Welcome to the sport!
Here are 10 tips in no particular order from this guy
:
1) Killing is a dirty business. You need to get your mind right about what you are about to do. Sometimes things don't go the way we want. You owe it to the animal to kill it in the fastest most humane way possible. I have seen people make bad shots and then freeze up because the reaction of the animal was not what they were expecting. There will be blood, oh yes, there will be blood. Make sure you are ready to deal with EVERYTHING that comes with taking a life. Remember that your success comes with the animals sacrifice.
2) Hunt the wind! I don't care how much of that scent free stuff you use if the wind is wrong and blowing into a mature bucks face, he is going to smell you. Does the spray work? I'm sure it helps, and that is all I can say. If you are going to archery hunt you need to hunt the wind. That is the bottom line. That said, I shower is the scent free soap and wash my clothes in it. What I do know for sure is that is does not hurt, so why not use it.
3) Shoot only what you are comfortable with. If that is 50 yards so be it. The "distance" debate will make your head hurt. Everybody has their own opinion. Remember that 50 yards at a target and 50 yards at an animal are different. You cant really train for "Buck Fever" but if you want to try getting your heart rate way up and then shooting. Note what distance you cannot continually group at and then you will know your limitations. Modern archery equipment is more than capable to kill out to 50 yards.
4) Be the man in the woods that you would like to run into. If somebody needs help... Help them!
5) Caring for meat. This is again a Ford/Chevy type debate but I choose to age my meat for a minimum of 7 days. This is not a problem for me as I have a meat cooler at my house. It is the way I was taught to do it and I'm one of those "if it isn't broke don't fix it" kind of guys. Either way you do it just make sure to keep it cool until you get it into the freezer. Make sure to remove as much fat and tendon as possible while butchering. Unlike beef, deer fat is nasty.
6) Be a good steward of the land both public and private. Clean up after yourself and if there is room in the truck for the beer cans and trash from others who are not as ethical as yourself take time to bring it out. Litter is one of the biggest reasons for land closure. The next would be simple destruction of property. Don't be the guy who breaks down fences, leaves gates open, cuts down live trees without permission, or anything else like this. Treat the land better than you would your own.
7) Be honest. Do not become the BS outdoorsman who tells tales of grandeur to every person they meet. Do not create an image for yourself and other hunters as untrustworthy. Integrity is important.
8 ) Make the right kind of friends. If you meet people who are unethical and often unlawful, stay away from them. This ties into the integrity part above.
9) Buy quality equipment. This is a no brainer. Remember price does not necessarily dictate quality but often times the best gear is the most expensive. Collect what you can as you can afford it. It is an addiction for sure. LOL
10) Really this should have been number one. Count your success by the experience you had. You do not have to kill to make it a great hunt. You do not have to kill a HUGE buck to make it a successful hunt. You always strive for the best but not to the point that it sours the experience. Have fun, and recognize the small things and do not take them for granted. Take every part of it in and hold it. Take notice of the smell of wet moss, the smell of dusty September pines, the bite of the cold, the sting of rain, and the crunch of the snow. Drink in everything as we are only here for so long and in the end it is the hunt you will miss far more than the kill.
