Field and Stream - Bow Hunting RSS

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From January 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:06:52 -0500

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of January.

The Best New Knives of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:04:49 -0500

These are the best new knives for outdoorsmen available in 2012.

Shoot Me Down: The Whisker Biscuit is Still the Best Rest for Bowhunting

Sarah Smith — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:00:06 -0500

by Dave Hurteau

First, we have a new high-speed video to show you, which is cool on its own merits. It illustrates, like you’ve probably never seen before, the most common complaint about a Whisker Biscuit arrow rest: “Too much fletching contact.” Check it out.

It’s plain to see that there is indeed a mountain of such contact. No one could argue otherwise. So much so that, as I say, it’s just crazy that a Whisker Biscuit can be so accurate.

Yet it is.

The Tale of a 21-Point, 200-Class, Double-Drop Iowa Monster Buck

Online Editors — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:11:41 -0500

The story of a monster 21-point buck from Iowa.

Rocky L3 Gloves Let You Use a Touchscreen

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:37:32 -0500

Those long waits in the stand or the blind can be a little easier with these gloves that let you access your spartphones' features, like the Rut Reporter app...or, you know, Fruit Ninja.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Lobbies for Deer Baiting Bill

Online Editors — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:48:48 -0500

by Scott Bestul

As a rule, deer biologists tend to hate baiting. But in a likely unprecedented move by a state game agency, the Wyoming Game & Fish Department is asking the state legislature to help them legalize baiting in the state. According to this AP story, biologists are struggling so mightily to control whitetail populations that they’re looking to add another strategy to their toolbox.

It’s important to note that in this case, officials intend to limit the use of bait to urban areas or other deer-control hotspots. Their hope is to be able to lure deer to spots where the animals would be more vulnerable to harvest, and to areas where shooting is safer. No plans seem to be in the works to legalize baiting on a broad basis at this time.

Why Whitetail Food Plots Work Better Than Bait

Online Editors — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:55:47 -0500

by Scott Bestul

It’s time to plow under the clover-plot-equals-corn-pile argument. Of the many fresh debates germinated by modern whitetail management, none has proved faster growing or hardier than food plots vs. bait, in which one side insists that planting plots to attract and kill deer is no different from luring them to a mound of carrots or sugar beets. This may sound perfectly sensible…until you soil-test the dirt from which the logic grows.

Food plots are very different from baiting—and better for the health of the deer herd as well as for hunting. And while it’s true that a small plot of lush clover in the middle of otherwise barren woods may be no different from a pile of corn in terms of fair-chase principles, food-plot planting and management provides a long list of tangible and intangible benefits. Here are the main ones.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 2

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:34:22 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 2.

Bruce: Lessons from Deer Season

Online Editors — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:32:57 -0500

Rut Reporter Eric Bruce has been writing about hunting and fishing for newspapers and magazines for 25 years and hunts deer all over the South, including near his Georgia home. States covered: AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, SC, FL.

Another season has come and gone. I was able to get out and hunt about 70 times this fall. Some were successful, some finished without ever seeing a deer. A few hunts were only an hour long; others included public land hunts, an island hunt and an out-of-state hunt. Here are some of the things I learned along the way.

Ray: Planning for Next Season

Online Editors — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:52:41 -0500

Rut Reporter Brandon Ray is an expert on the region. Ray was born in Dallas and shot his first deer with a bow in Central Texas at the age of 15. The full-time freelance writer manages his family’s Texas Panhandle ranch, is a licensed New Mexico guide, and last year took a 184 gross P&Y non-typical trophy. States covered: TX, OK, NM.

I'm already thinking about next year's deer season before the current one ends. And as we prepare to say adios to the 2011-2012 season, here are two things worth doing.

Because of drought across the region in 2011, winter forage is even more reduced than normal in the southern and middle sections of the region. In the northern extremes, where crops like wheat often help deer through the winter, production is way down. To help deer, and specifically rut-weary bucks, through the cold and stressful days of a long winter, I keep my bait areas and corn feeders running until spring.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day I

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:48:40 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 1.

Trivia Question: What Bow Did Bo Duke Shoot?

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:36:21 -0500

by Dave Hurteau

We all have our embarrassing secrets. I’ll spare you mine, for the most part. But for the purposes of this blog, I will admit to one: As much as I would like to trace my interest in archery to the likes of Hill, Bear, Pope, or Young, the truth is that the real greats were all before my time. No, being a product of the television generation (an embarrassing admission itself), my initial fascination with archery was sparked by the exploding arrows of—cringe—Bo and Luke Duke.

