Bowhunting and how to start

[Goatboy]

But can you kill with little or no regrets.? All very well wanting to hunt big game, but when it comes down to it and you're looking that animal in the eye (30 yards) can you pull the trigger.?

Choking on the shot could result in a bad shot and then you have to deal with the consequences after. Hunting with a bow is up close and very personal.

Maybe you could tag along first see if you like the experience first. It aint for the faint of heart. Even the pros make bad shots from time to time. Your heart rate will be through the roof.

It's not easy killing an animal at close quarters. No matter how much practice you have on a range or in the garden it will in no way help you in the real world. All hunted animals deserve the Hunter to be at his best.

Cheers..S

Steve makes some really good points there. I remember the gamut of feelings the first time I was behind a trigger with live quarry. One of the reasons I'm glad I was taught by some very ethical and safe British shooters.
One of the things we did at our old field archery range was to make the person stalk the target with a time constraint and once in possition make a further tighter time constraint to either make or not make a safe shot. This allowed the shooter to feel the pressure of a more realistic hunt without any animal suffering.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[mrcharly]

Bowhunter here - get a compound bow of appropriate draw weight for your strength 60 lbs or so is ok for deer. Set it up with a peep sight and one pin set for 20 yards - and a mechanical release. Get 6 arrows with field points and shoot every day. If you are shooting from more than 20 yards just aim higher. At first you might not be able to shoot more than 6 shots before you get fatigued. You will get stronger and more accurate pretty fast if you stick with it. In Canada there are expert bow hunters that can take you from there. It's great fun - enjoy.

This sounds like good advice to me, although I would say that 60lb is a lot for a beginner to draw. It's not just about being able to draw it, it is about being steady. A compound bow with it's drop-off in hold weight will help considerably.
I have done a lot of bow hunting of small game in australia, many years ago. Type of bow depends much on the type of hunting; if you are stalking through brush, compound bows are a pain, stuff gets caught and stuck in the cables/wheels. They are also heavy.

Will you be stalking or shooting from a stand? If shooting from a stand, sights, and practise are a very good idea. Shooting downward makes a huge difference to arrow drop. It's difficult to do this instinctively, much better using sights and getting them set for the location.

If you are going to be stalking over distances, a recurve might be better. Aussie hunters favoured short recurves for stalking in brush where shots would be at 20m or less. That might not sound like very far but try hitting a 3" circle every time at distances varying from 5m to 25m. Not many people can with the first shot and that's how accurate you need to be on small game. I was a lousy shot and usually didn't take a shot unless I was within 10m.

Start with a 35lb bow to get your muscles trained up. Don't underestimate this; just because you can pull a bow doesn't mean you can shoot it. Last time I tried I had no trouble drawing a bow of 95lb but I reckon that I couldn't manage to shoot (accurately) anything over 45lb.

 

[santaman2000]

But can you kill with little or no regrets.? All very well wanting to hunt big game, but when it comes down to it and you're looking that animal in the eye (30 yards) can you pull the trigger.?....

All true enough, but to be fair that's not really much closer than shotgun range. And the day you no longer get Buck Fever is the day hunting's no longer fun anyway.

 

[santaman2000]

....Might be worth considering finding an Outfitter. They will give you the best chance of a successful hunt.

Obviously you will need to time your trip to marry up with the quite limited hunting season for your species with a Bow.


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Unless things have changed having a guide is mandatory in Canada for nonresidents. Whether it be a professional guide or the OP's brother-in-law.

 

[Countryman]

Was thinking a pro outfitter might allow the best opportunity for a novice.

Enough pressure with out family machismo.


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[santaman2000]

If you aren't using sights then that is completely true - and you need to set aside 10 years or so to become competent enough to even pretend you are humane......

Yeah, years of practice are very good indeed. That said, I didn't start shooting a bow until I was 11 or 12 (a recurve I was given one Christmas) I was good enough to be hunting squirrels and rabbits by the time I was 15 (3 to 4 years later) That was over 44 years ago. All that said, I still don't know half the fancy archery terms this forum throws about. There are some very good and knowledgeable bowmen on this forum.

 

[santaman2000]

Was thinking a pro outfitter might allow the best opportunity for a novice.

Enough pressure with out family machismo.


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It's certainly something worth thinking about.

