After my trip this past December to the Mathews Archery Retailer Show I was amazed at how innovative archery companies can be.  With each passing season the new bowhunting and archery equipment that hits the market gets lighter, stronger and more versatile than ever before.  Below are thirteen items from the show that I thought every diehard bowhunter would want to know about.

The 2012 Tight Spot Quiver shown here is lighter than previous models which will work perfectly with the new Mathews Helim The Tight Spot quiver attaches and detaches from your bow quickly and fits snugly against the riser of the bow, reportedly eliminating bow torque issues often caused by a bulky quiver.

Another item that caught my eye is a Mathews bow display called WeaponRax. This classy looking display holds one bow and a few arrows and turns your Mathews bow into a piece of artwork that you can display in your living room, den or dead animal room. The WeaponRax is available in black or oak. Many retailers were purchasing them at the show to show off Mathews bows in their retail stores.

Hot Shot Manufacturing’s new Infinity release is available with a leather Lost Camo wrist strap. The Infinity features a “Lever-Link” trigger that replaces traditional roller bearings, creating a crisp shot and less trigger creep, resulting in tighter arrow groups. The extra-tough actuating mechanism features less friction than roller bearings so the release will work flawlessly for years without getting stiff or difficult to pull due to harsh weather or dirt from spending hours in the woods.

Carbon Express has long been considered a leader in arrow technology. Mathews is a leader in bow technology so it makes sense for these two industry leaders to team up. The Mathews Edition Carbon Express Maxima Hunter comes in Lost Camo and has the great features you are accustomed to from the Maxima Hunter including weight forward technology, Buff Tuff carbon weaving and the extra strong BullDog nock collar.

If you are a diehard turkey hunter, you will want to check out the Turkey Nightmare Lost Camo blind. This unique umbrella blind mounts to your bow and has a shooting window in the center of it. The umbrella blocks the turkey from seeing you draw your bow but the window allows you to see and aim at the turkey. One of the most difficult things about bowhunting turkeys is getting your bow drawn without being busted. This blind will make bowhunting turkeys much easier.

Pine Ridge Archery makes a variety of archery products. For 2012, they have all kinds of new products that come in Lost Camo and bright colors for all the archers who want their bow and everything on it to be color coordinated. Their new Nitro Stabilizer is available in Lost Camo. They have brightly colored wrist slings, peep sights, peep sight tubing and a variety of other products. For more information, visit www.pineridgearchery.com

American Leather Klassics has teamed up with Mathews to produce fine leather products. In this picture, you can see the Mathews leather belt. They also make Lost Camo picture frames, wallets and are even producing Lost Camo dog collars and leashes for your favorite dog. They offer a wide variety of Lost Camo leather products.

Invisible Hunter makes a variety of scent eliminating products including Invisible Hunter Fresh Earth spray. This product comes in a Mathews Lost Camo spray bottle. Invisible Hunter uses enzymes to destroy human odor, not just mask it like many odor eliminating sprays do. Almost all deer hunters use scent eliminating sprays of some kind; now you can try one based on science, not smoke and mirrors.

Schaffer Performance Archery has given the Opposition Arrow Rest a facelift. The new Opposition Lite is 20% lighter than the previous model, comes in Lost Camo and comes with unique technology like Glide Away jaws that pinch the arrow so your arrow can’t come off the rest as you draw. A button on the rest allows you to lock your arrow into position before you draw or allow the jaws to lock the arrow in place as you draw. When you shoot your bow, the jaws glide to the right and left for total arrow clearance. The Opposition rest has been tested at 418 FPS!

Mathews Archery fans love to tell the world how proud they are to shoot a Mathews Bow. Camo Wraps make unique Lost Camo vehicle wraps and Mathews stickers that look great on almost anything. Their accessory wraps can be used on cameras, phones and anything you want to deck out in Lost Camo.

Blacks Creek Guide Gear makes great backpacks, duffle bags and bow cases. Here you can see the new Blacks Creek Helim bow case that looks almost as cool as the new Helim and protects your favorite bow from getting nicks or dings while traveling to your favorite hunting spot. Blacks Creek displayed some great new duffle bags at the Mathews Show that are perfect for the traveling hunter.

Grim Reaper Broadheads is offering the Mathews Edition mechanical broadhead. This razor-sharp killing machine has a gold feral that will look great flying out of your favorite Mathews bow. My favorite Grim Reaper Mathews head is a 3-blade head that offers a razor-cut tip and has a whopping 2-inch cutting diameter.

Axion Archery is offering some great products for 2012 including the new Zone drop away wrest and the GLT Triad Stabilizer that is very sleek and innovative and will look great on any Mathews bow that has the Grid Lock riser.

About the Author: Tracy Breen is a full time freelance writer and works with several companies in the outdoor industry including Mathews Archery, Schaffer Archery, Hot Shot Manufacturing and Pine Ridge Archery.

Now that most hunting seasons have closed, it is important to discuss a common “post-season” trap. And, while it may seem innocent in nature, make no mistake it is one that prevents a lot of bowhunters from reaching their maximum potential; with regard to bow shooting skills, number of tags filled and even overall physical fitness. I understand that after many long months chasing your favorite game animal the urge to “take it easy” for a while can be overwhelming. However, if you want next season to be better than last season, now is the absolute best time to work toward that goal. Later, in subsequent blogs, we will discuss Hunting Prowess (tags filled), and Physical Fitness in more detail. But for now, let’s take a closer look at the first of these three areas: Shooting Skill. 

Your favorite treestand may be sitting dormant, but that doesn't mean that the time for perparation is over. 

Shooting Skills
You don’t have to be a competitive shooter to be a successful bowhunter. In reality, perhaps the most deciding factor in closing the deal on your next bowhunting opportunity comes down to 2 things: muscle memory and your ability to handle pressure. Thankfully, if you put enough time into actually shooting your bow, muscle memory will take care of itself. This is important because you might believe that you can talk yourself through such details as picking a spot, bending at the waste, relaxing your shooting hand or squeezing the release trigger----all in the heat of the moment! But, the truth is, you will most likely forget, simply because your heart will be in your throat. I know because I have tried. It should come as no surprise that my odds of success were very low during those seasons when I tried to will my way through tough shooting situations. 

The off-season is a great time to introduce advanced shooting techniques such as "Blind-Bale Shooting" into your practice regimen.

During those seasons when I failed to pick up my bow until late summer, I was essentially “relearning” all of the skills I had worked so hard on during the previous year. As a result, even though I was practicing, I wasn’t really making any strides in my ability to shoot well. Thankfully, I wasn’t loosing much either. But honestly, I definitely wasn’t getting any better. I quickly learned that maintaining some form of consistency during the off-season was the only way to really improve my proficiency to hit what I was aiming at in actual hunting situations. Some of this included just slinging arrows in the back yard. A good deal of it however, entailed actually shooting from a treestand, long-range shooting, and even up close, blank-bale shooting. 

Shooting from the ground, in a kneeling position, while wearing a face-mask, can affect your odds of filling a tag; especially if you wait until the moment of truth to find out if doing so alters such things as anchor point and arrow flight.

I should also mention how important it is to make a good deal of your practice time “situational”. For example, if you primarily hunt above “terra-firma”, then you should conduct the majority of your practice sessions from a treestand. This will only add “realism” to the situation and better prepare you for the real thing; and, what better time to do this than during the boring winter months. In addition, shooting outside when it is cold allows you to evaluate your cold-weather gear for any potential interference problems with the bowstring. This can be hard to do in the heat of summer or just before opening day when temps are still high. 

While everyone else is spending time doing something non-archery related, why not try out a new grip or arrow and broadhead combination. The new Mathews Focus grip is great for reducing hand-torque and the new NAP Big Nasty broadhead, along with the new Easton INJEXION arrows should prove to be leathal. It's never too late to start dialing things in and testing new gear.

Pressure
Your ability to handle a pressure situation in the treestand can be increased by spending time behind the bowstring. There is no question that when your shooting skills improve----your confidence goes up. When your confidence goes up, so does your ability to manage pressure; simply because you expect to perform well. The old cliché that archery is 90% mental carries a lot of merit. Even if you only shoot a few arrows a week, that is better than laying the bow down for the entire off-season (until just a few weeks before opening day).

When the moment I have worked so hard for finally arrives......I want nothing more than to deliver. For me, this starts in the off-season.

I like to think that my bow is an extension of my arm. I maintain that feeling by making sure I don’t let too much time go by without launching some arrows downrange. When faced with an actual shot on a living, breathing animal, I want my mind and body to go into sort of an “auto-pilot” mode. That way, all I have to do is find the single hair I want to split….nothing more. Of course, I am only human and completely capable of screwing things up. However, I can decrease the chances of that happening by constantly sharpening my shooting skills----year round. 

Next time we will discuss ways to improve our ability to fill tags. Again, post season is the optimum time-frame to accomplish this. However, there is more to it than aimlessly stumbling through the woods. You need to have a plan.

There seems to be two distinct schools of thought when it comes to pruning shooting lanes, most gravitate to one end or the other with a few folks hovering in the middle.  On the one hand you have guys that don’t like to cut anything they don’t absolutely have to, in fact these extremist at times won’t cut a single limb and just rely on the deer to step through a tiny opening at the moment of truth. You can probably tell by my description this mindset doesn’t include me.
The other school of thought is to make sure you have a clear shot with reasonable shooting lanes in any possible area the deer could travel through. The obvious down side is you open yourself up more to be picked off and you disturb the deer’s living room at some point. I tend to lean more in this direction but am cautious as not to open things up too much and ruin a stand site.

The ramifications of too much or too little are huge.  If you film your hunts like I do, you need to consider camera angle and not having to focus through a lot of limbs to capture the image; if you take too many limbs it leaves a huge hole that lends itself nicely as a focal point for the deer’s line of sight.  You want at least three good shooting lanes, preferably one to each side at an angle to your stand and another one straight in front of you. I realize many like to have their stand on the back side of a tree for concealment but this makes it very difficult if not impossible to film your own hunts.

An extendable power chain saw is very effective when you have many limbs or larger limbs to do prune 

Where is the fine line between these two you may ask? I have an approach that may take advantage of the best of both words.  Take some time during the late Winter months while out hiking or shed hunting and do your heavy pruning; you know that one big limb 20 yards out 18 feet up that always seems to be between you and the deer, take out a pole chain saw, extendable hand saw or even a small hand saw that you can duck tape to a sapling and get that limb down.  Do your massive pruning directly after season if you have determined to keep that stand site. There are three benefits, one is having less of an impact on the deer you are hunting, two is you will open things up but allow new spring growth to come back in and camo up your area a bit; last but not least you are putting more tree buds on the ground for the deer to browse, why not do it when they need food the most?

Don’t be afraid to use a large saw for nuisance trees in the winter months as long as the land owner doesn’t mind.

Doing this late season pruning isn’t a catch all, you will still need to pop a few little twigs out of the way come late summer or fall, but it will be with minimal disturbance. Late summer is a great time to slide in there and take a hand saw and quietly snag a few nuisance limbs. The perfect tool for small touch up or public land pruning where chainsaws may not be allowed is the Hooyman extending saw. This model reaches around ten feet, or can be used as just a hand saw, and folds up small enough to take on each hunt if necessary

I don’t personally like climbing stands but if I did, this would be a must have tool

I find there is always that one little twig that seems to cause most of the problems, but I have eliminated that by toting this aluminum I beam framed saw along with me

Get out in the woods during late winter and don’t let that one little limb or big limb keep you from your trophy next fall. You will be amazed how your success rate goes up once you take out the limb factor excuse.  Remember to be safe when using saws in trees and always have a safety harness on.

Until next time, be safe and God bless
Matt Cheever 

If you know me personally, have followed my blog over the years, or regularly watch Bowhunt or Die, you know by now that I am a trail camera junky.  Over the years I have amassed an impressive (or embarrassing, if you ask my wife) number of trail cameras of nearly every brand.  There technology simply allows me to scout and monitor bucks without putting added pressure on them.  Trail cameras are a useful tool for bowhunters that promise to increase your success rate.

That being said, trail cameras have come a long way since their inception over a decade ago.  They now take crystal clear images, record HD video and can send your images wirelessly from the unit to your e-mail account (see Stealth Cam’s new Drone system).  Well, Stealth Cam, the trail camera I rely on most in the field, has taken scouting technology one step further with their new Trail Camera Field App.  This hunter friendly mobile app costs only $1.99 and is available for both Apple and Android powered devices.  

It comes packed with a boatload of innovative features that can assist hunters in a variety of ways.  It comes integrated with GPS mapping technology that not only allows you to mark your trail camera locations, but also other important marking points such as tree stands, water holes, scrapes, rubs, you name it!  You can save and share these markers to your Facebook page or your friends via e-mail as well.  Or, simply save them to your personal gallery.  

The app also has built in functionality that can help you plan out your hunts better as well.  Hunters can get weather forecasts by entering their city, state or zip code, or by letting the location based feature on the camera precisely identify your location.  Not only weather forecasts, DETAILED weather forecasts including 24 hour, 3 day or an extended 10 day forecast while not only providing your usually weather information, but also hunter friendly info such as sunrise and sunset times, moon phase and barometric pressure.  The Trail Cam Field App also has a built in photo managing / sharing function that allows hunters to fully customize their photo gallery by location, date, weapon or species.  You can then share your photos via social media and receive comments in real time.  You can also get video tips and information straight from the Stealth Cam Pro Staff as well. 

If this app is something that intrigues you, feel free to contact the Stealth Cam team for tech tips or general information regarding this app, I encourage you to check out their website here.  Happy off-season everyone! 

I am relatively a newbie when it comes to utilizing trailcameras for whitetail scouting or inventory purposes. In years past I just didn’t understand their appeal. I understood that photos of big bucks were cool and often couldn’t wait to view some of the snapshots my good friend and hunting partner, Justin Zarr, was able to capture on his. In fact, he’s probably the single greatest influence to why I use them today. I just couldn’t understand why someone would waste their time giving away their position long before the season started.  The problem for me was that extra human scent we are certain to leave behind and how it influences deer movement.

Since I’ve started using cameras over the past two years, I’ve been fortunate to have captured some pretty unique whitetail behaviors, something I attribute to my never ending bout to control my human odor. For me, it’s a relatively simple endeavor. Living in the farm country that I do I utilize the terrain to the best of my ability and simply don’t push too far into the woods. I use rubber boots, rubber gloves, and approach my cameras the same as I would approach a treestand. I try my best to eliminate human pressure even while not hunting.

Whether or not this is the reason for some of the unique photos I’ve gotten is certainly debatable. It could be nothing more than luck. However, if the old saying holds true and luck really is where preparation meets opportunity, then perhaps it’s something more. Perhaps those extra little steps do give me more luck in the photos I capture.

This past weekend while checking my cameras looking for the first signs of bucks that have dropped antlers, I was surprised at what I had captured.  Nearly mid-January and to my surprise a fight for dominance between two bucks! In fact, just days earlier while enjoying my last sunset of the year from a nearby treestand – I witnessed the same two bucks harmlessly feeding alongside each other acting as if they were the best of buds. My stealthcam said otherwise.

The battle took place between a busted former seven-point buck that Justin and I have captured at least fifty pictures of since the start of deer season. This two-year old is an absolute terror, a warrior who’s had a mostly battered rack since before Veteran’s Day. His opponent was a more timid three-year old eight-point with a wide spread, another buck Justin and I knew well, but had far less photos of.

The two-year old broken seven-pointer gloats in front of my trailcamera following the fight.

The reclusive three-year old eight-pointer in early October.

When the two bucks first enter the field they appear as equals, casually strolling out to feed just like I had observed days before. A doe group enters from the camera’s right side and suddenly tempers flare. The bucks’ ears go back, full body posturing while walking in a circle around each other for several frames. The battle grows more intense while the females look on. Eleven minutes later the battle ends, only the mangled snow-covered field still shows the signs of the struggle that took place.

