Five More Secrets to Scouting for Deer Before the Season with PSE’s Mark Drury
PSE’s Mark Drury
Editor’s Note: Mark Drury of Saint Peters, Missouri, the founder of M.A.D. Calls, co-owner of Drury Outdoor Productions with his brother Terry and a long-time avid bowhunter also is a member of PSE’s Pro Hunt team. This season Mark will be shooting the new PSE Dream Season EVO.
Secret No. 6: You’ve got to have good glass to scout for bucks. I want to stay at least 400-yards away from the fields that I’m scouting. For this reason, I’ll usually use 10X binoculars when I’m scouting and/or use a spotting scope. Eastern hunters don’t take advantage of spotting scopes nearly as much as western hunters do, and you’ll rarely see an eastern hunter scout with a spotting scope or 10X binoculars. However, remember, the further you stay away from the deer, the less human odor you’ll introduce to your hunting site, and the better your odds are for taking an older-age-class buck. Too, by using quality binoculars and spotting scopes, you can spend more time scouting from your truck, which keeps your human odor in your vehicle. I use a window-mount device for my spotting scope to mount the scope on the window.
Secret No. 7: I’ll begin to move tree stands or set-up new tree stands, as I learn more about the deer from my scouting program. I hang many tree stands on the farm I hunt during January and February, after deer season. Then, during July and August, I go check these tree stands to make sure they’re still safe and secure. I hang new tree stands, so that I will have stands in the location where the deer will be traveling in the beginning of bow season. The two factors that determine the day I will hang a tree stand are weather conditions and time of day. In the summer months, I try to hang my tree stand in the middle of the day when the weather is hottest, and when I’m almost certain rain will come in the afternoon. Because hot weather helps evaporate human odor, and a rain washes it away, I know that my human odor won’t linger long, and the rain will wash away what human odor I do leave. I wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts made of breathable material when I’m going through the woods. I want all of the stands I’m going to hunt from during the upcoming deer season to be in place by the middle of August or the first of September. This way when I start bowhunting in October and November, I’ll have fresh stands to hunt from that don’t have any human odor associated with them.
Secret No. 8: My brother Terry and I have several farms we hunt. Before the season comes in, we try to have 80- to 100-tree stands in place and ready to hunt from on these farms. With that many stand sites, there’s no way we can remember or find all of them. We plot out every tree-stand site with GPS. We log each stand site into the GPS and give each one a name. We also record all of our stand site names, location and every wind direction that the stand can be hunted from on paper. By using this method, we can turn on our computer in the morning and go to www.weather.com to learn what wind direction we will have that day in our area. Then we check our list of stand sites and see which stands we can hunt with a favorable wind. Once we have decided the stand sites we can hunt from, we pick-out the stand where we believe our chances are best for taking a buck that day. Then, we pull that stand site up in our hand-held GPS, go straight to it in the dark, get into the tree and are ready to hunt before daylight.
Secret No. 9: I begin to pick the bucks I want to hunt from the motion-sensor-camera information and from observing the deer in the field. The bucks I’ll try to hunt aren’t always going to be the biggest bucks I see. The secret is determining from the bucks you have identified which bucks appear on the trails the most often during daylight hours. Some bucks have a tendency not to move until after dark. If you attempt to hunt these bucks, you can hunt several days and not see those bucks during daylight hours. However, if you hunt for the bucks that have a tendency to move-down trails and be in the green fields during daylight hours, you drastically increase your odds for taking a buck during the first week of bow season. Once I identify these bucks, I may move some of the cameras and my tree stand to learn all I can about these individual bucks I’ve decided to hunt. Knowing which bucks move during daylight hours gives me a tremendous advantage when hunting season opens. I can learn which bucks move the most during daylight hours by scouting during the summer using binoculars, spotting scopes and motion-sensor cameras without spending much time in the woods and alerting or spooking the deer.
Secret No. 10: I want to find the best spot to take the buck I want to hunt and know where he is living and moving during bow season. If I try to take him over the green field or the agricultural crop, I may spook him and the other deer that are coming to that food source. I’ve learned from my motion-sensor cameras that most bucks will move to water before they’ll go to feed. My brother Terry and I have learned that often the most-productive place to have a tree stand site for older-age-class bucks in the early season is along the trail that the bucks use when they’re going to water.
To learn more about Mark and Terry Drury and Drury Outdoors, visit http://www.druryoutdoors.com/.
For more bowhunting tips, check-out “Bowhunting Deer: The Secrets of the PSE Pros,” a new eBook for Amazon Kindle by John E. Phillips. You also can go to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks and type-in the name of the book to find it. Too, you can download a free Kindle app that enables you to read the book on your iPad, computer or SmartPhone.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Five Secrets to Scouting for Deer Before the Season with PSE’s Mark Drury
PSE’s Mark Drury
Editor’s Note: Mark Drury of Saint Peters, Missouri, the founder of M.A.D. Calls, co-owner of Drury Outdoor Productions with his brother Terry and a long-time avid bowhunter also is a member of PSE’s Pro Hunt team. This season Mark will be shooting the new PSE Dream Season EVO.
Secret No. 1: I plant green fields with Mossy Oak’s BioLogic in areas where I have easy access with my truck to study the green fields, but I don’t plan to hunt them. I plant long narrow strips that are invisible from a public road but very visible from a woods road. During the summer months, the wind direction in our section of the country often is a south wind. I want these long fields to be where I can either walk-in or drive-in and scout these fields with a south wind, so the deer won’t be able to smell me. I plant two different types of green fields. One is what I call an observation field, which allows me to see the deer on the property during the summer months that I have to hunt. The other field is what I call my hidey-holes. I plan to actually take the bucks from these green fields that are planted in or near thick cover. The way you plant your green fields determines whether you’ll be able to scout successfully for deer season or not.
Secret No. 2: I start hunting a buck in July when the buck’s antlers are just beginning to develop. One of the secrets to consistently taking bucks is knowing which green fields bucks are coming to, and which green fields does prefer. I plant BioLogic in the spring, so I’ll have summer green fields where the deer can feed. I go to these fields in July to identify the trails the deer are using to come into those green fields and put RECONYX motion-sensor cameras along these trails to get pictures of the bucks coming to the green fields. Then I know which green fields each buck is utilizing. Trail-monitoring cameras enable a hunter to find big bucks, and to know where they’re moving quickly and easily and what time of the day or night they’re moving and how big the deer are. Even when I’m scouting, I wear camouflage.
Secret No. 3: Deer change their nutritional needs from green fields to soybean fields, as the summer progresses in Missouri, my home state. One of the keys to scouting is noticing when the deer switch their feeding patterns and then moving your motion-sensor cameras to new trails to keep-up with deer movement. When the Missouri deer leave my green fields and go to soybean fields in August, I change my cameras from the green fields and put them on trails leading to soybean fields and other agricultural crops to learn which bucks are going to these fields. For trail cameras to be effective, you have to move the cameras as the deer change food sources. If you do, you can keep-up with the location of the bucks on the property and watch these bucks’ antlers grow and develop. Another advantage to using the trail cameras is that you disturb the area where you plan to hunt very little. All I have to do to scout efficiently is go to the trail camera and change-out the film, which means I have little human impact on the deer.
Secret No. 4: You must know when to go to the cameras. During the summer months, as I’ve said earlier, the deer will move very little. I’ve learned I usually won’t get more than four or five pictures of deer per day on a good trail during July and August. So, I don’t spend nearly as much time in my hunting area getting the pictures. Another big advantage this method of scouting gives me is that I’m scouting every day from 10- or 20-different locations and not leaving any human scent in those regions. I’m not pressuring the deer that I plan to hunt in the fall during the summer months. In addition to wearing camouflage clothing, I usually wear a head net and gloves when visiting my cameras. I want to get to the cameras as quickly and as quietly as possible, leave as little human odor I can and be invisible to the deer.
Secret No. 5: I like to actually see the deer, especially the bucks I’ll be hunting in the fall, besides using the trail-timer camera. But once again, I want to see the buck from a distance and not disturb him by getting too close. I’ve learned from my motion-sensor cameras that the first 10 days of a full moon is when I’ll see the most big bucks coming to a green field late in the afternoon. I’ll take advantage of the deer’s reaction to the phases of the moon during the summer months, just as much as I do during the fall and winter months. I want to see the bucks on the green field to try and determine their personalities and their temperaments. Some bucks will be very bold, while other bucks will be very skittish. Some bucks will walk right out in the middle of a green field, while other bucks will hold on the edge. By being able to study the bucks through binoculars or spotting scopes from a long distance, I can learn the personality of each buck. If you’re going to go to a green field and study the bucks, you’ll want to go to that field when the most bucks will be on it. I’ve learned that not only most of the bucks, but more importantly most of the big bucks that are using a green field will be out in that green field early in the afternoon for 10 days after a full moon.
To learn more about Mark and Terry Drury and Drury Outdoors, visit http://www.druryoutdoors.com/.
For more bowhunting tips, check-out “Bowhunting Deer: The Secrets of the PSE Pros,” a new eBook for Amazon Kindle by John E. Phillips. You also can go to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks and type-in the name of the book to find it. Too, you can download a free Kindle app that enables you to read the book on your iPad, computer or SmartPhone.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Building friendships through bow hunting
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Glassing
It’s a rare event when I want to crawl back into bed on a hunt morning, but today was one of those days. I was just plain tired and the bed felt super comfortable, plus it was 2:00 AM on a Saturday. Fortunately, I snapped out of it quick because while it may have been early, it was time to bow hunt!
