Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Bowhunter

THE DEBATE OVER whether or not hunters should share hunting experiences on social media has generated much controversy, and rightly so. If done improperly, posting these pictures can severely harm bowhunting’s reputation. If done thoughtfully, however, sharing hunting photos and stories on social media can have a positive effect. Here are some guidelines to consider. First, before posting a photo of an animal you arrowed, make sure to wipe away excess blood. Non-hunters could be offended by the sight of gore, so make it your goal to only share photos that make the animal appear as natural as possible out of respect for both the animal and your viewers. Second, instead of only posting trophy photos, consider sharing images that show the whole hunting experience. For example, I might post…

I bought my first compound bow in 1984 when I was a soldier stationed at Fort Gordon, Georgia. That fall I killed my first buck, a six-point, and I was given a “life sentence” for the passion of bow-hunting. After serving 20 years, I retired from the U.S. Army in 1997, and I was subsequently blessed to be able to continue supporting the military after starting a small software and system engineering business with my wife, Jeannie. This year we are celebrating our company’s 20th anniversary, and its success has provided me the opportunity to pursue the 29 North American big game animals. No words can adequately express the anticipation, excitement, and joy I have for every bowhunting adventure in North America. A few years back, I was introduced to…

IF YOU’VE ALREADY READ THE ACCOMPANYING ARTICLE, then the title of this sidebar should make sense. I was hunting with Mark Nelsen at Cross Mountain Ranch last fall when he ended his elk curse, and the joy that “small raghorn,” as he calls it, brought to a seasoned hunter was a sight to behold. I shared some of Mark’s emotion (and some of that Jameson) that evening, and it was somewhat of an epiphany. I’ve been bowhunting elk for 34 years, some 26 elk hunts, and at times I’ve been guilty of turning my nose up at raghorn bulls. Certainly, such an attitude mostly depends on where I’m hunting, but the fact is any elk taken with a bow is a good elk. For me, bowhunting elk is an experience…

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KEEP UP THE INSPIRATION! Dear Bowhunter , As a long-time subscriber, I really appreciate your emphasis on physical conditioning and how you encourage aging bowhunters to keep at it. Here is my contribution to encouraging such older hunters not to give up. Last summer, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. I underwent a robotic radical prostatectomy on September 29, 2016 — a four-hour surgical procedure. The surgery went well, and afterwards my surgeon told me that for 30 days I was to restrict all my movements to simply walking. After 30 days, I could go back to my normal activities. So, on Day 32 post-op, I got antsy and went out to my treestand and shot a beautiful 10-point buck. Then, on Day 44 post-op, I…

“I AM NOT a famous person in any way, shape, or form. I have never won any major archery tournaments, nor do I have any animals in the Pope and Young Club records. I work in an Ohio factory, at a job which I hate, eight hours a day and sometimes more to get extra money — which is never enough. I have a wife, three daughters, and a dog, none of whom are registered. “In physical appearance, there is nothing to distinguish me from a million other guys all living the same sort of existence. But I am also a bowhunting nut. I eat, sleep, talk, and think about bow-hunting all the time. Although bowhunting is my main interest, I am crazy about anything that has to do with…

Talk about a naïve, pathetic-looking bowhunter! It was 1961, and I was decked out in a U.S. Army camo jacket and Jones-style hunting cap. I also wore faded blue jeans and lace-up leather boots. I was especially proud of my Colt Huntsman recurve — a bow made by the famous firearms company — that cost under $50 brand new. The bow came complete with string silencers and brush buttons, and was sheathed in slip-on camouflage bow socks to prevent its shiny limbs from glinting in the sun’s glare. Toss in half a dozen cedar arrows, each with five-inch turkey feather fletching and tipped with hand-honed Bear Razorheads. Those arrows rustled around in a leather target-arrow quiver that dangled from my belt. Add a shooting glove and armguard, and voila, you…

NEXT TO ELK,mule deer are my all-time favorite animals. Whitetails get more coverage in print and film, in part because they live in almost every state and Canadian province. But if you want to bowhunt one of the 17 Western states, handful of western Canadian provinces, or northern Old Mexico for muleys, I can promise the experience might be one of the highlights of your archery life. But — and this is a big BUT — you must know how to go about your hunt. Poor planning, poor execution, or both might make this one of your most frustrating trips. Here’s how to make the most of a mule deer hunting adventure. FIND A HOTSPOT Not all mule deer areas are equal. Some, like parts of Sonora Mexico, produce gigantic…

