PSE’s Dustin Jones Finding the Honey Hole
By Dustin Jones
HighCountryBowhunter.com
PSE’s Dustin Jones Scouting
Hunting on public land can be difficult but extremely rewarding. Growing up in Idaho there are plenty of opportunities for over the counter tags and lots of public land to hunt. I am a big fan of do-it-yourself hunts on public land. It’s a challenge not only to find the animals, but the fact that you have to be aware of the other hunters and stay one step ahead of them as well.
The key with public land is you have to put in the time. The time that is put in when finding that “honey hole” of a hunting spot on public ground starts early and carries over from season to season. I spend a good amount of time studying maps and finding areas that look promising. Sometimes you find that honey hole and sometimes you find a spot that every other hunter in the state loves to hunt.
PSE’s Dustin Jones My Passion
What I enjoy the most is hunting deep in the back country. I like to drive until the road ends and then hike a few miles into the mountains where very few people are. These areas are the ones that I treasure the most mainly because of the time it takes to scout and get familiar with the area. Nothing compares to a 3 or 4 day hunt where you pack everything you need on your back to try and harvest an animal. Most of the time I hear of hunters that spend all this time in the woods in hopes of seeing an animal and come back feeling like it was an unsuccessful hunt. Whenever I get to spend a few days in the back country chasing wild game I consider that a successful hunt.
Even though I am passionate about bow hunting, my true passion is my family. Taking time to hunt definitely takes time away from my family and balancing that time can be a challenge. It is something that I am aware of and try hard to make sure that it doesn’t interfere with the time I spend with them. I enjoy taking my wife and my son out on scouting trips and spending that time with them to show them what I look for. It is a great way to share both of my passions; my family and bow hunting.
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- Make the Shot
By Will Jenkins
TheWilltoHunt.com
PSE’s Will Jenkins Tree Stand Practice
With the season fast approaching many folks are focusing on broadhead tuning and putting lots of holes in foam. While this is all good and necessary one thing I find myself and many others lacking as we get close to season is practicing how you’ll be hunting. This means putting arrows through foam while you are in situations similar to how you will be hunting.
Most people hunt from tree stands and of course this is extremely different from standing on flat ground and making an easy shot. Not only that you’re wearing different clothes and a safety harness but you’re also standing on an 18″ x 24″ platform 20 feet up a tree. I’d suggest when setting or checking stands bring your bow and a small target and put a few arrows in the target through each of your shooting lanes. Making sure you have adequate room to move and draw is just as important as practicing from that height and angle. It’s critical to make sure you’re comfortable to draw and bend at the waist to make the shot. I usually go in with a friend and we take turns pulling arrows and sending them backup a quiver hooked to a pull rope and moving the target. This not only makes you better prepared to make the shot it’s a great boost to your confidence. When that big buck walks out into your shooting lane and you know you’ve made that shot before it feels good!
PSE’s Will Jenkins Bow Hunting Practice
Lately it seems more people are hunting from ground blinds. Practicing sitting down is key but it’s also key to practice sitting down and out of your blind. If you’ve ever tried shooting out of a blind understanding you clearance is huge. If you aren’t careful while your sight might be aimed just out the window your arrow could be pointed right at the wall of the blind. The good news with this is its way easier to practice. You can throw up your blind and a stool most anywhere you’d normally shoot to get used to shooting out of it.
With the season drawing nearer, in weeks or days be sure you’ve had some practical bow hunting practice and you’re confident you can make the shot when it counts!
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.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Emily Anderson- Tucked in a Ditch
By Emily Anderson
www.FromTheDraw.com
PSE’s Emily Anderson Hunting
If you’ve ever experienced hunting antelope with a bow, spot and stalk style, then you know what a challenge it can be. The most common method for hunting antelope, is sitting in a blind next to a water hole, and waiting. When you think you’ve waited long enough, then you wait some more. It can be exhausting sitting in a blind, which feels more like some type of sauna torture device in extremely hot weather, while you wait for a thirsty antelope to come by. Typically those with the most patience win out. If you can sit in a hot blind all day, your chances seem to increase.
If hanging out in a blind for long periods of time doesn’t interest you, or if you are like me and think it feels more like torture than hunting, you’ll be happy to know there are other options for hunting antelope. The trick is to not get spotted by an antelope. They have extremely good vision, which makes sense for their survival on the prairie. But before you start thinking you have good ninja skills and stalking an antelope shouldn’t be that hard, let me remind you… keeping yourself hidden on an open prairie is not an easy task!
PSE’s Emily Anderson Hunting Antelope
Last weekend, I spent the morning tucked into a ditch next to a water hole. After spying a nice buck on the horizon, Al and I watched and waited to see which direction he would feed to. He eventually dipped down out of sight and we assumed he made his way to the north of where we were sitting. After not seeing him appear where we expected, we figured he headed another direction. Here is a tip… the plains where antelope play are not flat even though the land can easily trick you in to thinking they are. For this reason, these animals can seem to appear from out of nowhere. But it can also play to your advantage. If you can work the drainage ditches that often run from waterhole to waterhole, it provides an opportunity to stalk these prairie ghosts. I had that very opportunity last weekend. I was able to get within 65 yards of a shooter buck and even pulled my bow back, hoping he would close the distance a few yards. However, it didn’t happen. Upon telling my brother of my close encounter, he promptly told me that I needed to practice my ninja skills. Maybe so. Or maybe I just need to try a call next time. (Did you know that antelope can be called in during the rut?)
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Will Jenkins – Generous Hunters Donate Harnesses For Hunters
By Will Jenkins
TheWilltoHunt.com & Harnesses For Hunters
PSE’s Will Jenkins Tree Stand
One thing I’ve found myself being passionate about as a hunter is tree stand safety. Maybe it’s because of how uneasy I am in a tree or the droves of horror stories I’ve heard. So, in November of 2011 I started a program I call Harnesses for Hunters. If you spend any time on a hunting forum, you’ve probably seen it actually happen on a small scale. Someone already has a premium style fall restraint and posts up that they bought a couple of new stands and is giving away the harnesses. So as I saw this go on and my website started to grow I figured why not do it on a larger scale? Thus Harnesses for Hunters was born!
The concept is simple take the unused generic harnesses that people aren’t using them and get them in the hands of people that don’t have one. To date I’ve shipped out about 80 harnesses and currently have a waiting list of about 40 people. I was lucky enough to have RediEdge come on board to help fund the program. As you can imagine shipping all those harnesses gets expensive fast! I also like to point out that while it is my program I’m not really doing that much except being the middle man. The only way the system works is through generous hunters shipping in the extra harnesses for me to then distribute to people that need them.
PSE’s Will Jenkins Harnesses
The one surprising thing though has been the amount of backlash from some people. I’m not out for pats on the back but there are quite a few people who said it was another program to give handouts to people who aren’t willing to work hard and use their money wisely. Well, I’m sure that’s true for some of the people that contact me, but is their lack of respect for themselves and their life any reason to deny them safety? I personally do not think so especially if there are a good number of harnesses just laying around unused. The vast majority of people that contact me asking for a harness are truly in need. Most are young or new hunters that are dealing with the cost of starting to hunt, or they are people who truly hunt to live. They are low income and the deer they kill feed them and their families as their exclusive source of protein for most of the year. I’ve actually had a few guys email me who are now permanently disabled from a tree stand accident and can’t afford a harness to wear when hunting but can’t afford not to hunt because they need the meat. I really enjoy getting to help those guys get back out there safely to provide for their families. Surprisingly enough I’ve also gotten emails from people saying they’ve never thought of wearing a harness. So I’ve found that it also helps make people aware that they need to wear a harness while providing an easy way for them to get one.
