turkey blind. These same bows are showing up at tournaments and are winning them.

A friend of mine showed up the other day and said he had something he wanted my opinion on. We walked to his truck and he opened his bow case and pulled out what I would have sworn was a TOY BOW!! I took one look and said, “You can’t be serious.” He is unique and, like me, doesn’t like to travel the path less chosen. I respect that and, after all, someone has to take a leap of faith every so often. He’s always liked the shorter bows but this one blew me away. It was a whopping 26 inches long axle to axle. The bow has the best of everything, and even at that short length still shoots 320 feet per second. We shot the bow at my range and I was impressed at how well it shot and grouped arrows. It was super quiet and didn’t have any felt vibration in my hand. It’s made by PSE and is called the X-Force SS for Super Short. It has extremely paralleled limbs to the point that it takes a special bow press just to collapse it so you can work on it.

I’m impressed by this innovative bow and so many more like it. This is where the technology and trends seems to be going. Check out the comparison picture which shows the X-Force on the far left at 26 inches and the long bow at the far right that is a staggering 37 inches long. You can get a real good idea of its true size looking at the pictures of it being shot compared to the shooter. Check out today’s bows. They ain’t your daddy’s bow anymore.

The Hunting Doldrums of Winter

-By Brandon Wikman

I can’t tell you enough how much I can’t stand winter! A season that brings cold, icy bone-chilling snow. A time when days are short and the hunting seasons have all but run dry, what is there to do to rekindle our hunting flame? Well, here are a few things that keep my outdoor mindset active during the bare frost season of Wisconsin:

• Join a local bow league. This is my top suggestion. It is a perfect time to tweak, tune and rip arrows through that already forgotten bow of yours! Archery skills aren’t easy to come by, it boils down to simple repetitive practice. Check out the web or your local newspaper to find leagues you can join. If nothing else, hit up the range every week to toss a few arrows. It definitely doesn’t hurt and, if anything, you’re keeping your archery tactics square!
• Read a magazine. I receive so many subscriptions to hunting and outdoor magazines that my house looks like the inside of a publication warehouse. Magazines line the carpet in my room and office. How easily I forget that they’re made for reading. If there were a time when we could sit down and read the things, it is now! The way I see it, between work, family, friends, other responsibilities, and hunting in general, who has time to infest their mind with literature when they can actually hunt hardcore during the season? If you are like me, I’d rather experience it for myself than read about it. At the very least, scrounge those magazines up and begin sponging your mind until it’s soaked soggy with, “How To,” “Top Ten,” and “Why” articles about living the hunting experience.
• Turn on the Outdoor Channel. If I don’t watch at least one hunting episode before I start my day, the day is literally shot! There’s nothing more exciting than doing it yourself, but to watch others throwing down their mad skills stalking game, calling in gobblers and arrowin’ giant whitetails, what’s not to like? Hunting shows have come a long way in the past few years. There has been a late trend of high action, fast paced styles of editing that keeps you and me in front of the television set. If you really want to check out a great show, I’ll be bias, check out The Next Generation, a show that I host. We have new airtimes for this 1st and 2nd quarter. We broadcast Wednesdays at 8:30am, Fridays at 4:30pm and Sundays at 1:00pm, all times are Eastern.

Please remember, there is light at the end of this snow tunnel. Give it a good month or two and we’ll be tracking shed antlers. Before you know it, turkey season will be cranked open. If hunting could last year round, we’d all be out there all the time. Take this time to learn, reflect and look forward to the future.

Monster Bucks Contest Update

Dylan Smith, the winner of Moultrie’s Monster Buck Contest, recently sent an update on his winning photo. After capturing a few more photos of the contest winning Twin Towers buck, Smith had the huge deer pinpointed with the help of Moultrie’s infrared game cameras. As the sun began to set on October 19th, a large 9-point that he had also seen on camera caught wind of Smith, causing him to freeze downwind from his stand. The 9-point caused the Twin Towers buck to take caution and he didn’t pass by Smith’s stand until the last few minutes of daylight. Since Smith has set a personal goal to capture every hunt on film, he passed on the chance to harvest the great buck because it was to dark to capture on video.

Unfortunately for Smith the buck was harvested on an adjacent property the opening day of rifle season. The buck had broken off the end of his main beam and part of his right G-5, which accounted for at least 15 inches. “I wish I had taken the shot on the great buck. It was too bad, but I feel fortunate that I was given the opportunity to hunt him and he was also able to pass on his great genes,” Smith says.  Luckily, Smith was able to harvest another great buck on his property soon after the close encounter with Twin Towers. He caught the buck on his Game Spy I-60 tearing up his mock scrapes and providing him with some excellent hunting footage.