Brett and I made it to the trail head at 4:15 Am, which was exactly the time we wanted to arrive. There was a 3/4 moon, so we got to do something I have never done before; hike into our spot by moonlight. Our headlamps remained off on the nearly two mile journey into our destination. We were both happy that the temperature was 46 degrees as that made our hike in much more enjoyable. After dropping Brett off, I made my way to my glassing location, which was a Ridgeland that gave a spectacular view of the valley below. Sunrise wasn’t until 6:30 AM, but the moon was so bright that I was able to start glassing the ridges at 5:45 AM. It was amazing!
Brett glassing a distant hillside for deer
Sharing public land with rifle hunters is something every bow hunter must do. On this particular morning, the rifle hunters were out in full force. Around 7:00 AM, I received a text from Brett that he had spotted some does on a ridge. Quickly picking them out through my binoculars, I waited to see what they would do. As they walked down a trail, all they needed to do was turn right and they would be in bow range for Brett. They had other plans and turned left.
Hunter safety is something I am passionate about in my bow hunting seminars. In the state of California, it is not mandatory for any deer hunter to wear blaze orange. When archery and rifle seasons coincide, I am always wearing some sort of orange to let other hunters know where I am. Forty-five minutes after sunrise, Brett informed me that another hunter was near his location and had no idea he was there. Brett and I were both wearing blaze orange hats and this hunter had absolutely no orange on. I watched as the hunter took the ridge I was glassing from and started to hike it right toward me. I made the decision to stand right up and make sure he noticed me. Not only did I not want to be mistaken for a deer, but I also wanted him to know that I was hunting this ridge. He finally noticed me, turned around and stopped near Brett again. He then noticed Brett, waved and found another position. It was a tense situation because we didn’t want any confrontation nor did we want anyone shooting in our direction.
Deer on the nearby ridge
We glassed and waited patiently for a buck or a doe to walk into range. After two hours of waiting, a shot rang out in one of the canyons. I watched four doe take off from where the shot came from. Anticipating them running up the ridge I was on, I got ready. Like the two does from earlier, they went the other way. Within the next few minutes, we watched as four other hunters met up with the shooter. By his actions, we could tell he had a buck down. Brett made his way over to my location and we glassed the canyons as the hunter’s field dressed their deer. Seeing nothing, we hiked into an adjacent bowl.
We hiked and glassed and hike some more. We ran into more rifle hunters and still had smiles on our faces. Why? We were bow hunting and having a great time being in the great outdoors. As we made our way through drainage I spotted a forkie shed. It was a great reminder on why we were hiking our tails off.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush found Small forkie shed in drainage
The weather was perfect, but the deer were nowhere to be found. We did find another hunter taking a nap under a shaded bush. We chatted with him for a few minutes and then continued hiking. Beside the other hunters, we soon realized we were not the only predators in the forest. Right in the middle of the trail we found these mountain lion tracks that had been made that morning. It gave us an uneasy feeling, but the worst part was the cat had decided to head right into the area we were headed. Now all bets were off as we turned back to find a shaded spot to relax for a couple of hours.
Mountain lion track
The evening hunt was a bust, but on the hike out it was evident that both Brett and I enjoyed the day. Breathing in the fresh air, burning boot rubber, and seeing some beautiful country while bow hunting made it a great day. All in all, we encountered eleven rifle hunters throughout the day. Not a single one of them had a stitch of orange on. I encourage all of you bow hunters to be safe out there and to try to anticipate situations you will encounter. No matter what, have fun and be safe out there!
Albert Quackenbush has been bowhunting for more than 28 years. He shares his adventures on his blog, www.SoCalBowhunter.com, and also writes for Bow Adventures e-magazine. He is a Pro Staff member for DIYbowhunter.com, Piranha Custom Bowstrings and Field Logic. He is a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, California Deer Association, and is a Life Member of the North American Hunting Club.
Albert was born and raised in New York State where he learned to hunt everything from squirrels to whitetail deer. He currently resides in Southern California with his wife and daughter and hunts year round.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Dustin Jones Hunting- A Positive Influence
PSE’s Dustin Jones and Son Fynch
There are numerous reasons why I enjoy bowhunting. I love being outdoors and taking in all that nature has to offer. There is something about walking through the woods with a bow in your hand in search of an animal that cannot be described. For me hunting in general has much deeper meaning.
When I was younger and just starting to hunt, my dad taught me not only about hunting but values that would carry over into my everyday life. There have been countless times when my dad and I would sit and talk about life and what’s on our mind while we would glass the hillside or eat lunch under a big pine tree. I was able to tell my dad anything and know that I had his full attention; well unless we heard an elk bugle off in the distance then we both would get distracted. Some of the greatest memories that I have with my dad are while we have been out hunting.
Keegan and Brock
As a family, we love sharing our passion for the outdoors with those around us. I remember when we started introducing one of my cousins to hunting because he had asked my dad to take him. He was pretty quiet and at times timid but you could tell that he was excited to be out there. As we began teaching him about being persistent, determined, and patient you could tell he was just a sponge soaking it all in. Soon he was breaking out of his shell and being more open with us after several trips.
Keegan and his Ducks and Goose
It didn’t take him long to get hooked. He loves to hunt and has just as strong of a passion for it as we do. He would talk about it and want to go as often as he could, in fact he would hurry home after school and sit in his tree stand for a couple hours before diner. After a while his dad started to show interest in getting back into hunting. He had not been hunting in years but wanted to spend that time with his son. As they started going hunting together, his two younger boys started showing interest in going hunting with him as well. It is great to see them all get out and enjoy hunting together. All I can think about is those times that I spent with my dad out in the woods and think how neat it was to see them do the same.
PSE’s Dusin Jones Father and Weston
The memories that I have with my dad are some that I will never forget. I am grateful for the lessons that I have learned and for the bond that it has formed within our family. Introducing a child to hunting is a rewarding experience and you never know the impact it may have on their lives. As I take my kids hunting I hope to create memories with them that they will never forget.
Dustin was born and raised in Eastern Idaho where he currently resides with his wife and two sons.
Keep your eye out for the #elktour DVD over on huntography.com! Watch PSE’s Emily Anderson and Dustin Jones hunt elk DIY style on our amazing public lands in the Western United States. Huntography also films a deer hunting DVD called #deertour which you will be able to watch PSE’s Will Jenkins hunt whitetails. Huntography…filming America’s hunters, one at a time!
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Whitetail Passion by PSE’s Emily Anderson
By Emily Anderson
http://www.fromthedraw.com/
PSE’s Emily Anderson Midwest Hunt
Hunting whitetails is relatively new to me. My first opportunity to hunt whitetail in the Midwest was last year in 2011. I was thrilled to be able to shoot my first buck ever and came home with a nice little 8 point buck.
Since punching that first archery tag, I can officially say that I have caught the whitetail bug. I now understand the passion for hunting these deer that wander the farmlands, fields and woods in the Midwest. I was skeptical at first since I got my feet wet in the hunting world by learning to hunt in the mountains of Colorado. I was certain that I would be utterly board sitting in a tree stand just waiting for something to walk within bow range. Oh how I was wrong! I am now dreaming and scheming of how to obtain more opportunities to arrow bigger and better deer than I have previously.
PSE’s Emily Anderson Climbing High
There is just something about climbing high up into a tree, knowing that your stand overlooks a field or trail where a scrape has just been visited below. You have a great vantage point for watching the sun creep up over the horizon. You are there before the birds start singing. As the world slowly awakens before you, the soft sweet sound of crunch crunch below signals that a deer is making their way through the woods. There is no stopping it, before even knowing if the sound is produced by a squirrel, doe or shooter buck, the adrenaline begins to pump through your veins.
PSE’s Emily Anderson
The memory is still fresh from the other weekend when I had the opportunity to arrow my second whitetail. The adrenaline has now worked its way through my body, but the recollection is still vivid. As the evening light began to fade and the minutes were counting down to the last shooting opportunity, a buck on the horizon made an appearance. He was a couple hundred yards off and following the scent-line that we had laid down earlier. As my husband, Troy, let out a few grunts and then a rattle sequence, the buck began to close the distance fast. I reached for my bow, releasing it from the tree hook, and prepared to draw back.
PSE’s Emily Anderson Whitetail
As I mentally prepared for the shot, I picked a spot in the landscape where I would draw back if he crossed the line. The buck reached the designated stump and the strings on my PSE EVO were stretched. I now had a view through my peep sight which somehow calmed the previous shaking in my body. It was a rhythm I was used to from all the previous practice. The buck halted to a stop at the sound of one last grunt call. It was all I needed to pick a spot and settle my pin. Thwack! In an instant the broadhead did its job. We watched as the buck sped towards the ditch and never came out. He was piled up at the bottom, and I am proud to be able to say I shot him with my PSE!
Emily Anderson’s hunting journey began shortly after she got married. She enjoys the passions for the outdoors, hunting and fishing as a team with her husband. She established www.FromTheDraw.com as a way to share her stories as a female hunter. Emily lives in Colorado and is currently on an Elk hunt. She is now a PSE Staff Blogger and will be posting daily about her experiences and views on archery and hunting.