 

[Folcwigga]

Ok thanks a lot guys, some good information and food for thought here. I'll have a go at working my way through following some of the links and responding to some of the posts. But if i don't mention you it doesn't mean i haven't read your post.

"

http://www.londonarchers.co.uk/about.html

These chaps may be of some interest"
​

Thanks Mick, but looking at their site they only take new shooters once a year, and their last intake just passed in July.

"What tags do you plan to apply for? White tail? Mule Deer? Big Horn Sheep? Elk? Antelope? Bison? Cougar? Black Bear?"

Well i think bear and cougar would probably be a bit optimistic for a first hunt... I'll be looking to apply for a local deer of some kind, not sure what ones are local to that area off the top of my head, but from what i know they're pretty easy to pick up so there's no real rush to decide yet. I won't be hitting Canada until spring at the earliest.

"Bowhunter here - get a compound bow of appropriate draw weight for your strength 60 lbs or so is ok for deer. Set it up with a peep sight and one pin set for 20 yards - and a mechanical release. Get 6 arrows with field points and shoot every day."

That was one of the options i was thinking of, i was just wondering whether there'll be anything i'll struggle to learn on my own, or is archery one of those self correcting activities where you can learn just by doing it successfully?

"Certainly think a phone call to the Brother-in-law is in order. He might be able to lend you a bow and the orange clothes our Canadian cousins think are essential to hunting."

Not a bad point, i'll put it near the top of my list.

 

[santaman2000]

......"What tags do you plan to apply for? White tail? Mule Deer? Big Horn Sheep? Elk? Antelope? Bison? Cougar? Black Bear?"

Well i think bear and cougar would probably be a bit optimistic for a first hunt... I'll be looking to apply for a local deer of some kind, not sure what ones are local to that area off the top of my head, but from what i know they're pretty easy to pick up so there's no real rush to decide yet. I won't be hitting Canada until spring at the earliest....

I'm not sure about Canada but I imagine most of their hunting seasons (like ours) are in the Fall (Autumn) and Winter (with turkey being an exception) The reason I asked though was because what you want to hunt might affect your equipment selection. I'd think it takes a bit more to penetrate a bear's or bison's hide or a Bighorn's coat.

 

[mrcharly]

Don't try to teach yourself. It isn't one of those things you can just pick up, there are lots of bad habits you can fall into.

 

[Folcwigga]

"But can you kill with little or no regrets.?

...

Maybe you could tag along first see if you like the experience first."

I think i can. I'm not an overly emotional or fainthearted person, but like your last thought i had already planned on being a "passenger" for the first kill anyway just to learn the skill by watching first. But to be honest, there's only one way to find out.

"Unless your very competent already, or have the time to put in to be competent (shooting a minimum of once a week for a good few months), don't use anything other than a compound. You need the accuracy that comes with a sighted compound to make sure you get the kill."

I have the time, at least 3-4 months and possibly more. I think my girlfriend's brother in law does most of his shooting from a hide, but i'd be more interested into getting into stalking more, and one of the other posters mentioned that compound bows might be a bit of a faff when it comes to stalking? If so maybe learning to handle a recurve from the beginning might be worthwhile?

"You might struggle to find a club that will let you have a "practice shoot" especially if your not an NFAS member. You normally have to go on a shoot with a coach in order for them to asses you and for them to put their signature on your NFAS application.

The club i go to charges £75 for a two day course, that will mean you can apply for your NFAS membership afterwards. http://www.celticharmony.org/ you might find some more info here as well http://www.nfas.net/home.asp

Good luck though, it would be an amasing trip and experience."

Thanks! Looking through some of the sites that you've linked there and it looks like a lot of stuff to read and think about...

"have you thought of a take-down recurve bow?! you could start with a lower draw weight before "upgrading" to stronger limbs.... .+ it would be probable easier to transport overseas, too..."

To be honest i didn't even know it was possible to upgrade bows like that, i thought once you made your choice you lived with it.

"I know you said "I'm comfortable out in the field but have never hunted before" butBoatman just reminded me of a great book, Stalking and Still Hunting , the ground hunters bible By G Fred Asbell and The Traditional Bowhunters Bible by T.J Conrads
Some other great authors on archery are.
Howard Hill
Saxton Pope
Byron Ferguson
Fred Bear"

Awesome, a trip to the library and/or amazon may be in store then.