Safety in the Deer Woods

-By Randy Cooper

“Wish me luck honey; I’ll be home by supper.” Tragically, that’s the last words some wives ever hear from their husband. As more and more people go to the woods hunting each year we’re starting to hear of more accidental shootings, falls from tree stands and even the more bizarre events like 4-wheeler wrecks and hunters getting lost.

I usually hunt alone. My wife is always concerned, but has come to understand that I take my safety in the woods very seriously. I’ve said it before in my entries but it bears repeating: I love my wife’s husband and want to see him come home safe and sound to hunt again another day! I take a pretty commonsense approach to my safety by using some tried and true methods I’ve learned over the years of hunting with clubs and on private land.

On clubs that I’ve hunted with, we have a sign-in box that everyone has to use before they can hit the woods for a day’s hunt. Inside the box is an enlarged plat of the property complete with the road systems, property lines and all major drainages and creeks running through it. Every hunter has to mark his or her tree stand location with a colored dot and their initials on it. When they sign in, there is another board where they write their name, date and time in. When they leave the woods they are to sign out. If someone doesn’t come out within a reasonable time after dark, we have enough information on the sign-in board to know where to begin searching for them. It’s safe and effective. We take it so seriously that if a hunter fails to sign in or out three times in a season, he is refunded his prorated dues and told to go somewhere else to hunt.

Many times because of my work schedule, I’m hunting alone during the week when no one else is at the property. When I hunt the club I sign in and out but when I’m on private property, I tell my wife which stand I’ll be hunting and what time I intend to come out. I also call the landowner and let them know the same thing. I insure my safety by charging my cell phone and keeping it with me in my pocket instead of in my backpack. If I were to fall and be separated from my pack I wouldn’t be able to call for help. I pack a whistle because it is effortless to blow and makes a lot of noise. You can become hoarse to the point that you can’t talk if you have been yelling for help. I have bottled water and trail mix bars in the event I get hurt and have to spend a lot of time waiting on help.

Simply, you need to anticipate the unexpected and prepare for it. Some items you need to keep with you include: a rain suit, lighter and fire starter cubes, paper and pen, extra clothing, headache medicine, fluorescent surveyor’s ribbon for trail marking, a sharp knife, rope, a flashlight and extra batteries, commonsense and a cool head. It only takes a second to get into deep trouble. Give yourself, your wife and your family the feeling of security by taking steps to be safe in the woods.

I use a full body harness when hunting from a tree stand. When the sun gets to hitting you in the back of the neck on a cold morning, especially when you haven’t had much sleep the night before, it’s easy to dose off. I’ve caught myself on several occasions leaning over after I’d passed out and just like I’d planned, the safety harness tether caught me. That thing is worth its weight in gold. It’s a good idea to take along a first-aid kit with the basics in it. A GPS unit is an amazing tool to have along to lay down a way point that will show you the way out of the woods if there is any doubt or you get turned around.

Take some good advice and do as the Boy Scout motto says: BE PREPARED. Your life may depend on it.

Getting Permission and Keeping It

-By Randy Cooper

Here in Georgia, I’m proud to say, I have four different landowners who have given me full access to their property to hunt. I have nurtured my relationship with these people over a period of years and we have become close friends. We know each other well enough that if we ever needed one another, for any reason, all it would take is a phone call and we would be there. It’s hard enough to find a friend like that in today’s world, let alone one that will let you hunt his property.

Being a bowhunter has helped open a lot of doors for me. People are afraid of a stray bullet coming through their house or having a family pet or an expensive cow or horse killed by mistake. They know that a bow is a short range weapon, virtually eliminating the chance of mistaking livestock for game.

I’ve put together a very effective PERMISSION REQUEST LETTER that covers some important issues to help the landowner feel more comfortable giving you permission to hunt.

• Include contact information: address, phone numbers, and even e-mail address at the top of the page.
• Tell the landowner about yourself, including how many years you’ve been hunting and how long you’ve been shooting a bow. It’s important they know that your very proficient and haven’t just started shooting.
• Assure the landowner of your respect for them and their property; you won’t leave gates open so cattle can get out, won’t park in the way of any vehicles or farm equipment, etc.
• Stay in contact with the landowner and always call and ask if it’s okay to hunt. They may have family in or it may just be inconvenient. Never assume it’s okay and just show up.
• Offer to do chores. I mend fences and even post property lines if they need my help. I also offer to share any game I am able to harvest.
• Always present yourself in the best way you can, with respect and politeness. Assure the landowner of your passion for hunting and that you are an ethical hunter.
• Lastly, offer the land owner a liability waiver that waves any responsibility to them, their property, family, or business if your are hurt or killed on their property while hunting.