Keep your eye out for the #elktour DVD over on huntography.com! Watch PSE’s Emily Anderson and Dustin Jones hunt elk DIY style on our amazing public lands in the Western United States. Huntography also films a deer hunting DVD called #deertour which you will be able to watch PSE’s Will Jenkins hunt whitetails. Huntography…filming America’s hunters, one at a time!
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero Small Game
By Pedro Ampuero
http://www.adventurousbowhunter.com/
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero’s Rabbit
Small game hunting season started a few weeks ago here in Spain. It is one of my favorite times of the year, since I really love to see the dogs in action.
In Spain we can hunt a lot of different species, like quails, red partridge, woodcook, ducks, rabbits, pigeons, etc.. On the other hand, most of them are not made for doing it with bow and arrow.
Probably the most common hunted are rabbits. They are a lot of fun, and it’s a great way for introducing hunters in to archery. At the same time, it is also an outstanding practice for improving you stalking skills and focusing on small targets. I try to stalk rabbits every time I can. For hunting them I would suggest a speed bow that makes little sound on the release, since rabbits can really disappear before the arrow arrives to destination. My final advice, use a judo point or similar to avoid pass troughs, in order to try to recover the game easier.
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero Hunting
Quail is another animal that you can hunt with bow an arrow with the help of a pointing dog. By using a special broadhead composed of wires, we will have lots of fun trying to drop down a small quail from the air with and arrow. Traditional equipment makes it quicker to aim and release the arrow as soon as possible.
Finally, its getting more common between bowhunters to hunt red partridges during the rutting period with the help of a live decoy. The decoy will challenge other males and they will come to fight against it. It is really important to get the birds with the first arrow, since the decoy could lose its confidence and stop calling forever. Beautiful and challenging way of hunting!
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero Hunting Dog
Good luck all in the mountains!
Pedro Ampuero
Pedro Ampuero was raised in Spain, a country full of hunting opportunities in which the hunting season goes year round. He spends many days each year in the field and traveling the world in search of new adventures. You will always find him outdoors scouting, hunting, filming or tracking with his Bavarian bloodhound.
Pedro is a mechanical engineer by trade and a bowhunter by heart. He is the co-founder of the blog AdventurousBowhunter.com and Cazandoconarco.es and has written many articles for the hunting industry and currently collaborates with the most prestigious companies on the industry.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Dustin Jones Practice Techniques
Dustin Jones
http://www.highcountrybowhunter.com/
PSE’s Dustin Jones Practice
We have all heard the saying “practice makes perfect.” While I believe this to be true, I feel like there is more to practice than just practice itself. Shooting your bow often will help strengthen the muscles that are being used as well as building the muscle memory. Now don’t get me wrong, this is all good practice but here are a few ways to become a better archery hunter.
1. Set Up in Different Scenarios
PSE’s Dustin Jones Sister in law
As nice as it would be to always have an animal come in at 20 yards and stand there broadside with nothing between you or them, let’s be honest, it doesn’t always happen. Set Up several different realistic scenarios in which you think you might get a shot. When I am spot and stalk hunting for deer or elk, I need to use the trees, rocks, or sagebrush for cover. I try and recreate some of these situations by setting up my target and actually trying to sneak up on it and draw while trying to stay covered then slowly peek around and place an accurate shot.
2. Shoot How You’ll Hunt
PSE’s Dustin Jones brother Travis Archery Shoot
this is one that I strive to focus a lot of my attention. There are different times of the year that you hunt which requires different clothing. This is why I practice often so as the seasons change, I will know how I shoot with certain layers on. Now building the muscle memory and being consistent in your form won’t change, but you may find that one extra layer could be getting hit by the string as you shoot so you need to add a shooting sleeve over that layer. It will feel different when you have a hunting pack on. There have been plenty of times when hiking in with my pack on I get an opportunity at an animal. By practicing with my pack on I have the confidence knowing I can make that shot.
3. Just Breathe
PSE’s Dustin Jones brother Kevin
Controlling your breathing is the most challenging aspects of hunting. I have troubles controlling my breathing no matter if it is a large bull elk or a whitetail doebut getting a handle on this will help you tremendously when the moment of truth comes. So how do you practice controlling your breathing? That is a really good question. What has worked for me is I sometimes do a light jog just to get my heart rate and breathing up then try to get it under control. Granted it’s not exactly the same but feeling your heart beat faster and breathing rate go up then try and shoot has helped me.
4. 3-D Archery
PSE’s Dustin Jones 3-D Archery Shoot
I enjoy shooting traditional flat face targets, but some of the best practice is shooting 3-D targets. I am a member of my local archery club and they put on several 3-D archery shoots throughout the year prior to hunting season. This is a great way to practice and see where you should be aiming on certain animals indifferent positions. I would highly suggest getting a 3-D target to practice with and set it up in different scenarios.
These are some things that have helped me become a better archery hunter. So yes practice does make perfect, but it matters how you practice. Don’t do it for the sake of practicing. When you are out there, make it worth your time and have fun. I may look funny sneaking through my yard just to shoot a 3-D target, but it sure is a blast!
Dustin was born and raised in Eastern Idaho where he currently resides with his wife and two sons.
Keep your eye out for the #elktour DVD over on huntography.com! Watch PSE’s Emily Anderson and Dustin Jones hunt elk DIY style on our amazing public lands in the Western United States. Huntography also films a deer hunting DVD called #deertour which you will be able to watch PSE’s Will Jenkins hunt whitetails. Huntography…filming America’s hunters, one at a time!
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Will Jenkins is Finding the Time
By Will Jenkins
http://www.thewilltohunt.com/
PSE’s Will Jenkins’ Finding Time- Evening Hunt
With the rut kicking in and holidays on the horizon, we are all scrambling to find time to hunt. This is a challenge for all hunters especially those of us that have kids and busy work schedules. Unless you are blessed with a ridiculous amount of paid vacation or you hunt for a living you must put effort into finding time to hunt.
While an all-day sit during the rut is great if you’re able to sneak out of work an hour or two early and stop by one of your hunting spots with just a couple hours before shooting light ends, do it. While activity is up during the day the bucks are still moving at dusk. They’ll start running around checking doe bedding areas. If you don’t have time to pack in a stand or climb a tree bring a stool or find a stump and just sit on the ground. While tree stands have their advantages when you’re in a hurry. They can be loud and slow you down.
Similarly, if you can get into work a little later you can get some good action right at day break. With day light savings time now, it’s a little harder to get in before it gets dark after woks so sneaking in, in the morning might be the ticket.
PSE’s Will Jenkins Hunting Sunset
For those of you with a spouse and kids, make it a family event. Give your spouse a break and take your kids with you hunting. Even if you don’t make a kill or even see anything you’re still out there introducing your kids to hunting and at the same time hopefully earning some brownie points for giving your spouse a little break.
I killed my first deer a small buck on a quick late morning hunt. It was a Saturday and Dad and I were slow getting up so we didn’t even get into the woods until after 9AM. Within an hour I spotted the buck and about 20 minutes later he was dead. So, I guess the lesson here is, find the time to get out even if it’s only a couple of hours and make it happen! Like so many always say, you can’t kill them from the couch!
Will Jenkins is creator of TheWilltoHunt.com and Harnesses For Hunters. He’s an avid outdoorsman who enjoys sharing his experiences through his blog. He also writes for Bow Adventures e-Magazine and is a member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association.
Keep your eye out for the #elktour DVD over on huntography.com! Watch PSE’s Emily Anderson and Dustin Jones hunt elk DIY style on our amazing public lands in the Western United States. Huntography also films a deer hunting DVD called #deertour which you will be able to watch PSE’s Will Jenkins hunt whitetails. Huntography…filming America’s hunters, one at a time!
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Emily Anderson is Hunting with her husband
By Emily Anderson
http://www.fromthedraw.com/
The Andersons
Okay, Ladies, I’ve mentioned it before that I hunt with my husband. While I am so thankful that we share a hobby, there are definitely pros and cons of having the same bowhunting addiction. I thought it would be fun to put together a brief list of pros and cons. Here is what I came up with…
PROS of hunting with your husband:
1. Spending quality time together in the woods. The sport of hunting has allowed Troy and I to spend countless hours together hiking around in the woods. We’ve been able to share so many memories simply because we have this common interest.
2. Opportunity for communication. Seriously. We’ve had some great conversations related to hunting… planning upcoming trips, ethics of hunting, and simply reminiscing on previous hunts
3. Meat! With two hunters in your household, the potential for never having to buy store bought meat just doubled.
4. Competition. Who doesn’t like a little friendly competition with their spouse? I know I do. There’s always the question of who is going to fill their tag first, or even whose animal tastes better.
PSE’s Emily Anderson Hunting with her Husband
CONS of hunting with your husband:
1. Double punch to the wallet. Your husband’s hobby just became twice as expensive! Say “hello” to two sets of range finders, arrows, camouflage clothes, bows, etc. The list is never ending.
