Monday, September 26, 2011

Video Monday 9/26/2011


A follow up from last week's post on how far do you practice.  Here is a bowhunter practicing out to 90 yards.


Be sure to read last week's post here: How Far Do You Practice?

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the blog site Bill Howard's Outdoors. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

How Far Do You Practice?

Practicing bowhunting skills involves many different aspects that we never consciously break down.  So I will try to break it down to where we understand each aspect through different posts (after all, I have to keep you wanting for more in order to keep you reading my blog, right?).

The first break down will be based on how far do you practice your shots.  I look at shooting the bow the same as a basketball shooting a basketball, a field goal kicker kicking the football, or even a golfer practicing long putts.  The basketball player for instance does not want to have to take a 35 foot shot, especially when the 3 point line is over 10 feet closer to the basket.  However, if he is comfortable shooting that distance, the shot from the line causing no worries.
 
The same is true when practicing long bow shots.  I use a Spot-Hogg Seven Deadly Pins sight.  Many do not like to use a sight with that many pins for fear of using the wrong pin when hunting.  I use it to calm any nerves I may have when preparing to shoot.  By having to stay alert and focused enough to count my pins, it diminishes any 'buck fever' I may have.  But that is another topic for a later post...

I have each of the pins set at 10 yard increments.  When sighting in, I will start with the 10 yard pin, then the 30, the 50, and finally the 70.  I then go back to the 20, 40 and 60 yard pins, setting them close by splitting differences then actually going thru the sight in process.  Once I have them set, I will practice with usually 3 to 6 arrows at the closer distances (10, 20), expand to 12 or so arrows at the medium distances (30, 40), then practice hard at 50, 60, and 70.


I read where Chuck Adams set a goal of a 1 inch group for every 10 yards, meaning at 30 yards the group would be in a 3 inch circle and 50 yards would be a 5 inch circle.  I try the same philosophy.  First, its easy to calculate in your head and second, it corresponds well with the game you will hunt.

Whitetail deer are very high strung, so even if I practice to 70 yards and have a 70 yard pin, it does not mean I will attempt that shot.  The whitetail will jump, dodge, and do a cha-cha while waiting for a 70 yard arrow to come its way even from the fastest of bows.  However, an elk, caribou, bear, moose, or bison presents a large target that a 60 yard shot can be taken ethically-if you are comfortable at that distance.  Remember the other sports analogies in the beginning of this post?  I recently watched Sebastian Janikowski (Raiders) practice kicking 70 yard field goals before a game.  It would be hard pressed for a coach to put him in a situation to try the same distance field goal with the game on the line.

When traveling and checking my sights, I will shoot the 10 and 30 pins a few times.  If everything is in line with those distances, the others will be in line also.  Also, if the 10 and 30 are in line, it will cover my hunt, as most shots will present themselves within those distances.

This is how far I practice, but feel free to share how far you practice as well by commenting below.  Hopefully the ideas I have presented can help with your own practice routines.

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the blog site Bill Howard's Outdoors. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Video Monday 9/19/11

Goose Season is in, so let's see some arrows fly at some 'ole Canadians!


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Dream Hunt Recap - Alligator!

With opening day of archery deer season hitting this last weekend, you would think I might have a column on a bow hunt.  For a reason I cannot ignore, I had to forgo this weekend’s opening.  For the last three years I have attempted to pull a tag for an alligator in Georgia.  This weekend allowed me to put a check beside an item on my hunting bucket list.

Georgia Alligator tag for 2011.
I was notified in August that I was successful in drawing a gator tag for zone 4, which encompasses the counties around Valdosta, Georgia.  With less than a month before the hunt was to start, I had to find a place to hunt, decide what I was going to do with the gator if I was successful and find a the appropriate vendors to take care of it depending on my decision.  I had to do hours upon hours of ‘online’ scouting.  Looking trough different maps, contacting potential land owners, monitoring weather circumstances, and arranging my work schedule were critical in making this a successful hunt.

The 'field' I would be hunting from.
Southern Georgia is in the middle of a drought, where many of their rivers are nothing more than small streams, often not even flowing because the water is so low.  I joined a hunting forum based in Georgia, and from information gathered there, decided a lake or pond would offer me the best opportunity.  I met one gentleman, Dane Lancaster, on the forum who received his first gator tag this year for zone 4 also.  We talked on the phone and agreed to tackle the hunt together rather than finding a guide.  He has a small camper he allowed me to stay in, which knocked off the cost of a hotel room.  He also would provide a boat for us to use and would work on permissions for us to hunt several areas.  I was to supply the equipment for the hunt, namely a Muzzy Gator Getter setup for the bow, as well as some lights.  We decided not to use a generator for fear of scaring the gators, and went with a couple of LED Lenser H7 head lamps instead.  Both of these ideas played to our favor in getting up close to the alligators.
Now my wife, she had nightmares about this trip.  All she could envision was some swamp people with no teeth.  Their tools of the trade would consist of a chain saw and a banjo, and likely be using me for gator bait.  When I met Dane and his wife Sheri, I asked them to smile big for me.  Seeing they each had their teeth, I told them my wife's concerns and we all got a good laugh out of it.
Gator trying to get in the boat.
The hunt had its challenges.  After the first evening, we saw several dozen alligators, their reflective red eyes resembling a demon resting on the water’s surface.  We practiced calling, using a sound that imitates a young gator in distress.  Without fail, when we made the call, eyes would surface to see what was making the commotion.  Once we had a small alligator make a swim to the boat.  Dane commented if we had steps, the gator would have come right into the boat.  It is an eerie feeling in the swamps with the different noises, the glowing eyes, and the soft lifting fog in the middle of the darkness.  When we were pulling out that morning we heard a pop and watched the boat’s front end lower.  Upon investigation, the trailer broke near the tongue.  We set the boat and trailer to the side and decided to catch a few hours sleep, and then we would return with a generator and welder to secure the trailer in order to get it back to the house.

