Bow Madness

Finally, I have taken up traditional hunting with a compound bow. It took me a while to find a good deal on one, to the point where it cost less than my crossbow. The process was grueling and homework had to be done on each bow and manufacturer. It came down to PSE or Matthews. Considering it was my first compound bow, spilling out my wallet at the store was not very favorable. Matthews makes incredible bows, but you pay for that level of technology and performance. PSE on the other makes great bows too, but they consider the everyday hunter when it comes to your wallet.

Not everyone is a professional hunter, and we have to shell out the cash for our equipment. With that being said, if you set a budget and hunting plan each year, you can account for a bow upgrade or additional hunting trips. If I went with the Matthew's Chill, then at least two of my western PA trips would have to be cut. By going with the PSE Bow Madness, (and the incredible deal I got from Gander Mountain) one of my western PA trips can be extended for a week.

So two years ago, my hunting passion was revitalized. The usual three days of rifle season after Thanksgiving would be part of my season not just my season. Previously, my job had kept me traveling all over the US, making hunting locally nearly impossible. The holiday was about the only thing to keep that tradition after Thanksgiving of going hunting with the family at the farm. Even then, my job beckoned and kept me away from that sometimes. Spending a turkey dinner under a canopy leaden with 30 strangers responding to a train derailment. Never once thought it would happen in my lifetime but it sure made it memorable.

With a corporate change in my career, it set my resting place in one spot finally. Even bought a nice home on top of the hills. Alright, so I still live in suburbian hell for right now. By finally having some roots to call home, and not a hotel room with four walls, two towels, and TV. Actually we have a bunch of towels in the house but always get used before I need one. With my roots set locally, the hunting passion could now flourish again. During my years as a road warrior, it lended a chance to make friends and develop relations with land owners.

I found it to be a great time to follow up on those offers, "you can hunt my land anytime" offers. It wasn't long that my boots were stomping through the woods to check properties. A local hunting spot even bubbled up from a co-worker. At one point, the old PSE, nearly first compound bow that dad had gotten me shoot a couple of arrows at deer. This was evidence though that the deer clearly had the advantage to escape. Being my work schedule was still quite busy, a crossbow was enlisted to help my success rate. It did just that, 10 for 10 in two years. That is 10 deer hit, 10 deer harvested. Those one or two misses can be blamed to buck fever or even human error.

This year though, I planned my schedule accordingly and accounted for time to practice on a compound bow. With a closely monitored budget, I waited and waited, and waited even more. Then one day, the deal of a lifetime came along. If you may remember in an earlier blog, my spending goes as such: On Sale, Clearance, and Free. It works out if you are patient enough. This started by monitoring the online prices of major outdoors stores (Cabelas, BassPro, and Gander Mountain), and the occasional visit to each location near by. We had found ourselves in Virginia for a Christening, and decided to take a short drive to Maryland to check out Gander Mountain.

As new bows for 2013 where being displayed across the back wall, the three, little lonely leftovers from 2012 sat on the end. Hung up like old news, they could only hope that someone would buy them. Honestly, with the price tag on PSE bow sitting there, how didn't anyone else buy it. The bow was marked down below half of the original price. It was steal instead of a deal. And this guy took it home. I am proud owner of a PSE Bow Madness and can enjoy it even more with the money I saved by switching to Geico (just kidding, I am a Nationwide fan).

As you can see below, it even rode on a pillow all the way home.

Hunting...What Drives You?

On the brink of a new dawn, we rethink our preparations, the outcomes, the what ifs, and the big bucks that dance around in our heads. With just over three weeks before arrows can soar and fur can fly, now is the time to hold the line. Practice makes perfect, perfect in a deer hunting world doesn't happen very often though. Deer hunters have to be adaptive, mentally focused, persistent, and forever aware of their surroundings. What starts as a physical game will eventually turn into a mind battle with a mature whitetail.

So why to hunters engage into a challenge like this...? It's not like we really take deer as an enemy and find ourselves running up the steps of the art museum Rocky style. Or finding a local butchery to beat up on  hanging sides of beef. The outdoors offer so much more than perfecting laid concrete steps. When you step into the woods, every step we take is different and the path to the top is forever changing. Watching the forest wake up in the morning and then slowly doze off to sleep in the evening. My local hunting spot does it like a train schedule.

The woods are deathly quiet, pitch dark. With the low hanging canopy of the juniper trees, star light is completely masked out. Only with a full moon overhead is my pathway pre-lit reminding you of movie theatre aisles. Each step taken slowly with the up most care as to not make a noise. Your minds spins in hopes of not cracking a freshly dropped branch. In such a case though, we take advantage of the action. Having your grunt tube at ready and quickly disguising yourself as a deer. A few soft, short grunts and then scratching your feet as if you were making a scrape. After a minute or so the trip continues into the darkness.

The arrival to 'spot' may warrant climbing a tree, slithering into a ground blind, or just sitting down on the forest floor. We lay back and wait for the show to begin. Mine starts with eastern slope becoming back lit with a glow from the rising sun. The first early movements of deer trickling back to their beds for the morning slowly begins. With light still on low, they tip toe through the almost silent vegetation and soft soils. Many of times, they have crept past me, only to find out later on my trail camera as proof.

Next come the squirrels. Down the trees, reporting to their work locations to find food and burying it. Then dig up previously found food and move to bury it once again. Then the crows crack the cool morning air with calls back and forth to one another. At this point, the feature presentation is about to arrive. The pones travel down hill after grazing on Mr McCann's grass and ornamental flowers all night. Then into the juniper forest, halfway to their bedding area with gazing eyes. Just a bit further to their cozy meadow deep in the ravine. With sleep on their mind, they have their nose on high alert.

The antlered kings may have half opened eyes, and ears that have listened to every sound in the night air but their nose never lies. That full belly can almost be laid to rest as they step across my view plane. As mentioned before, the pones or younger deer lead the way with mature doe closely behind. Then, providing the coast is clear, the mature antlered giants arrive. Sleep deprived both the hunter and the deer, the final chess match begins. Will the antlered giant cross my pathway, will he catch a smell of my morning bacon sandwich on my breath, or will he mosey around as if we were never there?

Well this is a perfect morning so far, having the antlers just show up within view is a start. Or to even have fur walk in our direction builds up our blood pressure to near boiling. The excitement fills the air, if only it covered our scent at the same time. Hopefully we have done our homework on this king of the chess game, scouting from afar, scent control in place, wind played in your favor, and your weapon shooting straight and true.

What seems like minutes and hours, ticks passed in only seconds. The crack of the air when the gun shoots or the arrow leaves your bow. Did my shot hit home?...or will the game of shadows continue. The wonder that quickly fills our minds and can flood out a perfect shoot into doubt. Will a painted red carpet be laid out for a prize at the end, we can only hope. Hunting drives us so hard to just lay our hands on our harvest. To some this is our proof of success, but we know it doesn't take antlers on a wall to do so.