2. Unwanted Coaching. My husband will admit this one. He is pretty tough on me, but I know his intentions are good. When I first started shooting, he critiqued me pretty hard. My form, anchor point, stance, etc., were all subject to review. Honestly, Ladies, I would suggest having a friend or someone at the local archery shop give you pointers when you first start out. I had to and from time-to-time still find myself getting a second opinion from someone other than my husband.
3. Disagreements. There may be times where you have different opinions on where to hunt, or even how often. Communication is key!
4. Vacation Drain. Be prepared to spend all of your vacation time on hunting trips. While I don’t think this necessarily a bad thing, be forewarned that you may start finding yourself investigating what you can hunt even on vacations to tropical locations!
Keep your eye out for the #elktour DVD over on huntography.com! Watch PSE’s Emily Anderson and Dustin Jones hunt elk DIY style on our amazing public lands in the Western United States. Huntography also films a deer hunting DVD called #deertour which you will be able to watch PSE’s Will Jenkins hunt whitetails. Huntography…filming America’s hunters, one at a time!
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’S Albert Quackenbush Teaching Our Children
By Albert Quackenbush
www.SoCalBowhunter.com
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush givng his daughter a lesson in proper hand placement
When my dad taught me how to shoot a bow I felt like I was on top of the world. I was able to take part in something I knew he loved and I got to learn from him. From shooting at straw bales in the backyard to hunting whitetails on the farm, you could almost always find us with a bow in our hands. He was an excellent teacher and to this day is very encouraging when it comes to bow hunting. Now I am in that role of being a father. As parents, my wife and I have the responsibility of guiding our daughter and molding her into the woman she’ll become. We can teach her things together as parents, and we can also share our own individual gifts with her. It goes without saying that what I share most with her, on an individual level, is bow hunting. Just as I won’t hide from anyone who asks me about hunting, I will not hide what I do and love from her. By sharing my side of life she will learn about her dad, but also learn more about herself as she grows.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Showing his daughter a good example of how to shoot
As my dad taught me the ways of the bow, I have begun teaching my daughter, Riley. It’s not only the archery that I share with her though. When I turn on an outdoor television show about bow hunting, I take note of what’s happening and also what my daughter is doing. Explaining what is happening during the shows is easy. She follows right along, but the hard part is making sure she understands it. When an animal is shot with an arrow, I don’t cover her eyes and I don’t tell her they ‘caught’ the animal as I have heard other parents do. This father is sure to tell his daughter that the animal was shot and killed. It died. Stopping there would make no sense and I explain that the person is going to eat the animal or share it with someone else who will eat it. She may not understand it all now, but as time progresses it will all begin to make sense.
On almost any Saturday (hunting season excluded) the early hours usually have a typical storyline. I wake up and make some coffee. Riley wakes up shortly thereafter and we get a few hours to do what we’d like. Her eyes light up when I ask her if she’d like to head down to our garage to play. The great thing about my relationship with my daughter is that even at 3 1/2 she knows that if we are heading out to the garage she can always shoot her bow. For the past couple months, when we get down there she nearly always ask if she can shoot her bow and arrows. As a bow hunter and father, this makes me a very proud papa! Every time she asks my answer is a resounding YES! The bow she is using is just a little shooter with suction cup tipped arrows and I am trying to instill safety in her, so we always shoot outside the house. She doesn’t seem to mind if we are shooting at a piece of cardboard, she just enjoys it! The first few times she wanted my help, but anyone with kids knows they want to do it themselves very quickly.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Daughter Riley wanting to do it herself, nocks another arrow
The thrill I get when Riley walks around the house and mimics shooting a bow is undeniable. She will pretend to draw her bow and tell me she is shooting an elk. (I guess I have been talking a lot about elk hunting lately.) She even asks me about my trips to the archery range, shooting with my friends and if I had fun doing it. Now THAT will make any bow hunting dad proud. It makes my day when I hear her ask me things like that. She listens intently and hopefully will keep a few tips from dear-old dad tucked away for future use.
I want to encourage all of you bow hunters who are also parents to share the details of hunting with your kids. Don’t shelter them and hide the truth of what happens when we hunt. If you are honest with them, they will appreciate what bow hunting is more than you’ll ever know. The phrase has been repeated over and over, but I feel it speaks the truth – bowhunting is my passion. I am not expecting Riley to have that same passion. The only thing I can expect is for her to choose her passion for herself. Whatever she chooses to be her passion, you can bet that her mother and I will support her in every way we can.
Albert Quackenbush has been bowhunting for more than 28 years. He shares his adventures on his blog, www.SoCalBowhunter.com, and also writes for Bow Adventures e-magazine. He is a Pro Staff member for DIYbowhunter.com, Piranha Custom Bowstrings and Field Logic. He is a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, California Deer Association, and is a Life Member of the North American Hunting Club.
Albert was born and raised in New York State where he learned to hunt everything from squirrels to whitetail deer. He currently resides in Southern California with his wife and daughter and hunts year round.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Dustin Jones Documenting the Hunt
PSE’s Dustin Jones Elk Hunt
So recently I was asked to be a part of an elk hunting documentary called Elk Tour. This was a great opportunity to spend three days chasing elk in hopes of putting some meat in the freezer as well as capturing it all on film. I was like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. I had been looking forward to this hunt and was counting down the days.
Day 1
My dad had taken the day before the hunt off and headed up and had set up camp while he patiently waited for my brother and me to meet up there. Once we got there we immediately began to plan what we were going to do the next morning. We finally narrowed it down and went to bed. That next morning we were up and headed out to the top of the ridge in hopes of hearing the elk screaming away. We made the climb and just as we got to the top, we heard a bull bugle off in the distance. My brother and I got all set up and my dad was set up further up the ridge calling. The adrenaline was going and we were all anxious to start seeing some elk. But unfortunately the elk never came into the calls.
PSE’s Dustin Jones Set up and Ready
We then made it around to our trail cameras we had on a water hole that we had found. We check the pictures to see if the elk were coming in for water and from both cameras we could tell that they were coming in occasionally but not as many elk as we would have liked to have seen. But they were coming into the water in the evenings, so we made a decision that I would sit up on the water hole that evening and my dad was going to sit down below near this meadow. As I sat up on the water hole, there was nothing moving. The elk weren’t talking and the night was closing in so I decided to hunt my way back down to where my dad was sitting.
As I came into the opening I could hear my dad cow calling so I made sure I was in the tree line as I slowly made my way closer. Just as I saw him he started waving to me to hurry over to him and pumping his fist; the universal sign of success. As I hurried up to him he told me the whole story. He was sitting there watching the meadow when he saw a cow and what he thought was a spike hot on her trail. The bull was chasing her around and they were moving in closer to where my dad was sitting. Then they made their way into the trees so he hustled down the trail and as he rounded the corner he could hear them walking around. He then spotted the cow through a little opening so he ranged her and she was just over 50 yards. So my dad got ready and just as he was getting ready, the spike busted the cow and there he stood in her place. He was just 10 yards further from where she was and my dad ranged him at 61 yards. He drew back and waited for him to turn just enough to give him a shot. Just as he turned my dad let the arrow fly. The bull was quartering away from him as he shot and my dad saw the arrow hit the bull. He was a little uneasy about the shot but as he explained it to me I thought without a doubt that he wouldn’t have gone very far. Where we were hunting there have been several grizzly bear encounters and even some attacks. So with the evening fast approaching and my dad was uneasy about the shot we backed out for the night.
PSE’s Dustin Jones’ Dad’s Elk
Day 2
The next morning my dad and my brother headed out in search of the elk while my buddy and I tried put another elk on the ground. We got all set up early in the morning at the top of the ridge and it wasn’t too much longer that we started hearing something walking through the brush. We glassed down the hill and saw several elk wandering back and forth so I let out a couple cow calls on my reed to try and draw them up. Then we sat and watched as the small herd zig zagged their way up the ridge our way. I started getting excited and the adrenaline was pumping. I had my arrow knocked and ready to go. My friend looked over and he said that he saw the broadhead just bouncing because of the nerves. They came within 60 yards of us but never offered me a clean shot due to some fallen timber they were behind. The lead cow ended up busting us and then they were gone.
PSE’s Dustin Jones’ Father
We then side hilled up the canyon hoping to get a glimpse at the herd again. Unfortunately we never got another opportunity at that herd. But in our search, we ended up hearing a bull bugle further up the canyon. This was one of the few bulls that were actually vocal so we snuck into position and listened in. You could tell this was a decent herd bull by the way how vocal he was. I let out a few cow calls and he would bugle back at me. I then got him ticked off at me by letting of a young bull bugle in his direction. You could hear him raking trees, scraping the rocks on the ground, and running all over the place. This whole time he was doing this we were just waiting for him to show himself. We sat and listened for a while hoping he would just walk out of the timber and into the open. We then started noticing he was making his way back down the canyon so we tried making a stalk on them from behind. Luck wasn’t on our side this time either.
Dustin Jones’ Dad’s Elk Quarters
We then headed back to meet up with my dad to help pack out his elk. Even though packing out the elk quarters and the meat is always a lot of work, there is nothing better knowing that you have meat in the freezer. That evening we had some fresh elk back straps for dinner next to the campfire. We did go back out hunting that evening and the following morning but we didn’t encounter any elk. It was a great weekend of elk hunting and I was happy to have been able to share that moment with my dad and my brother. Nothing beats coming home with meat in the freezer.