Writing an effective letter has helped me access properties that I could have otherwise only dreamed of hunting. It has also led to some fantastic relationships with great people. At this time of year I want the landowner to know how much I appreciate his kindness in allowing me to hunt his land so I give him a gift. Throughout the time I’ve spent talking to the landowner and getting to know him I pick up on his interests, the things that really mean something to him in his life.

Giving a gift of your heart to him always takes him by surprise because he never expects it. It goes a long way toward securing permission on his property for the next season as well. This holiday season, give a little something to the person whose property you hunt on. One of the most appreciated gifts I’ve ever given was an aerial photo or a plat of his property that I purchased from the tax assessors office in his county. I placed it in a nice frame. The landowner beamed with pride and hung the picture on his living room wall for all to see. His property is his pride and joy and to have a picture of it to share with friends and family made his day. It doesn’t take much to just say, “Thank you so much for your kindness, I really appreciate it.”

Try putting your best foot forward next time you find property that you would like to gain permission to hunt on. You may find that doing some of these little things may lead to the best places you’ve ever hunted as well as some great friends.

Yearling Buck Dispersal and Doe Management

-By Randy Cooper

I was part of a great bow-only club in middle Georgia while it existed for 18 years. It’s still a club in the technical sense, but everything standing was cut down and destroyed three years ago. While it lasted, it was the most fantastic place I’ve ever hunted and will last in my memory forever. I harvested my two biggest bucks there and many other hunters did the same. We had a true buck factory. We tried to follow QDMA practices and harvested as many does as we could. We focused on what I call the “ALPHA DOES”. These were the very oldest girls in the herd. You could always tell them apart from the rest because of their long head and enormous body size. You didn’t have to look twice to know which one you needed to take out.

The doe groups on a given piece of property all operate the same. During spring, older does will give birth to two, and sometimes as many as three, fawns. Some of the buck fawns will disperse on their own and others will be forced out before the next rutting season 18 months later. This is nature’s way of preventing inbreeding. The ones who try to stay with the doe group experience a hard time. They do alright up until the spring the next year. At this point they start being harassed, dominated and even rejected by older does in the group that are pregnant, including their mother.

The yearling buck jumps right out of the frying pan into the fire when he tries to find a place of his own in the woods. The young buck tries to make his way and locate a new home only to get his butt kicked and run off by older bucks when he enters another buck’s home range. Radio-collared bucks have been tracked after dispersal and found to travel from two to 20 miles and, in some extreme cases, 100 miles in search of a new home range. The facts: Does on a property have the absolute best cover, food and water in their home range. The bucks sharing that property have to settle for what is left and that’s where dominance between them rules.

Our club came up with a plan that wound up working. We saw what was happening and did research on the findings of the Quality Deer Management Association. We thought our best bet of keeping really good bucks on OUR property was to remove as many older age class does as the law would allow. In doing so, we provided a place for these otherwise dispersed bucks to live and thrive to older age. This tactic, along with supplemental feeding all year and established food plots, not only kept bucks from dispersing and leaving our property as much but also attracted transient bucks from our neighbors’ properties. By no means did we run out of does to harvest. What we did by removing these does is adjust the buck/doe ratio to such a point that more deer signs than ever began to show up. There were fewer does to each buck and the competition for breeding rights was dialed up tremendously between them. Bucks started to respond to calling and rattling more than ever before. Our theory was that they must have thought a fight over an estrous doe was taking place and they had a chance to come in and make off with a girlfriend. They usually didn’t make it anywhere after they showed up.

Harvesting older does has been a tried and true tactic that made a handful of North Georgia bow hunters more successful than we ever thought possible. After two to three short seasons, we began to see the benefits of our labor. We let the little bucks walk to live for another season and harvested does like there was no tomorrow. We practiced QDMA proven tactics and it made us the envy of a lot of other clubs. That place is gone now but the remaining club members have turned it into a gun club and STILL continue to fill their buck tags each season since the clear cut took place. Seems to me, even with the woods all gone, the bucks still know where to come to find a girlfriend and free lunch. The members still supplement feed and plant food plots. These deer remember a good thing and keep coming back. Try these simple but effective tactics on your club or private land. You don’t have to have the neighbors doing the same. What will wind up happening is that all the great bucks they are seeing on their land in the early season will wind up in the bed of your truck during the rut and beyond when food gets scarce in the woods. Write me back and let me know if this works for you!

