Determining the proper draw length for your bow is crucial for achieving accuracy and efficiency in your shots. In order to find the correct draw length, you must first understand what it is and how to measure it.
Draw length is the total length, in inches, that a bow is set to be drawn. It runs from the nock point to the frontmost part of the grip. To measure your draw length, there are a few different methods that can be used. One popular method is to visit an archery shop and have a specially marked arrow shot to determine your exact draw length. Another method is to measure your wingspan at home and divide it by 2.5.
Before ever stepping into the field every bowhunter must be sure that their bow is as accurate as possible for a couple of reasons. First, having the trust and confidence in your equipment is paramount as the mind can have a huge effect on your overall accuracy. Secondly, it’s our responsibility to swiftly, effectively, and humanly kill the animals we hunt.
It takes hours of practice to become proficient with a recurve or longbow in hand. For all you traditional archers out there, these next few months will be critical for your success in the woods this fall.
However, not all of us live in areas where we can step outside our back door and let a few arrows rip. I’ve recently moved out of my house in the woods and into a condo, which means I’ve had to rethink my traditional archery practice set up. I wanted a simple set up that I can toss in my car or in my backpack whenever I have a few minutes to sling a few arrows.
Gear list planning isn’t rocket science… but it does come with experience.
I can still remember arriving at our 2019 deer camp in Wisconsin on a late Sunday morning in November. We had all agreed to leave early enough from home in Michigan so we would arrive on location with enough time to set up camp and eventually head out to conduct some scouting in preparation for the following morning hunt and the days following. When we arrived the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Sunshine, clear skies, calm winds and temperatures hovering around 55 degrees. As hunters, we know the weather can have a major impact on animal movement and is one of the metrics we tend to monitor the most. Our initial weather forecasting projected a cold front to move in during mid-week so we expected colder weather than what we arrived at. But on that Wednesday morning, we woke up to a blunt surprise.
Now that the hunting season is over there should be a fair amount of maintenance that every hunter should practice. And although maintenance is the last thing people usually want to think about, it should be the first thing on the to-do list. With all of the many things to accomplish, it's hard to pinpoint what exactly to focus on so it helps to have something short and easy to remember.
If you’re anything like us, you spend a lot of time tinkering during the bowhunting “offseason”. During this time of year, we evaluate our entire hunting system - everything from our arrows to the layers we wear. One thing I’ve spent quite a bit of time on over the past few years is my aiming method. I’ve switched between several different styles, working to see which fits me best. Click here to learn how to aim a traditional bow!
The first bow that I ever owned was an old PSE Nova. I loved that thing, and to this day, it still is in our family. It’s more of a wall piece now, but the point remains. Shooting that bow was one of my favorite things to do in our backyard. How fast the arrow hit the target was something that mesmerized me. I remember the first time I ever shot 40 yards with it. It looked so far away and I felt like my bow was pointing more at the sky than the target itself.
Target Panic. The scourge of the archery world. Many archers are afraid to even mention it by name, just in case it’s contagious. However, it’s a very real issue and is something that most archers are going to have to deal with at some point. I started experiencing it after a dozen or so years of shooting a bow and it’s been something I’ve wrestled with off and on ever since. If you find yourself with this problem, don’t lose hope. There are a few things you can do to get back on track.
Growing up, I would always find things to shoot my bow at. Whether it was old hay bales, old pool mats, or even a box with a few blankets in it, I loved taping or gluing a paper plate to them and ripping a few arrows at them. But then one day, my dad purchased his first 3D archery target for us to shoot at. It was your typical whitetail deer standing broadside with a replaceable vitals insert but thought it was the best thing in the world. It was just like shooting at a real animal and I was hooked ever since.
This week, we’re talking about practice. As anyone who’s spent any time with a bow in hand will tell you, practice is critical for finding success in the fall. Archery is a skill that takes some time to get a hang of, let alone master. Before you take your bow out this fall, here are a few ways to sharpen your skills.
If you ask anyone who bow hunts how they can be successful, more times than not they will tell you that having the correct setup, knowing the animal, and practicing a lot with bring you the success you are looking for. You can’t just pick up a bow and expect to be an excellent shot, hitting bull’s-eye after bull’s-eye. This is where bow hunting practice makes everything come together
What kind of bow sight do you use? It’s a question I have been asked a few times in my life and can be somewhat misleading. I’ll usually reply with, “Well, what do you want it to do?”. Are you a hunter? Where do you plan on hunting? Are you hunting out West? There is a lot to consider when choosing a bow sight and your bow sight should have a purpose that is aligned with your intentions.
Growing up in Michigan there were a few traditions we had at Deer Camp, but one of which had a deep impact. Either throughout the day or at night after dinner, someone would put on the movie Escanaba in Da Moonlight starring Jeff Daniels. Daniels plays Rueben Soady, a hunter heading to deer camp with his father, brother, and close friend. his annual inability to "bag a buck." If Reuben, now 43, doesn't manage to shoot a buck by the end of the season, he will become the oldest Soady in recorded history not to have achieved this task. The film is known for its spectacular usage of upper peninsula language and slang along with quotes like:
It's no wonder people fall in love with shooting bows. The tradition, modern-day customizations, and the mesmerizing flight of the arrow traveling to the target are all just some of the reasons why archery has so many people "addicted". Even as a kid, I can remember Archery Day at school being just as exciting as Christmas morning... maybe that was just me. Nevertheless, archery has always been something I cared very passionately about.
Archery is old. Really old. In fact, it's believed that it dates back to 10,000 BC with the Egyptians. As things age, they change. It can be a beautiful thing. Archery has undergone some significant changes, which have culminated in the modern compound bow.