Dustin Jones is a passionate outdoorsman who loves to hunt, especially bowhunt. He created his blog, HighCountryBowhunter.com, to share his experiences with others. He is a Field Staff member for DIYbowhunter.com and Adventure Team member for MINOX Hunting Optics.
Dustin was born and raised in Eastern Idaho where he currently resides with his wife and two sons.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Will Jenkins Reviews the PSE X 5-Arrow Quiver
By Will Jenkins
http://www.thewilltohunt.com/
PSE’s Will Jenkins Quiver
I seem to get a different quiver every year. I started with an Alpine 5-Arrow quiver, but it was loud. I moved to the G5 Mag-Loc Quiver, while I like the magnet design sometimes it was a little too strong and the hood was too large. Now I’ve got the PSE X 5-Arrow Quiver, and can say that this will be on my bow for years to come.
First off, it’s a two piece design which I absolutely love because of the versatility. Depending on what I’m packing in my quiver is either attached to my bow or the side of my pack. To clip to the bow it easily rotates into place and is held in place rock solid. It has a low profile that makes it attach nicely to the bow and not put too much weight out away from the riser. Once in stand I either take it off my bow and attach it to my pack or hang it from a hook. The quiver has a metal loop in the design at the top that makes it very easy to hang up on the side of the tree, stand or pack.
PSE’s Will Jenkins X 5-Arrow Quiver
I’ve used fixed blade and mechanical broad heads this season and both fit nicely in to the foam inside the hood. As with any quiver or anytime I knock an arrow with a mechanical broad head I check to make sure they didn’t move or partially open in transport. The design of the bottom of the quiver does a good job of holding the arrows tightly without making loud popping sounds when placing arrows in the quiver or removing them.
PSE’s Will Jenkins Reviews the PSE X 5-Arrow Quiver
Overall, I’m more than satisfied with both the look and performance of this quiver. It easily accommodates multiple arrows sizes as well as both mechanical and fixed broad heads. At retail price of $99 it’s not the cheapest on the market but it’s a solid quiver that will last a long time and look great on your bow.
Will Jenkins is creator of TheWilltoHunt.com and Harnesses For Hunters. He’s an avid outdoorsman who enjoys sharing his experiences through his blog. He also writes for Bow Adventures e-Magazine and is a member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association.
Will lives in Central Virginia with his wife and two kids. He hunts in Virginia and Maryland but has dreams of heading west to hunt Elk and Mule Deer.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
“Ain’t Nothin’ Too Tall” by PSE’s Jared Bloomgren
By Jared Bloomgren
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren A Great Find
Since my last post was about my favorite place to hunt; the mountains, let’s document a 14 day hunt that took place near and above 10,000 feet. This is a quick day by day account of a backcountry hunt.
Day 1-4: Strictly these days were in order to hike into the area and set up a camp at high elevation above the tree line and to spend 3 days scouting before the archery season was to open. A very dear friend of mine was along to film this hunt with me. We were able to find a huge non-typical mule buck that would make anybody’s jaw drop and plans began to get set in place as to how to close the distance on this monster in the days to come!
Day 5-6: Found numerous shooter bucks in the area while paying particular attention the huge non-typical that would easily score over the 200” mark. There were no stalking situations that presented themselves and the buck was missing for most of this time.
Day 7: A failed attempt to get in front of the huge non-typical quickly made my mind up to wait for him to come back out of the dark timber in the evening. We were perched in a small saddle with cover awaiting the bucks to head back over the top and into the basin to feed and drink for the night. My camera man failed to pay attention as the huge non-typical and numerous other bucks closed the distance. I had to watch as the huge buck disappeared out of my life forever. They keyed in on him messing with his camera rather than preparing for laying down some amazing footage! Aaaahhhhhh…..
Day 8: Trying hard to not kick my buddy off the mountain for messing up a deer of a lifetime opportunity for me all while watching another buck that I had become to know well as he fed on the same ridge almost every morning. Found numerous other bucks but nothing of his caliber.
Day 9: Watched again as the same buck fed on a very distant ridge. I decided to name this buck “Too Tall” as the ridge he was on was too far away and very tall as well as him having a very tall rack with huge backs. It seemed like I would never make the attempt to go after this buck even as predictable as he was because of the terrain and the effort needed to make it happen!
Day 10: A failed stalk on a different buck had me walking nearly vertical to reach the top of the mountain where I set off from. Here is where the burning lungs and aching legs really came into play! I tried not to think about the buck on the distant ridge but my mind kept coming back to him and if I wanted to go after him or not.
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren Bivy Camp Out
Day 11: Watched again as the buck I nicknamed “Too Tall” fed on the same ridge in the morning and evening but his location was a good half a day hike away or better in bear country. Attempted a stalk on a nice buck but was unable to complete the stalk because of misjudged terrain.
Day 12: After finally coming to terms with myself that the huge non typical was not going to show himself before I had to leave the mountain I decided to make the long move to try and kill that big typical buck I nicknamed “Too Tall.” All while still trying not to kick my buddy off the mountain for what happened on day 7! We set out on a long journey that would have us camped out below where we had seen the buck numerous times.
Day 13: After a restless night sleeping on a steep slope in a bivy set-up with a potential grizzly close by that was encountered in the dark the previous night; I was awakened from frost falling off of my sleeping bag onto my neck. A short hike in the darkness had me overlooking the ridge that was very distant the previous 12 days. The buck was nowhere in sight. After pressing on farther we finally located the buck higher on the open ridge now with two other bucks. I was able to complete that stalk on camera with boots off, above 10,000 feet, and put an arrow through both lungs of “Too Tall” at 23 yards! That is what dreams are made of!! Finding a bloody arrow after making a great shot is like finding gold! The rest of the day was spent deboning, caping and packing the buck off the mountain and back to the truck; all while barely surviving the worst lightning and thunderstorm ever! The hail never seemed to stop either! Never had lightening that close before! I could feel the electricity in my hair! Getting back to the truck late, soaked and chilled to the bone, blistered feet, hungry and tired but replaying the shot in my head made it all fade away……
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren “Too Tall”
Day 14: Awoke at the trail head with the thought of having to go back in to break down camp wasn’t very excitable. My body was abused and sore but I pushed that to the side…….I wondered if everything would just stay there for next year’s hunt?! Figured that wouldn’t be a good idea and set back in after getting the meat on ice. Once reaching camp we spent the rest of the day recouping and eating plenty to help lessen the weight on our backs for the final trip out for the year. Not so sure that was a good idea later on!
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren Packing Out To Tall
Day 15: Packed camp off the mountain and headed for home with many memories to cherish and a buck that scored over 180”! Although my buddy and I are still very close to this day….I have not let him forget the buck of a lifetime that should have been on my wall! 
Jared “J-Rod” Bloomgren is a hardcore Do-It-Yourself bowhunter who strives to better himself each year in the outdoor community. As a professional hunter, freelance writer and photographer, he likes to relive his outdoor adventures through written expression and photography making the reader feel as if they were along on the hunt. He attributes much of his success to the vital education he has learned from the various big game animals that he hunts. He is quoted as saying, “In each and every hunt, success or defeat, I learn something from every outing and that I can put in my arsenal of knowledge to use at a later date, a later date that will again put my wits against that of my prey.”
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Emily Anderson Prepares Hunting Camp Meals
By Emily Anderson
http://www.fromthedraw.com/
PSE’s Emily Anderson
In my last post, I talked about preparing your body and gear prior to a hunt. In this post I’d like to talk a little bit about food. Who doesn’t like to talk about food, right?One of the last things I do prior to a hunt is prepare all the food for the trip. I like to do as much food prep ahead of time which makes meal time upon returning to base camp after a hunt easy. I don’t want to be fussing with putting something together after I’ve come back from a long hike, it’s dark and I’m tired. Therefore, I do a lot of thinking and planning ahead of time to make sure that my meals are ready to go and all I need to do is heat them up. I usually prepare them a couple days prior to our hunt and then freeze them solid so they are good to pull out of the cooler whenever we want a meal during our hunting week. (Hint: Use a disposable casserole pan so there are no dishes to be done either)
Here are some meal ideas that I return to year after year because they are non-fuss, plus my hunting friends threaten to harm me if I don’t show up at camp with…
ELK LASAGNA
Cook lasagna noodles (el dente)
Prepare sauce – brown 1 lb. ground meat (elk or whatever game meat is in your freezer). Sauté in with the meat, two minced cloves of garlic. Add one can tomato sauce and one can diced tomatoes. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oregano or Italian seasoning. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Build lasagna – butter the bottom of the pan, and then layer with noodles, then mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, meat sauce and parmesan cheese. Continue with layers, ending with meat and parmesan cheese until pan is full. Cover with tin foil and freeze.
CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
Cook several chicken breasts, shred and mix in taco seasoning. Prepare a box or two of Spanish rice. Butter the bottom of a 9×13 disposable pan. Build enchiladas with the following ingredients… Black beans, taco chicken, cheese, rice, Pico de Gallo sauce. Roll each enchilada tightly. (I usually fit 6-8 in a pan depending on how big I make them). Cover the top of the enchiladas with a can of cream of chicken soup (Helps to keep them from drying out), and a layer of shredded cheese. Cover and freeze.
