Become a Better Bowhunter -Lessons from Successful Hunters & Guides
By Josh Kirchner
We want to first say this article is being written with western spot and stalk bowhunting in mind. Also, thanks to the deadly bowhunters and archery hunting guides who contributed their opinions to this article: Ryan Harder, Bryan Broderick, James Nash, Brian Barney, Jace Bauserman, Travis Nowotny, Sean Hashizaki and Jake Downs.
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Show me a successful bowhunter who hasn’t screwed up before, and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t exist. In fact, most deadly bowhunters have made mountains of mistakes in the field. They’ve just learned from them and acted accordingly. For that reason, we polled some of the most successful archery hunters and archery hunting guides we know to expose the most common hiccups that have stood in the way between them and a filled tag.
Equipment Talk
Equipment can make or break a situation. And while we don’t want to make this an article entirely focused on the gear side of things, there are a few points we want to get across in the name of better bowhunting.
Stop Changing Your Setup
The best bow setup for you is the one you’re the most familiar with. It’s the one with the scratches on it that’s yesterday’s news. By entirely changing your bow setup year after year, you are stripping away that familiarity and starting from zero. New feel, new arrow setup, new pin gapping, etc.
“When a hunter shows up to camp with a brand-new bow, I get a little worried.” ~ Ryan Harder, Hunting Guide
Our advice here is to find a setup that works and stick with it. Don’t think you need to change your entire rig with each passing year. If anything, change one thing, and ask yourself this question before doing so: “Is this actually going to make a difference for me in terms of helping me kill animals?” If the answer is yes, then full steam ahead. If it’s no, you might want to rethink things before jumping into a pool you've never swum in.
Gaining familiarity with a setup takes time. And familiarity in a setup kills animals. Without it, you’re leaving more to chance in what already is a game of chance itself.
Working on Your Own Bow is Overrated
A short little scroll through YouTube bowhunting channels and you’ll start to feel like you’ve gotta work on your own bow in order to be successful. While knowing your equipment inside and out and being able to have an at-home pro shop is nice, it is far from necessary to put arrows through animals.
This one surprised us. Of the people we talked to, even those that did their own bow work, having a bow press wasn’t a crucial skill for being a consistent killer. We would never encourage you not to do your own work on your bow, but it isn’t the key to success. A race car driver doesn’t need to be a mechanic to win races in the same way a successful hunter doesn’t need to be a great bow tech to kill animals. You just need to have a good mechanic on your team.
Having a tuned bow is non-negotiable, but instead of knowing how to properly space your cams and operate on your bow in a press, spend more time getting to know your bow. If doing your own bow work comes at the expense of spending time shooting, you might be wasting your time. We’re talking about things like knowing your arrow drop, familiarizing yourself with pin gapping and knowing how your arrow reacts in the wind and the rain. These are the things that make a difference in crunch time and will either aid in killing or swipe the glory right out from underneath you.
Dial Less Kill More
If you have to dial your bow sight before every shot, particularly for western hunting, you are going to lose opportunities, plain and simple. We do want to stress here that there is a yardage threshold where this is most evident, and that is inside of 50 yards. Beyond that point, you usually have time to dial if you need to.
Dialing your bow sight not only takes valuable time, but it creates movement, which increases the chances of you getting busted. And it’s not just about the bow sight, but also about knowing how to judge yardage, especially inside of 50 yards. Reaching for your rangefinder adds another step and more movement. Keep it simple and reduce the number of steps you have to take to draw and shoot on an animal.
Hunting Talk
Equipment is no replacement for hunting prowess. And the only way the highly skilled individuals we polled have become consistently successful is through struggle. By getting knocked down, getting up again, and doing it all over.
A Fickle Wind Humbles All
Without question, the number 1 thing that busts bowhunters is a fickle wind, no matter the skill level. It is perhaps the biggest variable out of our hands. The only thing to do here is try to learn how wind and thermals work to the best of your ability. That is a separate article in itself. For the most part, wind and thermals can be predicted, and what you can control is how you position yourself relative to the wind.
But, let’s be honest here. You never know when a wind might shift. But what you can do is not delude yourself into thinking that “maybe it will be ok” or that the animal won’t smell you. Rarely do winds blow at a consistently perfect angle, so if the wind isn’t great to stalk in on an animal, don’t do it. Be patient and wait for the right wind, or adjust your stalk to get the wind right.
