First Bow Hunt. No Meat But Taught Myself Alot.

[Malbo]

So Santa(wife) got me a Bowtech Carbon Knight for Christmas. I am knew to archery hunting and thankfully have my older brother to give me tips and pointers. I practice in the back yard every day and feel fairly competent as far as shooting.
I decided to get a general archery only deer tag, but was a little late and missed the peak of the rut, but it was good practice.

I got up and out to some spots I found before day break and built myself a blind in a well traveled area. There were Mule Deer and WT tracks everywhere. I would cover them up before leaving and find new ones when getting back, some were even on top of my tracks.
I would sit for hours calling and rattling here and there with no results. Around noon I would get up and hit a high spot to look areas they could bed in. I found some beds that had been laid in but they had nothing in them.
Yesterday was the last day I could go out, so I finally decided to climb a high finger to see what was on the other side. It was tough, rocky, and steep but I made it to the top. I looked down and saw 5 deer bodies about a quarter mile down towards the bottom. I went to get in front of a tree to glass but I slipped on some rocks and they heard me. I stood still and they started moving away. I picked up my binos and thought one of them had antlers so I made up a plan.
After watching them head up the next finger I started moving and quietly hiked up to the top. I looked down and saw nothing but another large finger. I was already beat and half way out of water so I decided to head back the easy way.
On the way back I jumped another group of does bedded down. I would have had about a 50yd shot had it been a buck that stared me down for almost a minute.
But I'm not sure I would've had enough confidence to shoot that far with a bow. I finally gave up and went back to my blind until night time with no success.

So what I learned was spot and stalk is hard as hell in a desert environment without much cover, get the tag and get out during the peak of the rut, be extremely quiet, and really know your area and terrain features in advance. But no matter what I really enjoy just being out there and seeing stuff.

 

[armedhiker]

Malbo-thanks for sharing. Although I'm not new to bowhunting I will be going on my first elk hunt with a bow this year God willing. All I can say is keep at it and it will come together one magical day.

 

[duckhunt]

The best advice I can give any bow hunter is patience patience patience.

 

[JDH]

Took me 3 years to put it all together to get something on the ground.

 

[Malbo]

Thanks for the replies. I figured archery is a whole different style with different tactics. And I knew it wouldn't be as easy for me as it is for the guys on t.v. that have every resource in the world and do alot of cherry picking on farmed game.

I'm taking my wife out in a couple weeks to hunt Javelina, I think thats a good starter animal. I'll use my bow and she'll use her pistol.

 

[starvingoutdoorsman]

I have been bowhunting for 5 years now for deer, elk, and bear. Still have year to bring home meat. Partially my fault though. I missed a grouse a few times and ruined a few arrows.

 

[Muskeez]

Good to hear you are enjoying a new challenge! The best advise I can give after 30+ years of bowhunting whitetails and ONE year of bowhunting elk is you HAVE to play the wind! Sitting anywhere and looking down wind will do you no good. If you are stand/blind hunting set up at least 2 blinds in that area so you can play the wind depending on the direction of the wind or the thermals that day or that time of day. Check the thermals OFTEN with puffer and move if necessary. If you don't you will just educate the animals and they will quit using the area. Also, check to see if those tracks are mostly made at night. If they are, then you need to be hunting closer to the food or closer to the bedding area in order to catch them on their feet in the first or last moments of daylight. Keep at it, it took me 3 years to shoot my first deer also.

 

[Malbo]

Thanks for the advise! I did have a second blind I put together, but looking back I think it was too close to my first one. My wife was giving me grief about coming home empty handed, I told her that it might be a couple seasons before I get it figured out. She thinks I was out frolicking and picking dandelions when I get back.

 

[dalbo]

My wife loves it when I bring her dandelions.

Archery spot and stalk is tough stuff. In the last 6 years I been on 5 stalks and only had one shot opportunity (miss...doh!).

Stick with it, it's a learning process like anything else. Try and learn some lessons from each hunt and apply them on the next one.

Give me a call we'll go to the Usery Pass range and practice some field shooting at longer ranges.

 

[Malbo]

Sweet, thanks!

 

[Devil Diver Down]

Stick with it. Someone on here told me I'd be ruined if I killed on my first archery hunt and even though he's a smartass, he was correct. I started bowhunting in 2010 and it really made me a born again hunter as I'd pretty much lost interest in it over the years - I come from a long line of road hunters - and it forced me to hunt the way I wanted to and without anyone else. None of my friends shoot bows and very few hunt at all - I run with a bad crowd. Problem is I'm not very good at hunting in general, but improving. Got my first archery kill - a bull (my first elk ever) in 2012. Kid in a candy store smile.

Conditions are tough this year. It's really dry out, which makes putting a stalk on an animal really hard because it sounds like you're walking on potato chips. Plus with the unusually warm weather we've been having, the animals aren't active most of the day. You'll have a lot of "if this was a rifle hunt, I'd be tagging out right now" moments, but that will serve to make you a better hunter overall, IMHO. Killing a mulie or Coues with a bow isn't going to be easy, ever, I suspect.

As far as distance, listen to your bro. Make frequent trips to Usery this spring and shoot longer distances, which will slowly increase your accuracy, followed quickly by confidence. I shoot in my backyard, too - which I'm sure my neighbors really enjoy - but I'm limited to ~20 yards. During the summer, I shoot indoors @ 30 at Archery HQ, but there's no substitute for shooting various (and longer) distances, up and down hills, with brush in play. Keep track of what distance you feel confident shooting, then subtract a little, and you'll have a better feel for what you can do on game with confidence. Just my 2¢ and worth almost half that much. Welcome to the addiction - you're gonna spend a bunch of money and have even more fun.

 

[JohnCushman]

I've bowhunted since I was a little kid, since my mother wouldn't allow guns in the house. I found an old recurve in my grandmom's basement and taught myself how to use it. I got to where I was shooting rabbits pretty well and squirrels out of trees. I finally got old enough to have a paper route and bought my first 'real' bow and decided to start after deer. I picked up another recurve and some 'real' arrows and broadheads. It took 3 years to finally score on a doe. Now that I'm older and have bowhunted a lot of the US and have been fairly successful, I'm still glad I learned on that old recurve. I've learned to appreciate my hunts more with my bow, because success hasn't always come easy. Now that I live in Colorado I've added a whole new world of big game to my bowhunting adventures. I've scored on mule deer and antelope...but I'm 0-4 on archery elk. I'll get one one of these days...but I love going after them, nonetheless

 

[huntergirl_19]

I started hunting this year and decided to start with bow instead of rifle (crazy, i know). What helped me out was shooting outdoor 3D ranges because it gave me an idea of distance (and how hard it is to find arrows in the woods)

 

[Malbo]

Thanks for the support guys. I know I will be learning new things for years. Like its been said, I'll practice, keep at it, and be patient.

 

[smarandr]

I missed a grouse a few times and ruined a few arrows.

Me too. The most memorable of which emitted a shower of sparks as it hit a rock behind the grouse. It was pretty dry that year and I waited around for a few minutes to make sure I wasn't starting a forest fire.