Bowhunter brings you expert advice from legendary Bowhunters! Each issue is filled with updates from major bowhunting organizations, coverage of bowhunting locations across North America, complete coverage of the sport and much more.
AS I WRITE THIS EDITORIAL, it is Halloween. It’s 28 degrees, the wind is gusting to 30 mph, driving the snow sideways. It’s my 11th and final day of bowhunting here in Wisconsin. I planned to sit all day in a pop-up ground blind overlooking a food plot, but so much snow blew into the blind that I got wet and had to bail for a couple hours to dry off before the evening hunt. My eyes are still watering from staring into the wind, trying to manufacture the vision of an incoming buck. So far, I have not laid eyes on a single buck over 1½ years old — in 10½ days of hard hunting on some of the most beautiful whitetail ground you can imagine. This is my…
YOU PROBABLY THINK this is a joke. “What? Deer hunting makes you fat? What are you talking about, Farris? You’ve really lost it this time!” Well, people, this is no joke! Consider it a public-service announcement designed to shed light on a problem that many of us deal with every fall. It’s mid-October as I write this, so I’m currently in the throes of an annual battle, and with deer hunts fast approaching, I know I’m getting ready to fight the battle of the bulge. Let me begin by saying that if you’re in your 20s or 30s, reading my column from under your flat-billed ballcap and wondering what the heck I’m talking about, you can probably move on to the next article. But don’t throw this issue away! Just…
IT WAS MIDMORNING, and I had already hiked several miles along a high ridge. The vast Wyoming prairie stretched to the horizon — an undulating, nearly treeless grassland punctuated by strips of sagebrush and upthrusts of rock. It was ideal pronghorn habitat, but I had seen only two “goats” in three hours of searching. My home state is usually swarming with antelope, including large bucks, but two years of bad news had decimated the population. In 2021, hemorrhagic fever, commonly known as “blue tongue,” killed at least half the pronghorns in the area I prefer to bowhunt. Festering carcasses littered the landscape. I managed to scrape out a decent buck anyway, but hunting was tough. Then, the severe winter of 2022–2023 hit antelope again like an icy fist, just as…
WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, deciding which bow to hunt with was easy, because I only had one bow. That has since changed for me. Now I have multiple bows from which to choose, and once I make that all-important decision, then I’m faced with even more decisions like what arrows and broadheads to put in my quiver, do I want to use a tab or a glove…and don’t even get me started on bowstrings! As bowhunters, many of us make these types of choices based on what has worked for us in the past, or what our friends or people we trust recommend. It’s tougher than that, though, for us hardcore traditionalists, because oftentimes what works or flies great out of one recurve, longbow, or self-bow, doesn’t work great out…
MY JOB AS THIS magazine’s Technical Editor is to analyze bowhunting equipment and determine how well it performs in the field. These evaluations also include user error, and in the past few seasons, I’ve recognized plenty of my own mistakes and how they impacted my success. Here are five mistakes I’ve fallen victim to and the steps one can take to avoid them. Rangefinding Boo-Boos I’ve written about this topic before; however, it warrants repeating because it still continues to happen. Typically, I’m fast and smooth with my rangefinder. I wear the unit around my neck when I anticipate bowhunting action. Otherwise, I sometimes store it in my hip pouch. This system works perfectly for me. The problem I’ve found is not deploying the rangefinder fast enough, but the issue…
BY THE TIME you are reading this, I’m hoping most of you have punched a few tags, had fun in the process, and are now sitting in your warm homes enjoying the fruits of your time afield. Sure, we would all like the season to come to a close on an eventful rut hunt, but some of us will have to tough it out to the bitter end. Bowhunting in cold conditions is difficult. Deer movement is slower, and your mind tends to wander, causing you to miss those last few limited opportunities. You really can’t make mistakes this time of year, so having the right gear is paramount to those who are still grinding things out. The outerwear we choose is our first step in battling the elements, and…
