I was cow-calling for a bull elk one September day deep in the bottom of a canyon. While there was daylight on the canyon rim 500 feet above, evening had come early to where I sat. I was well hidden in a little copse of saplings that grew by a meandering, almost silent [...]
I was working at my desk in mid-June when I got a call from my friend Virgil Vosse, who owns North Archery, from France. He said that he was one of four Parisian artisans who were being interviewed for a documentary to be aired on France’s largest television station. The kicker was he [...]
There are lots of hypotheses on how to determine the sex of a deer or elk from its footprints. The following technique was shown to me by my tracking mentors, and I have tested it on hundreds of deer, elk, hog, and a few bighorn sheep trails. When I encountered the trail of [...]
Paraffin wax, generally found near the home canning supplies, is an excellent thread-lock and “anti-seize” lubricant for steel or aluminum threads that are in contact with aluminum or brass. Most carbon and aluminum arrows have aluminum or brass inserts to add weight. Steel target points, field points, broadheads, and even aluminum screw-in or [...]
Since the age of six, Bob Swinehart had been daydreaming about bowhunting in Africa. By the time he’d reached adulthood and could make good on that childhood fantasy, he had become personal friends with a mentor who had plenty of experience hunting there—a man named Howard Hill. “As a youngster,” Swinehart writes, “I [...]
I sharpen my broadheads until they can pass what I refer to as the “sticky” test. I balance the edge and weight of the broadhead on a fingernail and apply a small amount of force. If the edge sticks in place and does not move, it’s “sticky” sharp. If the broadhead scoots off [...]
Buying targets and setting up an archery range can cost thousands of dollars. In this piece, I’d like to share how to create inexpensive targets and a fun way to set up a challenging archery range that can surely boost your hunting accuracy. A few years ago I read about the Muzzy Invitational [...]
I've been wearing "bike shorts" under my hunting clothes for many years now. These shorts are the kind you might wear to pad those "comfort" zones from the ungodly awful seats they are putting on bicycles these days. They have padding built up in the crotch and seat area, which also adds just [...]
As traditional bowhunters, most of us like to have a blunt- or Judo-tipped arrow with us when we go afield. Piggy Backers have a clip on both sides, so two of them can be used to attach an extra arrow to one of the arrows in the quiver. However, I have never liked [...]
Reprinted from the Spring 1990 issue. Many lessons are taught while scouting the woods of the whitetail deer. The real lesson comes when the shed antlers of a mature buck are found when scouting. An array of facts will unfold as the situation is investigated further. Facts, such as area genetic potential, physical [...]
