Table of contents for June 2022 - Gear Special in Bowhunter

WHEN IT COMES to consistently putting meat in the freezer, few things are as crucial as arrow choice. The arrow leaves the bow, cuts through the air, and drives a broadhead home. If that arrow is of a subpar build, or is over or underspined for your bow’s poundage, problems can occur. From stout bone-breakers to ultra-thin wind-slicers to shafts designed to appease the need-for-speed crowd, finding the right arrow for your bow setup is paramount. Here’s what I mean. IT WOULD BE WISE TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING NEW ARROWS AND IMPORTANT ADD-ONS. Last season, the tag gods finally smiled down on me and I drew a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep permit in my home state of Colorado. It took me 19 years to draw the…

WHEN I WAS A KID, I was enamored with trapping, survival, and anything to do with sustaining myself in the wild with next to nothing. I read books, talked to “experts,” and practiced everything I could in case living off the land was ever needed. Fast-forward a few decades and several near-death experiences later, and my outlook on survival and the outdoors has changed dramatically. Now, there’s nothing wrong with having a skillset to survive with a pocketknife and a few feet of paracord, but in my opinion, if I’m to a point of building wicker baskets and gill nets to stay alive, then something has gone terribly wrong. One of the first things that I’ve come to realize is the difference between survival, sustainment, and thriving. When I’m on…

YETI® Hopper™ M30 2.0 • Improved wide-mouth magnetic access • Comfortable over-the-shoulder hauling • Resists punctures and won’t leak Yeti listened to their customers, and based on that feedback created the Hopper M30 2.0 ($350). It has new MagShield™ access that stays open for loading and then seals tight with a gentle tap of your hand to lock in the cold for days. The DryHyde™ shell is puncture-resistant and the bucket-like liner will never leak. Carry it over your shoulder or by hand — whatever works best. Contact: YETI, yeti.com. Work Sharp® Precision Adjust ELITE™ • Angle-adjustable system • Safe rod and clamp design • Carry case and storage rack The Precision Adjust ELITE ($119.99) is an angle adjustable, seven-abrasive-grit knife sharpener that delivers precision honing. Sharpening angles can be adjusted from 15 to 30 degrees…

THE CLIMAX OF ANY BOWHUNT IS THE SHOT, BUT FOR MANY, THE CHASE IS AN EQUALLY WORTHWHILE EXPERIENCE. THE TIME SPENT behind glass watching summer hayfield and setting up countless trail cameras waiting for the results to flash across your phone can be consuming. Your mind often drifts, wondering where he is or what he’s doing as you stare at mapping software and try to put the puzzle pieces together. As your intel increases, so do the waypoints as you narrow down your options. Although I firmly believe in the proverb that a “bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” that wasn’t the case last season. A certain buck first grabbed my attention in 2020 when his image flashed across my computer screen. Finding his shed antler…

WHEN IT COMES down to it, we all strive to be successful in the woods. For most of us who work and have a family, the season only lasts a week or two, maybe three, with a few weekends sprinkled in between. Needless to say, we want to make the most of the time we have because there are only so many Septembers, only so many Novembers. Certainly, having good woodsmanship skills goes a long way in that process — maybe more than we realize. But the equipment we choose to carry also plays a significant part, especially when it’s time to release an arrow. Having a finely tuned bow with functional accessories, like those found in this article, is the foundation of that moment of truth. We may only…

THERE’S A SAYING I often hear in Idaho that goes like this: “You don’t like the weather? Wait five minutes and it will change.” This is due to the fact that in the mountains of the West, especially during the spring and fall hunting seasons, Mother Nature can change things in the span of a day. I lived this reality fully on a two-week Wyoming elk hunt last fall, when the weather ran the full gamut on me. When my hunt started, I wasn’t even wearing a jacket after getting out of my sleeping bag in the morning. Come the middle portion of my hunt, after several days of low temps and constant snow and rain, I broke down and rented a room at a nearby lodge one night, just…

THE LAUNCH OF THE LATEST BOWS ALWAYS DRAWS THE EYES OF SERIOUS BOWHUNTERS. THERE SHOULD BE a lot of thought put into picking the right hunting bow. And although the “cool factor” is certainly important, weight, balance, speed, stability, efficiency, forgiveness, and noise are really the buzzwords to focus on when it comes to making that final decision. Let’s face it, today’s flagship bows aren’t cheap, and you’ll spend more than a grand when your bowhunting rig is complete. But when you start taking these new bows for a test drive at your local pro shop, you’ll realize they’re worth every penny. Although we all have our personal preferences, I honestly don’t think you can go wrong with any of today’s compound bows. The variables from brand to brand are…

ULTIMATELY, WHAT YOU decide to thread into your arrow inserts is entirely up to you. There are piles of quality heads on the market — fixed, mechanical, and hybrid — each explicitly designed for a purpose. My advice: If you have confidence in a backstrap-getter, don’t change just to change. In bowhunting, confidence in your gear is critical. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. However, if you’ve had some issues, it might be time to test and tinker and find a new killer broadhead. When deciding which broadhead is right for you, it helps to jot down some notes. For instance, if you’re a whitetail hunter who doesn’t shoot past 40 yards, you can go with a fixed, mechanical, or hybrid model. All will be super-accurate and do what…

EVERY BOWHUNTER NEEDS A PLACE OF CONCEALMENT FROM WHICH TO CARRY OUT THEIR MISSION. AS A WESTERN HUNTER, I wasn’t used to life 20' up a tree, but I had plans. My mule deer scouting turned up a couple of solid whitetail bucks using the same dry creek system as the muleys. One of the bucks was a gagger — 160-plus — and I’d glassed him walking by the same cottonwood multiple times. That afternoon, I drove three hours to the nearest box-chain sporting goods store and bought a dozen screw-in steps and the cheapest treestand I could find. That was my first mistake. The walk in to my cottonwood was a hair over a mile, and the stand was big and heavy. I had a heck of a time…