PSE’s Emily Anderson Camp Fire
Both of these meals can be heated up either on a grill or oven in a camper (if you have one).
I have lots more hunting meal ideas, so stay tuned for future posts!
Emily Anderson’s hunting journey began shortly after she got married. She enjoys the passions for the outdoors, hunting and fishing as a team with her husband. She established www.FromTheDraw.com as a way to share her stories as a female hunter. Emily lives in Colorado and is currently on an Elk hunt. She is now a PSE Staff Blogger and will be posting daily about her experiences and views on archery and hunting.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Back up Bow by Pedro Ampuero
By Pedro Ampuero
AdventurousBowhunter.com
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero Back Up Bow
We all travel a lot of miles to get to our hunting areas, sometimes by car, train or plane. The hunt is only a few days and all the equipment must work perfect.
To avoid any problem in the hunts, the most important thing is to take care of the bow and bring it in all hunts in the best conditions as possible. Try to have a reliable bow and accessories, you don’t want a sight getting loose, or bow strings stretching with temperature changes. Always take equipment you are confident with, and that you have tested before, hunts are not for trying new things.
Although you do your best to have all your equipment perfect, things always happen in the most unwanted moment, and we can have hundred kinds of things going wrong in the bow. My bow fell down a tree and broke a limb with one of my steel tree steps. I had to throw my bow down the mountain to save my life on a steep area hunting for ibex. All the brush from the Cameroon rain forest moved my peep sight. I have broke sights, rests, releases… Lot of things!
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero Hunting Gear
Years ago I use to take all the required equipment to solve any problem on my bow I could have. I had a portable bow press and was ready to change strings and cables, also brought spare sights, rests, etc.. This could save your hunt! Although it took a lot of time to solve a major problem on your bow, and all that time you could be hunting. Apart from that, is hard to get the bow as good as you would like. You need to sight again your sight, adjust the rest, etc.. When you are in the middle of the mountains it is hard to do things properly.
For all these reason, I am taking always with me in all my hunts a back up bow. The backup bow is exactly the same rig as the hunting bow, that way I have also a spare part of anything, from sight, rest, bolts,.. At the same time, I am using the exactly same arrows for both, which save extra space. This bow is perfectly set, and I could change one bow with the other and be hunting without even notice. I can distinguish them because they are different camo, that’s it.
What do you do, bring a back up bow or the equipment necessary to solve any problem?
Good luck in the mountains, be safe,
Pedro Ampuero
Pedro is a mechanical engineer by trade and a bowhunter by heart. He is the co-founder of the blog AdventurousBowhunter.com and Cazandoconarco.es and has written many articles for the hunting industry and currently collaborates with the most prestigious companies on the industry.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Preparing for a Southern California Hunt
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Glassing is a key to SoCal hunting Success
From grammar school through college I was a doodler. On every sheet of paper or napkin you’d find some sort of doodle showing what I was thinking about that day. Nowadays, doodles can be found in the way of biologist phone numbers, road names, and illustrations of what I have seen in certain areas. Similar to that, when I plan for a Southern California hunt, I am constantly taking notes in many different forms. Planning for a hunt out here is very much like school – you have to do your homework to be successful. I get emails and blog questions asking me where to go and how to find animals to hunt, but that’s just the surface work.
The number one question I get asked is how do I find a place to hunt in Southern California? Homework and a positive attitude are two things you must do and have to hunt the areas here. You also have to have the courage to hike to new locations, glass and burn boot rubber. If driving is a factor in your decision, keep this in mind; most areas to hunt are anywhere from a half hour drive to a 3 hour drive – one way! There are many factors that I have to consider when planning for a hunt. I will share some of them here.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Utilizing Maps
Maps and Boundaries
Maps can be a hunter’s best friend, so I scour maps all year; online and paper topos. My hunt preparation, no matter where I am going always includes maps. I usually start reviewing area in Google Earth because it’s easy to mark locations, east to share with your hunting buddies, and it’s free. I like topographic maps because I can review the terrain and more importantly locate water sources. Whether it’s a map printed off the internet or a topo, I always have a map of the location I am going with places highlighted to check out.
Forums and Other Hunters
Online forums and other hunters are a great source of information. Most hunters like to brag a little when it comes to finding a good spot, or animal, to hunt. When I first started out hunting in SoCal this is exactly what I did. I gathered as much Intel online that I could. I processed it, asked questions and verified that the areas where I wanted to scout were public land, legal to hunt and had a chance for finding animals. This is also a great way to meet other hunters who are looking for hunting partners or have land they are willing to allow you to hunt. Now don’t get your hopes up there, but it IS possible. With some browsing, phone calls and asking questions you CAN find private land to hunt that won’t cost you anything but a tank of gas to get there and back. It just takes perseverance and some work.\Trail Cameras and Scouting
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Trail Camera
An often daunting task is to find the deer on public land. Trail cameras and scouting are the very best ways of finding a shooter deer. The logical thing is to combine the two. Bring a trail camera or two when you go scouting and if you plan to set up some trail cams bring out your optics and glass. One of the challenges here is that your cameras will mostly be going on public land. Putting your cameras on public land will give you some great information, but the cameras seem to be a big target for thieves. Use common sense and don’t put them in easy to find places. Take the time to hide it, lock it up and take it down when you have the information you need.
Check Over Your Gear
Often overlooked is the shape of your gear, namely your bow, arrows, release and any electronics. I can tell you that having your gear fail on you will make your heart sink. I have had the misfortune of having a release seize up due to the dry, sandy conditions of the high desert and I have had my trigger fall right of my release while hunting. Fortunately, I have a backup release with me at all times, but that isn’t always true with a bow. I don’t always take a backup bow with me, so it’s a priority to go over it carefully and make sure it’s lubed, string is waxed, screws are tightened, and everything is in place.
Packing In and Packing Out
Lists can be a downfall for some people, but I thrive on making lists and planning. I like to be sure I have everything I am going to need for a hunt and that I haven’t left anything behind. I have been on a few hunts out here now and don’t make a list every time I go, but I have a good idea of what I will need. A few nights before a planned hunt, I will lay everything out and make certain it’s in the right place. It could be in my pack or in a tote to go in the truck, but it’s there. If I have to purchase something at the store I will know it long before the day of the hunt. Don’t wait until the last minute and realize you forgot an important piece of the puzzle.
Setting a Safety Net
An important feature I have added to my hunts is a safety net. Not a safety net in the literal sense, but I a plan in case something goes wrong or if someone needs to find me. I start by making sure to give my wife has a map of the area I am hunting. On that map I mark up the roads or trailheads we’ll be parking at and where we plan on hunting. I give here the directions I am taking to get there. If I am going hunting with my hunting partners, I am sure to give her their names, cell phones and email addresses should she not hear from me. I also give her times I will be going in and coming out. One feature that I must add to my plan is the local hospitals and their phone numbers. Hopefully she’ll never need to call, but in case she does it’ll be readily available.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Six miles off the main road
There are many different ways to plan a hunt in Southern California. Every person has a certain approach to the way they plan out a hunt and each time may be slightly different. Even mine gets adjusted from time to time. It all depends on the person and the hunt itself. No matter what, have fun in the preparation and planning. The anticipation that builds through the planning of a hunt can be almost as good as the hunt itself. Almost.
Albert Quackenbush has been bowhunting for more than 28 years. He shares his adventures on his blog, SoCalBowhunter.com, and also writes for Bow Adventures e-magazine. He is a Pro Staff member for DIYbowhunter.com, Piranha Custom Bowstrings and Field Logic. He is a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, California Deer Association, and is a Life Member of the North American Hunting Club.
Albert was born and raised in New York State where he learned to hunt everything from squirrels to whitetail deer. He currently resides in Southern California with his wife and daughter and hunts year round.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Dustin Jones What to take with you on a Hunt.
By Dustin Jones
http://www.highcountrybowhunter.com/
PSE’s Dustin Jones Adjusting Sight
There are so many different situations and different types of hunts that will require you to pack different things. With that being said, there are some things that I always pack with me regardless if it is just a morning hunt or a 5 day backcountry hunt; things that I feel are important to pack with me.
PSE’s Dustin Jones Hydration Bladder & Filter
The first one that I always pack is water. No matter what type of hunting I am doing, I try to make sure I have plenty of drinking water. Shorter trips are easier to pack water for but for those longer trips I make sure to have a water filtration system with me. The water bladder I use has an inline water filter which allows me to fill it with stream water and ensures I have clean drinking water whenever.
I always take my camera with me as well. I don’t pack a bulky DSLR camera but a high quality compact camera can be found in my pack. Once you arrow that animal of a lifetime you’ll want to snap some great photos of the animal in the field. Also I enjoy taking pictures of the scenery. One of the best things about hunting is seeing nature at its finest. Enjoying those moments and being able to share them with family and friends or just hold onto them for you yourself is why I carry a camera with me.
PSE’s Dustin Jones Bow Tool
Probably one of the most important things I have in my pack is a multi-tool to work on my bow. I carry it because you never know what can happen while you are out there. You may find a screw has come loose, or you notice something is off just enough to throw you off and you need to fix it. Packing a multi-tool will help save you from ending a hunt early.