We’re about to hit the one year mark with Harnesses For Hunters and I’m actually surprised it’s lasted this long. I figured donations would slow or it just wouldn’t be feasible to fund on my own, but it seems every time I get close to that a hunt club will send in 10 or 12 harnesses to keep it going. So, if you’ve recently bought a tree stand and don’t need the harness consider sending it in to Harnesses for Hunters so I can get it in the hands of someone that needs one.
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.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE Introduces the PSE Staff Bloggers
PSE Staff Bloggers
September 10, 2012 – Tucson, AZ – Precision Shooting Equipment, Inc. (PSE), a pioneering company in the archery industry, announces the selection of the PSE Staff Bloggers for blog.pse-archery.com.
“We are very honored to have assembled such an outstanding team of bloggers to represent PSE,” said Blake Shelby, PSE Director of Marketing. “Their dedication to DIY hunting, family and bowhunting will be represented in their posts.”
The PSE Staff Blogger Team consists of the following:
- Pedro Ampuero – www.adventurousbowhunter.com
- Emily Anderson – www.fromthedraw.com
- Will Jenkins – www.thewilltohunt.com
- Dustin Jones – www.highcountrybowhunter.com
- Albert Quackenbush – www.SoCalBowhunter.com
- Ainsley Beeman
- Jared Bloomgren
“We are excited to welcome them to the PSE family and look forward to reading their posts,” said Jonathan Shepley, President of PSE. “We believe they will be an asset to our industry with their tips, strategies and insights into bowhunting and archery.”
About Precision Shooting Equipment, Inc.
Pete Shepley, a legend in the archery industry, founded PSE 41 years ago. Today, PSE is one of the largest privately-owned archery equipment manufacturing companies in the country and a leader in development and manufacturing of the most advanced compound bows and related equipment ever produced.
For more information about PSE, visit www.pse-archery.com or read their blog at http://blog.pse-archery.com.
Will Jenkins has the Will to Hunt!
- PSE’s William Jenkins
I started The Will to Hunt in March of 2011. I really started it to do something for myself. I was spending all day and most evening buried in spreadsheets and emails and needed to have a reason to spend my time doing something else. Working all week with little vacation time I figured I could extend hunting some by writing even when it wasn’t hunting season or legal hunting hours. It gave me a way to take hunting further than just what I did when I had time. My intention wasn’t really to do much other than write about my experiences with anything that involved hunting. The site and I just grew from there.
Part of what I wanted to do was tap into the audience for great stories and advice through social media and the blog itself. While I’ve been hunting most of my life I’ve only been bow hunting for a few years and to be completely honest have only killed one deer with a bow. The Will to Hunt has really been a way for me to grow and learn either from research or from one of the amazing people I have met through the site. I don’t claim to be an expert but someone that is constantly growing and learning in archery and bow hunting. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last year and a half or so working on the site and it has definitely made me a better archer and hunter. I’ve had the opportunity to talk with and learn from some of the best hunters out there and hopefully that will lead to more of my own successes. In turn I hope that leads to a lot more cool posts on the PSE blog with me standing over a nice animal holding a PSE Bow!
William Jenkins’ PSE Vendetta Bow
On that note, I’m very excited to be shooting a 2012 PSE Vendetta this year. I just got it recently and I’m very impressed. It’s smooth, fast and quiet. As a bow hunter that’s all that really matters to me. It’s a big upgrade from the 7 year old bow I was shooting and I can’t wait to christen it with a little deer blood. After setting it up I was dialed in at 20 in about a dozen arrows. I’ve never set up and been comfortable with a bow as quickly as I have the Vendetta.
As for who I am aside from the blog, we’ll get into that a little more in my next posts but my blog is really me. I’m the same guy I am on the blog. Just your regular hunter who puts in as much time and effort as he can to chase deer. I’m not always successful, obviously, but I have a great time learning from and sharing those experiences.
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.
Choosing equipment for ASA and ISO Tournaments – Q&A with PSE’s Bobby V ft Nathan Brooks
Elite TEAM PSE Pro Staff Nathan Brooks talks with Bobby about his bow setup for the ASA and IBO Tournaments.
Come and visit us at www.pse-archery.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OfficialPSEArchery.
Spook Spann’s Secrets to Hunting Public Lands
PSE’S Pro Staff Shooter Spook Spann
Editor’s Note: Spook Spann, the host of “Spook Nation” on the Pursuit Channel for three seasons, has been producing TV shows for almost a decade.
I used to hunt public lands all the time before I got my TV show. Most of my whitetail hunting is on private lands now, but I do still hunt public lands out West when I’m mule deer hunting. I’ve discovered several different ways to hunt public lands successfully. You have to spend a good bit of time scouting and look for places that are difficult for the average hunter to reach. Most public land hunters don’t want to travel more than 1/2-mile from their vehicles or the road. So, if you’re willing to go further into the woods than the average hunter and get to remote spots you’ve discovered through scouting, you’ll increase your odds for seeing and taking more deer.
However, I’ve also been highly successful by finding places where deer travel and feed within 300 yards of a main road on public-hunting ground. Remember the first tier of public land hunters will be hunting the 1/2-mile area from the road. The second tier will be hunting much deeper in the woods than the first group. That means hardly anybody will be hunting in the first 300-yards from a major road on public lands. The reason most hunters overlook this region is they realize the deer can hear and see all the vehicles on the road, and they know hunting pressure will begin at the road and move away from the road. But deer pattern hunters just like hunters pattern deer. Deer realize that from just after daylight until about 10:30 or 11:00 am, there rarely will be a hunter within 300 yards of the road. They also know that in the afternoon from 1:00 or 2:00 pm until about an hour before dark, there won’t be any hunting pressure in that first 300 yards. So, they can move and feed in these areas during these times.
PSE’S Spook Spann
The deer are accustomed to seeing cars driving up and down the main roads and recognize that those automobiles don’t pose a threat. They also know hunters will park their trucks in places that have paths going further back into the woods, or where there’s a trail they can use to reach their stand sites. So, if you can find a place along a main road in a public-hunting area where most hunters don’t park their trucks and don’t walk into the woods, those are productive places to locate and take better bucks.
Most public-land hunters walk past the places where deer are holding to get further in the woods to find places where deer may move. So, my favorite two places to hunt are more than 1/2-mile from an access point to public land or within 300 yards of a main road on public land. I may walk 1/2-mile up a road away from my car to identify a thick-cover site where no one will enter the woods, and often that’s where I’ll find a buck. The number one rule on public land to find and take more deer is, “Stay away from the places where most people will enter or leave the woods.”
One of the classic examples of finding one of these kinds of spots was when I was hunting the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area that’s near my home. I found a place close to the road where three ridges ran together and dropped off into a hollow. There were numbers of white oak acorn trees down in the bottom of that hollow, and deer were crossing this bottom to get to another section of the public land. By reading the deer sign, I knew deer were crossing and feeding here, and then using a nearby cedar thicket to could bed and hide. So, I took a stand at this site and took a really nice Pope & Young buck. I’m sure everyone else who saw this spot just thought this area was too close to the road to have a chance at a buck.
