Petersen's Bowhunting

Much the same can be said of me as I look ahead to the 2022-23 whitetail season. Stands have been hung, trail cameras have been deployed, food plots have been planted and countless arrows have been launched on the backyard range. In less than two weeks, I’ll be chasing velvet bucks in Kentucky, but for now I’m still making final preparations for what I hope will be a highly successful fall campaign. Of course, it would be great to start fast with an early season Bluegrass buck, but even that would be no assurance I’ll end the season satisfied. After all, there are plenty of NFL teams that win their first three or four games each year, but that doesn’t mean they’ll hoist the Super Bowl trophy. Similarly, I know some…

The Species Barrier Back in 2018, panic broke out amongst some of my fellow wildlife biologists and deer managers as some initial and unpublished — in other words, not yet confirmed or finalized — data were released from a lab in Germany indicating monkeys could be intentionally infected with CWD in a laboratory setting. The Canadian-German research team was asking the elephant in the room question surrounding CWD — whether humans can be infected with the disease after consuming tainted meat from CWD-positive deer, elk, moose or caribou. Up to that point, scientists approached the topic with caution but regularly reported that “it is currently unknown whether CWD poses a risk to human health.” The ultimate question is whether an infectious CWD prion, when consumed, can jump the “species barrier” and cause infection.…

This has to do with the fact that deer don’t feel a need to be cautious in that area and, therefore, they're moving more naturally in daylight. After they detect that a person is (or recently has been) there, they become a lot more careful — and harder to kill. If you take nothing else from this column, at least take away the fact that you have some very important equity in this element of surprise and you should use it carefully. When you make your first hunt is very important; don’t waste the opportunity by hunting a good stand at a time when bucks aren’t likely to be moving. That All-Important First Hunt There are three great times to play your first-hunt cards. The first time is when a cold front is…

However, my favorite time of the rut to hunt big bucks is at the tail end of the season. The post-rut is a bit of a misnomer, as bucks never give up hope of finding one more hot doe before winter settles in and changes everything. Looking at things from a buck’s perspective, the breeding is done over six weeks and the rest of the year often means solitary confinement. The magical time at the end of the rut is a period when a handful of does are still not bred and/or there are late bloomers coming into estrus. It is hard to know exactly how and what deer think, but the drive to complete the circle of life burns in all living creatures. Hunt All Day Based on my experiences, the season’s…

Over the years, Bowtech has invested significant resources in maximizing the energy that is transferred from its cams and limbs to the arrow. This, in turn, results in faster speeds, less vibration and less noise — that positive shooter experience we all want. The SR350’s Binary cams are outfitted with DeadLock Technology, an axle-based adjustment mechanism that allows them to be moved left or right without a bow press. A DeadLock component on the limb tip drives the system left or right, making the tuning process extremely simple. When satisfied with the tune, you simply lock it down and forget it. In addition, the cams feature rotating modules and FlipDisc Technology. Modules can be rotated to adjust the draw length from 25-30 inches, in half-inch increments, and can be flipped between…

CHECK OUT hunting websites, magazines and social media and it seems like big bucks are literally everywhere. Thanks to the growth in hunters managing their land and leases for quality deer, the explosion of large-racked bucks in regions such as the Midwest and world-class outfitters across the country specializing in guided hunts for mature whitetails, it feels like there are more giants falling to stick and string than ever before! If you love big bucks — and who doesn’t? — here are the tales behind five Boone and Crockett-caliber bucks taken by bowhunters in 2021. From a DIY, public-land bowhunter who tied his tag to a 200 incher, to an Indiana resident who harvested one of the largest typicals ever taken in North America, each one is an exceptional story. We hope…