While it’s not clear who won, the two-year old ends up sticking around another twenty minutes and posing in front of the camera. The reclusive eight-pointer casually strolls off behind the doe group like nothing happened.

The fight doesn't begin to shape until does enter the field.

The eleven-minute battle would end and begin at least three times, while my camera snapped over 150 images of the scene.

Notice the snow between the first and last frame - showing the battle that once took place. The only sign that still existed the day I went to check this camera.

Like I said, I’ve been fortunate to capture some pretty amazing whitetail behaviors with my trailcameras in my short time utilizing them. These new photos are among my favorites. 

The title of this blog, "Five steps to early season big buck success" may at first sound like something that I should have waited to post until Summer... But the fact is, the track to early season big buck success starts... Now! Hunting seasons for the most part are over, there is no time better than now to get into the timber and learn how the deer are using the properties you hunt. I am a firm believer of no in-season scouting on foot because I want to leave as little disturbance on the lands I hunt as possible. With that said, 90% of my boot leather scouting is done between the months of January and April.

1. Lace up your boots, put on your brush pants and cover the deer bedding areas from all directions. Locate the buck beds within these areas. Clues to tip you off that it is a buck bed: Single beds are usually buck beds, does and fawns tend to bed in groups. Beds that are surrounded by rubs and or scrapes generally are buck beds. Some people may have a hard time believing this one, however beds that offer a great vantage point are big buck bed hot-spots. While their nose is their number one defense, they use their eyes and ears just as much to detect and avoid danger.

Bedding and security cover areas rarely offers trees suitable for a climber.

2. Learn your lands and understand their strengths and weaknesses and how your properties relate to surrounding tracts. This is very important, some properties may be bursting at the seams during certain periods of the year and nearly devoid of deer at others. Find the features of your properties that are favorable to whitetail and understand what time of the year the deer with be using the favorable traits.

3. Locate target animals by utilizing trail cameras and by glassing fields in the evenings from late spring until your season opens. I set my Stealth cameras up in low impact areas such as field edges. I do not care that I am mostly getting night time photos as I am by no means attempting to "pattern" the bucks, I am only using the Stealth cam to confirm if there are bucks I am interested in hunting on that tract of land. Sometimes a buck you have been watching for a while disappears or a new stud seems to just appear one day, this is because as Summer starts the transition to Autumn some bucks leave the areas they spent their summer on to return to their fall home range. This isn't as common with older bucks as it is with younger bucks but it does take place.

While taking this photo I am standing between a bedding area and a food source.

4. Understand what the deer are feeding on on the properties you hunt or the adjacent properties throughout the fall. Their preferred food sources change often, from soy beans to acorns to corn etc. Learn what they are eating and when they are doing so. 

5. The final step is where all of your work comes together and produces results. Here you take the things you know or learned: buck beds, the strengths of your properties, food sources and any other things you learned along the way and create your game plans. Each day and hunt is unique based on the days weather conditions, preferred food sources and time of year. Now that you know you are on a property holding a buck you are interested in, know where he beds, understand the strengths of your property and what he is feeding on you can formulate solid plans for each hunt.

In my experiences the best tactic to use is to get between his bed and his preferred food source, setting up as close as possible to his bed. The further you are setup away from his bedding site the greater your odds decrease of seeing him during daylight hours. To get onto big early season bucks during daylight hours you have to be setup in an area that he is comfortable using during the day time. Heavy ground cover (I call it security cover) are areas that the bucks will leave their beds for and feel secure to use to browse, socialize with other deer and make rubs and scrapes while waiting until dark to make his way to the open agriculture fields. This "security cover" is generally the outer laying areas of his primary bedding area. Stationary setups are not favorable to this style of hunting. You need to be able to move and hunt different areas and properties each and every hunt. Hunting these bedding areas generally puts you in spindly or cluster style trees. A lock on and sticks such as my go to setup, the Lone Wolf assault and sticks are a must.

This photo shows security cover with white oak trees present, a perfect ambush point for big early season bucks!

Have you ever experienced something that contrasts so sharply with itself that it almost takes on two different beings, two unique personalities?  For example, the skyline of a city at sunrise is as equally beautiful with its color and glamour as it is destructive with its pollution and noise.  What if I told you that the Rocky Mountains, the powerful backbone of America that even the mightiest of hunters can’t sometimes conquer, is actually corroding yearly at the hands of water and ice?  On January 7th I experienced a similar juxtaposition.  I climbed a tree to go hunting, a decision that would generally lead to a kill and death.  However this time, it was to extend the life of the previous 3 months through spiritual and personal reflection.

A shot of my home away from home, so to speak.  I've spent the better part of my 22 years in this camp and the surrounding woods and fields chasing whitetail deer.  Maybe it's not home away from home and it's just..home?

As I settled into my stand, I decided to just close my eyes and let my mind wander, rather than trying to reminisce about certain memories.  That didn’t last long, because a meat fly landed on my nose and I grinned to myself as I swatted him away, because I couldn’t believe how warm it was for a January hunt.  It must have been 65 degrees, 20 degrees warmer than it was at the same time opening day over 3 months prior.

After I ridded myself of the pesky insect, my mind truly began to wander, but in a direction I certainly hadn’t intended it to.  I wanted to relive the day my brother shot the 150” giant we had been hunting all year, and how we celebrated in the woods together, sharing an indescribable fraternal connection.  I badly wanted to replay the events of the day I shot my biggest buck to date, and how countless hours of hard work had paid off.  Finally, I wanted to remember cutting up deer meat with my family the night my dad shot his first buck in 6 years while watching college football.  But, as is often the case, my mind had other ideas.

On my last hunt of the season, I climbed a tree not wanting to shoot a deer, but instead reminisce over the memories of what was my best season to date.

Instead, my mind wandered to different memories.  For instance, I remembered an early November hunt that my brother had offered to film.  We were hunting over one of our food plots, and I had just finished hanging his camera stand when he told me there were three does quickly coming down the opposite side ridge.  I hurried down, and he hurried back up as I followed him, praying the deer wouldn’t see us.  Magically, we got set up safely in our stands just as the deer came into view.  Strapping the camera arm to the tree was out of the question as this point as the doe and her twin fawns were at 40 yards and closing.  The twins got a free pass as they sprinted in the food plot chasing each other back and forth excited for an afternoon of feasting on oats and clover.  I laughed to myself because their eagerness reminded me of how I must have acted when I went to Chucky Cheese as a kid.  

I refocused on the doe and recognized her as a doe we had been seeing the last 4 years and had earned the name “Momma.”  She had a distinctive white streak down her nose, and was once so comfortable with my presence she would almost eat out of my hands when I would put out minerals during the summer.  She had to be at least 7 years old, and I was prepared to take her life if she gave me the opportunity.  She was at 15 yards when I drew my bow and at 7 yards when I settled the pin, there was only one problem: a small branch protected her vitals from my arrow.  She stood there for close to 20 seconds completely unaware of my brother and me sitting 20 feet above her.  I could have shot her in the shoulder blade, and I know I would have gotten enough penetration that she wouldn’t make it far, but I couldn’t do it.  I could have shot through the small branches and, at just 7 yards, the arrow wouldn’t deflect enough to make much of a difference, but I’m not that type of hunter.  Momma deserved more than that.  After scanning the field for danger she took the final step I needed to clear her vitals, and when she did I tried to stop her.  I was going for a subtle bleat, but a loud, boisterous grunt is what erupted from my mouth.  To this day, I don't know how that happened.  She didn’t think twice about stopping and looking up, and she bolted immediately back in the direction from which she came.  I had no choice but shake my head and smile while my brother laughed at me.  I guess my subconscious simply wouldn’t let me kill Momma.  

One of the many images I have of an old doe we call, "Momma."  She's an old doe, wise to my ways, and would be a true trophy if I could harvest her next fall.

Eyes still closed, my mind ironically shifted to a morning where my eyes were full of wonder and curiosity.  I had just hung a stand a few days prior in an area I hadn’t hunted for close to 10 years.  I could just never convince myself there would be deer there.  However, a trail camera on a mock scrape had revealed this area was actually a deer haven with two monster bucks working the scrape.  To say I was excited about be an insult to how eager I was to get in the tree on an early November morning.  I had hiked close to a mile to get to my stand, got settled in and said the same prayer I say before every hunt, giving thanks for the opportunity and the ability to hunt, asking for safety and, if it were in His will, to bless me with some luck, in any way He felt fit.  

After a deep breath I looked up and was blindsided by how clear the stars were.  It was beautifully cold and clear, and the stars could have never been brighter.  The frosty field I was overlooking harmoniously joined forces with the stars and the result was a glittering dance floor for me to enjoy.  It was one of those mornings where it was literally difficult for me to take my eyes of the sky, and I was glad I didn’t.  I must have seen 5 shooting stars that morning, and I made a wish on each and every one of them.  By the time the sun had risen I had already deemed the morning a success and readied myself for the actual hunt.  Over the next 4 hours I saw close to 10 deer, one of them being one of the bucks I was hunting, but he was just out of bow range.  It was an awesome morning and one that I am thankful I could experience.

One of my favorite things about hunting season is the clairty of the stars on crisp cool mornings.  This picture could never do the real image justice.

The season was now a little less than an hour from being over and I had decided to do my best to relive the morning I shot my buck, High n’ Tight.  I was, after all, sitting in the exact same stand.  Right on cue, however, my mind had other ideas.  I thought about the first time I had seen High n’ Tight from stand.  It was a terribly windy day, and I had gotten in my stand a little before noon hoping to see some midday rutting activity.  I suppose my plan had worked because I saw High n’ Tight, although only briefly, about 100 yards in the thick timber.  Unfortunately, he left as quickly as he came, but I had hoped he would make another appearance, only this time closer.

Unfortunately, he never showed himself again that day, but I did have an encounter with a different buck.  About 3:00 I had a button buck make his way out of a nearby bedding area and made a beeline right for my stand.  The minute he got underneath my stand he stopped, set up shop, and began feeding on acorns.  He looked up at me briefly, almost as if to say, “I’m glad you’re here Cody!  I think I’ll just hang out with you this afternoon, I know you won’t shoot me, will ya?!”  I tried not to anthropomorphize, and decided to take out my camera and snap some photos of the small buck.  He was only 5 yards from the base of my tree, and I was worried he’d spook if he heard the shutter.  I decided to risk it and see what happened.  I snapped a couple images, and it was clear he heard the shutter, because he jerked his head up with each picture I took.  I thought it was funny, so I decided to take some more.  With each shot, up went his head and back went his ears.  He could clearly ear me, but he hadn’t been around long enough to know that suspicious noises from above generally mean danger.  We repeated this process frequently the entire afternoon and the laughs he gave me far outweighed the fact that I could be unnecessarily educating a buck I could be trying to kill in the three years.  Oh well, hunting is supposed to be fun, right?

This little guy never could quite figure out what was making the clicking noise in the tree above him.  He knew something was there, but I don't think he really cared what it was.  He was more concerned with eating acorns than avoiding danger at the time.

By this time sunset was quickly approaching and since I wasn’t going to shoot anything I decided to make my way back to the camp so I could enjoy the last sunset of the season.  It was the perfect ending to the perfect season.  I sat on a picnic table, spitting sunflower seeds watching the clouds blow in and subconsciously began subtly shaking my head in agreement. I suppose it was to both acknowledge what a blessing the previous three months had been as well as let the woods and wildlife know that I was ready to begin preparation for another season.  Because after all, saying goodbye to one season only means saying hello to the next.   

Day 2 of the 2012 ATA show is half over and so far today I've seen several more cool new products for this year. Once again, I'll let the photos tell the story. After all, the products are the real stars of this show.

Under Armour has really come on strong with some new hunting products that feature their own scent elimination technology.  As seen here, they also have a line of camo undergarments just in case you ever get the inclination to hunt in your undies.

The Bone Collector gang can always be seen at various booths, posing for photos with their fans.


One of the cooler products I've seen, this removable insert from Clean-Shot uses a small allen-head set screw to flare out the back of the insert and hold it in place.  This actually creates a stronger connection than glue, and allows you to easily index your broadheads to match with your fletching. 


Here's Chipper Jones signing a few autographs as well.  Lots of autographing going on here!


There's always a crowd at the Firenock booth where people are anxious to see the new iBowsight.


Also available from Clean-Shot is this new bowfishing point with a built-in laser that allows for easier and more precise aiming.  It's activated by a magnet and only comes on when you get to full draw.


The folks at Muddy Outdoors are branching out with a bunch of new products, including this really cool Bloodsport string suppressor.  Instead of a traditional rubber stopper, the Bloodsport uses a series of brushes to cradle and silence your bow string on the shot.  I tested it out in the shooting lanes and the difference is pretty impressive.


S4 gear, known for innovative products like the Lockdown optics system, introduced the "Wingman".  This cool arm mounts in your tree and allows you to have a movable shelf where you can store you goodies like grunt calls, cell phones and even a drink.  Although it may not be practical for the run-and-gun type hunter, it may be a hit with the guy who likes to have the ultimate in comfort.  It even has a built-in arm rest!

Well, break time is over!  Time to get back to work.  More updates coming soon!

Day 2 of the 2012 ATA Show is well underway here in Columbus, OH and I can say with full confidence two things: there are some seriously cool products hitting the shelves for 2012 and my legs are painfully heavy and sore.  But, what the heck, it’s all worth it, because it’s all fun!  I’ve been busy running around gathering information for future posts and articles, e-mailing photos back to the Bowhunting.com headquarters, and the minute this blog is posted I’ll be back on the show room floor, so I hope you enjoy the photographs!

For an admitted “Archery Junkie” like me nothing spells excitement, anticipation and sheer bliss quite like the ATA show. The Archery Trade Association show is the largest showcase for any and all things archery. It is a chance for ATA members, buyers, and media persons like me to get a sneak peak of all the new products slated to hit the market in the coming year. And when I say all, I mean ALL of the new products. Everything from arrow fletching to new the latest flagship bow is unveiled at this annual event.

 In addition, just about every hunting celebrity you can think of will be on hand to promote products as well as meet and greet with the fans. For anyone who loves archery, attending the ATA show is like winning a trip to the super bowl. However, as I mentioned, not everyone can gain access to the show. But fret not, because bowhunting.com is going to give you the next best thing to being there.

Over the course of the next few days, myself and other bowhunting.com staff writers will be bringing you pictures and highlights from the 2012 ATA show in Columbus, OH. Complete with show highlights, favorite new gear, and all of the latest info you need to get your “must have” gear-list up and running.

So, grab your pen and paper and be sure to stay close to the computer for round the clock updates. To start things off, here are a few of the items that have caught my eye thus far. Up to date descriptions will follow.

New Easton "INJEXION" micro-diameter arrows have to be seen to be believed! These arrows take the advantages of small diameter arrows to an all new level and will be compatable with a number of NAP broadheads designed specifically for this new arrow; labeled Deep Six or D6. The new NAP broadheads will greatly enhance the performance of the Easton INJECTION shaft.

 New ultra-light backpack from Badlands! The "Source" redefines lightweight.

"The Citadel" Hub-Style ground blind that can raise hunter 10 feet in the air or remain at ground level. With true 360 degree rotating seat inside, along with shoot through window mesh all around, the bowhunter is no longer confined to shooting out of one or two windows. 

Ultra-realistic "TreeBlind" ground blind comes with a silent window system, hand painted details, and room for two!

 New SKB i-series bow case made exclusively for Mathews shooters who want to travel in style and protect their investment.

 New TARGET TARP will protect your expensive 3-D target like nothing else. 

 The ARMOUR DILLO is a ultra-light, 360 degree cam protector that attaches to your bows limb preventing the cam from making contact with the ground.

 KABOSS hunting blind ensures that you blend into "life on the farm" while trying to anchor that elusive buck.

 New to the backpack market is TENZING. With well thought out and highly functional models to choose from (even some for lady hunters), this company seems to be off to a great start. 

Lady hunters no longer have to worry about how they will manage to make themselves "scent-free" without totaly destroying their hair and body thanks to "Just for Does" shampoo and body lotions. 

