 THE
MASTERS’ SECRETS OF BOWHUNTING
Dr. Robert Sheppard
EDITOR’S NOTE: Why do some archers consistently
take deer each season with their bows while others who
spend just as much time in the woods rarely if ever
experience success? Let’s see how some of the
best bowhunters in the nation produce deer.
Dr. Robert Sheppard of Carrollton, Alabama, lives in
the middle of some of the best deer-hunting country
in the South. He actively pursues many kinds of game
year-round and especially enjoys the challenge of hunting
with his bow.
Prepare Before the Season:
 I
go to the thick-cover areas on the land I hunt during
the summer months and move 30 to 40 yards inside a thicket.
I cut a small trail to the spot in the thicket I want
to hunt. Usually the trail will be no more than 2 feet
wide - just wide enough for me to walk without my clothes
touching bushes and brambles on either side. Then I
won’t leave very much odor on bushes and trees
as I walk. At the end of the trail in the middle of
the thicket, I’ll look for a tree to place a tree
stand in or a high point where I can set up a ground
blind. Then I’ll set up my tree stand or build
a ground blind and face it northwest by using my compass
to increase my odds of having a favorable wind on the
day I hunt. The wind in west-central Alabama where I
generally hunt blows from the northwest. Then I’ll
cut four shooting lanes, 3- to 4-feet wide, in the heart
of the thick cover, that spoke out in different directions
from my stand site. These shooting lanes give me a clear
path for my arrow to fly when I see a buck in that thick
cover.
 I
may return to this region just before bow season to
make sure I don’t have to do any more cutting
or cleaning of my shooting lanes. On my way out of the
thicket, I’ll place two Bright Eyes, which are
thumb tacks tipped with fluorescent paint, in trees
or bushes about 8 to 10 inches off the ground where
I can see them before daylight. I’ll put them
close to the ground so anyone else who spots them will
think they’re rabbits’ eyes and not trail
markers. If you want to take a trophy buck with your
bow in thick cover during gun/deer season, you must
be sure no one else hunts your stand site except you.
Only by camouflaging the way you go into and leave that
thicket can you be certain no one else hunts your late
season hotspot.
Don’t Shoot Too Quickly or Wait Too Long:
Many good bowhunters don’t harvest deer as often
as they can because they don’t know when to take
their shots. They either shoot before they have good
shots or wait for the best shot and never get a shot.
Experience is the best teacher a bowhunter can have
because a hunter must learn when he should take a shot.
But my rule is that when an animal presents me with
a good shot that I feel I can put him down with, that’s
the time I shoot. I don’t believe you ever should
hurry a shot. However, also I’ve found that you
shouldn’t wait on that best shot, because many
times deer won’t give you the shot for which you’re
looking. I’ve waited around for that best shot
before, never had it presented to me and watched a  nice
deer walk away from me. Don’t play with a deer,
don’t watch a deer, and don’t take a head-on
shot either. But when you’ve got a good shot,
take the shot.
To learn more about bowhunting, you can buy John E.
Phillips’ books, “Jim Crumley’s Secrets
of Bowhunting”, “Masters’ Secrets
of Bowhunting Deer”, “How to take Monster
Bucks – Secrets to Finding Trophy Deer”,
“The Science of Deer Hunting” and “Masters’
Secrets of Deer Hunting”. To learn more about
these books, go to www.nighthawkpublications.com/hunting/hunting.htm.
You can send a check or money order to Night Hawk Publications,
4112 Camp Horner Road, Birmingham, Alabama 35243, or
use PayPal address nighthawkpub@mindspring.com
.
|