To learn more about Spook Spann, visit his website at www.spookspann.com, or email him at spookspann@yahoo.com.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
How PSE’s Spook Spann Uses Trail Cameras
PSE’S Spook Spann
Editor’s Note: Today many bowhunters are relying on trail cameras to help them take more and bigger bucks. PSE has asked Spook Spann how he uses his trail cameras to locate, identify and take big bucks for his TV show “Spook Nation” on the Pursuit Channel.
Right now I have trail cameras out in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri and Texas. Some of these cameras have been out since the last week of July, and some of the cameras have been out since the last week in June. I don’t go to all the states where I plan to hunt in the coming season and putout the cameras myself. I have friends of mine who putout cameras for me in different states, maintain them, send me the pictures and tell me the areas from where the pictures have come. Right now we’re checking the trail cameras about once a week, and all our pictures have time and date stamps. So, we can get really detailed information about the deer passing in front of those cameras. We learn not only whether the deer are bucks or does, and what size antlers the bucks have while they’re still in the velvet, but also how frequently the big bucks are coming to where the trail cameras are positioned, and the time of day we’re most likely to see those deer.
So far, my trail cameras report four or five really nice bucks in Ohio that will score 170-185 on Boone & Crockett. We’ve photographed several bucks in western Kentucky with racks that will score 150-180, and four in Missouri that will score 155-175. In Tennessee I’ve got one or two bucks that will score 160 or better, and I’m excited about finding these bucks, because they’re here in my home state. I try to pick out the bucks I want to try and hunt in each one of the states I travel to, prior to the season. But often, there will be even better bucks that show up in front of our cameras between now and the beginning of bow season. If they do, we’ll change our plans on which bucks we intend to hunt.
Elite PSE Pro Staffer Shooter Spook Spann
Just because we’ve got these bucks on trail cameras and know where they live and the time of day they’re coming in right now doesn’t mean we have a slam dunk opportunity to take one of these bucks. Many things can change between now and hunting season. I like to think I possibly can take five or six of these deer this season, but I know better than to attempt to predict exactly which bucks I’ll take, and when I’ll take them. I prefer to go where I’m hunting with low expectations and be pleasantly surprised.
I’m often asked, “Which trail cameras are you using?” My answer is always SPYPOINT. Another question I’m often asked is, “How do you keep people from stealing your cameras?” I’ve found several different ways to solve this problem. SPYPOINT has a lock box you can put on your cameras to lock them to the tree with a cable. If you’re having problems with people cutting cables to get your trail cameras, they also makes a camera called the TINY-W, which has a receiver separate from the camera that you can hide in another location. Then if someone messes with your cameras, you’ll get a picture of them and you’ll know who borrowed your camera. They also have a 3G camera you can set-up in conjunction with a website, and it will send the pictures to the website so hopefully you can get pictures of the person who’s causing you problems. However, I have most of my trail cameras on private lands, and the landowners usually have a pretty good handle on the people who have been on his property, while my cameras have been up.
To learn more about Spook Spann, visit his website at www.spookspann.com, or email him at spookspann@yahoo.com.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Spook Spann Explains the Importance of Choosing the Right Equipment
Editor’s Note: Spook Spann shoots both the PSE Freak and the PSE Omen Pro. Many pros shoot more than one bow. PSE wanted to know why Spann shot two different bows, and how he chose which bow he’d use on a hunt.
I just started shooting the Freak this summer of 2012, and I’m trying it out to see what advantages it can give me. I usually try to match my bow to the terrain and weather conditions I’m hunting, and the type of game I’ll try to take. For instance, if I’m hunting in a ground blind, I want a shorter bow that I can draw easily and use to shoot through the window of a total concealment ground blind. Sometimes I choose the bow I’ll hunt with just because I’m in the mood to shoot that bow. I have a lot of confidence in both bows, the Omen Pro and the Freak. Too, as important as the bow is, there’s much more equipment that goes into making a good shot. I like the PSE 300 shafts, Swhacker broadheads, NuFletch fletchings and Whisker Biscuit rests.
Swhacker Broadheads – The reason I like these broadheads is first because of their tips, which are designed to penetrate bone. Although we all like to get a clean pass-through without our arrow hitting bone, you won’t always make the perfect shot. Often your arrow will have to pass through one or more ribs, the spinal column, the front shoulder, the hindquarter or even the neck. Big game animals have a lot of bones, so there’s a very good chance that the tip of your broadhead will come into contact with a bone. I like the Swhacker, because it’s designed to penetrate bone. I shot a fixed-blade broadhead for many years and didn’t think I’d ever change to a mechanical broadhead. But when I saw the devastation the Swhacker broadhead delivered that convinced me to try them. Another thing I like about this broadhead is it flies exactly like a field point, and I can practice with field tips. I also like the 2-inch cut the Swhacker delivers, and I’ve found it to be very reliable.
Whisker Biscuit Rests – The Whisker Biscuit is an easy rest to use, since it’s easy to load, easy to carry and easy to shoot. I do quite a bit of spot-and-stalk hunting, and when I nock an arrow on my Whisker Biscuit, I don’t have to worry about the arrow falling off the rest. Too, you don’t have to fiddle with it much like you do more sensitive rests. I’m a big proponent of simple, quick and easy-to-use equipment when I’m bowhunting.
NuFletch System – This system is a fletching system all in itself that provides an inset for the fletching end of the arrow. You just screw it in on the fletching end of the arrow, and replacing fletchings is quick and easy. You don’t have to replace your nock. Taking care of my fletchings and keeping them in huntable shape is much easier with the NuFletch System than other fletching systems I’ve seen.
Camo – Most of the time I wear Mossy Oak Break-Up Infinity, but if I’m hunting from a tree stand or in another type of terrain I may use Mossy Oak Treestand. The reason I use Infinity most of the time is because I like the 3D look of this pattern and the color scheme blends-in well with a wide variety of habitats and terrain. I hunt all over the country and I like to use a camo pattern that works almost anywhere.
Optics – I like the Nikon EDG binoculars and spotting scopes. The features that surprised me about Nikon was that I didn’t have to compromise in quality or light-gathering ability. I’ve found the Nikon binoculars to be just as good as binoculars that cost a lot more, like older, more expensive European brands. I like the 10×42 binoculars better than the 8X binoculars, since I like to see a long way, especially when I’m hunting out West. I also like how compact the Nikon 10×42 binoculars are compared to other 10×42 sets I’ve tested, especially for bowhunting. I’m sure other hunters have their own reasons for choosing the equipment they use, but these are the reasons I use these products when I bowhunt.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
TV Personality Spook Spann Shoots the PSE Freak and the PSE Omen Pro
PSE’S Spook Spann
Editor’s Note: Spook Spann, the host of “Spook Nation” on the Pursuit Channel for three seasons, has been producing TV shows for almost a decade.
I like PSE bows because the company’s committed to building the best-performing bows that can be built in the archery industry. I also like the speed of their bows and the dependability and reliability that’s built into them. Right now I’m shooting two PSE bows, the Omen Pro and the Freak. I like the Freak, because it has a long draw length and is a longer bow (38-inches axle to axle). I’ve been practicing with it and feel I’m shooting the Freak really well, and it feels comfortable to me.