The Cranky is a high performance screw-in climbing stick that comes complete with a built in "crank" that makes attaching the stick the tree virtually effortless. The even come in unique individual climbing steps with a built in hand grip.

Saving the best for last, the new NAP Big Nasty broadhead is one of 4 new broadheads designed specifically for the new Easton INJEXION shafts. Perhaps the coolest part of this particular head is the fact that the broadhead ferrule is actually part of the arrow shaft. Talk about tough and ultra straight. Tommorow...........the new NAP KILLZONE! A 2 inch rear-deploying mechanical.

Well, the first day of the 2012 ATA show is well under way and as always there's a TON of new products to check out. Here's a few of the the highlights from the show so far, starting with last night's party hosted by Outtech. There was free food, drinks and a live music performance by Josh Kelley. You know, the guy who's married to Katherine Heigl. Yeah, him. I'll let the photos tell the story for today's events so far. Hope you all enjoy it! There's plenty more to come after this.

 
Last night's Outtech Innovations show was a blast.  Not only was their food, beverages and entertainment, but we got to check out some of the great new products from companies like NAP, TruGlo, Flextone and ScentBlocker a day early.

Josh Kelley put on a great show for the crowd.

The morning crowd waiting to rush the show floor and start doing business.

My first stop of the day was to see Pat Hudak with Robinson Outdoor Products.  Pat was kind enough to show me the new Tree Spider Micro Harnress, which weighs just 1.7 pounds!  This great new addition to the Tree Spider line is sure to please a lot of bowhunters.  I know I'll be wearing one this fall.

The boys at Pine Ridge Archery have come out with a great new line of stablizers called the "Nitro Stabilizers". They are available in several camo patterns as well as the black tactical seen here. Their solid core design and shock fins kill vibration and noise, while allowing you to customize the look of your bow.

One of the very simple, yet very cool, new products for 2012.  The 3D Peep sight allows you to shoot distances well over 100 yards with the same sight you use to shoot 20 and 30 yards.  Thanks to an innovative design that utilizes two peep holes and a 2nd string loop to change your anchor point this nifty device makes it possible to extend your accuracy far beyond normal equipment.

Of course one of the most talked about new products is the Bowtech Insanity bow.  This new bow has a 6 inch brace height, measures 32 inches axle to axle, and produces speeds up to a whopping 355 fps.  On the down side, the bow is a bit heavy at 4.3 lbs.

The heart of the Insanity is the Binary cam system.

The new Deep Six line of broadheads from NAP is also getting a lot of attention.  The Big Nasty seems to be a "Big Hit".  If you want to learn more about the Deep Six broadheads click here.

Also new from NAP is the Killzone.  A 2 inch, 2 blade expandable broadhead that won't open in flight thanks to the unique spring-clip design.  No more O-rings!  The Killzone is available with a cut-on-contact razor tip, or a bone crunching Trophy Tip.  Click here to learn more about the new Killzone.

Another trail camera has hit the market - this time from the folks at Big Game treestands.  The Eyecon features a 5.0 megapixel camera and infrared "InvisiFlash".  More info coming on all of the new trail cameras for this year very shortly.

The EZ-Aim II trail camera mount is a very useful for positioning your trail camera anywhere you want it, regardless of how straight the tree is, or isn't.

New for 2012 the EZ Aim has been revised to accomodate cameras with tripod mounting screws in the back, rather than on the bottom.  A helpful improvement that will allow the EZ Aim to be used with just about any trail camera make or model.

G5 also has a 2 inch expandable broadhead for this year called the "Havoc".  It too features a blade retention system without any o-rings.

G5 also has a new line of quivers called the Head-loc.  At just $49 retail this quiver is a great value.  It features a vibration absorbing Exo-Flex hood and an extra mounting bracket for your tree.

The Gorilla girls were proudly showing off the new safety harnesses from Gorilla.

Speaking of safety harnesses, Lone Wolf has released the Alpha-Tech harness.  It features easy adjustments, a neoprene back and shoulders and neoprene-covered buckles for the ultimate in stealth.

The team over at Plano has developed a new line of high-end packs under the "Tenzing" name.  These packs feature kevlar-reinforced stress areas to ensure they can withstand any abuse you may be able to throw at them.  There are 10 packs available in the line all the way from small fanny backs to large full-frame packs.

I didn't have much of a chance to look at these, but they look sweet.  How can you go wrong with any product that keeps your feet warm when it's cold?  These insoles plus my HotMocs could be the greatest combination ever.

Stay tuned for more updates from tomorrow's show!

For me personally, there are a handful of exciting days that I look forward to every year as a bowhunter.  Obviously, opening day is one of those days.  The first cold snap that triggers daytime buck movement coinciding with rubs and scrapes appearing in the woods is another.  However, there is one day that I am very privileged and excited to experience every year, and that is the first day of the annual ATA trade show.

A shot of the hundreds of bowhunters at the Outtech party last night at the 2012 ATA Show.

Josh Kelley performing at the 2012 Outtech Party!

The show technically kicked off last night with the Outtech party.  Hundreds of industry dealers, writers, television personalities and bowhunting insiders flooded the convention center to enjoy some sneak peeks at new products, a live performance by country music star Josh Kelley, and of course to watch the Alabama Crimson Tide roll the LSU Tigers in the BCS National Championship game.  It was a perfect way to kick off an exciting week!

Let the festivities begin!

The floor rooms opened this morning at 8:30 and as soon as the gates opened, it didn’t take long for the industry business to begin taking place on the show room floor.  It’s pretty exciting to walk the floor and look left and right see the business being conducted.  You could feel the energy as business was being conducted left and right, new products were being revealed and hunting celebrities smiled candidly for photos and autographs.  

Perhaps what I look forward to most about the ATA Show is catching up and socializing with my hunting buddies that I may only see once or twice a year.  I know, I know I should probably be working and not socializing but hey, swapping hunting stories is just plain fun.  I was fortunate enough to catch up and chat with my pal Jason McKee of New Archery Products and Frank Archey of Lone Wolf Portable Treestands.  It’s always good to catch up and listen to other hunter’s success stories.  

I've always wanted to hunt mule deer and seeing this giant mule deer buck has only made me want to go even more.  Only at ATA!

In between working and socializing, I have been able to locate a couple of products that I especially excited about for the 2012 season.  The first was the 20 feet climbing ladder system from Lone Wolf Portable Treestands.  I’m a big fan of Lone Wolf’s climbing sticks, and this new ladder system looks fantastic.  The ladder stick system will get you 16 feet in the air in no time.  I spoke with Lone Wolf President Jared Schlipf about them and he assured me you could safely (with the aid of a lineman’s belt, of course) attach the ladder system to the tree, strap it down and be safely in your stand in 5 minutes.  This is a great product for the mobile hunter.  

Lone Wolf President Jare Schlipf in the middle of an interview discussing the new innovative Ladder Stick System.

I was also intrigued by NAP’s new Armor Rest full capture drop-away rest.  This little 5 oz. piece of engineering genius has a full rubber Armorshield on the body of the rest that stays whisper quiet in operation.  Titanium arms mean less weight, but added strength.  This rest promises full containment with 100% fletching clearance at any angle.  You’ll definitely want to check out this new rest from NAP!

New for 2012 the NAP Armor Rest.  If you're into full-containment drop away rests, then this is the rest for you.

The 2012 ATA Show is still very young, so be sure to keep checking the blogs to be the first to know about the cool new products for 2012.  

When we talk about our bows and especially when we talk new bows it’s all about the specifications: the axle to axle length, the draw weight and adjustability, the brace height, and so on.   What if I were to ask you for your specs and you could tell me all those measurements from heart and I told you that you’re wrong?

You may think I am crazy but those measurements are worthless if not at least secondary to what specs are really important. I am talking about your specifications on your bow, not the ones in the brochure.  The measuring of your nock point, is your arrow level or nocked a 1/4 inch high?  Are the cams or single cam marked in conjunction with the limb so it can be kept in check should something happen?  Could you bolt on a new sight and with a few simple measurements be shooting a pie plate size group at 20 yards with no previous sighting in? How long is your string loop in case it breaks and you have to replace it? How far is your kisser button from your nock point, and how far is your peep above that?

You still may think I am crazy to say these measurements are all more important than IBO speeds and let off percentages.  Take it from a guy who has lost valuable vacation time during the rut and watched a good friend miss a pope and young bull elk twice because the measurements weren’t a priority. 

You wouldn’t go on a back country hunt without a first aid kit or a water filtration system, so why begin a bow season without a good first aid bow kit.  I’ll admit you will never have all you need in a bandage bag for your bow but a few simple things like back up string loop, or nock points, and kisser button, peep sight, Allen wrenches, and super glue are all good things to have along. Among that kit should include a note card or diagram of all the important measurements you have on your bow. You should have nock high or level, distance in relation of everything you put on your string, you should reference how high your sight sits off your arrow while arrow is level. You should have your pin gaps diagramed for quick reference and all adjustable pieces on the bow should be marked in place with a contrasting colored marker.  I also like to keep some spare screws and bolts in a tackle box, it only takes a few dollars to keep some back up parts, pieces and measurements that may save a hunt you spent thousands on. Inside this box is a good place to keep a diagram of your measurements should you need them.

It’s easy to say “I’ll get to that right before season next September” but you won’t, that will be when you are fine tuning stand placements and washing hunting cloths. I suggest doing as a New Year’s resolution. Winter is a great time to get your string replaced right after season and buy some of these emergency repair items. A lot of places are running specials now since it’s a slow retail time, your favorite bow shop is trying to drum up some winter business and may have deals and help you get some of these critical measurements as well.

Use a contrasting colored marker to make sure your bow is kept up to your personal specifications, at a quick glance you will be able to see if there is a problem.

Even some quick pics on your cell phone can server as a good reference as to how things should line up on your bow.

Don’t let a vital piece of bow gear being off a quarter of an inch keep you from getting that 5x4 monster  bull elk (sorry Bill) and maybe  a spare release too ( I missed that same bull elk a few days later).  Keep all this in mind because Murphy’s law is alive and well and it will break at the moment of truth, so be prepared like a Boy Scout and improvise like a Marine and you’ll be more successful for it.

Start the year off right, preparing for success

Until next time, God bless
Matt Cheever

Even before I saw the attendance figures for the annual Mathews Retailer Business Show, I knew I was witnessing the company’s biggest, most successful show in its four-year history. This exciting three-day event has grown big-time since its launch in 2008.

It’s a heck of a show for archery retailers. It’s very business-oriented, and it’s held in early December each year at the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. This year it attracted more than 400 retailers and 150 exhibitors, including more than 100 Lost Camo licensees. That’s nearly a 50 percent growth in show exhibitors from a year ago, and a whopping 112 more exhibitors than the inaugural show drew in 2008.

Companies such as KTech Designs make a variety of high-quality accessories specifically designed to compliment your Mathews bow.

It's great to see new companies like Archer Xtreme pushing the sport of archery to new heights with their cutting edge designs and materials.

Matt McPherson, Mathews’ founder and president, reminded us of the company’s philanthropic work, too. “Not only do Lost Camo licensed products give Mathews retailers a unique and exclusive product to help their business, but 100 percent of the Lost Camo proceeds help people less fortunate around the world,” Matt said. “That’s in addition to the funding Mathews and Mission have been doing for years for those less fortunate."

I attended the show all three days with Justin Zarr and several other staff members from our Bowhunting.com crew. Let me tell you, we scrambled the entire time to make sure we saw the latest bowhunting gear from Mathews and all the other exhibitors. In fact, this year’s show was so large it was held inside “the bubble,” a giant building with an inflatable roof. This mammoth building is the Chula Vista convention center’s largest venue.

A view from inside "The Bubble", where several hundred people spent nearly 3 days conducting the business that keeps our industry running.

During the show we worked extensively with Corrine Bundy, Mathews’ marketing communications specialist, on several video promotions for Mathews’ products. By the show’s final morning on Day 3, Corrine knew without doubt that the show was Mathews’ best yet.

“It was a great success for us,” she said. “This was the fourth straight year of growth for the show. That kind of growth helps us carry out our mission for the show, which is to give retailers the tools they need to be as successful and profitable as possible.”

Here Justin and I are working with our cameraman, Nick and Brandyn, along with Corrine Bundy to film a Holiday Gift Guide for the Mathews and Lost Camo websites.

While walking the show we saw a variety of innovative new products that will be hitting the market for 2012.  Many of those products are geared towards accessorizing, and colorizing, your bow setup.  Mathews has done a great job at offering colored accessories for their bow for several years now, and many manufacturers are following their lead with colored accessories of their own.  One of the companies leading the charge in that arena is Pine Ridge Archery, who now has a variety of bow accessories in 8 different colors.  From peep sights to kisser buttons and even a new stabilizer, it's never been easier to customize your bow setup any way you please.

Another interesting new product we came upon is the iBowsight.  If you want to talk about innovation and technology in archery, this is it!  The iBowsight uses a custom-designed bracket to hold your iPhone 4 or 4s and turn it into a full-fledged bow sight.  Simply purchase and install the app on your phone and then mount it to your bow and you're off.  The iBowsight may not be for everyone, but there's no doubt it' sure to fuel plenty of conversations.  Click here to read a full review of the iBowsight.

In addition to a busy show floor, Mathews also delivered an impressive seminar lineup featuring industry experts to teach everything from bow tuning to retailing tips. And for evening entertainment, Mathews provided plenty of laughs from comedian Tim Hawkins.

Love it or hate it, the iBowsight is certainly a unique product.

As always, I was impressed with both the Mathews and Mission bow lineups, and think everyone will be impressed with the Heli-m. This bow gives you a super smooth draw and is the lightest bow ever offered by Mathews. Plus it’s loaded with Mathews technology like the Reverse Assist Roller Guard, Harmonic Damper Lite, Harmonic Stabilizer and Geo Grid Lock Riser.

But I gotta tell you, one of the most amazing spectacles was the shoot-off tournament where about 500 people tried shooting bull’s eyes with Mathews’ Genesis bow. This is the bow used by thousands of youngsters nationwide in the National Archery in the Schools Program.  Each show attendee was given one arrow, courtesy of Easton Archery, and had to try and shoot the foam bull's eye of a metal target.  If you made it into the foam you advanced to the next round.  If you missed, you were out.  And no, I didn’t win the event! I missed my first shot to earn an instant disqualification. Justin made it to the second round, but failed to advance to the third round. After 4 rounds of shooting we finally had a lucky winner, who got a free antelope hunt from our good friends at Table Mountain Outfitters.

The aftermath of the Iron Buck challenge. 

It's always great to see kids who are enthusiastic about archery and hunting.  Remember, they are the future of our sport!

Our next stop will be the ATA Trade Show, which runs Jan. 10-12 in Columbus, Ohio. As always, we'll be doing our best to cover the hot new bowhunting and archery products that are hitting the shelves in 2012.  So be sure to keep an eye on Bowhunting.com as we'll be updating the website directly from the show to bring you the hottest new products before anyone else.

For those of you looking for a new video camera for next season the Canon XA10 from Campbell Camera's is one of the most advanced compact video cameras on the market today. Small in size, but very big on features. This compact camera has all the bells and whistles. But it is still very user friendly, for guys like myself who aren’t video experts. Some of the advanced features actually make it easier for the novice videographer. I have used mine the whole 2011 hunting season and will now give you my personal review. I just know a lot of you have that Christmas bonus burning a hole in your pocket. This would be money well spent.

A few controls are located under the flip out viewfinder.

There is not much this little camera can't do.

My camera complete with the 3rd Arm Tree Arm.

There are many things I like about the XA10, but the number one reason I decided on this camera is its size. Since I do all of my own filming and hunt in very hilly terrain, I need a small lightweight camera, one that fits in a small pack or carrying bag and doesn’t weigh a ton. The XA10 is just that, not that much bigger than a point and shoot digital camera. I carry all my camera gear in the Campbell Camera’s small carry bag.

