By David Draper

A rutting buck antelope is ready to go to blows the moment another buck so much as looks at one of the females in his harem. Luckily, that hubris can work in a bowhunter’s favor. Play into his jealousy by popping up a pronghorn decoy nearby, and the buck you’re after might close the distance from 300 yards to 30 faster than you can imagine. When he starts charging, you had better have an arrow nocked.

Find a Spot: Your first job is to locate a secure position. You’ll want to look for terrain with some contours—such as the down-sloping side of a hill or a coulee—that will allow you to get close without being seen. In my experience, an antelope buck responds to decoys best if you can get within 200 to 250 yards. Any farther and he’ll likely gather up his does and run. Get into that hot zone by crawling as close as possible. From this point on, things happen very quickly, so be ready to react.
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By Dave Hurteau

I say surprising not because the new Heli-M is a pleasure to shoot—that, I expect from Mathews' top-end bow—but because I did not expect such a short, light bow to shoot as well as it did.

But first, after reading the review I posted here last month of the new Bowtech CPX and CPXL, in which I described the bow’s performance and listed my shooting results at 30, 40, 50, and 60 yards, a reader asked: “But do you like it?” It’s true, I never really addressed that. So, the answer is: Yeah, sure. Quiet, smooth, fast, well-built—what’s not to like? The CPX’s draw cycle is a little more aggressive than what I prefer for hunting, and because a longer bow doesn’t typically present a problem for me in the field, I like the smoother-drawing CPXL a little better, which shot exceedingly well all the way out to 60 yards. But that’s just me. You might have no trouble with the CPX’s draw and might love the blazing 355-IBO speed. [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

To most archers, elk hunting means rutting bulls bugling to estrous cows. But in many states, the archery opener precedes peak breeding by weeks. “You can wait for bulls to start bugling in earnest, but you’ll miss out on a lot of hunting at a time when bulls are comparatively unpressured,” says Chad Schearer, Montana elk expert and host of the popular Shoot Straight TV show. Schearer, a world-­champion elk caller, offers these five tips for arrowing a pre-rut trophy. [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Marty Stubstad and Trent Kleeburger of Minnesota’s Archery Headquarters, avid hunter and 3-D competitor Tom VanDoorn, and I shot each bow extensively to test for balance, feel, fit and finish, draw cycle, vibration, and noise. We also shot each bow, maxed out and set at a 28.5-inch draw length, through a chronograph, using a 425-grain Easton Axis arrow.

Bear Legion
The Legion was sent to us maxed out at 60 pounds (the others were tested at 70), which affected our test speed, so the IBO is a better comparison. The draw cycle was very smooth with a pleasing valley. The back wall was solid, and the slim rubber grip fit nicely in the hand. While the Dual Arc string suppressors are functional, they needed adjustment to help deaden noise, and none of us liked their looks. [ Read Full Post ]

By Gerald Almy

To make your property stand out to bucks, entice them with something sweet: trees laden with plump, energy-rich fruit. Small clusters of soft-mast trees are far less common than traditional food plots on managed properties, and they make ideal ambush points for bowhunters. You can’t go wrong with the three sweets below.

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By Scott Bestul

The heat, the bugs, the fishing…it can be tough to transition to deer hunting when all the signs of summer remain. But make no mistake, with deer at their most predictable and least wary, this is a fantastic time to tag the buck of a lifetime. So dress light, grab some repellent, and trade that fishing rod for a gun or bow. Then take the advice of these three top pros to start the new deer season right.

Pro: Justin Moore
wildlife biologist with Whitetail Institute, Pintlala, Ala. 

Tactic
“Soybean and alfalfa fields are well-known draws for early-season bucks, but I like a more discreet food source like a tree or small group of trees dropping fruit. Persimmons are best, but pear and apples are great, too, as are muscadine grapes. Bucks feel comfortable hitting these hidden spots during legal shooting light, and it’s usually easy to hang a treestand nearby. I keep my eye on several persimmon trees this time of year, and when the fruit turns ripe, it’s time to slip in there and hunt.”
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