“LONE WOLF MCQUADE” was a Chuck Norris movie character from my impressionable teenage years. I don’t attribute my current hunting style of going it alone to one of my heroes, but who knows what goes on in your subconscious. Maybe McQuade is still living inside me, and directing my decisions? Regardless, most of us have a bit of “Lone Wolf” inside us, and that’s a good thing when it comes to planning a successful whitetail hunt away from home. Things happen on your time schedule, and not when others feel like it. On the other hand, there’s something to be said about connecting with a qualified lodge for outfitting assistance. The right vetted professionals can make your hunt outside of your backyard a breeze. That’s why from time to time…

I FELT A SUDDEN JERK, and my truck swayed to the right. I yanked the steering wheel left as I glanced in my rearview mirror. Tire fragments were flying from the left tire on my tent trailer. I slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. Shaking my head in disbelief, I blurted aloud, “This is not a good start to my 2016 elk hunt!” A half-hour later I had my spare tire on the trailer and was back on the road headed east to John Day, Oregon. It was a beautiful warm, sunny day, and a very scenic drive. Forty miles later, I heard and felt the tire blow. I hit the brakes and pulled to the side of the road to survey my second flat…

SOME YEARS AGO, I killed a hefty mule deer buck at the bottom of a deep canyon in Utah. My companion, Rex Thomas, helped me bone out the deer and load the meat into my pack. The total load, including my gear, came to about 100 pounds. Only one obstacle remained — it was two miles and 1,500 vertical feet to my truck at the end of the road. I sat on the ground to shoulder my pack, and then groaned as Rex helped me to my feet. “Are you sure you can carry that by yourself?” Rex asked, shaking his head. “That slope is steep!” “Well, I don’t know,” I said. “But I’ll give it a try. I can always come back to finish packing later.” “Okay, we’ll meet…

IN 1999, RANDY ULMER was elected into the Bowhunters Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he was elected into the Archery Hall of Fame, probably the highest honor an archer/bowhunter can receive. Bowhunter readers know Randy well through his writing in this magazine, but what does it really mean to be a Hall of Fame bowhunter? What has he done to deserve these honors? Here is a look into Randy Ulmer’s life to answer that question. Growing up in northern Arizona, Randy hunted with guns, and just for fun he and his brother, Rusty, flung arrows with youth bows. But they had no one to teach them about archery and did not really take archery seriously until Randy was about 18. At that time, Rusty bought a hunting bow and…

A CURSE, by definition, is essentially a cause of trouble or bad luck. Can a curse be invoked by words, actions, or incantations? That I don’t know. What I do know is that I am cursed when it comes to bowhunting elk. A curse that spans 30 years, and includes nearly 20 attempts to take a bull elk with archery equipment. There may be others afflicted with such a curse, but I may be the only bowhunter on the planet whose curse has lasted nearly half a lifetime. For some, a curse such as this wouldn’t consume them. Many hunters would simply walk away. They would move on to other hunts, other species, or other pursuits entirely. But not me. I am haunted by elk. Rarely a day goes by…

AS A CAREER FISHING GUIDE of nearly three decades, my girls were practically brought up on the water from the time they were toddlers. My off-season was also spent outdoors, often with daughters in tow, as my real passion was bowhunting. Spruce hen hunts with my little girls every Saturday morning eventually morphed into repeated Kodiak Island Sitka deer hunts with my oldest daughter, and spring bear baiting with my youngest. In hindsight, those annual bowhunting trips became instrumental in the close father/daughter relationships I now cherish. Fast-forward 20 some odd years, and my firstborn was graduating college in Minnesota and preparing to become Mrs. Levi Busse, the bride of a fine young Wisconsin man with a good education, an excellent work ethic, and deep family values. A father couldn’t…

THE PRONGHORN BUCK STOOD BROADSIDE, ready to bolt, while I gasped for breath and tried to hold my sight pin steady. The shot went off seemingly on its own, and the looping trajectory of my arrow appeared to be in slow motion as it flashed across the sunburnt prairie. That one moment of sending a single arrow across the prairie had required eight days of effort. I knew pronghorns would be a challenge, and it wasn’t because I’m a wildlife biologist that made this fact so clear. I’d hunted them for years with a rifle, and those past experiences had shown me that the cards would be stacked against me using my bow. This was my first try for pronghorns with a bow. Previously, my love of bowhunting elk in…

➽START EARLY If youngsters show interest in archery, take the time to introduce them to shooting. My six-year-old daughter is now interested, and Austin has passed down his first bow and is teaching her the art of popping balloons on the range. ➽KEEP IT SIMPLE & FUN Kids don’t need expensive equipment to enjoy archery. Focus on the fundamentals, and be creative when teaching them about archery. ➽SET GOALS Kids will respond to having goals to strive for. ➽PRACTICE Spend as much time as possible shooting on the range. It will make them more confident when put in a hunting situation. ➽PLAN AHEAD Take time to prepare, so you can make each experience a good one. ➽REMEMBER THE BASICS Safety first, sight in broadheads, and be aware of obstructions like…