Table of contents for February 2025 - Winter in Bowhunter

I’M NOT A MORNING PERSON; like, really not a morning person. This presents a real challenge as a bow-hunter, and I’ve often said the hardest part of any hunt is simply getting out of bed. When I set an early-morning alarm so I can get in the field before sunrise, my first inclination is to hit the snooze button. Then, when the alarm sounds the second time, I have to give myself a prolonged mental “pep talk” until I muster the strength to swing my legs to the side and put my feet on the floor. Honestly, if I can just get that far, whatever else the day has in store is typically a piece of cake. Here’s another confession: I also hate being cold, and when brutally cold weather…

WHAT’S FUNNY TO ME about the theme of this article is that I know some old-timers — perhaps some even older than me — might think to themselves, “What is Fred going to tell me that I didn’t already know?” Well, read on Doubting Thomases, because I think all new traditional shooters should be aware of the facts. These are the things that weren’t mentioned to me or other friends when we made the decision to go to a traditional bow. When I started shooting traditional, it was because I genuinely loved it. I shot more arrows for fun, and I didn’t take shooting the center of the bull’s-eye so seriously like I did with a compound. I also loved the simplicity of a recurve or longbow, and I still…

YEARS AGO, while sitting in a ground blind at a water hole in a remote area of the Red Desert in Wyoming, I had wild horses come to drink. It was a magnificent sight that is permanently etched in my brain. I’d subsequently enjoy other sightings of wild horses while antelope hunting in Wyoming. I must admit those experiences biased my thoughts on whether wild horses belong in the wild, even though they are not a native species to our country, having been brought here centuries ago by explorers and settlers. Of course, ring-necked pheasants aren’t native to the Dakotas or other western states, but no one questions whether they belong. Pheasant hunters sure love them, and the states with them like the money they bring to their economies. However,…

AS A BOWHUNTER, having good, quality optics is an essential part of the game. However, many hunters don’t have an unlimited budget that allows them to drop hundreds of dollars on high-end binos and other equipment. So, they look for solutions in their price range that cover the majority of their needs. That’s why Bushnell’s new R-Series line is so exciting. These performance-focused optics are designed to meet the demands of today’s deer hunters, while at the same time helping save some hard-earned money. R5 2000 AB Laser Rangefinder After testing many archery products over the years, some stand out as favorites. The R5 2000 is one of them. In fact, two things caught my attention right away. First, I’ve used laser rangefinders that had a red LCD display, and…

I TURNED THE FOCUS DIAL on my 10x40 binocular. Far below, the telltale tan side of an elk moved in the half-light of dawn. Seconds later, the crisp image through my glass showed a burly body topped by massive antlers. Even at half a mile away, the rack was impressive. All six tines per side were long — including the thirds, which are often short on mature bulls. The canyon below me dropped off with a near-vertical high dive inches in front of my toes. Starting a stalk would require me to hike away from the edge, make a big circle and drop into the gorge near its head. After hard hunting for more than a week, I had only seen two branch-antlered bulls. Early September 2024 was unusually warm,…

THE PURPOSE of this column is to create a place for me to pass along as many lessons as I can from a life spent bow-hunting. With that in mind, I am going to jump right to the top of the list. Here are the most important lessons I have learned about bowhunting strategy and making the shot. Hunting Strategy Game animals are hard to kill if they know they are being hunted. Keeping them from knowing is the key to bowhunting success. This simple truth should find its way into every corner of your hunting strategy, down to the smallest detail. How this affects success can be something as innocent as where you park or something as obvious as how well you play a swirling wind when hunting around…

WHETHER YOU’RE A DIEHARD who likes to take every opportunity to hunt regardless of the conditions or you still have a tag burning a hole in your pocket as the snow flies, it goes without saying that late-season hunts can be tough. Wise deer coupled with colder conditions can result in few opportunities, making it hard to remain focused at times. You really can’t afford mistakes at this time of year, and if you let the cold get to you, you’re sure to slip up. Fortunately for us, there are many quality options to keep us cozy in these difficult conditions, and starting with a good base layer is always a solid foundation. Code of Silence (codeofsilence.com) has certainly built a strong reputation in the past few years, and the…