The killing shot.
After we made the repairs, we borrowed a boat from one of Dane’s relatives.  Things seemed to be working against us, but we were going to give it a good try with a positive attitude regardless.  Even if we did not harvest an ‘ole swamp lizard', we were enjoying the hunt and the pursuit.

Dane Lancaster (Nashville, Ga) and Bill Howard
Around 1am, we spotted a gator resting in some swamp grass.  With the lights, we were able to make out most of its head.  The rule to determine how big a gator is is to measure from the snout to the eyes.  Whatever the measurement is in inches, the total length will be that in feet.  Based on this information, we estimated the gator to be about 6 feet long, easily the largest we had come across.  I decided to take the shot, and we drifted in an arc behind the gator.  When the body lined up, I shot the arrow through the back.  After some thrashing and splashing, we pulled the gator to the side of the boat.  Usually in these instances, a pistol or ‘bang stick’ will be used to dispatch the gator before pulling him in the boat.  I wanted it to be strictly a bow kill, so I used a hunting broadhead to the base of the spine.  If anyone ever thinks a bow and arrow will not kill an alligator, I have testament to the contrary.


With the right photography, even this 6 foot gator looks like a monster!

In the end, I had experienced something I have only dreamed of.  I met new people and made new friends, all in the fellowship of hunting and the outdoors.  I had my trophy, regardless of size, taken the way I wanted to hunt it and by knowledge I had learned rather than watched.  If that is not considered a successful hunt, there is no such thing.
If you liked this story, see some of my other posts:

Give 'Em The Shaft: Dream Hunt Planning-Lottery Selections

Bill Howard's Outdoors: Dream Fishing Destination-How to decide?


Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the blog site Bill Howard's Outdoors. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.




Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Video Monday 9/12/11

Hmm.  This Monday's edition has something to do with what I'm doing RIGHT NOW!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Dream Hunt Planning - Lottery Selections

Each year I try to do one, how should I say, big hunt.  This is what I would call a dream hunt, or a hunt that is a little more than going out to the land and sitting in the tree stand.  I have been to North Dakota seeking a legend of the west in the buffalo.  I have been to Arizona chasing mountain lions on horseback.  Each hunt required much pre-hunt planning.  It was a lot more than getting a tag and going hunting.  This year I felt like I had a good shot at pulling a tag for an alligator in Georgia.  Over the next few weeks, I will go over some of the information I used in planning a dream hunt.  This first post will go over the information needed to increase your odds of drawing a tag.

The Goal!
I began planning the alligator hunt several years ago.  I researched South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida for possible hunt destinations.  I knew many who hunted South Carolina, and Florida is well known for their alligators.  I chose Georgia for a couple of reasons.  With a family of 5, in order to keep a happy household I must hunt on the cheap.  Georgia provided an opportunity to apply for a tag without having an application fee.  Looking down the road, I felt I could draw one in the lottery from South Carolina and Georgia at about the same time.  Florida offered the quickest success, however a $1000 license was the turnoff (granted, for the $1000 you get 2 tags, but I only wanted/needed one gator).  When looking at overall costs, Georgia would run about 25% cheaper that South Carolina.

I was not ready to be drawn the first couple of years I applied, so I listed zones that offered the lowest chance of success.  This would insure I did not draw a tag too soon, since I had hunts lined up the first couple of years anyway.


Once this season's application period came around, I wanted the greatest chance of drawing a tag.  Looking at the different zones, zone 4 offered best odds of selection based on the number of tags available and the number of 1st choice applications in 2010.  But here was the catch, it had lower quota numbers, lower applicants, so, were there gators there?  I pulled up google maps and searched for rivers, lakes and ponds in the counties represented in zone 4.  After finding potential spots that way, I started calling some of the towns in the zone, speaking with the chamber of commerce or town hall for information on where gators could be hunted.


I joined a Georgia hunting forum and looked at old posts as well as reading current information coming in.  In other words, I scouted as much as possible without ever leaving home.  Once I was confident I could take an alligator in zone 4, I made it my top choice.

Shortly after the draw I received notification I had indeed drawn a tag, and had done it with only 2 priority points.

Next, I would have to plan the trip.  Stay tuned...

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the blog site Bill Howard's Outdoors. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Video Monday 9/5/2011

This week's video link is a moose hunt - up close!

The video shows why bowhunting/hunting can be dangerous.

Be sure to Follow This Blog with one of the links to the right for your chance to win a LED Lenser H7 Head Lamp!  The contest ends September 24, 2011!