Not that much bigger than my Android.

Two other really neat features on this camera are the Infrared Mode and the Touch Focus feature. The IR mode allows for filming in complete darkness. Much like the IR trail cameras, this produces a black and white video with very good picture quality. I find this most useful when doing interviews in the stand. I can do an interview either before the hunt or after while still in the stand. Sometimes I don’t want to be talking after sunrise or need to wait till after sunset if there are deer near my stand. The Touch Focus mode is great for those of us that self film our hunts. Once you have your deer in your view finder you simply touch the deer on the viewfinder screen and the touch focus locks in on the deer. Even if the deer moves or you move the camera, the camera stays focused on the subject. This prevents the deer from becoming blurry if it walks behind a tree or a branch gets between the camera and the deer. I totally love this feature when self filming.

Just touch the deer on the screen and the touch focus keeps it in focus.

The XA10 has a 64GB internal flash drive which can hold 6 hours of video when set on the highest quality setting and also comes with 2 SD card slots for additional recording time or for simultaneous backup recording. This means no fumbling with changing tapes or worries about running out of tape in the middle of your hunt. The SD cards really make it simple to download the video to a computer for viewing or editing. Just pop the card in the reader slot and away you go.

Another great feature is the lowlight capabilities of the XA10. This camera can film right up to the end of legal shooting light as long as you don’t have to zoom in too much. I was completely surprised at how little light is actually needed to get usable video with this camera.

I don’t have enough time or space to tell you about everything this compact camera can do. The truth is I’m still learning myself. What I have learned is this camera is very easy to use, with most of the controls on the touch screen.You can be as basic as you want be or explore all of the features and make some amazing video with this outfit. I plan on doing more research myself and adding more to my videos next season.

Most of the options are controlled right on the viewfinder screen.

The handle houses the sound level controls.

Even though the XA10 only has a 10 optical zoom, I have been able to use the digital zoom with very good results. As long as I have a steady rest I have no problem zooming in to 60-80x.

If you would like to see some of the video I’ve shot using the XA10, click on this link.

You can also get more info on the XA10 and ordering info from Campbell Camera’s here.

When Al Rinka and his highway construction coworkers spotted a huge white-tailed buck crossing a field south of Marshfield, Wis., during their lunch break Dec. 8, they didn’t realize they were watching a dead buck walking.

Lane Wetterau of Stevens Point, Wis.; Aaron Seit, Wisconsin Rapids; Al Rinka, Osseo; and Dave Katzner, Arpin; pose with a giant white-tailed buck that leaped to its death from a bridge over an unopened section of U.S. Highway 10 south of Marshfield.

About an hour later, the buck walked up the embankment to the Washington Avenue bridge 1.5 miles away, leaped off and died on a concrete slab 34 feet below. The buck apparently panicked as a car approached, and jumped over the bridge’s parapet without realizing its height from the ground. The momentum from its leap carried the buck about 30 feet from the bridge’s base, where it landed head first.

The concrete below had been poured recently as part of the U.S. Highway 10 reconstruction, and isn’t yet open to traffic. A foreman for the road-grading crew called Rinka to tell him and his coworkers about the freak accident. When they heard the location, the men realized they had built that section of highway, and still referred to it as “our slab.”

This trophy buck leaped off the highway overpass in the background. The bridge's height is 34 feet.

When Rinka and his friends -- Lane Wetterau, Stevens Point; Aaron Seit, Wisconsin Rapids; and Dave Katzner, Arpin -- arrived to see the dead buck, they instantly recognized it as the one they had seen during lunch.

“We’re big hunters, and we all hunt anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour from there, but we saw nothing like that buck during gun season,” said Rinka, a civil engineer from Osseo. “We were amazed to see it crossing a field in broad daylight. It was opening day of the (four-day) antlerless hunt, so maybe some hunters pushed it out. We watched about 10 minutes before we lost sight of him. It’s a huge field.”

Rinka said he and his coworkers noticed the buck had a slight limp. They thought maybe a front leg was injured, but found no wounds or breaks when examining it later. The buck apparently landed on its nose, because nothing else on its body appeared broken, and its antlers weren’t damaged.

Rinka said an elderly woman who lives near the bridge was driving the car that spooked the buck. She told them the buck was standing in the middle of the road as she approached. It could have run down the road to get off the bridge, but jumped over the side instead.

Al Rinka of Osseo, Wis., displays the impressive buck that survived Wisconsin's nine-day firearms season in November, only to die 10 days later in a freak accident.

The woman stopped and looked over the bridge, and saw the buck writhing on the pavement in its death throes. She drove home and told her neighbor, who is a hunter. He notified authorities and received a tag so he could claim the buck.

Rinka and his friends marveled at the buck’s antlers. “As much as all of us hunt, and after all the time we’ve spent in the woods, here we were staring at probably one of the biggest bucks we’ll ever see, and it jumped off a bridge,” he said.

The buck had a 12-point rack with wide beams and thick tines. Rinka said the tallest tines were about 9 inches long, and the spread between the main beams spanned 18 inches. They guessed it would score 150 to 170 inches on the Boone and Crockett Club’s measuring system.

The buck's flying leap carried it about 10 yards from the base of the bridge.

He said the buck had a smaller body than what they expected. Then again, it’s not unusual for a buck’s body to look small, even emaciated, in the weeks following “the rut,” the whitetail’s mating season. Rutting bucks can lose about 25 percent of their body weight while seeking and chasing does. This buck weighed 180 pounds when it died, so it might have weighed around 240 pounds when alive.

In the days that followed, some people jokingly referred to the deer as “The Suicide Buck,” but Rinka said no one there truly believed the buck intended to kill itself.

“What it was doing on that bridge, who knows?” he said. “There’s much easier ways to cross that area than by walking up an overpass. It’s a confined area, and deer seldom walk on bridges anyway. It was out of its element, and probably just panicked when the car approached.”

Although Rinka doesn’t buy the suicide theory, humans have long debated the possibility of animal suicide. About two years ago, for example, “Time” magazine reminded readers that Aristotle (384-322 BC) told of a stallion that leaped into an abyss after realizing it was duped into mating with its mother.

In more recent times, the Overtoun bridge in Milton, Scotland, has gained notoriety as the “Dog Suicide Bridge” because dogs have jumped from it about once a month since the 1960s, causing about 600 to die. Some dogs have even survived, only to run back up and jump again. No one knows what’s causing them to leap.

Rinka is content to consider the buck’s leap a fluke of nature.

“We were dumbfounded when we realized it was the same buck we had seen during lunch,” he said. “When it walked out of sight, we thought we’d never see it again. It was unreal.”

The crossbow is so powerful it is like a 30.06 that shoots arrows.” 

That’s a claim that has been made by the anti-crossbow camp for decades and the truth of the matter is that with a 100-225 lb. or more draw weight, crossbows usually are more powerful than most vertical bows.  The additional draw weight, however, is necessary to compensate for the shorter power stroke and the lesser amount of KE stored in a crossbow arrow.

One can only assume, therefore, that if a crossbow has a heavier draw weight, it’s more dangerous.  The truth is that, as with any other hunting tool, safety during use is critical with the crossbow.  The very first thing that every new crossbow hunter should do is sit down and read their owner’s manual – cover to cover – at least once; twice is even better.  That manual will explain proper handling and safety procedures for your specific bow.  There are some general practices that apply to all crossbow users regardless of which bow they shoot.   

Mark your serving on each side of the rail so that you can visually check to insure that you have cocked your crossbow evenly.

Step number one is always generously use rail lube and string wax when operating your crossbow.  If the string breaks, bad things will happen to your crossbow and perhaps to the shooter or the people in close proximity.  Both lube and wax preserve the string.  If your string begins to fray and strands break – change it, immediately.  Most crossbows are on safe at the end of the cocking process.  Always check to make sure
that your bow is on safe before doing anything else.  This is very important!  Also make sure that the string is centered after cocking by marking your serving so that you can visually verify that it has been drawn back evenly.  If the string is not centered, it will change the impact point of your arrow similar to using a different anchor point on a vertical bow.
 
Now listen up!  Please make sure that you thumb is below the rail of the crossbow before releasing your arrow; if not, when you pull the trigger the string will hit your thumb and something is going to give.  It will not be the string!  I’ve seen a variety of severe wounds inflicted by a crossbow string and none of them are fun, even the ones that do not draw blood instead of amputate.  The fact that most folks only do it once is of little comfort when you are hopping around, screaming in pain. 

When choosing a crossbow, select one that has a forestock that will help keep fingers well below the rail preventing injured fingers.

Never dry fire a crossbow.  Shooting a crossbow without an arrow to absorb the energy will blow up your bow and when that happens one is never sure of where all the pieces will fly; you may be seriously hurt.   Remember that a loaded crossbow should be handled exactly and with the same care as a loaded firearm.
 
On the range, make sure that you have a solid and reliable back stop.  Having a range that is at least 300 yards deep and open is recommended and will allow plenty of room for obstruction-free arrow flight.  Targets should be of a high quality capable of readily stopping an arrow from a crossbow.  If the target is badly worn or of an inferior quality, damage may be inflicted to the shorter crossbow arrows causing costly repairs or even destroying the arrow completely.

Cock the crossbow on the ground before raising it into the stand with a safety rope.

Now let’s move into the field and take a look as some common sense practices there.  When hunting from an elevated stand always cock your crossbow on the ground and then use a tow rope to raise it to the platform.  Do not attempt to climb into a stand carrying your crossbow. Once you are secured in your stand with a safety harness (always use a fall arrest system in an elevated stand), then raise your crossbow and load it.  Never have an arrow in place when raising or lowering your crossbow.  That’s how people get killed, and yes it has happened.  Unless your sitting in an enclosed stand, after taking a shot, your crossbow should be lowered to the ground to be recocked.  If you use a cocking device, which can be implemented from a sitting position, remaining in your stand is acceptable.  Never lean over in a treestand to cock your crossbow.
 
The preferred method for crossbow hunting is from a ground blind or an elevated stand.  The crossbow may be used for still hunting or stalking, but extra caution should be applied.  The crossbow may be cocked and on safe, but one should never move through the bush with an arrow loaded on the rail.  When game is spotted, only then should an arrow be loaded onto the crossbow.  Until that moment, the arrow with the broadhead completely protected should be carried in a bow or hip quiver, not in your hand.

Never shoot at a target on rise without knowing what is on the other side.

It is important that one never shoots a crossbow at a sky-lined animal.  It is critical that you are able to see exactly where your arrow is going to go so that no living thing is accidently harmed by your shot.  As with vertical archery, one should always wait until the game you are shooting at is relaxed and standing still.  No shots should be taken at moving targets.  Making drives while crossbow hunting is not an acceptable practice and should be avoided.
 
It is important that you are fully aware of all local ordinances regarding shooting your crossbow.  Check with local officials or authorities to make sure that you are not violating any laws while you practice.
 
There are no more injuries with a crossbow than there are with vertical archery equipment, but it still happens every year.  Knowing your equipment and being aware of common-sense safety procedures will insure that the time you spend in the field will be accident-free and gratifying for all around you.  Good luck and good hunting.

Make sure that your fingers and thumb are well below the rail to prevent injury or loss of digits.

The National Bowhunting Education Foundation publishes a booklet entitled Today’s Crossbow.  This publication’s the official Crossbow Hunters Safety program used by the NBEF.  To obtain a copy, email bowtwang@charter.net and request it by name.

Safety features to consider when buying a crossbow. 
Anti-dry fire safety - Some models of crossbows have an anti-dry fire mechanism that prevents the trigger from being pulled when there is no arrow loaded.  This is a common mistake that has been responsible for the destructions of many a crossbow.  Choosing a crossbow with this safety feature can save its owner a lot of misfortune and expense.  Consider it when you are looking for the right crossbow for you.

When tracking or still hunting never have an arrow loaded in the bow.

Preventive Fore-grip – Perhaps the most common injury inflicted by a crossbow is thumbs bruised, torn or even partially removed by the crossbow string when firing.  Many crossbows have specially designed fore-stocks that make it very difficult for this accident to happen.  I would like to say “never”, but there’s always one guy in the crowd that will manage to hurt himself no matter what precautions are taken.  One characteristic that should be considered when purchasing a new crossbow is the conformation of the fore-stock.  Look for one that aids the shooter in keeping the thumb and fingers well below the shooting rail.

Cocking Rope – Another device that can increase safety as well as imrove performance is a cocking rope.  This handy device cuts the draw weight of a crossbow in half, thereby saving wear and tear on the user, especially during practice sessions when many shots are taken.  It also increases accuracy of the crossbow by consistently drawing the string back to the exact same position.  Most companies also offer crank cocking devices that draw back the string by a mechanical winch that requires no effort other than turning the crank.  One company even markets crossbows with the cocking device built right into the stock of the crossbow.  All of these options will increase your safety, while enhancing your shooting experience.

With so many rolling hills, food plots, and big buck sightings, it’s easy for an eastern guy to be a little jealous of his “mid-western” bowhunting brothers. After all, such particulars are seldom enjoyed in my neck of the woods. Still, the goal remains the same…..arrow a whitetail buck; plain and simple. So, in an effort to see that this goal is reached it is important that I keep my edge throughout the season. This includes not only my shooting form, but my body as well. Hunting whitetails in the rugged hills of southern WV is no walk in the park, and typically, one shot is all I get…if I’m lucky. Therefore, when the opportunity does arrive, I want to do everything in my power to close the deal. This begins and ends with “in-season” shooting, along with a steady dose of cardio and weight training.

So often, once the season begins, we find little time for shooting practice. However, it only takes a few arrows to keep shooting form and muscle memory intact. For me, this means sneaking outside the house to sling a few arrows whenever time allows; even if it is only one shot. This, by nature, more closely resembles real-life hunting scenarios; as opposed to haphazardly launching dozens of arrows into my 3-D target.

 It only takes a few arrows a day to keep muscle memory intact and shooting form polished. 

The season started out slow, which is typical of big-timber bowhunting, with little deer sightings. With so much territory to roam, it can be extremely difficult to nail down a good buck before the rut begins in November. Therefore, I usually keep a low profile and work the “fringes” of my hunting areas in an effort not to disturb the does before the bucks are actually on their feet cruising.

Early season can be a frustrating time for the big timber bowhunter. Patience is the best medicine for success. 

As November rolled around, I found myself perched in my favorite rut stand; located adjacent to a small doe bedding area, within a natural funnel. As the early morning sun broke through the dark grey clouds, I caught movement down the steep hillside below. Realizing that I was watching a buck cruise for does, I grabbed my grunt tube and let out a few soft “uurrppss” in an effort to get his attention. Watching him walk in the opposite direction I assumed my efforts had failed.

 Big Woods whitetails are like ghosts. If you encounter a good one consider yourself blessed.

Little to my knowledge, the savvy buck was simply using the terrain to his advantage in order to close the distance between us. Within minutes, the love-crazed whitetail was coming straight at me; grunting every step of the way. When he got within range I slowly brought my Mathews ez7 to full draw and waited for him to turn broadside. Just as he turned I settled the pin on my Trijicon sight high on his shoulder and stopped him with a mouth grunt; focusing on the single hair I wanted to split until the bow simply fired. The NAP Thunderhead Razor broadhead zipped through him like a hot knife through butter. In an instant he bolted straight away. However, his journey didn’t last long. Within seconds he was doing the “death sway” as he staggered and fell to the ground. Settling into my Lone Wolf stand I sat down and thanked God for the blessing I had just been given. 

The combination of an NAP Thunderhead Razor broadhead and NAP Quick fletch proved lethal.

The blood trail was nothing short of amazing!

 Nothing sweeter than High Mountain Success!

The following week, I filled my second archery tag on another mountain whitetail. This particular buck was caught cruising through one of my favorite hunting spots. What makes it so special is that it is located in a ridge top saddle, next to a bedding thicket, and is loaded with oak trees that drop acorns like rain. When the rut is on, or any time of year for that matter, it is dynamite spot to arrow a deer. Also, it should be noted that this buck was shot with the same NAP Thunderhead Razor that I took my first buck with. After simply re-sharpening the blades, the broadhead was just as deadly as it was the day it came out of the package. But don’t take my word for it. See the blood trail below and decide for yourself.