Rushing the Process
From our poll, the most common mistake that popped up was rushing the process. And by rushing the process, we mean when you are in bow range on an animal, or close to it. When you’re new, patience isn’t exactly easy to come by. Oftentimes this leads to rushing on all fronts from the stalk to the shot and everything in between.
One of the most important things in a spot and stalk scenario is letting the situation play out. Inexperience oftentimes ignites panic, especially when in archery range of an animal. This could look like drawing too early, or thinking that you have to shoot right now even though it isn’t a great shot. That very panic can throw logic to the wayside.
Rushing a stalk is something any bowhunter can fall victim to. Not letting an animal work closer to you when it clearly is, and then the biggie, forcing a shot when it isn’t the shot you want.
“It’s either a good shot or a bad shot. There are no in betweens.” - James Nash | Hunting Guide
Rushing the shot is perhaps the worst thing you can do if it isn’t the shot you are comfortable taking. Taking a shot you don’t believe is a good shot often results in misses, or worse, a wounded animal. Waiting and knowing what your opportunity is comes from experience and patience. This means waiting for the highest odds shot opportunity in relation to your ability and the situation. Don’t take a premature long-range shot out of panic that the animal is going to “get away.” The flip side of this is not taking a shot quickly when you need to. Be ready to take the shot when it’s there, and if it isn’t, wait.
Another interesting observation we had is that many people often incorrectly assume an animal is perfectly broadside and aim accordingly, when in reality they rarely are. Assess the angle of the animal and aim for your exit hole to make sure your entry and exit holes go through the vitals. Wounding an animal is worse than not shooting at all.
When to Go and When to Slow
Being successful isn’t always about going slow. Knowing when to go fast and when to be patient is important. You’ve gotta be able to read the room. This is something that comes from experience and was repeatedly mentioned to us when researching for this article. Being successful with a bow entails making a set of choices, in a certain order, at the right times. Sometimes they require haste, and sometimes it’s patience that wins the day.
A famous mistake by newbies here is going too slow too early. They’ll be 300 yards away from an animal that has no line of sight to them, but they’re moving like a snail. When you can move, you should move quickly and quietly.
To contrast that, there are also those who move too aggressively too early. Things like moving on an animal sooner with a bad wind instead of waiting for the wind to switch. Or not waiting that extra few hours for a deer to move to its second bed before stalking. These are the details that kill animals.
To visualize this, watch a lion stalking its prey. There are times when they move so slow you can barely see it. And there are other times when they are scurrying beneath the brush to close the distance while the deer has its back turned. Be a lion and trust your instincts.
Stop Overthinking
As bowhunters, we are analyzers. Small details go a long way. With that said, this can get in the way of success. Overthinking is a real problem and can leave you frozen in place without applying action to the situation at hand. You need to trust your instincts because this whole hunting thing is not all cut and dry.
A great example is overthinking the shot and waiting for the absolute perfect opportunity. This might sound like it is at odds with our “don’t rush the process” point, but this is different. The “perfect” opportunity may never happen. The best opportunity for you and that situation oftentimes will, though. Know what distance you are comfortable shooting at, evaluate an animal's position objectively, and don’t overthink it. Pull back, be intentional, and most importantly, be confident throughout your shot process. You know how to shoot your bow, so do it.
A few tips from our interviewees we thought were relevant to help you to not overthink the situation:
- Practice fast target acquisition
- Don’t wait on your shot too long
- Practice moving through your shot quickly, but not recklessly
Through experience, you’ll learn things like when to draw your bow, when to speed up, and when to be patient. It is through exposure to these situations, you’ll learn to act more on instinct and be automatic in the moment.
We aren’t trying to encourage recklessness here. Risk is present every single time one pulls back their bow on an animal. It’s part of the deal. Know what you're looking for in terms of a shot opportunity and be confident in yourself when that moment comes.
Final Thoughts
If one thing is true about bowhunting, it’s that it’s hard as hell no matter how long you’ve been doing it and you’re going to make mistakes or not have the cards fall your way. And the only way to get good at it, like most things in life, is through repetition. The more at-bats you have, the better you get. And when you inevitably do have things not go your way, analyze what went wrong and apply those lessons to your next stalk. We hope that this article, based on the knowledge of some absolute slayers, will help fast-track your journey to success as a bowhunter. Now, go and get it.
