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In gun season, I feel like I\u2019m sitting out there in my tree stand hoping another hunter bumps a deer that runs my way.<\/p>\n
In archery season, it\u2019s me against the deer when the deer are just out there doing their thing in the wild.<\/p>\n
I spend time in the woods figuring out their travel routes and daily patterns.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve got multiple cameras scattered around giving me 24-hour surveillance of the places where I think deer like to congregate.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll likely spend many hours across many days during the season just sitting in my stands watching the woods.<\/p>\n
All of this effort is in hopes of being in the right place, at the right time, when the right deer does all the right things to walk within range of me and my compound bow, which is generally under 40 yards.<\/p>\n
I shoot my bow nearly every day, all year long, just so I can take some measure of control of one aspect of this scenario \u2013 most of which is out of my control.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no question today\u2019s compound archery equipment is capable of precision accuracy out to 50, 60, 70 yards and even farther.<\/p>\n
But the bow can only do what the archer makes it do.<\/p>\n
To be truly proficient with a compound bow takes practice.<\/p>\n
Lots of practice.<\/p>\n
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I have a 7mm magnum rifle that I haven\u2019t shot one time in probably five years.<\/p>\n I feel pretty confident I could take that to the range today and hit within an inch of a nickel-sized dot at 100 yards.<\/p>\n Developing that confidence with a compound bow at 40 yards takes dedicated practice.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s part of the game.<\/p>\n Also part of the game is understanding I have to be much closer to a deer to take it with my bow than I\u2019d have to be with a gun.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s no small feat, given the whitetail\u2019s legendary senses of smell, hearing, and eyesight, not to mention its equally legendary sixth sense that allows it to simply avoid danger when everything seems to be in the hunter\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n So on a random day in October or November, I\u2019m in the right place at the right time, and a nice buck does all the right things to bring it inside 40 yards of my position.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when things kick into overdrive.<\/p>\n This is the moment we bowhunters live for.<\/p>\n And until you\u2019ve been there, any description of this moment is understated.<\/p>\n The instant I decide a deer within bow range is a deer I plan to shoot, my heartbeat shifts gears.<\/p>\n It gets fast and it gets loud.<\/p>\n I can actually hear the \u201cthump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump\u201d in my ears.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know how deer don\u2019t hear it.<\/p>\n With that increased heart rate comes a surge of adrenalin that causes muscles to tighten and limbs to shake.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s at this moment that I have to draw my bow, hold it steady, take careful aim and then deliver a perfect shot.<\/p>\n Until you\u2019ve done it, you can\u2019t imagine how difficult it is to take control of your mind and body at this moment and force them to focus on the task at hand.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve shot with some incredible target archers over the years, who were considerably more accurate than me on the range, but who fell apart when it came time to take a shot at a deer.<\/p>\n Both situations involve shooting a bow and arrow, yet the experiences are like night and day.<\/p>\n
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