Also knowing that whatever can happen may happen while hunting; I am sure to have a first aid kit. I’m not talking about a large, bulky kit that takes a lot of space but something small that has Band-Aids, gauze, tweezers, tape, and medications for pain as well as allergies. I personally pack duct tape because it has multiple uses and sticks very well to just about anything.
PSE’s Dustin Jones Using Hydration Bladder To Cook
A GPS unit is helpful for either style of hunting. Whether it is a short morning hunt or a 5 day trip, the GPS can help you in multiple ways. You will be able to navigate your way around so you don’t get lost but also with a GPS you will be able to mark certain spots so you can return to them later on which is extremely helpful when tracking an animal. A lot of times while I’m out hunting I stumble upon a water hole or some new bedding areas that look very well used and promising that I would like to come back to. By marking them I will be able to return to them later on to give them a try.
These are some of the necessities that I pack with me on all of my hunts which I have found to be very useful. I don’t want to weigh my pack down on either type of hunt but I find these to be some of the most common things I pack with me.
Dustin was born and raised in Eastern Idaho where he currently resides with his wife and two sons.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Will Jenkins – Where to place your trail cams
By Will Jenkins
http://www.thewilltohunt.com/
Move Your Cameras!
If you’re a deer hunter and you have a trail camera, you need to go put them over a scrape. Scrapes are popping up everywhere and being visited by bucks every night and soon during the day. Rubs are starting to show up as well as bucks are starting to get even more fired up for the rut.
PSE’s Will Jenkins Camera
Putting a trail camera over a scrape can do a lot in the way of helping you understand the buck activity on your property. As you can see from the pictures and video in this post all of the activity shown was within one week over one scrape! At one point I had 4 bucks hit the same scrape in one night. While you can’t hunt at night you can gain a lot of knowledge about those bucks and their habits. Simply by focusing on which direction the bucks tend to come from and considering the terrain in that direction you can get a good idea of where that deer is bedding during the day, feeding at night and what his main travel routes are.
PSE’s Will Jenkins Move Camera
All of these are key bits of information that can help you tag a great buck this season. If you don’t have a trail camera go get one, even a cheap one, and set it up over a scrape. Monitoring the deer activity in your area when you aren’t hunting can be really exciting and rewarding.
PSE’s Will Jenkins Trail Camera
Will Jenkins is creator of TheWilltoHunt.com and Harnesses For Hunters. He’s an avid outdoorsman who enjoys sharing his experiences through his blog. He also writes for Bow Adventures e-Magazine and is a member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association.
Will lives in Central Virginia with his wife and two kids. He hunts in Virginia and Maryland but has dreams of heading west to hunt Elk and Mule Deer.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren Favorite Places to Hunt
By Jared Bloomgren
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren Above 10,000 Ft.
I have been “blessed” to hunt numerous places over the years that range quite a bit in terrain. The arid dryness of the desert overseas, to the flat or rolling hills and open terrain of the prairie, to the dry, rugged badlands, to the rough, rugged, high elevation and unforgiving terrain of the mountains. I think three of the four are perfect, especially the farther I get away from the road hunters and trail systems. The hunting will just get better for me the farther I press on but often times harder as well but will always make it more rewarding in the end.
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren Ridge 11,000 Ft.
So where is my most favorite place to hunt? That can be a hard choice depending on my mood and what I am hunting but I continually find myself drawn to the rough, rugged, high elevation and unforgiving terrain of the mountains. It makes my lungs burn, my legs ache, my head pound because of loss of oxygen and the added thin air, but most of all it makes me feel like a true do it yourself hunter. There are fewer crowds of hunters in these areas and far more less chances of hearing that four wheeler bombing close to your set-up. But with that being said there are also a heck of a lot more dangers from the unknown elements that could be dealt to you at any given time. The wildlife in this area often times could make you out for lunch if they wanted. Not much you could do about it if they decided to either! Hunting in the mountains many miles from any road or trail system can really make you realize how insignificant you really are on this planet. You really are not at the top of the food chain if you stop and think about it. Other things that are very appealing about the high country or back-country is how close you feel you are to the stars. If you have never been above 12,000 feet on a mountain in total darkness with no wind you wouldn’t realize that you can almost touch some of those stars! And the number of stars there are…..oooooh myyyyyyyyyy GOD! Absolutely beautiful!
Jared Bloomgren Glassing from my mountain top perch
I like to hunt in places where there is solitude, places that offer such views that are absolutely breathe taking. These areas are often not trekked upon by most hunters because of the strenuous work it takes to get there. Coming home 25 pounds lighter after a 2 week back-country hunt is one heck of a diet as well! Not because I was malnourished, but because I worked my butt off! It is hunts like this that are very rewarding. The harder I work on a hunt, the more rewarding it is! So bring on the mountains every time!
Jared “J-Rod” Bloomgren is a hardcore Do-It-Yourself bowhunter who strives to better himself each year in the outdoor community. As a professional hunter, freelance writer and photographer, he likes to relive his outdoor adventures through written expression and photography making the reader feel as if they were along on the hunt. He attributes much of his success to the vital education he has learned from the various big game animals that he hunts. He is quoted as saying, “In each and every hunt, success or defeat, I learn something from every outing and that I can put in my arsenal of knowledge to use at a later date, a later date that will again put my wits against that of my prey.”
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Dustin Jones How to Start out in Bowhunting
By Dustin Jones
HighCountryBowhunter.com
PSE’s Dustin Jones- Evo
When you are just starting to get into bowhunting, it can be a little overwhelming. But the key is not to let that get the best of you. I have introduced several friends of mine into bowhunting and they have loved every minute of it.
The most obvious piece of equipment that you will need is a bow. The best thing you can do is find one that fits you and that you are comfortable shooting. When you are first starting out, there are great ready to shoot bow packages that include the bow, sight, quiver, and rest which helps relieve some of the stress about choosing the right set of accessories for your bow.
Once you have picked out a bow that is the time to start practicing. Get very familiar with your bow and practice often. The most important thing to remember about practicing is make sure you are putting in the effort when you do. Don’t just practice for the sake of practicing. When you shoot your bow, make sure you are consistent in your shooting motion to reduce making mistakes while hunting.
PSE’s Dustin Jones Bow
The most important thing you should do is learn the regulations for the state that you are hunting. Know what paperwork must be done. Take your bowhunters education course to become familiar the rules. It is important to know the laws as well as understanding the unit boundaries. I know where I hunt here locally; in certain units I can only hunt whitetails while in others I can hunt both mule deer and whitetail. Later in the season on one side of the road you can hunt with a rifle while the other side of the road is archery only. So paying attention to the rules and regulations is very important to save you from having expensive fines and suspension of your hunting license.
Lastly, have fun. There will be a learning curve but go out there and just relax. You may not get an animal your first year out hunting, but enjoy the fact that you are out there hunting. As you are just getting started you will make mistakes, but as you continue practicing and getting out hunting you will learn how to minimize them. You will learn what works and what doesn’t work while hunting and having those close encounters and failed attempts. Who knows, maybe you’ll get out there for your first hunt and arrow a monster!
Dustin Jones is a passionate outdoorsman who loves to hunt, especially bowhunt. He created his blog, HighCountryBowhunter.com, to share his experiences with others. He is a Field Staff member for DIYbowhunter.com and Adventure Team member for MINOX Hunting Optics.
Dustin was born and raised in Eastern Idaho where he currently resides with his wife and two sons.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren Advantages & Disadvantages of fixed or mechanical broadheads
By Jared Bloomgren
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren Wac’em Triton
Each and every year there are new and “improved” broadheads hitting the market that are supposed to be sharper, stronger, and more accurate than previous models. Many archers go through various broadhead brands and types almost like toilet paper in the neighborhood out-house after a chili feed! I am much different and have found a head that flat out gets it done for me and has numerous years now without letting me down. Of course it is a replaceable blade head and I choose to stick with this style of head for various reasons.
Which is better, fixed/replaceable blade or mechanical heads? This is a question that can get as heated as any political campaign out there when brought up at the wrong time at a pro shop or hunting camp. The argument will go on and on for decades to come I am sure. Or until exploding tips are legal to use…..who knows! Keep in mind that the following is merely opinion and facts based on my own trials with various heads in today’s market. This is a topic that will either earn me some fans or will turn some away. At any rate let’s get to it…..
Let’s look at advantages of both: Like stated previously, I prefer a replaceable blade head for many reasons. The advantages include but are not limited to: strength, replaceable blades to maintain a sharp cutting surface, better penetration, and more confidence in the equipment that I use. The advantages of a mechanical head are improved accuracy with field tip flight characteristics, less wind drag, many now have replaceable blades, bigger cutting diameter, and the sharp blades are often not exposed while not in use thus increasing safety.
PSE’s Jared Bloomgren Wac’em Triton XL
Now disadvantages: Replaceable or fixed blade heads often times will not fly as true as a field tip, the blades can cause the arrow to guide off path from a field tip. Mechanical heads have many more disadvantages. Keep in mind this is from my own trials and experiments! In my opinion a mechanical head will rob you of momentum and kinetic energy in order to get those blades to open. This is actually a fact, not just my opinion. Not a big deal to many considering they are way up in the numbers when it comes to KE and momentum. I also think that mechanical heads perform best when given the perfect scenario such as a perfect quartering shot. Why is that? Because no matter what mechanical head you look at on the market, it will cause an arrow to lose some energy when that arrow strikes a surface at an angle. The arrow does not want to continue in a straight line, it wants to kick to the side to open those blades. This causes a loss of energy. When I am shooting at an animal I want extreme confidence in my broadheads. Some states do not allow mechanical heads for elk. I want to use the same head for all my game!