The Freak is different since it’s a longer bow than many of today’s hunting bows, and has a longer draw length than many other bows on the market. It can adjust out to 33 inches, which is an especially beneficial feature to people like me, who have extremely long draw lengths. My draw length right now is 31-1/2 inches, and most other bows stop at about 30 inches. With a longer draw length, I also have a longer power stroke and can generate more velocity from that longer draw length. I’ve found that the longer bows like the Freak are more forgiving than shorter bows, and I think they’re somewhat easier to shoot. Although I haven’t used a chronograph on the arrow speed of the Freak, I’m pretty sure I’m shooting around 300-feet per second. The trend for most of the archery industry has been to make shorter, more compact bows, so the Freak really goes against what today’s trends are in hunting bows. Because of these differences, I think PSE had to come up with a name that was really different for this bow, and that might be the reason for the name – the Freak.
PSE’S Spook Spann
I’ve been shooting the Freak for about 2 months now, and I’ve built up a lot of confidence in it. But when I’m getting ready to go on a hunt, I don’t want to just have confidence in my bow’s ability to perform. I also want to know that I can physically do whatever’s required to have not only a successful hunt but also an enjoyable hunt. I’ll be hunting out West next week for mule deer, so I’ve not only been practicing 50 and 100-yard shots but also working out. This hunt will be a spot-and-stalk shoot. So, I need to get my body in shape not only for the type of terrain we may have to travel across to get to a nice mule deer but also for any type of climbing we may have to do over steep terrain. I play basketball, workout with weights and do other exercises to help me get in shape. Then I’m prepared if I have to make a really long stalk. I’m often asked how far ahead of time I start preparing for a hunt. I answer by saying; “I try to stay in shape all year long.” I workout, play basketball and run year round. I also shoot my PSE bows all year long, but I shoot an awful lot the month before a hunt. My preparation for a hunt never ceases.
To learn more about Spook Spann, visit his website at www.spookspann.com, or email him at spookspann@yahoo.com.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Curtis Goettsch Takes a Nice Buck with his PSE Dream Season Evo
PSE’s Curtis Goettsch
Editor’s Note: Curtis Goettsch of Elkader, Iowa has several reasons for loving PSE bows.
I hardly could wait for bow season to arrive. I put out trail cameras in August of 2011 and maintained them until October when bow season started. I had found a really nice buck with my trail cameras. Three days before I harvested this buck, I had trail camera pictures of his creating a scrape not 50-yards from where I took him. This buck was a 9 pointer and scored 135 inches.
I went out that morning, and I got to my stand well before sunrise. Just as first light brightened up the dark woods, I could hear deer in the woods around me. My stand was about 50-yards from a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grass field. As I looked out into the CRP field, I saw the sun reflecting from antlers. I spotted a fork horn buck coming in downwind of me toward the scrape where I was set up. The scrape was about 10-yards in front of my stand. The little fork horn came in and worked the scrape upwind of me. Apparently the buck in the CRP field either saw or winded the fork horn buck. I could see the buck from the CRP field steadily walking toward the scrape where the fork horn had been. As the buck came in, I recognized him as the buck that I had seen on my trail camera pictures. I hadn’t really made the decision to shoot him since the only time I’d seen him was in the pictures. He came in and worked the same scrape that the fork horn had worked.
White Tail Deer
I finally made the decision that I would take him once I got a really good look at him. However, he was so close that I didn’t dare draw on him. The buck sensed that something was wrong, even though he hadn’t seen or smelled me. He looked my way, but he didn’t look at me. He started trotting off, and he was moving away from me. I drew my PSE Dream Season EVO. He stopped, slightly quartering away and broadside to me at 20 yards. I had an opening in the brush with a clean shot at his vital area. When I released the arrow, I got a clean pass through. The buck trotted off. I watched him jump a fence and go back about 40-yards out into the grassy field from where he’d come. I was able to see him go down, and I knew I had made good on my shot. My PSE Dream Season EVO had done its job. I had assumed the buck would score somewhere between 130 and 140 on the P&Y scale and when we put a tape on him, he measured 134 – 4/8. So, the first year that I had the PSE Dream Season EVO, I won my first 3D archery tournament and took a really nice buck, but that’s not the end of the story.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
How to Prepare for an Archery Tournament – Q & A with PSE’s Bobby V
PSE Pro Staff Scott Starnes drops in and talks about preparing for archery tournaments.
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Curtis Goettsch’s First Bow Buck with PSE
PSE’s Curtis Goettsch
Editor’s Note: Curtis Goettsch of Elkader, Iowa, has several reasons for loving PSE Bows.
I was hunting on public hunting land at a spot I’d found early in the season, when I’d been fall turkey hunting. I had seen a lot of deer in this area, and I thought it might be a good place to try and take a buck. A couple of trails came through this area, with a rub line and scraping activity going on in this spot. Also, this was an ideal funnel region, because on one side was a sheer cliff and on the other side was a creek. So, the deer had to come through this little narrow gap to move from one section of the woods to the other. I didn’t take a stand in the pinch point, but instead set up a little back from the funnel.
The buck came in about 4:50 pm in the afternoon. I saw the height of the antlers and how big they were, but I didn’t take the time to count the points, since earlier in the hunt I’d seen some nice 8-point bucks that were too far away to shoot. I just assumed that this buck was one of those 8-pointers. The buck was chasing a doe. As soon as I saw antlers, I knew that this buck was a shooter. I watched the doe to see which way she was going, knowing that the buck would be right behind her. I could tell that she was probably going to come right under my tree stand, and I was going to have a really close shot with my PSE Polaris Express.
White Tail Buck
Now, I had a new problem. I had to determine how to get my bow drawn without the doe’s seeing me, so that I could prepare for a shot at the buck. I wasn’t worried about the buck’s spotting me, since he was intensely focused on the doe. As soon as the doe was directly under me, I drew my bow. The doe stopped when she heard my arm rubbing against my side as I made the draw. When she stopped, the buck stopped. Even though I was at full draw, I hadn’t moved the bow into position to aim. The buck started looking around to see why the doe had stopped. He was broadside to me, but quartering to me just a little. I used my bottom pin to sight-in on the buck, since he was only 25 steps to the base of my tree.
When I shot the buck, he whirled around and went back the direction he’d come from, and then I heard him crash. Since this buck was my first one, I didn’t want to pressure him. I decided to go back to the truck and call my buddy to help me find the deer and drag it out. I told my buddy, “I think I shot a pretty good 8-pointer, and I need you to help me get him out.” My buddy showed up about an hour after I called him, and we followed the blood trail. The buck hadn’t gone very far. When we saw the buck, my buddy went running up to the deer, grabbed the antlers and looked at the deer. He said, “That’s better than an 8-pointer, it’s a 10.” We both got pretty pumped up that the buck was so big. That’s still the biggest buck I’ve ever taken. So, I had taken my first deer, the doe, and the biggest buck I ever had taken with my PSE Polaris Express, all in the same season. I decided that when I had a bow that performed that well, I didn’t need another bow. The Polaris Express had done everything that I had asked it to do and more.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Why Curtis Goettsch Came Back To PSE
PSE’S Curtis Goettsch
Editor’s Note: Curtis Goettsch of Elkader, Iowa, has several reasons for loving PSE.
By 2006, I had evolved as a bowhunter and had started shooting tournament archery. I changed bows, because another manufacturer was producing a bow that I hoped would not only be a better bow to hunt with but also be better for tournaments. I was shooting in the Bowhunter Class and had become a Mossy Oak Pro. During that time, Mossy Oak and PSE had partnered on several different projects, and I was ready to change bows again. I didn’t really care which bow I shot, as long as the bow could help me be a better bowhunter and a better tournament archer. So, I tested a lot of different bows that were on the market in 2011.