It's the little things that count

-By Randy Cooper

When I started hunting about 40 years ago, I would take nothing but a box of shells and a dove vest to go hunt squirrels all day. I usually got a sack full and came home tired and satisfied that I was becoming a hunter. As I grew older and wiser I started to be more careful when I went to the woods and would actually tell someone where I was going. After I married and had two wonderful kids, things really got serious when I went hunting. Safety began to take new meaning. Now I carry so much stuff that some of the deer I see don’t weigh as much as my daypack.

Seriously, I’ve changed the way I do things now in the name of safety. After all, I love my wife’s husband and want to see him come home safe and sound after a hunt. I’d like to share the items I carry every outing for comfort and survival. The list has whittled down over time to the necessities. It may sound like a lot, but at least when I need it, I’ve got it.

First things first, I carry everything in a camouflage daypack with many pockets. It has padded straps for my shoulders and a quick disconnect strap for easy removal. I start loading it with the basics:

• Water bottle and half-a-dozen trail mix bars (just in case I get turned around, the water alone could save my life)
• Headache medicine and antacid tablets
• Toilet paper (for what it is intended and also to track deer – mark the track you take following the deer with TP to get an idea of the direction the deer was heading)
• Flashlight with extra batteries
• Cigarette lighter and small, lightweight fire-starter blocks in case I need to make a fire
• Lightweight poncho to keep dry or provide shelter (plastic ponchos also insulate your body by holding in the heat)
• Compass and cell phone with freshly charge battery

This basically covers what I need to survive if the worst happens. I also pack the following for comfort and peace of mind:

• Extra shirt and cold weather gloves
• Game calls, extra release aid, two razor sharp knives and a leatherman utility tool
• Pliers in case a bolt needs to be tightened on my stand
• Screw-in utility hooks for hanging my rangefinder or pair of rattling antlers
• Small atomizer with scent killer
• Parachute cord to tie back limbs that may obstruct shooting lane
• Fluorescent pink surveyors ribbons and pill bottle full or bright eyes to mark my way in and out of new hunting spots
• Small grappling hook I rigged with three hooks and 22-ft rope to retrieve a fallen head cover or glove

Everyone is different. You may not want to go to these lengths. Consider a fanny pack or day pack next time you go to your stand. You can take a lunch with you and stay on stand all day during the rut. A day pack will leave your hands free to hold your bow or gun and you can hang it on a hook when you get into your stand to have everything close by. It makes staying on stand a lot more enjoyable you have what you need.

What to count on?

-By Brandon Wikman

There’s no feeling quite like anticipating a great hunt. As each day passes our emotions escalate, until a point where we basically forget about everything else except hunting. This may lead to sleep deprivation and a loss of appetite, as I can attest. It’s the feeling of finally getting a break and doing something you really enjoy.

As any hunter would do before their hunt, I checked the weather on the internet. I look at everything from detailed hourly, daily, weekly and monthly information to wind speed to barometric pressure. This can be a very useful tool for a conscientious hunter that plans hunts according to appropriate weather conditions or moon phases.

As my previous blog entry entailed, this past weekend’s hunt was supposed to be wondrous, to say the least. A fading moon, cold front and high pressure system moving into the Cheese State would break the disgusting snap of rain, heat and humidity. Finally, deer would be on their feet feasting on calorie-rich corn, soybeans and good ol’ food plots where my stand hung. Was it the hunt of my dreams...?

No!

This weekend was miserable. Saturday’s temperature reached 87 degrees, while Sunday’s tipped 89! The humidity was so bad that I sat in my stand panting for air, and as I scaled down the tree stand my breath was all but taken away! To really top things off it rained every other hour, just enough to get me wet and soggy.

As the meteorologists predicted a few days prior to the weekend, temperatures would already be in the mid-60s. Apparently, that’s not going to happen for another couple days.

Saturday afternoon I sat in a white oak tree, surrounded by acorns and accompanied by a manmade pond. This spot is an ideal location, because it is roughly 80 yards inside the woods from a cornfield; a perfect staging area for deer to wait until twilight before sneaking into the field. The only deer I spotted was a fawn, a fawn with spots still on it to be exact.

Sunday wasn’t much better. We had a doe and fawn come in to drink at the brink of complete darkness. That’s all. If anything else, I was reassured that weather has a huge effect on deer movement, second only to human pressure. When temperatures hover 15-20 degrees above normal and the humidity level is at an extreme, it’s as if every deer has disappeared. This has been going on for roughly three weeks, but eventually this weather is going to break. Once it does, I can guarantee that deer will be tearing up those agriculture fields and food plots you’ve worked so hard at planting during shooting hours. It’s just matter of time, weather, and I guess you could toss in my patience!