Many believe that a replaceable or fixed blade head will never fly like a field tip. Well I would like to invite you over someday and I will shoot a field tip and any one of my broadheads side by side at yardages out to 120 yards or better to prove my point that it is indeed possible. With a well tuned bow and accessories and the correct spine arrow many (but not all) of this type of heads will fly like field tips. That is why I will always choose a replaceable or fixed blade any day over a mechanical.
To each their own. There are some very reliable mechanical heads on the market. At this time I am not 100% sold on them and will continue to shoot what I have most confidence in. My tried and true replaceable blade heads.
Jared “J-Rod” Bloomgren is a hardcore Do-It-Yourself bowhunter who strives to better himself each year in the outdoor community. As a professional hunter, freelance writer and photographer, he likes to relive his outdoor adventures through written expression and photography making the reader feel as if they were along on the hunt. He attributes much of his success to the vital education he has learned from the various big game animals that he hunts. He is quoted as saying, “In each and every hunt, success or defeat, I learn something from every outing and that I can put in my arsenal of knowledge to use at a later date, a later date that will again put my wits against that of my prey.”
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Emily Anderson Preparing For Your Hunt
By Emily Anderson
http://www.fromthedraw.com
PSE’s Emily Anderson on a Hunt
Prior to a hunt, there is always plenty of planning to do. While some are managing land, planting food plots and setting up tree stands, my hunts typically take place on public land in the mountains. Therefore, I can’t speak towards the former type of hunt preparation. However, I can tell you about the latter and how we plan for our hunts out west.
In my opinion, the first thing to do if planning a hunt in the mountains is to make sure you are physically prepared. While I don’t think it is absolutely necessary to be able to run marathons, but anything you do to increase your lung capacity and strength will definitely help, especially if you are not used to the altitude. Plus, ladies, it is always fun to be able to out hike the guys!
PSE’s Emily Anderson Hunting Necessities
Second, make sure that you have all the gear needed. Start making lists! If you are planning a backcountry hunt where you pack in all your gear on your back or on horses, it is extremely important to make sure you have all you need. And then, pack your backpack ahead of time. However, if you are bringing a camper that changes things a bit. When hunting elk, we typically bring everything including the kitchen sink if we our hunting out of a camper… including the grill, which makes it nice for grilling fresh backstraps! I still carry around a backpack each day, even though we have camper for sleeping in each night. This allows us to easily stay out all day if necessary.
Here is a breakdown of what is included in my pack on elk hunts. I don’t think there is much difference for girls and guys in what is included, but you be the judge…
Backpack contents for day trips (usually elk hunting):
1. Heat packs
2. Snacks
3. Elk pee (scent wafers) & safety pin to hang on a tree
4. Extra layer of clothes – usually long johns and extra t-shirt for pack out trips
5. Matches
6. Game bag
7. Green cat eyes for walking out in the dark
8. Water
9. Toilet paper
10. Hunting license
11. Camera
NOTE: Since I wear cargo pants, a lot of my other supplies are safely tucked in all the pockets, which also makes things easy when getting ready for an early morning hunt. (Pockets contain: chapstick, range finder, elk calls, wind check and gloves)
Of course, there are a few obvious things missing, but they are safely tucked in my husband’s pack… knives, rope and gps
So…. do you have any special ritual or planning you do in advance of a hunt?
Emily Anderson’s hunting journey began shortly after she got married. She enjoys the passions for the outdoors, hunting and fishing as a team with her husband. She established www.FromTheDraw.com as a way to share her stories as a female hunter. Emily lives in Colorado and is currently on an Elk hunt. She is now a PSE Staff Blogger and will be posting daily about her experiences and views on archery and hunting.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Break Your Silhouette For “Spot And Stalk”
By Pedro Ampuero
AdventurousBowhunter.com
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero Spot and Stalk
Almost all the hunting I make is “spot and stalk”, with roe deer even more often “Walk and Stalk” in which you walk through the forest until you spot the animal, which is typically almost at shooting distance. For being successful, is a must that you break your silhouette in order to detect the animals before they detect you.
For this purpose, one thing it has been much more effective for me, is to use macro pattern camos, which really break your silhouette at any distance. Sometimes with more classic camo patterns, which have a high detail level, they look great at close distances, but as soon as you get farther than 30 yards you cannot see the detail and it all looks like one brown piece.
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero Hunting
My philosophy is to focus more on not looking like a human, than trying to look like a tree. Animals relation the humans to some vertical lines which an average height etc.. Trying to break those lines is the key, specially the lines made by our shoulder and head. For this I use a ghillie hat, but I just leave it over my shoulders, to unify the shape of my head and shoulders. Using a typical cowboy hat is also a great way of breaking that shape.
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero Face Paint
The last important thing is to camo your lighter parts, like hands and face. Animals spot our white face as good as we spot the white parts of deer in the woods. We all know our life would be much harder if deer wouldn’t have white patches on the tail area. For that I typically use a facemask, or pain my face when the weather is warmer. I also use thin gloves for my hands, measuring, drawing the bow, glassing, etc.. All involves hand movement, and it is always easily detected by deer.
PSE’s Pedro Ampuero
It would be great to know your own experiences. Hope you find it of interest, and good luck all in the mountains!
Pedro Ampuero
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush -Baptism in Southern California
By Albert Quackenbush
http://socalbowhunter.blogspot.com/
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Baptism in SoCal
When I moved to California in 2006 I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had no friends here. I knew nothing at all about the hunting here and I was afraid. I’ll be the first to admit that I was fearful because there was so much unknown to me. After asking around, I found a local archery club that met a mile from my apartment and thought I was saved. I showed up with my bow set up for hunting out of a treestand. Right away I was told to either get a bow that would allow me to shoot farther or plan on going back to NY to hunt each year. At first, I was more than discouraged, but it began to toughen me up. When I asked the hunters in the group where I might go to get started not a single one would help me. I can’t blame them as they had worked hard to find their own spots and now I had to do it. The archery range where I shoot beckons people from all over and I took it upon myself to approach archers and start asking those questions. I would walk up to them, introduce myself and share what I was trying to do. It wasn’t until I met a young man and his son that I felt I had my first nugget of information. He shared with me a spot to go try and while it would be tough to hunt, it would give me an idea of what hunting was like out here.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Searching for Huntable Areas
My equipment also needed an upgrade. The bow I had wasn’t cutting for Western hunting. I started asking around; scouring the internet and finally found a bow I wanted to try out. I met the seller at his house and he produced a well-cared for PSE Vengeance compound bow. I had never seen a Vengeance, let alone shoot one. This man helped me in a way he’ll never know. First, we talked and then he insisted I shoot the bow before buying it. While that should be a normal thing to do, I know many people who do not and I was one of them at the time. So I shot it. It felt like it was made just for me. It was a little on the heavier side from what I was used to, but it was a well-built bow with power. As we talked, the man shared that he and his son hunted and that if I ever had any questions or wanted to tag along I was welcome. That gave me hope! While I never did tag along, I am thankful for his support!
During my search for updated equipment, I found another gentleman selling some arrows. Little did I know that this chance meeting would turn into a friendship that would lead to a hunting partner. The purchase of the arrows lead to deeper conversation about hunting in California and hunting partners. It turns out that his partner left for the wilds of Oregon and he was partnerless. We rectified that and within the next couple weeks we were out scouting the area. Some of the areas were not only beautiful, but were exactly what I needed to find.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush Boots
Hunting out here is just as much about finding huntable land and wearing out boot rubber as it is to knowing the regulations and laws. Knowing the season dates should be a given, but there are multiple regulations between different game animals, weaponry, and borderlines of private and public land. I review the regulations and fish & game code often to be certain I am hunting the right area, during the right time, with the proper weapon.
Another factor that I hadn’t bargained for are the rattlesnakes. Unlike many people, I think rattlesnakes are very interesting creatures. Snakes are awesome in my opinion. That being said, rattlers can stay awesome from a good distance and not underfoot! They are everywhere out here and while you may never see one, you still have to protect yourself. Wearing snake boots has become the norm for me. Hopefully my encounters with them will be few and far between.
PSE’s Albert Quackenbush SoCal
My advice to anyone wanting to hunt California, or anywhere for that matter, is to ask as many questions as you can. You might be afraid, but everyone has a slight degree of fear. The worst thing anyone can say is ‘No.’ Find the right person and you may gain access to some prime hunting land or land yourself a good friend. The hard work has paid off for me and I know it will for you, too.
Albert Quackenbush has been bowhunting for more than 28 years. He shares his adventures on his blog, SoCalBowhunter.com, and also writes for Bow Adventures e-magazine. He is a Pro Staff member for DIYbowhunter.com, Piranha Custom Bowstrings and Field Logic. He is a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, California Deer Association, and is a Life Member of the North American Hunting Club.
Albert was born and raised in New York State where he learned to hunt everything from squirrels to whitetail deer. He currently resides in Southern California with his wife and daughter and hunts year round.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
