Table of contents for February/Winter 2022 in Bowhunter

FEBRUARY HAS TO BE the most worthless month on the calendar for a bowhunter. Yes, there is still much to do when it comes to upgrading gear, trying new technologies, or working on shooting form. And, of course, there is research to do on future hunts, deciding which hunts to apply for, and a multitude of other tasks that will help you make the most of your bowhunting life. But what about actually bowhunting in these off months? As you receive this issue in December/January, there will still be some late-season whitetail or Coues’ deer hunting going on, but it’s slim pickings in February. Bowhunting wild hogs in the South is very popular, and our reader surveys have shown that a lot of bowhunters are interested in taking advantage of…

I HAVE BEEN PRONE to having good luck while hunting. It’s a thing, and my buddies often tease me about it. My favorite was when a friend said in an exasperated voice, “I swear, you could shoot an arrow in the air and it would land on a critter!” Even the late, great Editor of this magazine, my dear friend Dwight Schuh, would often say, “Geez, Fred, you’re just so lucky.” He would preface it by saying something like, “I know you hunt hard, but you know what I mean.” Don’t misunderstand me, I have had plenty of misadventures and missed shots, and I’ve gone home empty-handed plenty of times. But, in general, when it comes to hunting, I get lucky a lot — truth be told, I’ve gotten kind…

THE AFTERNOON was half gone when I spotted the deer. He was all alone — an uncommon thing for summertime Sitka blacktail bucks. Most often, they hang in bachelor bunches of two to six. Perfect, I thought, as I sized up the big, velvet-racked 3x3 through my backpacker’s scope. Aside from a split brow tine on the left, his antlers seemed symmetrical and unusually large. I had already glassed and passed up 17 other bucks that morning, including a handful of 3x3s with brow tines. This customer was quite a bit bigger, and he was upwind with no other deer nearby. A perfect stalking opportunity. I hustled off the mountainside, waded a small creek, and tiptoed up the opposite slope. At 200 yards, I dropped my frame pack and eased…

TIME AND THE ELEMENTS always seem to be factors in a late-season hunt, and when I climbed into that western Oklahoma blind several seasons ago, both were burdens weighing heavily on my mind. It had been a long season, and I couldn’t shake the late-November miss I’d experienced a few weeks earlier from this very blind. The buck first appeared at just under 40 yards, and when the string slipped from my release just 10 steps later, I watched helplessly as my arrow clipped the top of the buck’s back. It was the last day of that scheduled hunt, and with a late-season storm now barreling in with just one day left in the season, I needed redemption. Winter wheat is always a good draw with late-season snow, and like…

BOHNING ® CAULDRON™ JIG The Cauldron Jig ($110) fletches three vanes at once to any diameter arrow shaft. No tools are necessary to easily switch inserts for different fletching configurations — straight, 1° left or right offset, 3° left or right helical. Fletch your arrows with the nock on for perfect indexing. Vane height is easy to tweak, and an adjustable pressure ring guarantees solid vane adhesion. Bohning, bohning.com. OUTDOOR EDGE ® 3.5" RAZORWORK™ The 3.5" RazorWork ($34.95) accepts both RazorSafe™ utility blades and RazorSafe™ drop-point blades. Quickly and safely change blades with the push of a button. You’ll like the ergonomic handle and dual thumb studs for one-handed opening. The RazorWork comes with two 3.5" utility blades and one 3.5" drop-point blade — with additional…

HE LAYS STILL, gazing up. The stars appear and disappear through the swirling fog. His illness temporarily forgotten, he attempts to rise. His pain and weakness snap him back to reality — to his new normal — reminding him of his cancer and the frailties of age. He slowly crawls out of his sleeping bag, unsteadily rises, and prepares himself for the coming hunt. He tucks himself and his pack under the lee side of a thick patch of gnarled evergreens clinging to the crest of the ridge. His tiny headlamp illuminates the cloistered space before him as he spreads his gear and then sits amongst it. As he sorts through his well-worn equipment, he goes over his mental checklist. He reminisces over this same chore performed hundreds of times…

THE BASICS of good archery do not change. Simply do it the same way each time, and you’ll achieve perfection. Of course, this is easier said than done. But it really is that simple. For the past 20-plus years, I’ve focused heavily on refining my shooting form, so it’s as repeatable as humanly possible. This incorporated making a bunch of small changes in how I handled the bow during execution, and how I mentally approached the shot. Some of these changes focused on correcting fundamental form flaws (such as using the wrong draw length), while others emphasized an improved shooting feel through the end of the shot. More than anything, I experimented with different bow-hand and release-hand positions, searching for the smoothest, most consistent system. In the end, all these…

WHO WOULD have thought that climate change would be part of the reason Arizona put a ban on trail cameras effective January 1, 2022? Hunters love trail cameras, and I do, too. However, there are certain situations, not found everywhere, where trail cameras reduce “fair chase,” cause hunter conflicts, and may impact wildlife movements. With an extended, record-breaking drought, ponds in Arizona have become vitally important hubs for wildlife coming for water. With that much big game coming to limited water, it’s only natural that those water sources would also be hubs for trail cameras placed by hunters. Are there that many hunters putting cameras on water? In the Fall 2021 issue of “Fair Chase” magazine, there is a photo of one side of a water catchment in Arizona with…

I placed Andy 20 yards to my right and said, “If that bull comes in, let him come as close as possible before drawing and shooting, because you can arrow him a lot easier from five yards than 50.” After bugling and cow-calling, I got the bull riled up and spotted his massive six-point antlers through the trees as he was headed straight for Andy. Seconds later, the bull came charging toward me. As he ran past, I drew and instinctively released, sending my arrow behind his front leg and into his chest. That’s when I saw Andy’s arrow angling forward and buried to the fletching. Moments later, Andy quietly approached. His whole body was trembling and with a quivering voice he stuttered, “I let him come in until he…

WITHOUT A DOUBT, no one has worked harder on behalf of hunters over the last 50 years than the folks at Safari Club International (SCI). And as they prepare to celebrate the organization’s 50th Anniversary, they’re planning something truly special for members who attend the upcoming SCI Convention at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV, Jan. 19-22, 2022. Get ready for busy days and stellar convention nights that will have you laughing, feeling patriotic, and thankful that this uniquely American hunter-conservationist story continues. The grand opening dinner and auction on Wednesday night, Jan. 19, will start with a true, Blue Collar Comedy bang with the legendary Larry the Cable Guy. The multi-platinum-selling and award-winning comedian is still one of the most sought-after acts in the business, and…