 Same NAP Broadhead....Same result!

  The combination of quality gear, a lot of patience, and Blessings from above, made this a great year. Happy Holidays! 

Since 2003, Kim and Cindy Kafka, owners of the Diamond K Ranch in Havre, MT have generously donated an Elk Hunt on their ranch to be auctioned off at the Annual UFFDA Banquet in an effort to support its mission.  The 2011 hunt was purchased by UFFDA Charter Member and longtime friend, John Swanson of Sauk Rapids, MN.  John lost his right leg during Desert Shield in 1990.  He has been a hunter since the very first UFFDA hunt back in 1995 and has served on the board of directors; he is also the current Range Master at the UFFDA Camp Wilderness Hunt in Park Rapids, MN.

Havre, MT is located in Central Montana about 40 miles south of the Canadian Border.

The third element of the Diamond K Adventure was the ranch’s Elk keeper, Skip Owens.  Skip has been the guide on each and every UFFDA hunt at the Diamond K since 2003, and like the Kafka’s, not only has he served us well, but he has become a very dear friend.  This year, instead of staying in a hotel, Skip and his mother, Berta invited us to stay in their home where we were treated like visiting royalty, helping to make it the best trip yet.  As with each and every UFFDA hunt, one thinks it can’t get any better; then the next one comes along and amazingly, the bar is raised.

Bringing the Kafka’s, Owens and Swanson together was my assigned job and suffice it to say, I love my work.  Taking photographs and the literal documentation of the hunt, as well as serving as the court jester were my responsibilities and I dived into my chores with gusto.  

Although the hunt was rigorous, John Swanson reveled in the experience. 

The 15-hour trip out to Havre was marred by bad roads for part of the journey, but even the slick byways were unable to squelch the excitement that had us as giddy as a couple of lads bound for their very first “big-hunt”.  John had never taken an elk; but had dreamed about a trip to the Diamond K hunt since the very first year it had been offered to the UFFDA membership. 

On the first day of the hunt, we awoke to partly cloudy skies and mild temperatures for early December.  A fresh dusting of snow had fallen over night adding to the 3-inch base, freshening up the surface and making it easy to identify fresh tracks.  The elk was in a 2600 acre pasture that we were able glass from Skip’s front porch.  We tried to locate the bull, but were only able to see a few of the 40 to 50 head of the buffalo that populate the pasture. 

The pristine beauty of the mountain slope was made even more so by the layer of white frosting of freshly fallen snow.

The first order of business was to sight in the crossbow to make sure that it was still on the mark.  John had asked to borrow my Scorpyd 165, not only because he admires the bow for its performance, but also because it is equipped with the HHA Optimizer Speed Dial, which allows the archer to launch an arrow accurately from zero to 80 yards with a simple turn of the dial.  He realized that in order to take the bull with a crossbow, he had to be prepared to take a longer shot than what he was used to.  The Scorpyd and the Optimizer Speed Dial would make that shot possible, if it had to be made.

We loaded up and headed for the bull’s stomping grounds, each filled with excitement over the onset of the chase.  The first objective was to find the bull and that task proved to be no easy chore.  As we began our search, John discovered that what appeared to be a smooth, but steep slope from a mile away was instead was a complicated system of hidden coulees that spread out over the mountain side like the veins of the circulatory system in the human body.  The natural gashes in the landscape ran deep and were shrouded in thick underbrush providing all the natural cover that any wild thing needs to hide and survive. 

John’s special prosthesis enabled him to negotiate the treacherous terrain like a pro.

Finding the bull proved difficult, but a steady search of the coulees with three sets of eyes eventually located the animal bedded down in thick brush halfway up a draw.  We analyzed the situation and then Skip carefully laid out his plan of attack.  The objective would be to sneak down an adjoining coulee to where it emptied into the ravine that held our bull.  John would have to make about a 40-yard shot to take his trophy if the stalk worked as planned, but of course, it didn’t.  As soon as human heads came into view, the bull jumped up and bounded out of the coulee stopping on the top of the rise to peer back and scoff, erasing John’s chance for a shot.  The bull paused long enough for me to nail it half a dozen times with my camera and then disappeared, making a clean escape.  Round one went to the bull.

Our quarry was far too smart to let us get close after the first stalk.

From that point on, the bull was on the constant move successfully keeping itself far away from the danger that it had correctly recognized us to be.  No matter what we tried, the elk out maneuvered our attempts to close the gap, rendering our efforts fruitless.  It was Skip that first detected a pattern in the animal’s flight pattern and his knowledge of the mountainside gave birth to a new brainstorm.  He took us to a ravine that was dotted by the fresh tracks made earlier by our quarry.  He pointed to the thick cover of pucker brush and tall prairie grass that covered one slope and told us to find a good spot there and wait.  It was on the alee side of the coulee so we were protected from the frigid wind chill and had to deal only with snow packed ground on which we rested our cold-sensitive butts. 

Ambush was our only recourse and Skip found a perfect spot for John to set up.

Skip moved away to begin to dog the bull hoping that the plan he had hatched would successfully provide John with what he believed would be a 30 yard shot.  John set the Speed Dial at 30 yards and we nestled deeply into the shelter of the underbrush to wait.  Positioned myself above John, I dialed my Sony camera to the video mode hoping to catch the all the action live if Skip’s scheme went as planned.  John was the first to detect the approach of the elk as he picked out the bull’s ankles popping as it neared our ambush.   Instead of following the trail along the ridge it angled down to the bottom of the coulee, moving directly towards the hunter.  At ten yards, I heard the subtle bark of the Scorpyd as it launched its projectile into the unsuspecting creature.  Taken totally by surprise, the big bull spun in a blink and bounded up to the top of the coulee.  It stopped and turned, staring back at the bottom of the ravine in a vain attempt to determine what had just happened.  After a short pause, the confused bull turned to flee taking only ten steps before gracefully somersaulting into death.  It was over!

After the shot, John was all smiles.  The elk never had a clue that John was there until it was too late.

Skip had watched the bull come back out of the coulee thinking we had been busted and that the elk had made good its escape.  Then, through his field glasses, he saw the blood escaping from both sides of the animal before it crashed to the ground.  Rushing to the coulee, he triumphantly joined us for the celebration we had all been working towards.  After many photos had been taken of the successful team, the real work began.  The animal was field dressed and then slowly, but surely drug by very small gains into the back of the pickup.  Thank goodness the huge expired beast came equipped with a pair of really big handles!  We hauled our trophy back to the ranch, where big machinery helped to complete the final processes of skinning and quartering the elk.  Once that was done, it was off to the locker where the bull was to be cut and wrapped.  From there, it was home for supper and a jubilant celebration that brought a fitting end to what had been a very special hunt. 

Guide, Skip Owens and John with his trophy of a lifetime.

The next day was spent tying up the loose ends and spending some quality time with our hosts.  On Sunday morning, John and I stopped at the ranch and collected the meat and the head then headed for home warmed by all of the good things that had taken place over the last four days. A hearty thank-you goes out to Kim and Cindy for their continued, generous support of the UFFDA Mission and their warm and wonderful hospitality.  We truly thank Skip and Berta for opening their home to us and treating us like part of their family.  And to Skip, a very special and heartfelt acknowledgement for his extraordinary service and all the hard work he put forth to make this hunt such a great success.  We love you all. 

Left to right: John Swanson, Kim Kafka, Skip Owens and Cindy Kafka.

Until next year, my Diamond K friends, fare the well!

Paul Conley had every right to give himself high-fives and back slaps in early December after arrowing the trophy buck he hunted four years in Wisconsin's Chequamegon National Forest.

Instead, the 23-year-old Mellen, Wisconsin, bowhunter credited his girlfriend, Casey; children, Trinity and Xander; parents, Al and Theresa; as well as grandparents, siblings, buddies and his late friend, Tom Bruckner, for their help in his success Dec. 4.

Paul Conley, 23, shows the big drop-tine buck he shot Dec. 4 in the Chequamegon National Forest near his home in Mellen, Wisconsin.

It was Casey who chased him out the door for late-season hunts when he was burning out, Trinity who asked to see pictures of “Drop Time” when he returned, his grandparents who bought him his first compound bow, and Bruckner who assured him he’d eventually get the buck.

Yep, as Conley recited names, influences and vital roles, you’d have thought he was accepting an Academy Award or the Super Bowl trophy.

Then again, if you ask deer hunters, most would take Conley’s buck over an Oscar or a Lombardi. Why? Beneath the left antler beam on this monstrous 8-point buck hangs a rare 10.5-inch drop tine, which measures 6.5 inches around its end. Further, both main beams measure 21-1/8 inches in length and 7.5 inches around their bases. The tallest tines stand nearly 12 inches above the beams.

Brandon, Paul, Al and Theresa Conley pose with Paul’s monster buck at their home near Cayuga, Wisconsin.

Conley passed up shots at six different bucks the past four years after spotting this buck in his trail-camera photos in 2008. Since then, his cameras recorded the drop-tine buck in hundreds of photos and videos, documenting its growth, antler changes, and daily and seasonal travels.

For instance, the buck’s body appeared largest in 2008, and its antlers reached their peak growth in 2010. The buck’s distinctive drop tine appeared as an antler blemish in 2008 before sprouting into a long tine in 2009. It grew longer and more vertically in 2010, and blossomed into a replica of an old-time police Paddy-whacker this year.

Based on photos and the fact the buck wore its front bottom teeth to the gum, Conley estimates it was 8.5 years old. The buck never appeared at Conley’s bait sites until Halloween each fall, and then visited frequently until late January, when it migrated to winter deeryards farther south. The buck’s feeding visits, however, seldom occurred in daylight.

When Conley reviewed his trail-cam photos from Wisconsin’s nine-day firearms seasons from 2008-2011, none showed the buck during daylight. Until this month, its daylight visits occurred only during the rut from late October through mid-November.

When Conley shot the buck at 7:10 a.m. on Dec. 4, it marked only the second time the buck appeared in daylight after a gun season. The first time was the day before, according to his trail cameras.

Based on trail-cam photos the past four years, and the fact the buck had worn its front bottom teeth down to the gum, Conley estimates the buck was 8.5 years old.

The buck wasn’t eating bait, however, when Conley shot. It was about 300 yards away, returning to its bedding area.

“I had just moved my tree stand to that spot 15 hours before,” Conley said. “I thought I’d try cutting him off between his bed and the bait. I thought he might be going from his bedding area to the bait at dawn. I was expecting him from the west, but he came from the east. It looks like he ran all night and hit the bait before bedding down for the day.”

Conley said his long hunt and analysis of trail-cam photos also revealed interesting details about the buck’s rut-season movements. “Two days after the full moon (in late October to early November), he was out cruising during daylight all four years,” Conley said. “That’s when bucks really started chasing does.”

Conley couldn’t estimate how many hours he spent on stand since 2008, but he was there every day – usually dawn to dusk – starting in late October and running through gun season. He saw the buck six times while hunting; once in 2008, never in 2009, twice in 2010 and three times this year.

He missed killing the buck in 2010 when his arrow cut off a branch between him and the buck. That happened the Saturday before gun season, and it was the first deer he saw during a weeklong vigil.

This year he saw the buck the Monday and Tuesday before gun season, but it wasn’t close enough to shoot. His trail-cam photos also documented three other daytime visits in November while Conley was working.

The buck's drop tine reached 10.5 inches this year, its largest size since first growing in 2009.

The day he arrowed the buck, he chose his bow instead of a muzzleloader. “I really wanted to get him with a bow,” he said. “That was one of my main goals from the start.”

Soon after he made the 15-yard shot and watched the buck fall five yards away, he called two friends with his news. The word spread so fast his cell phone buzzed the rest of the day.

“Everyone in town knew I was hunting a big drop-tine buck,” Conley said. “I kept it hush-hush the first two years, but I couldn’t keep it in after that. I had friends from here to Green Bay calling to see if I had gotten him.”

What will he do for an encore? Although the Cayuga area holds some of Wisconsin’s lowest deer populations, and most hunters go days, weeks or years without seeing a whitetail, Conley thinks big bucks are worth the wait.

“It wasn’t easy, but shooting this one fulfilled a dream,” he said. “There’s other big bucks out there, and some of them have his antler traits.”

I bought myself an early Christmas present a couple of weeks ago. Cabela’s had an invitation only sale for Cabela’s Club Card holders. I went and cashed in all of my club points and picked up a Cajun Injector Smoker. This is one of the tastiest purchases I’ve made in a long time. I’ve found a whole new way of cooking.

My new Cajun Injector Propane Smoker.

One of my first projects was a smoked venison backstrap. After searching the internet for instructions and talking to a coworker I came up with a recipe. First I split the backstrap down the middle. Then I generously sprinkled it with extra virgin olive oil. I then mixed a venison rub with a barbeque seasoning and rubbed it into and coated the meat with it, giving a good coating. I plan on experimenting with many different types of rubs and seasonings in the future.

To add flavor I generously coated the backstrap with Olive oil and a rub.

Because the backstrap is a very lean cut of meat with no fat I felt like I needed to make sure it would not dry out during the smoking process. I stuffed the split tenderloin with bacon and then wrapped the entire thing in a layer of bacon.

Coating the meat with bacon keeps it from drying out.

I preheated the smoker to 200 degrees and got a good smoke going with some Hickory wood from my farm. I placed the bacon wrapped backstrap on the shelf of the smoker and closed the door. What a beautiful smell filled the yard. I just love the smell of Hickory burning. I monitored the temp, keeping it between 200-250 degrees for about 2 hours, until the internal temperature of the meat was 150 degrees. Man does that look delicious. I couldn’t wait to get it in the house and served on a plate for dinner.

I smoked until the internal temperature reached 150 degrees.

That's enough to make anyone's mouth water.

A meal fit for a king, and tasty too.

The Hickory Smoked Venison Backstrap was a huge success. That was some of the best tasting venison I have ever eaten, and tender too. My new smoker will definitely be getting a workout whenever the weather permits. My next project is a smoked turkey breast. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

One of the hottest topics in the archery world is mechanical broadheads, I don't see this subject cooling down in the near future. I discussed mechanical broadheads (and fixed blade broadheads) with Chris Kozlik of New Archery Products, here is what he had to say...

New for 2012, the Deep 6 broadhead family has been engineered for small diameter arrows such as the Easton Injexion.

Q: The most common knock on mechanical broadheads seems to be that their blades open in flight, causing the arrow to fly off target which results in either a miss or a lost animal. What do you think about that?

A: Modern bows are certainly pushing the envelope on speed. Crossbows even more so. Having the blades on a mechanical head stay closed during flight is critical to hitting your mark. We’ve done extensive testing to make sure our heads work perfectly and stay closed during flight with the fastest equipment on the market. It’s easy to test. Hang a piece of paper in front of your target and shoot thru it. You should have a small hole, that shows the blades stayed closed. If not, it’s time to go find a better mechanical head.

Blades that open in flight are one of bowhunters major concerns in regards to mechanical broadheads.

Q: When it comes to shooting whitetail-sized game is there anything to be concerned about when shooting a mechanical broadhead?

A: Even though mechanicals have been on the market for over 20 years, there are still myths that revolve around the use of mechanical heads. Three statements seem to come up in conversation more than any others. Specifically, “You can’t take an angled shot with a mechanical” or “It takes too much energy to open the blades / a mechanical won’t penetrate well” or “My broadhead didn’t open!” I’d like to address these one at a time.

First off, any correct angled shot that you would take with a fixed blade, you can take with a mechanical. There are no additional restrictions. 45 degree quartering shots are no problem. Angles steeper than that and you risk the shot, mechanical or fixed blade, period. Three years ago, I received an email from a happy Spitfire customer who took such an angled shot that he cut 8 ribs clean thru and still had a full pass thru. I still have the pictures. Understanding that this shot should never have been attempted with a bow and arrow, it nonetheless proved to me the effectiveness of a full mechanical head even on a steep angled shot.