The dealer at the archery shop where I worked had a PSE Dream Season EVO and asked me to try it. I really didn’t like duo-cam bows, since they all had a hard break-over when you hit the let-off point in the draw. However, the EVO had a smooth draw, almost like a single-cam bow. I really couldn’t believe how smooth the draw was. I was also excited about moving up to a faster power performance bow, so the speed and the smooth draw of the PSE Dream Season EVO really got my attention. I was shooting a lot of 3D archery at that time, and I felt that to be competitive, I needed a faster and a better performing bow.
Precision Shooting Archery – Compound Bows
I had talked to a lot of people in the bowhunting industry. I also talked to the guy who owned the bow shop, who had shot the PSE Dream Season EVO all winter long and had decided that it was the best bow PSE ever had made. So, with that kind of recommendation, and having shot the bow, I made the decision to go with the PSE Dream Season EVO. During the summer of 2011, I shot my PSE Dream Season EVO in the Bowhunter Class at 3D-archery tournaments before the hunting season arrived. I really feel that’s one of the best ways to break in a new bow – participating in 3-D archery tournaments – so when bow season comes in, you and your new bow are the best you possibly can be. I won my first 3D-archery tournament with the PSE Dream Season EVO. That was really exciting for me, because I never dreamed I could shoot well enough to win a tournament. At the tournament I won, there were 186 archers in the bowhunter class. When I won that tournament, I was feeling really good about my decision to shoot PSE, and I was really excited about the performance of my PSE Dream Season EVO.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Mike Hopkins Shoots a PSE Vendetta XL for Tournament Archery and an AXE 6 While Hunting in 2010
PSE’S Mike Hopkins
Editor’s Note: Thirty seven year old Mike Hopkins of Junction City, Kansas, has been shooting a PSE bow since 2008. Hopkins is a classic example of how to become a better bowhunter. Mike decided to shoot 3D archery just before he took his first buck with a bow. As you’ll see, Mike consistently has been able to take more animals and a wider variety of animals, since he’s incorporated 3D archery into his bowhunting program.
PSE: Tell us about your 2010 bow season and tournament archery season.
Hopkins: Due to military educational requirements, I didn’t have the time to travel and compete in tournament archery as much as I would have liked to that year. I was able to shoot in the first three tournaments of the season, but then I had to restrict my tournament archery participation to local tournaments and state level tournaments. That summer I moved to Tennessee and didn’t have as much success deer hunting that fall as I’d had in the past. I only took one 5 point buck and didn’t even shoot a doe that year. Not many bowhunters that I talked to that year were very successful at taking deer. But even though I had a poor fall deer season, at the opening 3D archery tournament in Florida, I had a second place finish with a new bow, the Vendetta XL. I had decided to move up to this bow for tournament archery.
PSE: Why did you decide to start shooting the Vendetta XL?
Hopkins: I liked the specifications of the bow. The Vendetta XL was somewhat longer axle to axle than the bow I’d been shooting the previous year and had a faster speed. I thought the bow would perform better in tournaments than my previous bow. I finished in the top 10 in several other tournaments that year and also did very well in shooting state level tournaments. For some reason, I can remember those state tournaments better than I can remember the national tournaments.
PSE Bows
PSE: What hunting bow were you shooting in 2010?
Hopkins: I started shooting the Axe 6 in 2010, and it was faster than the PSE hunting bow I’d been using previously. I felt that the cams on the Axe 6 had a little bit better draw cycle than the Dream Season bow. But I really didn’t get to hunt with this bow very much, because the 2010 season was uncharacteristically slow for me. There had been an outbreak of Bluetongue two years earlier in the area I was hunting, and the deer herd was still trying to recover. That year it was down considerably from what it had been in past years.
Editor’s Note: Another big advantage to shooting tournament archery and being a bowhunter is that if you’re having a bad hunting season, you still have a chance to have a good tournament archery season. As we’ve seen so far, success in tournament archery , especially 3D archery, directly relates to bowhunting, and bowhunting success directly relates to tournament archery. For both sports, the more you practice, the more confidence you build, the more proficient you are with your equipment and the more successful you’ll be at the tournaments and in the woods. Besides that, both tournament archery and bowhunting are fun. So, why would you not want to have fun?
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Georgianna Braden Explains Why Ladies Should Consider Archery and Bowhunting
PSE’S Georgianna Braden
Editor’s Note: Georgianna Braden of Houston, Texas, is a petite, pixie like lady. If you saw her on the street or in the courtroom, you’d never consider her as one of the top female archers. She is not only a tournament archer, but also an avid bowhunter and an advocate for women’s archery. Georgianna, who’s been shooting a bow for 7 years, and her husband Michael are both members of the PSE Pro Staff.
Georgianna, why would you encourage other women to pick up bows, learn to shoot them, compete in tournaments and possibly become bowhunters?
Braden: There are a couple of reasons. Archery is a sport that helps build self-discipline. Archery also helps to relieve stress and to develop a calm spirit. When you go out and practice, you can focus on yourself and improving yourself. It also allows you to compete with yourself and see where you can make improvements. Archery is an avenue that allows you to have healthy competition with other people, meet new people, excel and become a better competitor. You many not be athletically talented, super strong or ever have seen yourself as an athlete, but archery provides the vehicle to attain these and many more skills, regardless of your strength and athletic ability. Archery also enables you to become friends with other people who have similar interests. You can really connect with them through this type of sport.
What percentage of archery are skills based, and what percentage is social based?
Braden: I believe that archery is 90% social and only 10% skill based. Sure, you have to develop your skills as an archer to improve competitively and to be an efficient bowhunter. But, when you look at the amount of time we all spend at archery tournaments and when we go bowhunting, the largest percentage of time is spent talking and visiting with our friends, and that is what I love about the sport. I love making friends with people at competitions. At an archery competition, you shoot with other archers in a group, and you move station to station with that group. Only when you are at the line are you participating in the shoot. The rest of the time you’re getting to know people in your group, and we talk on and off the field of competition. Each of the groups that I have shot with has been tremendously supportive, and they are also a lot of fun.
PSE’S Georgianna Braden
Georgianna, why would you encourage mothers to get their children and husbands into archery?
Braden: Archery provides a chance to spend time with your children and your husband away from cell phones, TV, video games and all the other distractions that keep families from interacting together. Your family can see that their mother enjoys archery and has a passion for it. Everyone in the family can participate in the sport of archery. Archery is a healthy way to introduce youngsters to competitive sports. In archery, they can learn that to get better at a sport, they don’t have to beat someone else. They have to constantly improve themselves. At our local archery club, we have several single moms who bring their children, have them involved in archery and shoot as a family and practice together. Shooting archery is a way not only for single moms to connect with their children, but also moms in a more traditional family. Everyone in the family can participate in a sport that’s fun. It gives the family a way to connect with each other and share an interest together. When a mom is helping a child learn to shoot archery, there is a trust bond that develops to help the child to trust the mom more and also helps the mom to trust the child. Both the youngster and the mom want to spend more time together, when they’re participating in a fun activity like archery. If there is anything I can do to encourage more women to get involved in archery. I’ll do it in a heartbeat. I also encourage them to get into bowhunting. I believe bowhunting gives a lady a lot of self-esteem, because it may have been a sport she’s thought she can’t do. However, the main reason I encourage women to embrace the sport of archery is that it’s just a lot of fun.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Georgianna Braden Explains How to Choose the Right Bow to Shoot
PSE’S Georgianna Braden
Editor’s Note: Georgianna Braden of Houston, Texas, is a petite, pixie like lady. If you saw her on the street or in the courtroom, you’d never consider her as one of the top female archers. She is not only a tournament archer, but also an avid bowhunter and an advocate for women’s archery. Georgianna, who’s been shooting a bow for 7 years, and her husband Michael are both members of the PSE Pro Staff.
