By Dave Hurteau

I had assumed, based on…well, nothing really, that the readers of this blog were more gun-centric. (“Gun-centric” by the way is a term I coined just this second, adapted from a similar “word” I heard in a corporate meeting. Pretty smart-sounding, don’t you think? You can use it if you want.) And yet, based on the early returns (439 votes at this writing) from our most recent poll, you are in fact more bow-centric. (Again, feel free.)

If you had told me a week ago that roughly 50 percent of you would significantly favor bowhunting over gun hunting for deer, I would have suddenly become fall-on-my-face-centric. What’s more, based on the results at this moment, a whopping 63 percent of you are as or more into bowhunting than gun hunting.
[ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

A trail camera won’t stumble through a bedding area, leave scent all over a trail, or exaggerate the size of a rack. And it’ll never oversleep. But your perfect little scouting buddy must be chosen wisely and placed carefully if you want to pattern that old, crafty buck you know is around. Here’s how...

When I first started using one, a trail camera was just a 35mm film point-and-shoot tucked in a weatherproof housing. It snapped a single picture when something triggered the sensor. Whenever I retrieved that camera, I ran to the one-hour shop to get the film developed, then breathlessly thumbed through a week’s worth of pictures. More than once a stack of 36 prints revealed a handful of out-of-focus deer and a couple dozen shots of a wind-whipped shaft of switchgrass or a drooping tree branch. That was only eight years ago.
[ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

It’s just been announced that the Army is giving up on its Universal Camouflage Pattern, after pissing away $5 billion on uniforms, packs, and other gear that say “Here I am. Shoot me.”* This is one further reminder that even if something says “camo,” it may not conceal anything worth a damn. Last fall I bought a one-man blind to take to Maine with me. It was so small that if I farted inside it, there was not room for both me and the fart. The blind would blow away in any kind of a breeze, and worst of all, its popular Pellagra and Redbug camo pattern stood out like the proverbial turd in the proverbial punchbowl. I positioned it on a hillside, walked uphill to where the deer would cross, took a look at the wretched thing, and realized that if I hung a neon sign above it that said “FLEE!” and sprinkled a couple of pounds of wolf s*** around it, the effect would not be much worse than it already was. Fifty pounds or so of pine branches later, it was somewhat concealed, but not much.

I think that camo is largely a human conceit. Most animals, unlike people, are not visually oriented, and could care less what color your clothes are. When people wore red and black checkered wool suits they killed plenty of animals. African professional hunters, who work in close proximity to game all the time, wear whatever they damn please, and it makes no difference. European hunters, until recently, dressed entirely in dark green, and had no trouble getting game.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

Remarkably in this rotten economy, a growing contingent of archers race to replace last year’s $900 top-end bow with this year’s $1,000 version. If you’re among them, fine and dandy. But if you’re not, I have a couple of secrets for you: (1) Bow companies actually make fantastically affordable bows that last for years. If you haven’t heard of these, it’s because the new, top-of-the-line models get all the hype. And (2) although you give up a little speed, from a practical hunting standpoint, there’s darned little you can do with a $1,000 bow that you can’t with some models costing a third as much. Proof came when New York bow-shop pro Tim Blodgett (saratogatackle.com) and I tested the four bows below, each available at major outlets or online for under $300:

A.) Bear Encounter
Specs: 301⁄2" axle-to-axle; 73⁄4" brace height; 3.7 lb.; 310 fps IBO
Accuracy and Forgiveness: Excellent (2.4" average group)
Draw Cycle: Very good
Feel and Balance: Good
Fit and Finish: Fair
Shock and Vibration: Excellent
Quietness: Excellent
Bargain Rating: Excellent
MSRP: $300
Comments: The 70-pound-draw-​weight Encounter was not made for looks. Who cares? Both Tim and I had the same reaction after the first shot: “Wow!” This was noticeably the quietest, ­smoothest-­shooting bow of the bunch. It also had the best back wall and was the most accurate and forgiving in our tests. The top cam wants to tip toward you after the shot, and the bow does not have as much adjustability as the others. Still, it’s astoundingly good for the price.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

Good form is the reason why Sam Snead has over 300 top-10 finishes and why Mariano Rivera may pitch until he’s 50. It’s also what will get you to shoot your bow better. So practice the following until you can do it in your sleep:

A) Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and perpendicular to the target. A lot of guys like to turn their lead toe open a bit for better stability and balance.

B) Maintain a consistent anchor point. Find where your release hand meets your face comfortably at full draw and put it in the same spot every time. And because two anchor points are better than one, drop your nose down on the string or use a kisser button.

C) Don’t grip the bow handle like it’s a hammer, which introduces torque. Instead, turn your palm up and rest the bow’s grip against the bony part of your palm’s heel, between the fleshy pads. Lower your fingers safely under the shelf, but leave your... [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Before you take your trail cam to the timber, run two simple tests to help ­determine your camera’s detection and flash ranges, trigger speed, and ideal focal point.

1.) Program your camera for its simplest function. Mount it 4 to 5 feet high on a tree, telephone pole, post, or tripod in an open area. Stand next to your camera and pace off or measure 10 feet directly in front of the lens. Place a white stake or easily visible object at this spot. Pace off another 10 feet and repeat, until you have a straight line of stakes every 10 feet out to 60 feet. Turn your camera on and give it time to power up.
[ Read Full Post ]