Vibration and Hand Shock from Compound Bows in Super Slow Motion

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:39:01 -0500

by Dave Hurteau

If you saw David Maccar’s recent post “High-Speed Video: .308 vs. Soup Can” (if you didn’t you should) then you know that we recently had the use of some spectacularly sophisticated high-speed cameras.

For this video, we wanted to see something that is normally only felt: hand shock and vibration from a bow. At 19,300 frames per second, two things jump out at me:

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From 2011

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:15:14 -0500

The 60 best photos submitted by readers in 2011.

Field & Stream's Best Photo Galleries and Blogs of 2011

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:53:52 -0500

The 25 best online stories from F&S in 2011.

KS May Nix Hunting and Fishing License Exemption for Seniors

Sarah Smith — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:56:57 -0500

--Chad Love

In an age of reduced funding sources, declining hunter participation, and increases in the average age of hunters, can cash-strapped state wildlife agencies afford to continue offering exemptions to hunting and fishing licenses? That's the issue facing Kansas as its wildlife department prepares to ask the state legislature to eliminate the state's senior citizen exemption for hunting and fishing licenses.

From this story in the Wichita Eagle:
Kansas senior citizens could be required to buy hunting and fishing licenses after this year. For decades, residents 65 and over have been exempt from the annual permits that currently sell for about $18 each. Chris Tymeson of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission said Thursday that the agency will ask the Legislature to remove the exemption.

Canadian Whiskey: The Camp Comeback

Online Editors — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:12:32 -0500

The quality of Canadian whiskey is rising past mediocrity.

When It Calls for a Cigar

Online Editors — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:01:24 -0500

If you smoke the occasional stogie at camp, here are four cigars to try.

The NBA Has A Hunter: Hornets Center Chris Kaman

Sarah Smith — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:50:34 -0500

--Chad Love

We all know there are a ton of professional football and baseball players who love to hunt and fish, but what about the NBA? Are there any professional basketball players who are also avid hunters? There's at least one, according to this story in USA Today:

Seven-footer Chris Kaman was acquired in the trade that sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers. Kaman, from Grand Rapids, Mich., with dual citizenship in Germany (he has grandparents from there), has the most NBA seniority on the Hornets' roster and is the only All-Star (2009-10). He played in only 32 games last season and 31 in 2008-09 because of left foot injuries. Kaman talked to USA TODAY's J. Michael Falgoust: During the lockout you spent a lot of time hunting and posting pictures.

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From December 2011

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:44:10 -0500

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of December.

A Project for 2012

Sarah Smith — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:59:58 -0500

by David E. Petzal

A little while back I spent an hour at the range helping a friend of mine mount a scope and get a rifle sighted in for his young son. Everything worked, and dad took the boy to Pennsylvania to hunt deer. As it turned out, they didn’t get one, but the father was nice enough to send me a photo of the kid in his stand, and the expression of joy on his face is unmistakable. I e-mailed my friend that whether or not his son goes on to be a serious hunter, that deer hunt will be pure gold for the rest of the boy’s life.

Small contributions like this can make a very big difference. If you are a hunter/shooter with some experience, there is a beginning hunter/shooter out there who can use your help. These are not easy sports to break into; there is an immense amount to learn. Questions lead to other questions, and the number of people who have the answers is shrinking.

First Shots Photo Collection

Online Editors — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:59:48 -0500

A collection of jaw-dropping hunting and fishing photos from Field & Stream's "First Shots" magazine section.

Ray: Hunting Through the Weather Extremes

Online Editors — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:38:07 -0500

Here is more proof that the weather and the rut can be at opposite ends of the spectrum in Texas. Last week, on Dec. 20, it was 25 degrees in the Panhandle town of Amarillo. The wind was out of the north at 25 mph and the wind chill was nine. A blizzard came through northeastern New Mexico, the top of Texas and western Oklahoma the night before, dropping up to 10 inches of snow in some parts. If you were hunting bucks at the top of the region then, you should have been hunting the food.

Illinois Twofer Bucks: 325 Inches of Antler After 30 Years on the Bench

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:22:56 -0500

Illinois hunter nets 325 inches of antler in one season.

Virginia to Begin Charging Non-Hunters, Anglers for Access to Public Land

Sarah Smith — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:12:02 -0500

--Chad Love