Georgianna Braden’s bow of choice is the PSE Bow Madness. “This bow is very stable, forgiving, and fast,” Braden explains. “This is my competition bow. Many archers choose the Bow Madness as their hunting bow, but I like the Bow Madness for shooting competition archery. I like its axle-to-axle length. Because of the shape of the riser, if my form isn’t perfect every time, the bow is forgiving enough that you don’t see a huge variation of the impact of the arrow when I shoot. I shoot 52 pounds, but the first bow I ever purchased was 27 pounds. As my muscles have become stronger, I’ve been able to increase the weight of the bow I’m pulling by 1 to 2 pounds, and within a couple of months, I was shooting 35 pounds comfortably.
Georgianna Braden Shooting PSE
“After a year in competition, I knew that I wanted to try out hunting. So, I wanted to get my strength up to the point that I could pull a bow heavy enough to hunt with, which was 40 pounds, to legally hunt in the State of Texas. Often ladies think that shooting archery is like bodybuilding, and they say, ‘I don’t want to build up muscles, so that I’ll look like a bodybuilder,’ but with archery, this concern is not even an issue. I feel physically stronger when I shoot archery, but I don’t feel muscular. Archery just helps improve a lady’s upper body strength. I do feel sleeker. I feel like my arms aren’t so weak, and they’re not flabby.”
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Georgianna Braden Says Archery Isn’t a Man Only World
PSE’S Georgianna Braden
Editor’s Note: Georgianna Braden of Houston, Texas, is a petite, pixie like lady. If you saw her on the street or in the courtroom, you’d never consider her as one of the top female archers. She is not only a tournament archer, but also an avid bowhunter and an advocate for women’s archery. Georgianna, who’s been shooting a bow for 7 years, and her husband Michael are both members of the PSE Pro Staff.
Georgianna, how did being a woman in a sport that has in the past been viewed as a man’s sport feel?
Braden: One of the things I learned from the first tournament that I attended was when I explained I never had shot tournament archery before, the guys, as well as the ladies, were willing to help me and show me not only what tournament archery was about but how to improve. Guys as well as women told me, “Okay, this is what this part of the tournament is all about, and this is what you are supposed to do. Make sure you check out your bow, and remember these tips and suggestions.” The impression I got from the first archery tournament I ever attended, to the latest tournament I went to, was that all the competitors wanted me to come back and shoot another tournament with them. They did everything they could to make that tournament fun for me. Unlike many other sports, the participants wanted me to come back and compete with them.
PSE’S Georgianna Braden
Today some of my best friends are archers, both guys and girls. One of the things I believe is different about archery from any other sport is that even though you’re competing against other archers, the competition is never you against them. You compete to improve your own score and to improve your proficiency with a bow. Everyone I know who shoots competitive archery is really trying to help everyone else do the best they can. In a tournament, technically, I understand that we are all competing for first, second, or third place in the competition. But, my main concern at the tournaments that I attend, and also for the archers I know is that we are all there to try and improve on the scores we’ve shot at the last tournament. So, archery competition is more about you competing with yourself than it is about competing against the other archers. At the end of every tournament, I’m thinking, “How can I get better?” Really and truly I believe that when a lady comes into competitive archery, that’s the mindset she should adopt. If you focus on what you can do to improve your archery score, then you can be really successful.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
The Vacation that Changed PSE’s Georgianna Braden’s Life
PSE’s Georgianna Braden
Editor’s Note: Georgianna Braden of Houston, Texas, is a petite, pixie like lady. If you saw her on the street or in the courtroom, you’d never consider her as one of the top female archers. She is not only a tournament archer, but also an avid bowhunter and an advocate for women’s archery. Georgianna, who’s been shooting a bow for 7 years, and her husband Michael are both members of the PSE Pro Staff.
Outdoorsmen are seeing a tremendous increase in the number of women who are shooting tournament archery and hunting with their bows. When PSE wondered why, Georgianna Braden said, “I think many women are now beginning to understand that you don’t have to be super strong or highly competitive to shoot tournament archery. You make a lot of friends in the sport, and I’ve noticed since the time I started shooting archery 7 years ago, that everyone was very friendly and welcomed me into the sport. I also noticed that at first there were only a few women coming to the sport of archery to be with their husbands or boyfriends, but I have seen a real change. Today a growing number of women are shooting bows just because they like the sport. At a field tournament for the National Field Archery Association (NFAA), you’ll often have 200 lady shooters or more. In 3D archery, like ASA or IBO, you’ll also have several hundred women competing in different divisions.
“The vast majority of women who shoot archery do become interested in hunting and actually pursue bowhunting. They all find that bowhunting is a great complement to tournament archery. I believe the reason that more women aren’t involved in archery is that they have no knowledge of it, and they never have had an opportunity to shoot a bow. I guess I’m a classic example. I went on a vacation one summer to a nice resort, which was much like a Club Med. This resort had a wide variety of activities in which its guests could participate – like boating, tennis and archery. I’d never shot archery before, so I tried it and was amazed at how well I could shoot. I almost seemed to have magnetic arrows – I couldn’t miss. So, I spent the whole weekend shooting a bow. I couldn’t believe I could do it, and I really couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed it. As soon as I got back home, I looked up the address of a local archery shop. I went down to the shop and bought my very first bow and arrows. Six weeks later I entered my first local competition. That’s where I met Michael Braden, who later become my coach, and still later became my husband.”
PSE’s Georgianna Braden Archery Tournament
One of the elements of archery that hooked Braden was that she didn’t have to be really strong to shoot the bow. The second most important factor was that she was successful in a short time. Because of the new designs and developments that have been made in bows, most women who come into the sport are amazed at how fast they can learn to shoot accurately. But, the real deciding factor that caused Georgianna Braden to dive into archery wholeheartedly was that she discovered she was good at it, and that she could improve and get better. “I have friends who run marathons, but I don’t have a desire to do that,” Braden explains. “I have friends who can exercise and lift a lot of weights, but I can’t do that. However, I do have the ability to pull my bow back, release the arrow and be competitive in archery. I’ve discovered that shooting a bow is an awful lot of fun.”
While Georgianna was having fun with competitive archery, she was also moving up in her ranking. She won first place in the NFAA Indoor Nationals, first place in the NFAA Outdoor National Field Championship twice, first place in the NFAA Marked 3D National Championship and won an ASA championship in the Known 40 division. So, in 7 years, Georgianna Braden has gone from being a woman on vacation with no experience with a bow, to winning national championships. “What I have noticed not only for myself but with other ladies who come into the sport of archery is that the sport almost becomes an addiction, because it’s so much fun, and you can make so many new friends. You want to practice and go to tournaments – both to visit with your friends and to compete. When people are having a good time and enjoying a sport, there’s a natural desire to do more of it. Also, I found a great coach (grin) who helped me improve my scores and talked me into competing in national tournaments. I learned that a lady could do more things and accomplish more in the sport of archery than she ever may have imagined.”