About blade opening and penetration, I’ll take that question in two parts.

Our mechanical heads use very little energy to open. The resistance that you feel by slowly opening a blade by hand simply isn’t there when the head slams into a target. I routinely demonstrate this by shooting a Spitfire thru a piece of cardboard using nothing more than a draw length check bow with a draw weight of 3 pounds. Blades will open every time. Now imagine a hunting arrow going 250 feet per second (which is 170 miles per hour!) with 60 pounds of kinetic energy. Even a modest 45 pounds of kinetic energy will cleanly kill any big buck out there with any well designed mechanical.

The biggest obstacle to getting a full pass is not the broadhead on the end of your arrow, but how well that arrow was flying as it hits the target. Any side to side whipping or porpoising of the arrow , either from a poorly tuned rest or string slap on your hunting clothes, will cause drastic reductions the penetration power of the arrow, regardless of the broadhead you choose. A bad flying arrow at close distance is even worse than one shot at longer distance because the vanes have no chance whatsoever to recover or get that arrow flying properly. In just the last few days I’ve had 2 bow setups, one being my own personal bow, which shot excellent field points at long distance (my first 50 yard robin hood) and still had a barrel rolling arrow coming out of the bow. Had I just installed a broadhead and gone hunting, the results would have been, regrettable. It’s easy to blame the broadhead when something goes wrong and in a lot of cases, the broadhead had nothing to do with the poor results. Take the time to tune your setup to perfection before stepping into the woods.

“My broadhead didn’t open,” is one of the biggest fear some people have of shooting a mechanical head. In the closed position, all of our heads are still angled partially open. In the 15 years that we have produced the Spitfire, we have never had a head that didn’t open. Like pushing on a door handle, the door has no choice but to pivot around its hinge and open. Now, what has tricked a few people along the way is that the blades may slam shut if the head goes thru a deer and into the dirt. Also in practice, if the head pops out the back of a target and the arrow stays in the target, the blades will again rocket forward and slam shut. In all cases, the head will show a little dent where the back of the blade whacks into the edge of the ferrule. It’s a witness mark that happens even on lower poundage bows. You can test this by taping a piece of paper on the back of a target block and shooting thru. Three large slots will be left in the paper. Even withdrawing an arrow from a deer or foam target will fold the blades closed again. On a yearly basis, I will receive one or two suspect heads where a customer believes it didn’t open. I’ll take a head that’s full of fur, dried blood, and dirt and shoot it as-is. The head will open perfectly! A few years ago, I shot a doe in Seneca, Wisconsin, quartering away at 20 yards with the first Spitfire Maxx prototype. The doe went downhill and out of sight. When I retrieved my arrow, the blades were shut. My gut response was predictable, I thought it didn’t open. Then I took a deep breath, looked for the dents where the blades hit the ferrule and found the head had worked perfectly. My doe was laying 50 yards away.

Q: Do mechanical broadheads really fly better than fixed-blade broadheads?

A: Yes. We have found that at or above 270 feet per second is where larger fixed blade heads can exhibit some wind drift. With precision tuning of the arrow rest and looking closely at the spine of the arrow, large fixed blades like the Thunderhead, can be made to fly extremely well. The faster the arrow goes, the more time you may need to spend on the tuning. Mechanicals almost always fly like field points. There’s very little wind resistance on mechanical heads, so no way to steer the arrow off of target. In 2001 I shot a caribou at 43 yards with a Spitfire with 30 mpg gusty winds and raining. Looking back at the video, you can see the arrow tracking perfectly to the animal and see just a white tuft of hair blow out the back of the animal. It was one of my best kills I’ve ever had, especially in bad conditions.

At high speeds fixed-blade broadheads can drift and plane but with a little bit of tuning, they too can fly like fieldpoints.

Q: Under what circumstances should someone not shoot a mechanical broadhead?

A: 40 foot pounds of kinetic energy would be the minimum I’d recommend when shooting a mechanical head. This would also be the minimum for fixed blades as well. Arrow flight and tuning is even more critical with bows that generate less kinetic energy. With today’s equipment, most hunters are far above this minimum.

Q: The hot trend in broadheads right now is massive cutting diameter. What do you think about that? And how does it affect arrow penetration?

A: Yes, cutting diameters on mechanicals are on the way up. With a setup that has 65 to 70 pounds of kinetic energy, the diameter can be increased with no lack of penetration on game animals. Our FOC crossbow head has a three inch cutting diameter. With crossbows generating 100 pounds of energy or more, this is no issue at all. That being said, it’s easy to forget that what was once an average cutting diameter of 1-1/4” a few years ago, some people now consider small. For decades Thunderheads have killed more deer, elk, moose and other big game animals with a cutting diameter of 1-3/16”. Moose and elk hunters have loved the killing power of the 1-1/8” Nitron for years. Blade sharpness, broadhead strength and quality, along with shot placement and arrow flight seem to be much more important than initial cutting diameter. We’ve seen many Spitfire kills where the entrance hole is bigger that the cutting diameter of the head!

Giant cutting diameters are the hot trend, like this Spitfire Maxx.

Q: We all know that the sharpness of the blades on your broadhead is important for a quick kill, better blood trail and short recovery. How can the average bow hunter decide which broadheads have the sharpest blades?

A:Determining broadhead sharpness can be a little tricky sometimes. A lot of people will run their fingers over the blade and if you can feel it catch your skin, they believe it’s sharp. What you’re actually feeling is a roll over burr that some blades produce when being sharpened. Once the burr breaks off, there is a microscopic rounded edge that does not cut cleanly. It’s when you feel nothing at all, then look down and see your blood all over the place, then you truly have a sharp edge. If you don’t want to find out the hard way, slice thru a piece of notebook paper or shave the hair off the back of your hand to be sure. We make sure nothing touches the edge of our blades between when they were manufactured and when you screw them on you arrow to guarantee the sharpest blades possible.

There is no substitute for ultra-sharp blades, the blades on the NAP Hellrazor are just that.

Q: Why should bow hunters replace the blades on their broadheads with new ones from the manufacturer rather than trying to sharpen them on their own?

A: It’s always better to have brand new blades on your heads. Most blades like ours have multiple grind angles that can never truly be resharpened effectively by hand. A solid head like a Hellrazor can be made almost as sharp from the factory by using a high quality flat stone. Patience and skill are needed to get the edge perfect. I cannot overstate the importance of sharp blades for killing game animals as quick as possible. The cost of new, sharp replacement blades may be the difference between finding an animal or not when a marginal hit occurs.

Q: Is there any advantage to shooting a 125 grain broadhead rather than a 100 grain broadhead?

A: We’ve found that heavier heads up front do two important things. For one, they just seem to fly better. Moving the front of center balance point forward helps the arrows (or bolt) fly better. Tenpoint Crossbows regularly put brass inserts in their bolts for that very reason. In addition, the penetration power in increased. Studies have been done showing that an arrow of a given weight will out penetrate by just moving the weight forward. I put this to the test last year with a fellow employee at New Archery who has never had a full pass thru. He shoots a lighter weight bow and a short arrow. I constructed some Easton Full Metal Jacket arrows with a 60 grain brass insert. 24-1/2” arrow, 100 grain broadhead for a total weight of 428. Front of center comes in at 15.3 percent. Full pass thru’s are now happening. Don’t worry about any extra drop. Even 25 grains extra up front in stays inside a hunter’s normal grouping pattern inside of 30 yards. Arrow speed loss is negligible and in most cases, the kinetic energy has increased! Whatever grain weight broadhead you choose, make sure your arrow is spined out correctly.

Q:The past two years we’ve heard a lot about the NAP Bloodrunner broadhead. Can you tell us why this head has been so popular with bow hunters?

A: Mechanical head sales have soared over the last few years. There are dozens of different designs to choose from. Unfortunately some just don’t perform as well as others under hunting conditions. The Bloodrunner broadhead appeals to hunters who may have tried mechanicals before with bad results or people who would like to try a mechanical, but just seem leery about the whole idea. The Hybrid design of the head is such that in closed position, it has a 1 inch cutting diameter, and by pressing the point back, expands to 1-1/2”. “Even closed, it’s bound to work” is what I hear from potential customers. The fact is there’s no way for it not to open to 1-1/2” cut when passing thru a target. Confidence is key when selecting a broadhead and it’s easy to see how this head performs.

The NAP 2-Blade Bloodrunner offers a huge cutting diameter and a fail-proof expanding design.

Q: What broadhead will you be shooting this fall?

A: That’s always the toughest question for me to answer because all of the heads we make work so well. A lot of us over here shoot Spitfire’s and Bloodrunner’s. I’ll be shooting the Spitfire Maxx with a 1-3/4” cut. I just need to stay awake in the tree long enough to let one fly…..

The Spitfire Maxx is one of the favorite mechanical broadheads on the market.

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Mathews retailers show in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.  One of the products that I thought was worth sharing with the bowhunting world is a super durable target made by Master Target.  These pin-up targets are constructed of what is called Durashot material, it feels similar to a high strength vinyl and is nearly impossible to tear.  The targets are waterproof and UV resistant so they can be left outdoors for a long period of time without fading or tearing.  Master Target manufactures targets of several different animal targets and the anatomical vital placement is very accurate.  The targets retail for somewhere around seven dollars each and in my opinion are far better than any paper target you will ever shoot.  Here are a few of the targets available today.

Many of the targets have scoring rings for those of us with a competitive nature

The vitals are very accurate for the angle of the photographed animal. 

This is one of my personal favorites! 

Mule Deer buck

With the deer season winding down, I expect this target will be popular in the upcoming months!

To find out where you can purchase a few of these durable and entertaining targets, visit www.master-target.com.

These photos show us the gruesome truth that sometimes goes forgotten in the wild.  Many of us spend lots of time and money managing our property for deer by planting food plots, creating bedding areas, etc., but how many of us spend time managing the predators on our grounds?  Research shows that coyote populations can only be marginally controlled for short periods of time, as litter sizes and the number of females that enter heat increase as the population declines.  What are your thoughts on predators and predator control?

We are unsure as to the origin of these photos, but what we see is fairly clear.  At least two coyotes attack and kill this big buck.  Granted, we don't know if he was sick or injured (he appears healthy in the photos) but one thing is for sure, he lost his life to coyotes!  If you need a little help managing your predator population, check out the predator calls in the bowhunting.com store by clicking HERE!!!

I recently had the opportunity to interview Jeremy Leu of Campbell Cameras about camera equipment and methods for filming your very own hunt.  There is a lot of information available in regards to the equipment and tactics of filming hunts, these are answers for just a few of the most common questions we hear... 

Q: If you’re a bow hunter looking to film your own hunts, what are the bare essentials that you’ll need to get started?   

A: A good mid range compact HD camcorder package like the Canon HFS30 Whitetail package will have everything you need to get started.  The bare essentials would include a camera, camera arm, camera case, recording media and a spare battery.  From here you can add to and upgrade your camera equipment.

The Canon HFS30 is an excellent package to start filming your hunts!

Q: Assuming you have a partner with you to run the camera while you hunt, is there any additional or special equipment that you should consider purchasing?

A: If you can budget for it I would scale up on everything if you have a dedicated videographer. Most of us operate on a budget so the items would definitely suggest are a LANC controller and wireless microphones.

Q: When picking out a camera to use, what do you believe are the most important features to look for?

A: The things I would look for are; Low Lux rating, 10x to 20x Optical zoom, manual focus option and 1080 HD recording format.

Q: What do you think are the most important technical features that every amateur videographer should learn about their camera and other equipment? 

A: Learn to use manual Focus!! Also don’t over use your zoom!  Zooming in and out can  be nauseating for an audience, only allow the subject to fill up about 1/3 of the screen.

Q: What camera and camera arm combo is the best bang for your buck right now?

A: The Sony NX70U and the 3rd Arm Bandit is a great setup.

Jeremy picks the Sony NX70U as the best "bang for your buck" camera.

Q: What are your feelings on Point-of-View (POV) cameras like the Epic Cam and GoPro?

A: Point of View cameras are a necessary tool for all videographers now days, solo hunt videographers especially. It allows the self videographer to set up multiple views from their stand live as they happen. I don’t go into the field without at least 1 but usually have 2 or 3.

This is a still photo taken from a video recorded by my Epic Cam.

Q: When filming by yourself where is the optimal location to mount your camera?

A: I prefer to have the camera on a small tree arm in front of me, centered but down low. That way when I stand up to get ready for the shot I can shoot over top of the camera and get full range of motion for filming.

Q: When filming with a partner, where should the cameraman be located in relation to the hunter?

A: Of course opinions vary and there is no true right or wrong way, I like to position the camera stand 90 degrees to my right and high enough to not affect my shot but low enough to allow the camera operator to get that perfect over the shoulder shot.

There is no "perfect set" for every situation, but this is one we strive for.

Q: What is the biggest mistake you see amateur cameramen make while filming hunts?

A: Using auto focus and zooming in too tight or zooming in and out too much. Also audio can be over looked by beginners.

Using manual focus is key when it comes to filming quality hunts.

Q: What are the top 4 things you should check on your camera every time you go into the woods?

A: Make sure the batteries are charged, card or tape capacity checked, lens is cleaned and free of scratches and the audio is operating properly.

Q: Is the extra time and money really worth it in the end?

A: Depends on what level you are at or what you plan to do but any HD camera will provide good quality footage, the difference is in the lens size, low light capability, and size and number of sensors for color processing.  

Sometimes cameras, equipment and everything that goes with filming a hunt can be quite overwhelming for something that most of us do as a hobby.  If you have questions about camera gear don't hesitate contact the guys at Campbell Cameras and they'll be sure to give you sound advice, whatever your goal may be.  Also, don't forget to check out the photo/video forum right here at bowhunting.com!

Disclaimer: Okay, let me preface this blog by stating that, like my previous blog, this blog is dedicated to another gun kill.  Yes, obviously this is a bowhunting website, but I (and many of our other staff members as well) equally enjoy taking to the woods every fall with rifle and/or muzzleloader.  After all, we are all hunters and we must support one another, regardless of choice of weapon.  Disclaimer over, read on for the actual blog!

Quite frankly, this has been one of the slowest, most frustrating hunting seasons I have ever been a part of.  I went into this season more prepared and more excited than I had ever gone into a previous season.  Food plots were prepped and planted in the spring and maintained throughout the summer.  Stands were hung during the dog days of summer, and my Mathews was shooting darts.  I was ready to rock n’ roll! 

Here is one of literally hundreds of photos I got of High n' Tight after the season last year.  He certainly wasn't shy as a 2 year old, but it's funny how a whitetail wises up between their second and third birthday.  During the spring, summer and fall, he became a ghost.

I had trail camera photos of two different bucks I was going to be on the lookout for.  The first was a 4 year old buck we had decided to call Clyde.  He was a mainframe 10, and the best we could tell from trail camera photos he would score close to 150 inches.  The second buck, and quite honestly, the buck I thought I would have the best chance at shooting, was a buck nicknamed High n’ Tight.  High n’ Tight was a frequent visitor to our food plots last winter as a 2 year old, and I was excited about hunting him this season as a 3 year old.  His brow tines were high and tight (hence the nickname) and we had over 100 photos of him feeding in our food plots.  He was so visible in our food plots and on trails to and from bedding areas, that I was sure I would get a crack at him early this season.

High n' Tight on his way back to bed in early February.  I searched for hours on end for his sheds, but to no avail.

