Archery Tip of the Week

[so haaad]

I hear what you are saying DonBo, they do seem expensive.

[harvey lee]

That looks like its it for any more tips unless someone else wants to write something up. Don't think that your tip is not worthy as we can all learn from one another.

Thanks for all that has been offered to date.

[harvey lee]

In regards to the cost of the safety harnesses goes, I'm sure the insurance and liability costs have alot to do with the overall cost of the vests.

I talked with a stand company and asked them about the insurance end of it and he stated that if the liability end of it were not so high, the stands would cost considerably less.

[Bear55]

Here is a quick tip for anyone using a climber, carry some kind of s-hook or even a fishing hook you could tie up to your bow rope. Because when you drop something (and you will drop something) it is sure nice to be able to snag it with the rope instead of climbing down and back up again. I learned this lesson the hard way when I dropped my grunt call on a late October hunt, I felt naked without it so I had a not so great time climbing that tree twice.

[fishinmajishin]

Cool...fishing AND bowhunting at the same time!

[PerchJrkr]

I dont remember if it was said and dont feel like reading through all these posts again, but keep practice shooting your bow in season! its good to practice with all your gear on too. I got an eye opener when i tried to pull back last monday night and almost gave myself a hernia. Did get it back, but theres no way i woulda been able to get drawn back on a deer without being detected!!

[snoozebutton]

Good advice PerchJrkr and what I do is step out and take one shot at a time. You don't get a practice shot when a deer comes out.

[jnorm1984]

hey bear55, thats a great tip, never even thought about that. and ive had to climb down the stand in my climber more than once to pick up stuff...forget a pack, or your release on the forest floor( happened to me 3 times last year, yeah, Im special ), nice this accully is a helpful website, aside from the negative people, who constantly ruin topics

[Archerysniper]

Here is a easy but important one when you are filling your quiver with your broadheads spin your arrows just put it point down and give it a spin if it wobbles your arrow is bent or the broadhead and insert are not square it might not matter on close shot but comes in the farther your shot is spin them all and put your best in the front of your quiver

[WaitForIt]

Your tip won't help me when I drop my cellphone out of the tree - for some reason both my cellphone and handheld Yahtzee take frequent tumbles down to the forest floor (leaving me looking sheepishly around hoping a deer hasn't been watching the whole thing)..

[Scott M]

I suppose it's about time to fire up the archery tips of the week, so I will submit one that I couldn't find with the search function: The prusik knot and safety line. Safety should be the most important thing when it comes to bowhunting. There are some other great tips about bowhunting safety, hanging ladder stands, choosing sites, etc. Everyone should be using a restraint system and a harness of some sort, but what do you do as far as using a restraint system while going up and down the tree? This is the most dangerous time as far as falling out of trees while bowhunting and having a life line to attach to could save your hide. You're going to have to make a decision about where to hang a stand and you're going to need a friend to help you hang it. Unless you're using a climber, I think its best to hang all stands with another person. Installing hang-on style tree stands, ladders, or tree steps is dangerous. Always bring a buddy the first time. Once the stand is hung, now its time to put up the life line. Your best bet is to buy your own line at a big box store, or you can make one at home. Buy some quality 3 strand or better nylon rope. Only buy load bearing rope that has been weight tested; most guys like the camo weave if it has a sheathing on it. Nylon is UV resistant, has some stretch, and has superior strength. You are going to want to have it rated for a great deal of weight; if you fall out of the tree there is more than just your dead weight, there is the force and gravitational acceleration of your mass, so you want to up it a little. I think the tensile strength of the rope I'm using is 800 pounds. Rock climbers could give you a better idea of all the materials and ratings for rope out there, but I'm going to keep it pretty simple. The attachment made at the top of the tree is the most important; it is your load-bearing knot. Therefore, I have been using the Palomar knot. Yep, the same knot used for attaching to swivels and hook eyes can do the same thing on a tree branch.

[harvey lee]

Nice post Scott. I hve a belt that came with my safety vest when going up the tree.

[ARROW 1]

Here is my before hunt prep. Shower with scent away soap put on scent away under arm. I spray down my scent blocker clothes and hat,rubber boots with scent away spray. It was warm so I carried my scent blocker top in with me. The top wasn't my lightweight top because it needed to be put in the drier and activated . The lightweight top zips up around my neck and later I would be wishing I would have taken the time to activate it.

I was hunting on a wooded ditch line leading to a water hole. A light south wind was blowing out over a cut bean field. The deer usually travel in the cover of the wooded fenceline. But I had a small 8pt come across the field and got down wind of me. He stopped dead in his tracks at about 80 yards. He put his hose up in the air and didn't make a sound just bolted. I couldn't believe it. An hour later two does came in under my stand and got down wind in the field. One deer winded me the other didn't. Same thing didn't blow or anything just bolted. At this point I'm not very happy.Im thinking what did I miss. The buck wasn't a buck I would shot but, now he and a doe are educated. I got home and went thru everything. I found a small hole in my rubber boots and fixed it but, I still didn't think that was the issue. Then I thought back at how heated up i got going to the stand. I then wiped my arm pits and took a smell. I could smell my daily under arm. The wash and the scent away under arm away didn't cover it.

I believe while sweating the daily under came out of the skin. So now I start wearing scent away under arm a month before season. I also learned a little more about deer behavior. Deer don't always blow when they smell people. They at times just run the other way. How many times has this happened to people and didn't know it. You can never do to much to fool there noses.

