Whitetail Wizard

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Where An Arrow Or Bullet Goes Is Most Important

Years ago there was an ongoing feud between the legendary Outdoor Life firearms and hunting writer, Jack O�??Connor, and another equally famous gun writer, Elmer Keith.

Keith touted the large heavy-caliber rifles and handguns while O�??Connor cited more moderated rifles like the .270. Jack urged readers to properly sight in their firearms, and to choose a bullet appropriate for the animal being hunted.

Keith, on the other hand, believed in shooting heavy bullets from a mini-cannon. Back and forth they went, and there were many O�??Connor fans then and his influence lives on. Keith wasn�??t a very big man, but he wore a cowboy hat big enough for two people, and he preferred his handguns and rifles to be a part of his �??big-bore�?� theory.

O�??Connor passed away first, and some feel he was trying to make up what he and Keith had lost through constant bickering.  Both were highly capable writers, and although O�??Connor had been a professor, I�??ve read a few raw examples of Keith�??s prose. He knew his firearms and ammo, but many an editor labored long and hard on his words.

The �??big-bore�?� theory that Keith espoused is a bit similar to broadheads with big blades and lots of weight. Some hunters favor broadheads weighing 165 grains or more, and sporting four or five blades.

I tend to follow O�??Connor�??s choice of accuracy and putting the broadhead where it is supposed to go. The larger and heavier arrows and broadheads are more difficult to tune and to fly where they are supposed to go.

Where Keith�??s heavy bullets lumbered along, the same is true with the heavy shafts and broadheads. If it hits something, there will be plenty of damage, but it may not immediately kill the deer.

Conversely, even though I don�??t recall O�??Connon ever writing a story about hunting with a bow, his philosophy stressed accurate placement and a bullet that would do the job. He saw no need for a 300-grain bullet on antelope or deer.

My argument follows somewhat the same lines. The arrow should have a flat trajectory, and the hunter should be able to place the arrow and broadhead in the precise location where it will do the most damage.

Bullets kill through massive tissue and organ damage, and the kinetic energy of a properly constructed bullet striking the animal in the right spot represent a major advantage. However, if the archer places a sharp broadhead through a vital organ, there is very little kinetic energy. I�??ve shot deer with my two-blade broadheads, and have it slice right through and the animal would die where it stood.

Arrows and broadheads kill game by cutting through arteries, capillaries and veins, creating heavy bleeding. If the broadhead cuts through a vital organ, it results in a blood loss that kills quickly.

There isn�??t much difference between Jack O�??Connor�??s philosophy of killing game and mine other than he chose to use a rifle, and most often a .270, while I choose a 100-grade broadhead with two blades.

It�??s not so much the size of the broadhead or the bullet used. What obviously is far more important is shot placement. A deer shot in the rump with a huge bullet or a large broadhead is going to run off.

Hit that same animal in the heart and lungs with a small, medium or large bullet or broadhead, and you�??ll collect the animal. Make a poor hit, and the chances are it will get away.

And, unlike Keith and O�??Connor and their verbal dust-ups, there can be no argument with this philosophy. It�??s not a matter of how big it is as but a matter of accurate shot placement.

Do it right, with bow or rifle, and the animal dies.�??The Whitetail Wizard

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Develop A Pattern For Shooting

The mechanics of shooting a whitetail can be reduced to several important steps. It’s possible to stretch it out to a dozen or more steps, but in reality, the whole process is a fairly simple.

Hunters looking to shoot their first buck or doe this fall with a bow have an exhilarating experience coming up. If they can remember several key facets of the process, and their bow is accurately sighted in and they don’t suffer buck fever or flinch at the shot, the result should be a dead deer.

*Step 1—Know your bow, what it can do, and shoot arrows spined properly for your draw length and weight, and have sharp broadheads. Many factory-made broadheads are not sharp enough. I shoot a two-blade, fixed-blade broadhead, and it is very sharp.

*2—The buck (or doe) walks within bow range, and here you should know your effective accuracy range and never exceed it. Study the deer, decide if it a buck or doe, and if it is a buck, forget about the antlers. Don’t look at them again and concentrate on that area one-third the way up from the bottom of the chest and just behind the front shoulder. Be very careful about choosing your aiming point, and if the opportunity presents itself, wait for the near-side front foot to go forward, which will better open up the path for your arrow to hit in the proper spot and miss the shoulder blade. It’s one reason why many savvy bow hunters prefer a deer that offers a quartering-away shot. P-i-c-k y-o-u-r s-p-o-t!

*3.—When the time is right, and no deer are looking your way, ease your bow back to full draw, and place the sight on the proper spot. Take a deep breath, let it out, allow the sight to settle again on the proper spot, and make a conscious effort to hold your head still during the shot.

*4.—Make absolutely certain your anchor point is locked in. If it is an inch off, you may miss or wound the deer. Achieving your anchor point should be automatic, and it should be the absolute same spot on every shot, whether at a deer or a target. In the imagined rush of shooting, many hunters fail to hit their anchor point. This requires supreme concentration, and the hunter shouldn’t be thinking about anything else except hitting the proper anchor point. Don’t rush a shot. In most cases, you have plenty of time. Rushing a shot often results in a miss.

*5—Develop a prolonged follow-through. Hold your bow arm steady until you see the arrow hit the deer. Do not lower the bow immediately after the shot, and do not raise your head at the time of arrow release to see if you hit the animal. You will either hear or see the arrow enter the deer, and at this point pay extremely close attention to where the arrow hit. Too many people don’t know. Follow the arrow into the deer. If you raise your head at the shot, the arrow will go high and you’ll either miss or wound the animal.

*6.—If you are using a Game Tracker device, you will hear the flutter of the line going out of the canister. That means one of two things: you hit the deer or missed and the deer’s feet are tangled in the line. However, if you pay attention to the point of arrow impact, you’ll know the deer is mortally wounded.

*7.—Listen closely as the deer takes out line and watch the animal as long as possible. Often, it’s possible to hear the running deer breaking branches and the crash as it falls to the ground. All of these things are important to the eventual recovery of the animal.

*8.—Give the animal 10-15 minutes, and unscrew the Game Tracker canister from your bow and leave it laying on the ground. If the deer goes down, the line stops going out, but if the deer gets up it will take out more line. Follow the deer by following the string, and look for blood. Don’t rush things, and follow along the edge of the trail to avoid stepping in the blood. With luck you’ll walk right up to your fallen buck, but never approach a buck from the front. Approach it from the rear, move off to the side and view the eyes. If the eyes are open, the buck is dead.

The entire process should become mechanical. Commit these steps to memory, and follow each step in order. Do it right, and you’ll tag your first whitetail buck. It’s that easy.—The Whitetail Wizard