Hunting Season is upon us once again and the members of Team Outdoorsmen Adventures wishes you the best season of all!

North Carolina Archery Season has begun with many other states opening soon. A bow hunter is someone who gets to know his prey up close and personal. He is of the land and knows the patterns and movements of the game he intends to harvest.

This is what makes a great hunter out in the woods. “Make No Mistake About It!” That is exactly the key element in a bow hunters mindset he must be mentally ready and prepared for the shot.

The hunt starts before season when he picks his bow up each year. It makes sense to not take the shot if you have not completed your homework.

The first task to cover is to inspect our bow for damages. Inspect it anyway, even if it has been locked in your case for the past year. If your string looks worn, it’s time to replace it. I like to replace my bowstring every two years regardless of the wear and tear on it. Strings will stretch over time. Inspect your arrows and anything else on the bow. Look for cracks, a bent arrow, torn or bad fletching or anything than could cause an arrow to fly incorrectly.

Make sure you oil movable parts of your bow with scentless oil. Wax your string each time you practice. Proper care of all bow hunting equipment is essential to success in the field.

Once all this has been accomplished you are ready to shoot again. Practice everyday no less than a month before season. I feel if you’ve put in shooting time every night till the opener you’ll be prepared physically and mentally for you shot at a game animal.

By this time your shot should become a repetition of steps that you do automatically without thinking.

Even at this point, here in North Carolina with a longbow season practice should be performed periodically during season to ensure your form and shot have not went south.

When the game animal is in front of you the less thinking you do the better. This brings me to a point on the many sights that are on the market.

Sights

Pin sights are nice because you have a pin for each 5-yard increment. In my opinion a pendulum site is better yet. They’re very accurate from 0 to 30 yards, compensating for the yardage and height, eliminating the thinking for you.

I’ve used these sights in the past and they’re easy to use. Savage makes one of the most user-friendly pendulum sights I know of.

Arrow Rests

There are also numerous types of arrow rest out there with a drop away rest being one of the most popular. I use one on my bow and like the fact that they do not interfere with the fletching or vanes of your arrows. This means you are have a better-tuned bow and consistent shot pattern over and over. I’m also a fan of the whisker biscuit. This arrow rest holds your arrow in place in any position for a shot. You do not have to worry about the arrow falling off in a hunting situation.

Noise Reduction

Noise reduction rubber components can be applied to help reduce vibration and shock of the bow, making it quieter.  Some bows have these installed when you buy them. Although you may not consider reducing the sound made by your bow a big deal, but it would be a major mistake if you don’t, especially on the slower bows.

If you have a bow that vibrates and makes a lot of noise when you shoot it, can scare the deer, as the noise made by the bow is what causes the deer to jump or duck when you release the arrow.   By cutting down the noise made by your bow, you’ll have a better chance to bag a deer and less of a chance of wounding one or missing a good deer.

Peep Sights

A peep sight is an inexpensive and very important piece of hunting equipment, one that every hunter should use. Peep sights allow you to line your eye with your bow sight, providing a 3-point reference aligning your eye, bow sight and the game animal.

Practice Targets

To fine tune your shooting before the hunt, it’s a good idea to shoot at game target such as a deer or turkey. Shooting at a lifelike game target mentally prepares you to shoot for vitals.

So, get out there and shoot, shoot, shoot!

Bow hunting has been a rewarding part of my year-to-year season for many reasons. Each time I harvest a good buck with my bow. I have an immense sense of accomplishment by taking game with archery equipment that I don’t get when hunting with a gun.

Learning about the game I’m after and getting this close to a deer creates some of the greatest hunting memories you will ever experience in your lifetime.

If your not a bow hunter and would like to start I’d recommend that  you visit a pro shop and have them set up a bow fitted to you.

Archery pro shops can help you find a bow that fits you perfectly and give you advise on what bow would work best for you.

If I could make one recommendation it would be to get a short bow that’s light in weight, which will make your shooting much easier as well as more relaxing. Allowing you to practice a little longer and in time, make you a better shot.