[bigbucks]

Here's a tip I may have mentioned before, but it just came to mind again. Plan on a lot of SE wind for the first two weeks of the season & bank on it for opener. I'd swear at least 3 out of 5 MN openers are warm with a SE wind, it's just the common one in mid to late September.

[Meat-Run]

bigbucks, your correct, saturdays forcast is a SE wind. May have to go to plan B for opening morning.

mr

[ac777]

SE is perfect for my Sat. Morning spot hope it stays that way..

[Finlander]

It's the start of the hunting season as far as getting prepared which is July for me!

I just scouted new land to hunt last saturday and trying to determine how many treestands to put up. And put up no tress-passing signs as the land owner and I found 2 tree stands that aren't supposed to be there.

Gonna put some trail camera's around some trails too!

Also started to shoot my bow and get new arrows! Any good bow hunter should shoot as much as possible aspecially now till season starts. I also shoot alot during the season to stay sharp!

[Meat-Run]

I just got my camera's out a few weeks ago and checked my stands yesterday and found that some one stold my climbing sticks and put a lock on one of MY stands. Looks like I have company in my woods.

mr

[Finlander]

Meat-Run, I would put a camera in a nearby tree about your treestand height and aim it at the treestand and catch the thief!

[Meat-Run]

Finlander,

I was thinking about that but with my luck I'll come back and my camera would be gone too. But what do you do once you have a picture, doens't mean you can actually identify the guy. If this continues I may have to go that far but I'll see how this summer progresses.

thanks,

mr

[big_shooter02]

you could do what I do with my camera's on public land. I use my climbing deer stand and put my camera's 20' up in the air. Being that they are infared, it is very unlikely that anyone sees them, and if they do, they have quite some troubles getting them down.

[Finlander]

Tip of the week!

If you haven't started shooting by now, start shooting!

It's never too soon to get in tune!

That's a poem!

[Finlander]

Now is the time to get all your gear ready!

Wash all your clothes in scent free soap, wash all equipment that goes into the woods with you also! And apply scent eliminator spray on them too and I mean everthing, bow, arrows, fanny pack, pull up ropes, tree steps, etc.

Another thing I spent time on last night was practicing gettin into your fall arrest system, (safety vest or harness) as these can be difficult to put on in the morning when getting ready to go out to your stand.

I've been guilty of not putting them on because I wasn't used to getting them on because of all the loops, etc.

Be safe this year and practice putting on your safety harness!

[Bear55]

Tip of the week!

If you haven't started shooting by now, start shooting!

It's never too soon to get in tune!

That's a poem!

Just to expand on this a little also practice shooting from different positions and those funny angle shots. You should shoot just fine if you bend at the waist when shooting from an elevated position but practice shooting from your stand height anyway just to be safe, you never know if your form is off until you try. Practice with your hunting clothes on, practice shooting sitting down, even practice other funny positions. You never know when a deer is going to catch you off guard and you might have to make a fairly quick shot without being able to get into perfect position.

[harvey lee]

Great tip. Many get up in a tree and have never practiced high angle shots.

[Bear55]

Great tip. Many get up in a tree and have never practiced high angle shots.

Yep they can be tricky, my closest shot was about 7 yards, it was also my first deer with a bow so I was a little nervous about the shot. I drilled it but I would hate to have to shoot much closer then that, especially if you are up around 20-25ft in a tree.

[minnesotahusker]

Meat-Run, I would put a bigger chain and heavier duty lock on your stand over the lock that the intruder put on your stand. Or you could cut off the lock that was put on your stand and hang it at the bottom of the tree with a little message for your visitor. Maybe he'll get the clue and bring back your climbing sticks also. On the other side, be glad he didn't take the stand. Maybe he thinks that you're on his land for some strange reason.

[Rippinlip]

Another Tip:

Listen and feel for change in your bow.

While I was practicing and everything was going good, I just noticed something different, the shots were hitting the target good.

But something did not seem right.

Brought the bow back home and had my wife watch and see if she could see something, sure enough while pulling the bow to full draw we noticed the cable slide was slightly hanging up. Made a slight jump in the draw and did cause the arow to dolphin slightly upon release, the arrows had time apparently to make the recovery before hitting the target.

Also I tore off the mole skin that came with the rest I bought. Had to go get some more to replace that too.

This is a new bow this year, happens to new equipment too.

Mark

[student]

I haven't tried this yet, but I do plan on trying it this year.

Drill holes in a section of PVC pipe. The length will vary depending on the width of your stand.

_______________

o o o o o o o o o

_______________

Zip tie the pvc pipe to the front edge of your stand.

Put fresh braches in the holes to blend or camoflauge your outline when sitting in the stand. Oak braches will hold it's leaves longer than other tree types.

[Bear55]

I like to use milkweed or cattail seeds to check the wind from my stand to see where my scent is going. These things can pretty much float on air and let you know what is happening around you. Just because the wind is out of a certain direction doesn't mean that everything travels in a strait line. Often I have found that swirling wind, terrain features, and especially thermals can play a big role. You will be amazed at some of the twists and turns these things make in the air, right along side your scent.

I usually pick them around this time of year and let me dry out for a while, then put them in some kind of container or bag them for the hunt. Whatever you do don't just throw them in your bag because they will explode on you and you will have all that fluff everywhere.