Unfortunately, as you may have read here, my season got off to a rocky start immediately.  I regrouped after my opening day misfortune, and hunted relatively hard the entire month of October.  As you may have read in my previous blog, I hunted mostly afternoons near food sources as to not pressure a certain buck I had my eyes on.  As the month of October neared its end and November quickly approaching, I was excited about the thought of hunting rutting whitetails.   I had plenty of food available on the property; the deer I would be hunting hadn’t been pressured, and rubs and scrapes and were popping up over night on trails leading to and from bedding areas.  My goal this season was to hunt exclusively with my bow.  I knew it would be tempting to swap the bow for my muzzleloader or rifle once their respective seasons came in, but I wanted, no, needed, to harvest a buck with my this year.  It would be fantastic to harvest a 3 year old buck with my bow in the mountains I hunt, and I was going to be relentless in my pursuit of that goal.

By the time November rolled around, I was a lot like the bucks that were maxed out on testosterone at the same time, it was go time!  Clyde had been captured several times on trail camera, but High n’ Tight was nowhere to be found.  He was so visible during the winter, I simply couldn’t believe he just up and vanished.  Was he poached during the summer?  Did he establish a new home range?  Had Clyde scared him completely out of the state of Virginia?  I was pretty disappointed that the buck I thought I had the best chance of shooting had completely disappeared.

High n' Tight with his older brother, Clyde in January of this year.  I actually didn't know it was Clyde until my brother shot him in early November.  A small cut in his left ear let me know that it was in fact him in this photo.

Nevertheless, on November 1st I checked my Stealth Cam that was overlooking one of my mock scrapes on a field edge, and it revealed Clyde had visited just two days prior.  The next day I took down my Lone Wolf Assault and sticks, packed it on my back and moved it a half mile east to the location of the mock scrape.  The next morning I was 15 yards from that mock scrape and ready to arrow Clyde at 15 yards.  That morning was an exciting morning to be on stand to say the least.  I didn’t see Clyde, but I did see a handful of does and had a close encounter with another one of my target bucks, a tall racked 8 pointer I call Mr. Two Bits.  I have quite a bit of history with Mr. Two Bits, including still photos and video footage of him in velvet in July, and a handful of trail camera photos of him throughout September and October.  He walked out past me at 60 yards, but he busted me as I was trying to get my camera situated and get some footage of him.  So close!  I got down that morning optimistic about what the rest of the month would hold, but I was oblivious to the tough hunting I was about to endure.

In the following weeks I got served a huge dose of bowhunting reality.  The weather for bowhunting the rut was simply terrible.  The following weather pattern repeated itself for almost the entire month: three days of rain, a day of high winds, and then warming temperatures until the next storm system blew in bringing more rain.  It was incredibly frustrating, but I kept hunting hard.  In fact, I was hunting harder than ever.  My Lone Wolf Sit and Climb and I got to be exceptionally close, and I took down and moved my Lone Wolf Assault at least 6 times during a span of 10 days when I thought the bucks would be rutting the hardest.  My efforts were futile.  The terrible weather partnered with a full moon in mid-November and forced me to go deer less on more hunts that I would care to admit.  My brother shot Clyde on November the 12th with his muzzleloader, but that was the only buck activity we experienced the first couple weeks of November.  Exhausted, I took a handful of days off from hunting to get a change of scenery, recharge my batteries and get re-focused for the second half of the month.

My Mathews Z7 Xtreme and Lone Wolf Assault and Sticks at the ready.  I logged a lot of stand time with this combo during October and November.

My first hunt after my vacation from hunting was a lot like the first two weeks of November.  Dumping rains kept me in bed the morning of November 17th, and I elected to get in my stand around noon to see if I could catch any bucks up on their feet before the high winds moved.  At 12:45 I heard a deer running behind me to the east and quickly threw up my Leupold Acadia’s to see what causing the commotion.  Shooter buck!  I counted 10 points, good tine length and estimated the buck to score around 130 inches.  Unfortunately, he was downwind of me and a little jittery with the blustery winds.  I wanted so badly to throw him a couple of contact grunts to gauge his interest and aggressiveness, but thought better of it.  Being downwind, he would pick me off in a heartbeat.  Helpless, I spent the better part of 5 minutes glassing him out through my binoculars.  I saw a good right main beam, and 4 tall tines shooting into the air.  He was a great buck, but I had to watch him turn around and trot off in the direction from which he came.  I’m not sure if he winded me, or was more interested in some does.  Nevertheless, I settled back in and enjoyed another deerless afternoon. 

I checked a trail camera on the way out that afternoon and was excited to find a lot of good deer, including a couple shooters moving through the area.  I keep a running file of all the bucks I have gotten on trail camera over the years, and as I copied the new entries into the “Bucks” file, I couldn’t help but notice High n’ Tight.  I had honestly forgotten about him because Clyde and Mr. Two Bits had stolen my attention the majority of the season.  As I sifted through the 50 photos that I kept of him, I couldn’t help but smile.  He was quite the clueless little two year old, who seemed to enjoy having his picture taken.  He was never far from the camera and offered several good looks of his rack, almost as if to say, “Look at me, Cody!  Just think of how big I will be next year!”  I laughed to myself and shut off the computer.

This photo was snapped after I hung my Lone Wolf in some of the nastiest cover on our property.  Warm temperatures and a full moon forced me to get right in the deer's bedroom.

My luck over the next week never improved.  One hunt, I forgot my binoculars.  The next, my safety harness.  Yes, my safety harness.  Don’t worry, I dropped my gear and made the long walk back to camp and put it on before returning to my stand.  I simply couldn’t catch a break.  The bad weather ensued, but I kept pushing on.  I continued to move my stands trying to get closer to the bucks I was chasing.  That plan, like my others, failed me.  There were many instances where I would move my stand from location “a’ to location “b” only to have deer walking right by the tree where my stand was hung at location “a.”  It got quite comical at times, but I couldn’t convince myself that I wasn’t going to catch a break sooner or later.  Fortunately, it proved to be sooner.

The morning of November 26th found me perched in one of my favorite stands.  In fact, it was in this stand that I shot my first deer ever when I was 6 years old.  It was creatively called, “Cody’s Stand” and is a great stand to not only see deer from, but watch the woods wake up as the sun rises.  About 8:00 the sun is high enough in the sky to just barely peak over the mountain to the South of me, and you can literally watch the sun rays shoot through the tall pines in front of the stand.  The frost dances in the forest openings, and I have never seen a deer look so pretty in the sun when they cross a trail 60 yards in front of my stand.  It's poetic.

Like always, I was in my stand over an hour before first light.  With plenty of time to spare, I tightened up my safety harness (I remembered it this time) and took a nice nap.  Getting up at 4:15 in the morning got harder and harder to do with each passing day during November, and these naps weren’t uncommon.  I have an incredible internal clock, and wanted to sleep not a minute past 6:30.  Sure enough, I woke up, checked my watch and it read 6:28.  I was alive, refreshed and ready to hunt!

Sweet November had finally arrived!  Unfortunately, the bucks didn't get the memo until later in the month.

It was a beautiful morning.  It was cold, calm and clear.  The sun had yet to rise, but there was enough light to make out my surroundings.  I was situated halfway between 1 acre of clover, 1 acre of turnips and a known buck bedding area.  The wind was out of the South.  I was expecting to see deer working their way in front of me walking East to West (left to right) back to bed after feeding in the food plots the previous night.  Right at 7:00 am I saw a flicker of movement about 100 yards to my south east.  There is a painfully annoying autumn olive bush at that exact location that always looks like a deer moving with the breeze blows, so I assumed that was what caused my heart to skip a beat.  Wait a minute, why is that autumn olive bush walking?  Bam, it’s a deer.  Up go my Leupold’s and I see a good buck coming my way.  He stops and I have just a couple seconds to determine he has a great rack but wasn’t a big bodied deer.  Just like that, he had disappeared into the timber and I lost him.  He was coming from my turnip food plot, and I was confident he would walk the trail 60 yards right in front of my stand, but I had a decision to make.  Is he a shooter?  He had a beautiful set of antlers, but wasn’t a big bodied deer.  I had to make up my mind.  I decided, “If he takes this trail right in front of my stand, I am taking this deer!”

There was only one problem; I still couldn’t find him in the thick timber!  I was looking frantically with my binoculars, but just couldn’t find him.  Finally, I wised up and let my ears find him for me.  I heard consistent footsteps and my eyes trusted my ears and I spotted him walking on the trail that would take him right in front of my stand.  He was in a hurry to get back to his bed, so I quickly grabbed my rifle, waited for him to walk into my shooting lane and stopped him with a soft grunt.  He threw his head up in my direction, and I settled the crosshairs right behind his shoulder.  My rifle rang out, and I saw him buckle up hard before racing straight down below my stand.  I knew he was hit, and hit hard, so I obviously started talking to myself, “That buck is hit hard, that buck is hit hard!”  I had just lost sight of him when I thought I had heard and saw him fall, but I just couldn’t tell.  I welcomed the shakes and adrenaline rush, removed my lucky orange beanie, stuffed it in my pocket, and took a deep breath.  

I texted my brother and dad saying, “Just took a shot on a good buck.  Think I made a good hit, didn’t see him go down.”  My brother responded, “Can I come up?!”  I replied, “Yes, but take your time.  I held right on the heart and he buckled up pretty good, just didn’t see him go down.”  I sent that text at 7:21, no more than 20 minutes later my brother was underneath my stand.  He was just as excited as I was.   

Persistence pays! I was finally able to catch up with High n' Tight the morning of November 25th.

I knew exactly where he was standing, so my brother and I went to recover my blood.  There was blood all over the place at the point of impact.  I’m surprised I didn’t break my brother’s hand when I gave him a fist pound and blurted, “That’s what I am talking about!”  He now calls me Stan Potts, go figure. 

I saw High n' Tight's right main beam a little over a week prior to me taking him.  Having history with a buck you eventually end up harvesting is a sweet feeling!

We took our time following the trail, and as I peaked up over the small hill where I last saw him, there he lay.  I saw a gorgeous right main beam with 4 tall tines, the same buck that slipped past me just a week before!  I walked up to him, lifted his head, looked him over in admiration and was surprised yet again, it was High n’ Tight!  The tall, sharp brow tines gave him away.  I immediately looked up at my brother, who was filming the recovery, and just stared at him blankly.  The buck that I thought I had the best chance at shooting this year, had evaded all 6 of my trail cameras, managed to hide from me all season despite my best efforts and nearly snuck by me again.  

Meet High n' Tight, my biggest buck to date, and the deer I am most proud of!

My dad got down out of his stand early, met my brother and in the frosty timber where High n’ Tight fell, and we celebrated like only a father/son hunting team can.  My brother graciously took a couple hundred photos of me and High n’ Tight, and we taped him out at 126 7/8”, my biggest buck to date, and quite frankly the buck I am most proud of.  I hunt harder than the majority of the guys I know.  The amount of time and effort I spend in preparation, hanging stands, trimming lanes, moving stands, mock scraping, food plotting, etc. is mind boggling, and it would have been easy for me to give in after the rough start to the season I endured and chalk it up to bad luck, but I stayed persistent, kept my nose to the grind stone just waiting for something good to happen, and it did.  I’m still amazed at the irony with High n’ Tight.  I had ran 6 trail cameras all summer and fall, hunted countless stands, moved those stands and moved them again trying to find this guy.  All the while, he was feeding in the same food plot the night before I shot him that he was so visible in from January to March.  

After countless hours of preparation, scouting and time in the stand, giving Thanks is the most appropriate way to honor and give respect to the animal.

This buck, and this hunting season really, also means a lot to me on an emotion level.  My brother, and hunting partner, Damin, will be getting married next spring, and while we’ll still get hunt with each other, our brotherly relationship will take a back seat to him starting a family, as it should.  My brother was right alongside me the majority of this hunting season, which to us began back in January, the day the 2010 season went out.  We shed hunted together, planted the food plots together, hung and moved stands together and, like the previous 20 years of our lives, we were inseparable.  It made for a special season that we each got to be in the woods when the other shot the biggest buck of his life.  To add to the irony, High n’ Tight and Clyde actually grouped up and ran together after the 2010 season.  Where there was one, there was the other.  In the food plots, traveling on trails, they trusted each other. They were, ironically, inseparable.  Just like my brother and I.  Who would have thought that two lucky brothers would be so fortunate to harvest such awesome whitetails that were, in a very real sense, brothers as well?

There are a bevy of emotions we as hunters are fortunate to experience throughout the course of a deer season.  There is the rush of seeing your arrow bury itself behind your prey’s shoulder.  Then there are the uncontrollable shakes that violently rock your body before, during and after the shot at that big buck.  And don’t forget, the most humbling of all, the feeling of thankfulness and gratefulness experienced when you kneel over your trophy, be it a buck or doe, be it big or small.  Finally, there is the camaraderie experienced between you and your hunting buddies.  A couple weeks ago, I got to share an extremely memorable time in the woods with my brother, Damin, as he shot a true giant Virginia whitetail, a buck named Clyde.  

One of the first pictures we got of Clyde.  This image was taken in early January in our clover food plot.

The story for this buck actually begins in 2007, ironically, the birth year of Clyde.  It was that year that my brother, my dad and I really decided to commit to Quality Deer Management (QDM) and try to improve the health of our deer herd and our property’s habitat.  We began planting food plots, established mineral stations and decided to take at least 5 does off our 260 acre property every year.  The mineral stations attracted deer to our property during the summer, and shooting does increased rut activity immediately.  However, I was still unhappy with the amount of food we had on our property during the hunting season.  I simply wasn’t content with the small, secluded food plots we had planted in the past.  Every year, I urged my dad to consider planting two one acre fields in clover.  I was convinced that having a consistent, centralized food source would make a world of difference in holding deer on our property during the hunting season.  During the rut, I was exicted about the amount of rubs and scrapes that would appear in the runways and funnels leading from the fields to bedding areas.

Clyde all but disappeared during the spring and summer, except for visiting one of my mineral stations in mid-June, when this photo was taken.

Fast forward to February, 2010, we had finally gained the resources to plant the two large fields, and I can still remember cruising along in my neighbor’s borrowed 40 horsepower tractor and plowing up the field.  By the time I had finished it was well after dark and the headlights of the tractor were synonymous with a bright future on our hunting property.  A future I was extremely excited about.  

This trail camera photo was captured on a frosty night in late September.  The long sweeping right main beam told me who this buck was.  It was this photo that earned him the nickname "Clyde."

That spring and summer I sprayed and tilled, sprayed and tilled, to keep the weeds and have a clean seed bed for the 2010 hunting season.  In August I planted some Imperial Whitetail Clover and oats into the food plots.  We have found that planting clover in the fall and allowing it establish a strong root system in the winter will allow it to explode the following spring.  Obviously, both forages would be attractive to the deer during the season, but the oats were more of a cover crop to keep the deer from overbrowsing the clover.  

Fast forward to this past January, I was in Huntley, IL preparing for the 2011 ATA Show at the Bowhunting.com office and my brother sent me a couple of trail camera images of a buck feeding in our food plot the night after the season went out.  The buck was a 3 year old, had several busted tines, but was clearly a shooter and had the potential to balloon into a true giant the following season.  Our winters in Western Virginia don’t pose serious threats to a whitetail’s life, even worn down bucks, so my primary concern keeping him on our property that following year.  With two acres of lush clover just waiting to explode with a little sunlight and warm weather, I was confident we would regularly catch him on camera feeding in our food plots during the summer.

By mid-October Clyde was convinced their was an intruder buck in his territory thanks to my mock scrapes.

As is often the case with deer hunting and habitat management, things don’t go as expected.  The food plots exploded all right, providing a nutritious, tasty food source to our local whitetails all spring and summer.  Unfortunately, however, we only captured the buck on camera just once during the entire summer, and it wasn’t even in our food plots.  On June 19th he made a brief stop at one of my Monster Raxx mineral stations.  I knew it was the buck from the previous winter, by a cluster of abnormal points on his right main beam.  While he didn’t spend as much time in our food plots, I wasn’t overly concerned.  I knew where he was bedding and knew that having several does feeding in our food plots during the actual hunting season would greatly benefit us.  

