Scroll through Instagram or head on over to YouTube, and you won’t have to try too hard to find a video of an arrow arcing through the air for ¾ of a second before it enters an elk, whitetail, or hell, even a spring turkey. It would be hard to back up the claim that long-range archery shots are more common now than back in the Fred Bear days, but they certainly are more visible. This is both a blessing and a curse. The ability to hit a small target with an arrow from a football field away is evidence of good form, plenty of practice, and a flawless bow setup. All of those things should be aspi ..read more

In his memoir, A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway discusses his writing process and experience as an American expat in Paris, France. While writing and dining in Parisian cafes, Hemingway would step away from his work and stroll through Champs-Elysees or by the banks of the Seine to take a break from writing. During these strolls, he made it a point not to think about his work. Hemingway believed his subconscious continued working during these mental breaks even if he wasn’t actively thinking about his work. He found that his time and thoughts away from writing actually helped when he returned ..read more

A few years ago, I found myself saddled up over an interesting deer spot in southwestern Wisconsin. Twenty yards below and to the left of my setup was a well-used trail. It was pockmarked not only with plenty of deer tracks, but also several fresh scrapes. If a buck wanted to go from one side of the steep valley to the other, he either needed to drop down into it or skirt the top. I was banking on them skirting the top. What I didn’t expect was for a solid eight-pointer to cruise in from above me and then bust his way through the brush to my right. If you’ve never taken an off-side shot from a ..read more

In a past life, while working as an associate editor for a bowhunting magazine, I had to call up one of our columnists to clear something up. He had written about his preferred sight choice, mentioning that it was a seven-pin model. When I got him on the phone, he told me that he’d use a 9-pin option if he could find it. I thought, that’s at least six pins more than my brain can handle at the moment of truth. It was a revelation in how different he was as a bowhunter compared to myself. I need dumbed-down, simple bow setups. I know this because I went through a long phase of buck-fever-induced ..read more

Quite a few years ago, I passed on one of my older bows to a friend of mine. He had expressed an interest in bowhunting and had already killed a few deer with a rifle, so it seemed like a good idea. That feeling faded after about the fifth mystery blood trail. While he was more than enthusiastic about entering the ranks of archery hunting, he couldn’t keep his act together on a deer. Not only did he shoot poorly, he almost always seemed to hit deer instead of whiffing clean. After a few seasons of dealing with his post-shot issues, I realized something—he almost always shot too far forward or ..read more

Deer camps embody some of the best things about hunting, especially community. Some of my favorite hunting memories include my grandfather’s hunting camp, where I rabbit hunted, learned how to deer hunt, and heard my first turkey gobble. Aside from hunting and work days, members of the camp often gathered for fish fries, cookouts, and community events. Hunters killed big bucks every year, and every now and then, someone would kill a really big deer. While no deer camp is perfect, the folks in this one unselfishly made it an enjoyable experience, and everyone benefitted. Unfortunately, some dee ..read more

I dread the first few weeks after I set up a new bow. It’s a first-world problem, I know, but it’s also true. While this might be considered simply a break-in period with the idea that the first few hundred shots will help a fresh rig find its rhythm, there’s more to it. It’s a new beginning, and that means it’s time for me to break myself in as well. That might seem crazy, but think about your personal target practice routine. Do you shoot as consistently in January as you do in August? Probably not. Most bowhunters put their bow away at the end of the season, and if they don’t pull it out fo ..read more

I was minutes away from leaving. I’d had enough. More than enough, actually. Enough staring into an incessant bitter wind at a whole lot of nothing. Enough driving and scouting my way through prime whitetail country without seeing a single deer in more than 72 hours. It was mid-November, and I had no time to waste time perched in a tree, quickly losing interest and confidence. I decided to take one last look down the alley before bailing. And there it was. It was as if I’d somehow willed the buck into existence. The howling wind was dead in my face, and there was no chance the buck would catch ..read more

There comes a point every deer season, typically during the “lockdown” phase of the rut, when my dad and I start working through the long list of terrible excuses contributing to the lack of deer activity on our family property. Bad neighbors, lower deer numbers, terrible acorn crop—all excuses we throw out to console ourselves and gloss over our own shortcomings. Eventually, the conversation turns to off-season work, and my dad will mention how if we had only planted summer food plots, we might have held the does, given the bucks a ton of protein, or at least kept them from the neighbors’ cor ..read more

As bowhunters, we strive to be ethical, lethal, and humane. To accomplish this, our bows need to be tuned to ensure accurate and repeatable arrow flight. Unfortunately, this tends to be an intimidating hurdle for novice bowhunters. When you begin your tuning journey, you may become frustrated, view bow tuning as a form of black magic, or accuse the bow of being a lemon. Fortunately, a little tinkering and learning basic tuning principles will go a long way. Selecting Arrow Spine & Tuning Arrows to Your Bow Without the proper arrow spine, achieving a perfect tune becomes increasingly diffic ..read more