ANEW BEAR WHITETAIL! WHAT? That’s the bow I started with nearly 45 years ago! I took my very first deer with the Whitetail Hunter (Oh, the memories). And while the base name and quality remain the same, the performance of the Whitetail INT is on a whole other level than that bow. Outfitted with Bear’s adjustable EKO Cam and Muscle Split Limbs, the new Whitetail INT sends arrows downrange at an advertised 339 fps. A reflex riser with flared structure and bridging is built to provide a stiff shooting platform while also serving as the base for the built-in grip, expanded accessory-mounting options and cable roller slide. Plus, this is a Ready-To-Hunt (RTH) package, which would have been nice back in the day, since I taped a barn burner matchstick…

BOWHUNTERS have a legal and ethical responsibility to care for the meat they harvest. The first step is never shooting an animal in a place where retrieval is questionable. During early archery seasons, warm weather can quickly spoil a carcass, and predators such as bears might move in to eat your prize. After you drop an elk, deer or other big game animal, you should quickly field dress and butcher it to ensure surface-drying air circulation and rapid cooling. You should always carry a sharp knife, knife sharpener, bone saw and hoisting rope in your pack to allow butchering on the spot. Moisture and heat are the culprits that cause meat to sour. Drying and cooling meat retards destructive bacterial growth. Hang quarters in the shade if possible, or prop…

APPROACHING THE CREST of the ridge, I looked up to see a cow elk coming from the opposite direction. Our eyes locked, and we both froze. As the stare-down commenced, white tines materialized a few yards behind the cow, appearing to grow from the ground as the bull fed its way over the ridgeline. The tines grew and grew and grew until the colossal bull was finally in full view. I quickly realized this was, by far, the largest bull I’d ever encountered with bow in hand. With the cow at 30 yards and staring right at me, I prayed my bow-mounted elk decoy would prevent her from spooking. The relief was overwhelming when she eventually lowered her head and continued feeding in my direction. If she continued her course,…

IF YOU’RE READING THIS and still have a buck tag in your pocket, your fall whitetail hunts probably didn’t go as planned. Hopes for patterning an early-season buck faded to nothing, and despite your best efforts, the chaos and unpredictability of the rut failed to bring a mature buck past your hide. Now, here you are in the late season, wondering whether you can make a miracle happen before time expires. I’m not going to sugar coat it; the odds are against you, and you’ll need every advantage you can get. By this point in the season, your local deer herd has been hunted for months. Many bucks have been removed from the landscape by hunters, and those that remain have had their survival senses sharpened to a razor’s edge.…

SHADOWS lengthened across the swamp as the sun inched toward the western horizon. It was the final evening of my quest for a Maryland sika deer stag, and I could almost hear the clock ticking in my head as I anxiously scanned the flooded timber around my stand while precious minutes of shooting light slipped away. Then, just like that, the stag appeared. Earlier that afternoon, a pair of sika hinds and an immature stag had approached from my right, splashing through the water as they closed in, giving me plenty of time to handle my bow and get ready before they emerged from the thick brush and marsh grass surrounding my perch. This encounter was completely different, and as my eyes burned a hole through the mature, 6-point stag…

PRESENTED BY LANCASTERARCHERY.COM KUIU Super Down Haven Line Late-season bowhunting often means gnarly conditions, so you need tough, dependable clothes to match. Enter this new whitetail-hunting line from KUIU. The Super Down Haven set sports an ultra-quiet outer fabric coupled with KUIU’s Quixdown insulation to handle the coldest hunting conditions. Jacket ($499) highlights include a removable hood with streamlined profile for unrestricted hearing and peripheral vision, raised collar, neck gasket and safety harness port. Bibs ($429) have fully adjustable, removable suspenders, six heat-pack pockets and warm, fleece-lined hand pockets. Warm, windproof and light, this set is made for anything Mother Nature throws at it. Comes in sizes S-3XL. kuiu.com SPOT-HOGG ARCHERY Boonie Bowsight Exceptional versatility and performance are hallmarks of this game-changing bowsight from Spot-Hogg. The Boonie ($379.99-$519.99) features interchangeable…

Q I’M PLANNING a late-season deer hunt north of the border in Saskatchewan. I know how to keep warm, but what about my gear, bow, etc.? Got any tips for me? — C. Sampson, via email A WHEN HUNTING cold weather, your greatest challenge, other than keeping warm, is noise. While sound travels faster in warmer air, colder temperatures and low humidity in winter cause sound waves to transmit more efficiently and with less absorption. Also, snow reflects and amplifies sound, adding to the perception of increased volume. The slightest noise can ruin your day. Consequently, your outer layer of clothing must be silent as you draw, and one contributing factor is the ease with which you can draw your bow. It should always be smooth and effortless. That can…