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Michael Braden’s Longest and Shortest PSE Shots
PSE’S Michael Braden
Editor’s Note: Michael Braden of Houston, Texas, started shooting with PSE in the early 1990s, turned pro, shooting a PSE bow, in 1996, and won the ASA Rookie of the Year. Then in 2009, he came back to be a part of the PSE Pro Staff and has been shooting for PSE ever since, besides coaching shooters.
Michael, when you’re hunting, what’s the maximum distance and closest distance at which you feel proficient?
Braden: I do my best to keep my shots as close as I can possibly get them. That being said, you have to consider the game you’re hunting and the location and the terrain where you’re hunting. For me when I’m hunting Texas whitetails, I try to get the deer inside 30 yards. I think the deer out at 30 and 40 yards can react to the bow and possibly jump the string. When you’re getting deer in close, you have another problem with the deer being able to see, smell and hear you. But, as you begin to hone your skills as a hunter, you can get a white tailed deer within 20-25 yards regularly. That’s a good range for a bow shot. So, even though I can take a 30 yard shot, I prefer to have the deer within 25 yards or less.
What’s the longest shot you’ve ever had to make?
Braden: I shot a really nice mule deer in northern Colorado at 72 yards. I was in a pop up blind, seated in a chair, and the animal had no idea I was there. The deer was relaxed and feeding, and I came to full draw several times, but then let down because the shot wasn’t just right. I know there are many people who take shots that long and longer, and at that place and at that time, I felt confident to make the shot. On a bigger animal like an elk or a moose that’s won’t react as quickly as a whitetail, you may be able to push your goal distance out to 30 or 40 yards. But my main thought is that I want to make sure that the animal will be where I’m aiming when the arrow arrives at that spot. You can take long shots if your ability and the weather and terrain conditions allow you to take those shots. I practice at distances of more than 100 yards.
To get ready for bow season, always practice beyond the distance at which you plan to take an animal. For instance, if you say, “I only want to take an animal at 30 yards or less,” then I’ll recommend that you practice at 40 and 50 yards. Then when you do have that 30 yard shot at animal, you’re not thinking, “This is the outer limits of where I feel comfortable shooting.” If the animal is at 30 yards, and the bowhunter has been practicing at 40 or 50 yards, then the hunter thinks, “Thirty yards isn’t a problem, because I’ve been practicing at 40 and 50 yards. I know I can make that 30 yard shot.” Being efficient as a bowhunter has a lot to do with how confident you are when a shot presents itself, and by practicing at shots longer than you plan to take. Then you can build confidence in your ability when you do get a shot. Always practice at longer distances than you plan to shoot.
PSE’S Michael Braden
What about the short shot?
Braden: Most people don’t practice the short shot, a point that’s drastically demonstrated in competition archery. The best professional archers in the country usually miss the short targets more often than the long targets, because very few people really practice short shots. To be a better bowhunter, you need to practice at every distance that you may have to shoot.
What distances do the pros miss when they’re shooting short shots?
Braden: Usually 25-28 yards. In competitions we rarely have shots shorter than 25 yards, but every once in a while tournament directors will put a target out at less than 10 yards. For instance, at the tournament at Redding, California we shoot a 4 yard butterfly target. I advise bowhunters to practice a 4 yard shot, since to make that shot, you’ve really got to know your equipment and how to aim. When I was in Redding this year, I shot the 4 yard butterfly for 47 yards. In other words, I aimed at the butterfly the same way I aim at a 47 yard target. When you’re taking this shot, your arrow is much lower than your line of vision. So, your arrow takes off well below your line of sight. Right out of the bow, you’ll hit extremely low if your bow’s sighted for 20 yards. Your arrow will come out of the bow below that 20 yard pin. But, at 8-12 yards, your arrow will impact a target behind your 20 yard pin. Then it will climb slightly and start its descent for the rest of its flight. So, your 20 yard pin will hit dead on somewhere between 8-12 yards and out to 20 yards, but once you get inside of 8 yards, your arrow will hit low. You have to give the arrow more yardage when you’re aiming to hit dead on at 4 yards. Professional archers practice that 4 yard shot for the Redding shoot a lot, because the worst thing that can happen to a competitive archer is to miss a 4 yard shot. So, when you’re out shooting 30 yards plus, don’t forget that sometimes a deer will be right under your tree stand, or a big buck may be within 5 yards of your ground blind. If you don’t practice those two shots, more than likely your arrow will hit between the deer’s legs. Good luck this bow season, and I hope I’ve helped you.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Michael Braden Chooses Bowhunters First Bow
PSE’S Michael Braden
Editor’s Note: Michael Braden of Houston, Texas, started shooting with PSE in the early 1990s, turned pro, shooting a PSE bow, in 1996, and won the ASA Rookie of the Year. Then in 2009, he came back to be a part of the PSE Pro Staff and has been shooting for PSE ever since, besides coaching shooters.
Michael, for a person who will start bowhunting this season, what bow do you recommend and why? I know that we have to consider the draw length and the weight that this new bowhunter can pull, but generally, what’s a good bow for a beginning bowhunter?
Braden: I really like the PSE EVO and believe it’s probably the best bow for most people getting into the sport of bowhunting. Its draw length is adjustable, and you can get the poundage light enough to start with so the individual can shoot the bow comfortably. You have to consider that when an archer first starts pulling a bow, he or she will not be using muscles that are used daily. But, as they begin to use those muscles, they’ll build that muscle strength fairly quickly. For that reason, buying a bow that’s light enough for you to start with and shoot accurately with is important. As your muscles get stronger, you don’t want to have to buy a new bow to compensate for your added strength. For instance, if you can only pull 50 pounds comfortably when you first start shooting your bow, within a few months, if you practice, you’ll build your strength up and be able to shoot a 60 or 65 pound bow. That’s the reason I like the EVO – it allows the hunter to dial the weight down, so he or she can pull the bow, shoot accurately and begin to build his or her muscles. Then by the time bow season comes in, the archer should be stronger than he or she was at the beginning and may want to increase the poundage. The EVO has the adjustments to let the archer do this. This bow will take an archer from being a beginner to being a top flight bowhunter without ever having to buy another bow. You can get a bow that maxes out at 60 pounds, but you can turn it down to start with to 47 or 49 pounds. There’s about a 10 to 12 pound range of adjustment.
PSE Bow Hunting
How much weight does a person really have to be able to pull in order to efficiently harvest a white tailed deer?
Braden: With the bows we have today, you could take a deer with a 40 pound bow. We don’t have to pull those heavy draw weights of 60-80 pounds like we did in the old days to be efficient as a hunter. Many men feel they have to pull the biggest, heaviest bows that are made, but you can harvest any animal on the North American continent with a 60 pound PSE bow. You just have to make sure what the laws require in each state where you will be hunting, as far as the bow weights that a hunter can use.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
PSE’s Michael Braden on Teaching Shooters
PSE’S Michael Braden
Editor’s Note: Michael Braden of Houston, Texas, started shooting with PSE in the early 1990s, turned pro, shooting a PSE bow, in 1996, and won the ASA Rookie of the Year. Then in 2009, he came back to be a part of the PSE Pro Staff and has been shooting for PSE ever since, besides coaching shooters.
Michael, when a bowhunter comes to you and says, “I’ve been bowhunting for several years, and I want you to check me and my bow out to help me learn to shoot better this year,” how do you coach this person?