As hunting season quickly approached and the temperatures began dropping quickly, I was anxious to see if the buck had began visiting our food plots.  The two clover food plots were planted right in the center of our property, so to visit them, either to feed or check for does, he would have to walk right by several of my stand sites.  Nevertheless, when I checked my cameras on October 1st I was thrilled to find the buck feeding in our food plot just two nights before.  I sent a picture to my brother via cell phone with the text reading, “huge buck in upper field, 140+."  A long sweeping right main beam and the abnormal points on the same side made Clyde an easy choice for a nickname (See Clint Eastwood’s famous flick, “Every Which Way but Loose”).    Let the chess match begin.

This trail camera photo revealed to us Clyde's bedding area.  This photo was taken two nights before Halloween about 30 minutes before sunrise.  

I knew it would be unwise to dive right in after this buck after a handful of nighttime trail camera photos.  I knew where he was bedding, I knew how he accessing our food plots, I just had to be patient and not over hunt him.  I immediately made a series of mock scrapes along his access trails to and from the food plot using Tink’s Power Scrape.  The idea was to paint a picture of another big, old buck was moving into his territory.  He didn’t like the thought of that.  He began working over those scrapes within days, and the giant rubs and scrapes that dotted the edge of the food plots could only have been made by him.  This was his food plot, the clover belonged to him, the does belonged to him; no other bucks were welcome.

After seeing the massive rubs and watching the scrapes being freshened up nightly, I took extreme measures as to not pressure the buck.  The only problem with the location of our two food plots is location.  Yes, they were centrally located, but they were also right beside our hunting camp, which sees a lot of human activity.  During October, I likely only hunted 3 mornings so I didn’t push him off the food plot on my way to the stand.  My dad and brother would have liked to kill me because I was constantly reminding them to be quiet around the camp, to walk on the far side of the camp to hide our existence from deer feeding in the food plot. I probably took it too far in some cases, but there was a giant buck living very close by, and I was determined that one of use was going to kill him.

Throughout October we captured Clyde on trail camera in the food plot, at mock scrapes, and on trails heading back to his bed in the late morning.  My brother had two weeks of vacation planned for early November and we were going to exhaust every opportunity we had to close the deal on the giant.  Unfortunately we got slammed by two weeks of bad weather.  Dumping rains, high winds and warm temperatures made hunting very difficult.  At the end of every unsuccessful day of hunting my brother would ask me, “Where in the world Clyde?”  My response was always the same, “Not far.”

Multiple rubs of this size began popping up in trails and runways from the food plot to bedding areas.  Clyde was becoming more and more vulnerable with each passing day.  We were onto him, we just had to play it smart.

Friday November 11th was again a terribly slow day of hunting.  A full moon and high winds and warm temperatures had shut down all deer movement, but there was hope in sight.  The first clear, cold night in several weeks was forecasted that night.  That night I remember my brother asking me yet again, “Where is Clyde?”  But this time I responded, “Not far.  He’s got to be covering some ground at night, if we can get a good, hard frost tonight, that should keep him on his feet longer into the morning on his way back to bed for the day.”  It wasn’t much to go on, but was it was a hopeful thought, and that was all we needed.

I had been bowhunting like a madman the first two weeks of November, so I elected to take my muzzleloader that morning for a change of pace.  We had got the hard frost we were hoping for and we had got into our stands over an hour before first light.  I had seen a couple does filtering back to bed right at first light, and was hopeful a buck would soon follow suit, but I never got the chance to find out.  At 7:14 I heard my brother’s muzzleloader ring out.  Since it was my brother’s last day of vacation, we both decided to try and shoot a couple does if the opportunity presented itself, so I just assumed he had shot a doe.  However, his “13 pointer down!!!!!” text eliminated that theory.  My mind began racing, “Did he really shoot a 13 pointer?  Maybe he did shoot a doe and is just joking around.  A 13 pointer?  Clyde was only a 10 in the trail camera photos.”   Anxious to see what he had shot I responded, “Can I come up?”  His response, “Clyde!!!!”  I gathered my gear, got down out of my stand and all but ran through the woods to see the fallen giant.

My brother and hunting partner, Damin, admiring the legendary buck known as Clyde.  Mission complete!

When I finally met up with my brother, he had his coat draped over Clyde’s rack.  As he unveiled him, I simply couldn’t believe the massive antlers coming off this buck’s head; atrue giant.  I must have hugged and high fived Damin a good 20 times in a span of 5 minutes.  Damin relived the hunt for me, and I was happy as could be for him.  It turns out that cold, hard frost kept Clyde on his feet just long enough this morning, because my brother shot him working one of the mock scrape lines I had built back in early October.  My brother stopped him at 50 yards broadside, and made a perfect shot, and Clyde died within sight.  

Clyde is by far the biggest buck ever taken off our property.  The hard work we all put in over the past 4 years finally paid off with a dandy buck.

I offered to drag Clyde out of the woods for Damin, we met up with my dad and mom at camp and thus began the day of celebration.  We took well over 100 photos, put a tape to him, weighed him and caped out and readied him for the taxidermist.  Clyde ended up scoring 148 6/8” as a mainframe 10 with 5 kickers.  He had three abnormal points sprouting at the base of his right G3 and had an inch and a half kicker at the base of each antler.  He was 220 pounds live weight and dressed 185, which makes for a giant bodied whitetail in Western Virginia.

The fallen giant and the lucky hunter who harvested him overlooking the mountains and food plot the massive buck once called home.

While Clyde scored well, and was the size of a small cow, his statistics do very little for this buck's legacy.  When I think of Clyde I will think of the countless hours spent running trail cameras, planting food plots, freshening mineral stations, and scouting since 2007, the year he was born and the year we started QDM.  I will think of the discussions I had with my dad and brother about when, and how we should go about trying to harvest this deer.  But ultimately, I will remember walking up to the fallen buck with my brother standing over him with a contagious smile and the brotherly emotions we shared in the woods November 12th.  That, I think, is what Clyde most represents and what an animal of his caliber should be remembered for.

Every year the forums at Bowhunting.com have way too many threads like “I hit a deer and can’t find it, now what?” In my opinion, it’s too late now, in a lot of cases the work should have been done before the season actually started. I will say that bad shots can happen to anyone at any time, but a good share of the bad hits happen to those who haven’t prepared properly before ever taking the shot.

Rule #1: Know where to hit the animal you are hunting.

This would be considered a good hit. Do you know exactly where the heart is located in a deer?

I’ll wager a fair amount of money that a lot of bow hunters have never seen the inside of a deer or even studied the anatomy of the species they are hunting. This simple task could prevent many bad hits in itself. You have to know where to hit the animal to effectively kill it. If you don’t know EXACTLY where the vitals are located, how do you expect to make a quick clean kill? I guarantee a good number of bow hunters could not point to the exact location of the heart in a real deer’s body. And I promise you that most bow hunters would be off if they tried to draw the front leg and shoulder bones on a live deer. They are way forward compared to where most people think they are.

This should be required study material in any hunter education class.

Then put it to use on the real thing.

The area we all strive to place the arrow in is the heart/lung area. Put a razor sharp broadhead through there and you will watch a good number of your deer tip over. They can’t run very far with their lungs full of blood. And in my opinion it doesn’t matter what broadhead you send through the boiler room as long as it is sharp. Don’t get caught up in all of the hype of this head vs that head. Any legal, razor sharp broadhead will do the job as long as it is put in the right spot. The Indians used to kill them with sharp rocks.

The Indians used to kill deer with these.

I prefer these.

Rule #2: Only take high percentage shots.

How many times have you read or heard, “He was about to leave so I HAD TO TAKE THE SHOT”?      NO YOU DIDN”T!! If you wait the deer might offer you a better angle or a broadside shot before leaving. Plus, if the deer is nervous and about to leave, chances he are his vitals won’t be where they were by the time your arrow gets there anyhow resulting in a bad hit. I’ve hunted long enough and observed enough deer to know that shooting at a nervous deer is asking for trouble. Your bow is not fast enough to beat the reaction time of a nervous deer. They can drop and whirl before your arrow ever gets there. Even calm deer will usually have some kind of reaction at the shot. I have really noticed this a lot more since I have been filming my hunts. It’s kind of fun to play the arrow flight back and forth to see just how much the deer moves from the shot to impact.

Broadside and quartering away are the only ethical shots in most cases. These two offer the best chance at an unobstructed path to the heart/lung area. The ribs on the side of the deer offer little resistance to a well placed arrow. The frontal or quartering to shot can be deadly, but the vitals are much better protected from these angles by the shoulder bones and the front of the rib cage.

Rule #3: Hit where you aim.

You have to be able to put the arrow where it needs to be. This can only be done by practicing and then practicing some more. The time to sight in and tune your bow is not the night before opening morning. Bow hunting should be a year round undertaking. We all need to practice throughout the year to keep our muscles in shape and our equipment in tune. And when you practice, practice in hunting situations. Shoot from tree stands, or sitting in ground blinds, or kneeling if you will be stalking.

Make sure you know your own effective range. If you plan on shooting game out to 30 yards, make sure every arrow hits in the kill zone at that range. Then practice longer shots. This will make the shorter ones easier.

I’m not saying following all of these rules will eliminate all bad hits. There are way too many variables in the woods for that to be true. But if we plan ahead and know our game, equipment and our limitations, maybe we can eliminate a lot of those “What do I do now” threads.

May all your blood trails be short ones.

 Hunting during the full moon sucks!  The past four days of pursuit the rough and tumble landscapes of south central Missouri had given credence to that fact.  We were hunting with Jim and Darlene Wilson of Ozark Mountain Outfitters and the dire circumstances were aided and abetted by a bumper crop of acorns and weather that was just a shade too warm.  None of our hunters were seeing big bucks, although a yearling buck and a couple of does had been taken.  One of our hunters had taken a turkey, but in general the hunting was very poor.

  I had passed on a doe the first morning that had grazed within fifty yards and than a flock of turkeys that had come as close as thirty yards.  In both incidences I was not comfortable taking such long shots.  Although the crossbow I was using, a Parker Hornet Extreme, had preformed faultlessly on the range by slamming arrows into the bull's-eye on every shot all the way out to fifty yards, shooting at a living target was a little bit more serious. 

  On Thursday morning, I watched as a yearling buck wandered down the trail and passed the ladderstand I occupied.  All that befell the unsuspecting creature was being shot with a digital camera a hundred times.  By the time Friday rolled around, I was getting antsy and impatient wanting to put the Hornet into action just to see how it would perform while taking live game. 

 I was dropped off well before daylight at a little food plot surrounded by heavy timber.  As dawn arrived from the east, it overpowered the fleeing darkness and blossomed into full daylight.  The morning passed quickly as I sat atop my perch wondering if I would even get a chance to shoot this fine crossbow that patiently rested in my lap waiting to be called upon to do its thing. 

 Several hours into the day, I caught movement on the far side of the food plot.   A flock of turkeys emerged from the heavy cover of the underbrush and slowly worked their way around the far edge of the clearing.  I had ranged the large pine tree at the opposite end of the field at 50 yards.  Too far to shoot, especially at a turkey considering how small the vitals are, so all I could do is hope that the birds would move down the field giving me a closer target. 

  The flock, numbering about twenty birds, worked its way to the other side of the plot and them moved back again.  It seemed pretty obvious that they were not about to cross the food plot and as birds began to be swallowed up by the same brush that had burped them out earlier, I realized that my opportunity was about to dissolve into goose eggs.  I thought about our experience on the range.  The Hornet was right on the money at fifty yards from a bench rest.  This particular ladderstand had a rail that went all the way around it that would provide me with a stable shooting rest.  

 I knew that the big pine which was now surrounded by feeding turkeys was exactly fifty yards so the distance of the shot was more or less locked in.  This was the last day of the hunt and I was running out of time.  I was using a Lumen-Arrows tipped with a Grim Reaper broadhead so there was no lack of confidence in my projectile.  I reasoned is the worse that could happen was that I would miss and would have to eat a little humble pie and take a bit of good natured kidding about my marksmanship.  I made my decision, I would take the shot.

  As I moved bring my head and scope together, one of the birds went into fencepost mode.  You turkey-hunters know what I mean.  That’s when the bird stands at perfect attention, straight as an arrow and still as a rock while it studies you carefully with that incredible vision that is possessed by the wild turkey.  And when it did that I moved the crosshairs to the hen’s chest thinking that position just took care of my up and down variances.  Now it was just a matter of getting my left to right exact.

  I steadied the Hornet on the rail and placed the smallest circle of the scope on the birds chest and slowly squeezed the trigger of the bow.  The release came as a surprise, launching the arrow into the crisp morning air.  The Lumenok lit into a fiery red leaving a trail as it arched over the little food plot completely disappearing into the dark copper chest of the clueless bird.  The hapless creature dropping to the ground like a feather covered bag of dirty laundry. 

 Birds exploded in every direction as I quickly recocked the crossbow and loaded another arrow, but the only remaining sign of turkeys was their excited chatter from the thick brush as the said things like, “Did you see that shot?”; and “That was unbeleiveable!  We’re never going to be safe around here if he doesn’t go home!”;  and “Poor old Mable, he caught her looking!”.  I am not entirely sure about the translations, but I think I am pretty close. 

 Bottom line is that the arrow entered the bird severing its spine from a distance of 52 yards.  My first turkey with a crossbow with a shot that only could only make me smile.  Thanks to great bow, arrow and broadhead combination, along with a stand that provided a steady rest I was able to make a perfect shot.  It is amazing what one can accomplish when he has topshelf equipment and a bird that cooperates by standing fencepost style.

EQUIPMENT LIST:

     CROSSBOW:  Parker Hornet Extreme

     ARROW:  20” Lumen-Arrows

     BROADHEAD: 100 Grain Grim Reaper

     OPTICS: Alpen Pro 8 x 42 Binoculars & Model 119-10x32 Monocular

     RANGEFINDER: Bushnell Yardage Pro

     CAMERA:  Sony DSC-H50

     TARGET: Rinehart 18 to 1

Bye, Bye Birdie!

One of the primary keys to a successful hunt is often the ability to both sit in your stand for long periods of time, and stay as motionless as possible.  As I've found out over the years, both of those things are very difficult to do when you've got cold feet.  That is, until I discovered HotMocs.

My first introduction to the HotMocs product was back in '07 or '08 when they were called "ThermalFeet".  Being a person who seemingly gets cold feet even in mild temperatures they immediately peaked my interest.  After a quick look at the product I decided to give it a try.  My feet have been thanking me ever since!

The premise behind this great product is that it's a small, light-weight, easy to use boot cover that holds a disposable handwarmer on the top of your foot to keep it warm.  By placing the warmer on the top of your foot you keep heat directly over the arteries and veins that supply blood to the rest of your foot.  This essentially keeps your entire foot warm while on your stand.

I know it sounds a little crazy, but I'm telling you it works!  I've worn these in temps well into the teens and my feet have been toasty the entire hunt.  This coming from a guy who is notorious for getting cold feet.

There are several reasons that I prefer the HotMocs product over other methods of keeping your feet warm while on stand, the first of which is their size.  I know quite a few people who lug those large, bulky insulated boot covers with them and not one of them is ever happy about doing it.  These days it seems like we're all carrying more and more gear to our stands with us, and those big covers certainly don't help anything. 

HotMocs are small enough to literally fit right into your pocket if you wanted to.  They even come with a small carrying pouch to place them in when they're not being worn.

The second reason I like them is that they are extremely quiet.  Unlike a lot of the big boot covers which are made from a noisey nylon material, HotMocs are made from ultra-quiet fleece.  You can slip them on and off while in your stand with little to no noise, and you don't have to worry about the sound of them rubbing together on accident.

If you're interested in learning more about HotMocs check them out online at HotMocs.com.

One tip I can give you is that for really cold days, or extended sits, try using the larger body-sized handwarmers.  They are hotter and last longer, and really help keep your feet nice and toasty.  I was wearing my HotMocs last year when I shot my buck on November 15th and again this year when I shot my buck on November 20th.  Nothing makes shooting a buck more enjoyable than having warm feet when you do it!

For the proof that I've actually been using this product for years check out this Blog from December 2008!