On this spring hunt Gary will have several bears around his stand, including a large brown phase  and a 282 #  black bear that should make Pope & Young.

The Game Cleaning System contains a set of field dressing gloves which protect your hands and arms from blood and bodily fluids all the way to your shoulders.

The kit also contains the new Butt Out® 2 big game field dressing tool which quickly and easily removes the alimentary canal of the animal being field dressed, making the entire process safer and easier.

An economy deer field dressing bag is included to place the animal in after skinning to keep off dirt and pests.

A pack of Scent-A-Way Field Wipes is also included for quick and easy clean up.

Proper game care in the field results in better table fare at home.

The Game Cleaning Kit from Hunter’s Specialties sells for a suggested retail price of $17.99.

For more information, log onto the Hunter’s Specialties website at www.hunterspec.com,

There is always a tom turkey somewhere willing to respond to a well-tuned call.

If there’s a hen decoy, they’ll usually strut right in and with the release of an arrow or tripping of a trigger, your tag will be filled.

That happened rather quickly for Jim McDonnell, the guy we call the Fishing Professor, from Royal, Iowa.

The tom hung up about 30 yards out, way too far for a sure kill with a bow, but Jim gave out a quick “gobble” call and that sealed the deal.

The tom came right in and offered Jim and easy 15 yard shot through the legs.

“Shoot them through the legs and they are not going to get up and run away,” Jim said.

“I don’t even like to write about using a gobble call,” Jim said. “Chances are, if another hunter hears it, he will sneak right in and hunt you. But, if you are on private land and sure there are no other hunters around, it will often bring in a reluctant tom.

“It sealed the deal this time,” he smiled.

We were hunting on 370 acres of prime whitetail and turkey habitat owned by Paul and Sheila Thomsen, operators of the Inn Spiration Bed and Breakfast.

There are 220 acres of timber, 75 acres of CRP/WRP and 75 acres of corn, soybeans and food plots on the land. Paul also leases other nearby land for fall hunters.

We were guests at the B & B for three days and hunted turkeys hard. Jim, holding an archery tag, is allowed to take two toms anytime during the four seasons. I was holding a third season shotgun tag.

Morning of the opening of the third season, I set up at the edge of the timber looking out over a narrow strip of CRP with last year’s corn ground in the background. To my left was a well-used trail which came across the dam of a small pond, which held a pair of nesting Canada geese. The trail ducked under a single strand of barbed wire and led right to where I was sitting.

Paul said he has seen turkeys crossing here often.

But, not this day. I heard one gobble right at dawn far away to the southwest and not on our property.

I sat tight and two hens walked across the corn and entered the timber to my right.

Jim was in his blind about a quarter mile away. At 10 a.m., when we joined up, he reported not seeing any turkeys either.

But, he did have some excitement.

“I had just gotten in the blind and poured myself a cup of coffee,” he said. “I made the fly down sound with a paper bag and made a few soft hen yelps.

“As I raised the coffee cup to my lips I noticed a grey blur come charging out of the trees and it hit my turkey fan,” he continued. “It was a nice coyote and as soon as he realized his mistake he took off.

“It happened so quickly I didn’t even have a chance to pick up my bow,” he smiled.

Jim was using a hen decoy and a real turkey feather fan which has a stake attached. The coyote hit the fan and bit off three of the big feathers just as cleanly as if you had cut them with a knife.

We hunted that day and the next and the morning of the third but never got close to another turkey. It had turned hot and windy and the birds weren’t talking, even at dawn.

But the other wildlife we saw was remarkable. One afternoon, sitting in the timber, I watched at least 50 warblers of three or four different kinds flitting among the tree branches. I saw four different kinds of woodpeckers, bluejays, robins, Canada geese, a great egret, woodducks, teal, birds I couldn’t identify, raccoons and, of course, whitetail deer.

Yet, the bird of my desires did not manifest itself. That, however, is turkey hunting.