Braden: Each piece of the puzzle on how to shoot better is just as important as any other piece of the puzzle. Shooting better is not only about your equipment, but your form and all the elements that go into shooting accurately. I always start with the archer first. I want the archer to understand his or her shot sequence, his form and the execution of a good shot. Next, I want to help strengthen his ability to hold the bow at full draw and aim correctly. Archery is an individual sport, so you have to make sure that the individual is married to a bow that fits his or her individual needs. For me, the first considerations are draw weight and draw length. I start out by making sure that the archer can pull the bow easily and comfortably, and that the draw length is matched perfectly to the individual. The archer is the core part of shooting accurately. Therefore, the equipment has to fit that individual as perfectly as possible. If the archer feels good about his form, shot sequence, bow mechanics and execution, he’ll feel much better about releasing the arrow when an animal presents a shot. Once the archer is in good shape for bow season, then we start considering different equipment and why the archer may shoot better with certain types of equipment rather than other kinds of equipment. We match the arrow and the broadhead to each bow and each archer.
We’re seeing a lot of women coming into the sport of archery, and especially into the sport of bowhunting. One of the most limiting factors seems to be the ladies’ concern about the strength required to pull bows. How do you usually start a lady in the sports of archery and bowhunting and convince her that she can become proficient enough to be a bowhunter?
Braden: Women, like men, come in different shapes, sizes and strength levels. I feel that the most important consideration when teaching a lady to shoot a bow is to start out shooting very light poundage, so she instantly sees that she can draw and hold a bow. She doesn’t have to be a super strong athlete. We have to make sure that the bow is not intimidating to a lady interested in the sport of archery. I want a lady to be able to draw the bow really comfortably, even if I need to start her out on a very low draw weight. As new archers begin to shoot their bows, they will build muscle strength very quickly. If they shoot and practice regularly, they will build muscles they don’t use every day. Through practice and repetition, they will strengthen and hone those muscles, so they can move up in poundage relatively quickly. I think their shooting enough arrows in practice sessions to learn something new every time they practice is very important. If they only can draw the bow back five times before they’re fatigued, they won’t be able to shoot enough arrows to progress quickly as archers. A beginner who only can get off 3-5 shots in a practice session will be very intimidated.
If you had a lady come to you and say, “I want you to teach me to shoot the bow,” and you didn’t know her already or know how strong she is, what weight of bow will you start her with, and how many arrows will you want her to shoot in a practice session?
Braden: I’d start her pulling a bow weight in the mid to the upper 20 pound range and know that the lady make sure she could draw this weight comfortably. Hypothetically, I’d like to have a lady shooting 25-30 pounds and possibly shooting 30-40 arrows in a practice session, if she can shoot that poundage and that many arrows comfortably. From that baseline, we’ll begin to build her skill, muscle memory and the amount of weight she pulls.
How fast can you take this new lady, who never has shot a bow before, and have her hitting the target at 20 yards?
Braden: Within hours. Learning to shoot accurately, even for a beginner who’s never shot before, doesn’t take nearly as long now as it did several years ago. Today we have better equipment, better targets and better teaching methods. One of the big improvements in the speed at which a beginner learns is our ability to get the newcomer fitted correctly with the right bow. In past years, many newcomers would just buy a bow and try to learn to shoot it. Today, we teach, “Let’s see which bow you can shoot most comfortably and enjoy shooting, and then make the buying decision.” If the student is fitted properly with the right bow, he or she can be proficient enough to hunt in an extremely short time.
How many coaching sessions do you think would be required to take a person who’s never shot a bow before to a level of proficiency that allows that person to bowhunt?
Braden: I think 2-4 months of consistent practice and building up strength, understanding and knowledge of the sport, is enough time for anyone who really wanted to learn to bowhunt to become proficient enough to go into the field and take game when bow season arrives.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
Michael Braden Discusses Young and Old Archers – PSE Has a Bow For Everyone
PSE’S Michael Braden
Editor’s Note: Michael Braden of Houston, Texas, started shooting with PSE in the early 1990s, turned pro, shooting a PSE bow, in 1996, and won the ASA Rookie of the Year. Then in 2009, he came back to be a part of the PSE Pro Staff and has been shooting for PSE ever since, besides coaching shooters.
Michael, you shoot almost all the disciplines of competitive archery, and you also coach almost all the disciplines. Why do you like competitive archery so much?
Braden: I guess it’s because archery fits everyone. There are categories of archery for every age, gender and skill level. There’s no reason that anyone can’t shoot competitive archery. We’ve even proven this with our physically impaired athletes – many of them compete in the Paralympic Games. So, there are no physical or age barriers that prevent anyone from coming into the sport.
Say you know a +65 year old man who’s retired, has bowhunted most of his life and wants to consider the possibility of shooting 3D archery now that he’s got some time on his hands. How are you going to teach him to shoot target archery?
Braden: The first step is to identify his draw length, and how much poundage he can pull comfortably. By using different cams, we can test some different draw cycles to find the one with which he’s most comfortable. If this gentleman can pull 55-60 pounds comfortably, that will open a number of doors to different types of bows and setups that he may enjoy shooting. He can buy a bow with a moderate draw cycle and use a faster cam. I think draw length and poundage that the person is comfortable with are the first and most important factors to consider when getting anyone into competitive archery. Then, we need to determine how harsh a cam he can draw comfortably. If he has a longer draw length and can pull fairly heavy poundages, he has the option of shooting almost any PSE bow. If he has a shorter draw length and can’t pull a lot of weight comfortably, we’ll look at some shorter axle to axle bows with lower brace heights, to help him get some speed out of his bow that he may need to be competitive. When we’re talking about target archery, one of the most critical factors is making sure that the bow fits the archer, and not trying to make the archer fit the bow.
PSE Bow Hunting
As an archery coach, who is the oldest person you’ve ever coached to shoot competitive archery?
Braden: I had an older doctor friend of mine, and his objective was to be a proficient bowhunter. Money and time were no objects. He asked me to help him become the best bowhunter he could be, and I spent time preparing him for several different hunts. He went on his first grizzly bear bowhunt when he was in his mid-70s, and he had a successful hunt. He also took a moose with his bow on that hunt. At that time, he was pulling about 60 pounds.
Let’s look at the opposite end of the spectrum. How early do you start working with young archers?
Braden: I start with a youngster whenever he or she is old enough to pay attention and learn. I taught a youngster for several years, who is now 16 or 17, and she’s doing really well in FETA and NAA competitions. She also made the United States Junior Archery Team and will represent the United States at the Olympics in London. I also have my nieces shooting archery in their schools. I started them shooting when they were 10-12 years old, what I believe that 10-12 years old is a really good age to start a youngster shooting bows, They’re old enough to understand what you’re trying to teach them, and they learn quickly. They pay attention. Too, that’s the age when they’re exploring a lot of different sports.
With what bow would you start a youngster?
Braden: Both my nieces are shooting the PSE Chaos. PSE has this bow in a one cam or a two cam, so the youngster, coach or parent can choose which one of these two setups the youngster is prefers. I like the Chaos for youngsters, because it’s lightweight, the draw cycle is not very harsh, and the poundages go down very low. It also has modules that allow you to adjust the draw length as the youngster grows, a very important element for a bow to have when you’re starting children at 11-12 years old. They’ll hit growth spurts at different times and may grow a foot in a year, so you may have to change their draw lengths every 2 months when they’re in one of those growth spurts. Therefore, being able to adjust the bow as the child grows is important for several reasons. By adjusting the bow, you don’t have to buy a new bow, and the child doesn’t have to learn to shoot a different bow, since you can just adjust the one with which he or she is already comfortable.
To learn more about PSE’s top quality bows and bowhunting accessories, click here.