"I have done a lot of bow hunting of small game in australia, many years ago. Type of bow depends much on the type of hunting; if you are stalking through brush, compound bows are a pain, stuff gets caught and stuck in the cables/wheels. They are also heavy.

Will you be stalking or shooting from a stand? If shooting from a stand, sights, and practise are a very good idea. Shooting downward makes a huge difference to arrow drop. It's difficult to do this instinctively, much better using sights and getting them set for the location.

If you are going to be stalking over distances, a recurve might be better. Aussie hunters favoured short recurves for stalking in brush where shots would be at 20m or less. That might not sound like very far but try hitting a 3" circle every time at distances varying from 5m to 25m. Not many people can with the first shot and that's how accurate you need to be on small game. I was a lousy shot and usually didn't take a shot unless I was within 10m.

Start with a 35lb bow to get your muscles trained up. Don't underestimate this; just because you can pull a bow doesn't mean you can shoot it. Last time I tried I had no trouble drawing a bow of 95lb but I reckon that I couldn't manage to shoot (accurately) anything over 45lb."

All sounds good, and like i mentioned above, has made me think about whether i want to use a compound or go straight for a recurve. is 35 lbs enough to hunt with?

 

[santaman2000]

Don't try to teach yourself. It isn't one of those things you can just pick up, there are lots of bad habits you can fall into.

Plus 1 to this. While you can learn a lot from solo practice, you never know about the bad habits unless you have a coach.

 

[Folcwigga]

Unless things have changed having a guide is mandatory in Canada for nonresidents. Whether it be a professional guide or the OP's brother-in-law.

If i pass the Alberta hunting online course then, as i understand it, i will be treated the same as any other hunter in Alberta. I could bypass taking the course altogether, but in that case i would have to have a hunter with a special kind of licence (which most outfitters have) that would allow me to hunt with them.

I'm not sure about Canada but I imagine most of their hunting seasons (like ours) are in the Fall (Autumn) and Winter (with turkey being an exception) The reason I asked though was because what you want to hunt might affect your equipment selection. I'd think it takes a bit more to penetrate a bear's or bison's hide or a Bighorn's coat.

Fair point, i'll get onto looking that up straight away.

 

[santaman2000]

......All sounds good, and like i mentioned above, has made me think about whether i want to use a compound or go straight for a recurve. is 35 lbs enough to hunt with?

From what I found on Alberta's website, the legal minimum is 40lbs.

 

[boatman]

Of course you can teach yourself archery, what do people think that many famous archers of the past did? Read and watch videos and practice a lot and often. Even a ten yard range in the garden will help. Shooting on a field archery course will help enormously as well and I suppose submitting yourself to a club's requirements might be the only way to access these in your area but there are commercial field archery ranges in some places you can use. For example, this is one Googled at random http://www.wyevalleyarchery.co.uk/index.html

 

[mrcharly]

Of course you can teach yourself archery, what do people think that many famous archers of the past did?

I think they were taught in clubs, compulsory practice at the butts, or by older archers.

Sure you could over time teach yourself to be good but it would be a heck of a lot harder than having someone who knows what they are doing teach you.

 

[David LaFerney]

It would as long as lack of a teacher doesn't prevent you from getting on with it.

The fundamentals of form and follow through can be gleaned from many sources. Form often goes out the window in hunting situations anyway. Regular practice is how you become proficient - even of it's down a hallway when Mom isn't home.

Just do it.

 

[santaman2000]

.... Form often goes out the window in hunting situations anyway. Regular practice is how you become proficient - even of it's down a hallway when Mom isn't home.

Just do it.

I like the way you think.

 

[dwardo]

I like the way you think.

Get very good at filling holes in plaster and re-arranging ornaments to suit.

A weekend class with a field archery doesnt make you a good archer but it does give you the tools you need to learn where you are going wrong.




Still cant hit the side of a bus me self mind

 

[pontyboy]

Why would anyone want to possibly inflict pain and suffering on an animal with an inaccurate weapon when you can have access to high powered rifles fitted with the appropriate sights.You've received some advice about "aiming higher".How much higher, a few inches....a foot?I suppose those maimed deer you hit with a wayward attempt will just have to run around with an arrow in their gut for a few days until a predator pulls them down and finishes the job for you.