Perfect Practice: Elevating Your Archery Hunting Skill Set

We all know that practice makes perfect—but taking your archery skills to a higher level takes perfect practice.

There’s no telling what situation or scenario you’ll find yourself against while in the forest or field. The ‘unscripted’ is truly nature’s beauty and beast. Many hunters have fantasized about grunting a mature buck into a broadside position ten yards from their perch countless times. In reality, it’s the immediate quartering away shot before he bolts or the white knuckled, nail biting, last second prayer we encounter before our buck-of-a-lifetime vanishes behind brush. There is no storyline to this fairy tale other than expecting the unexpected.

Simulating unique scenarios and injecting a hint of realism into your archery practice will morph your talent, enhance your confidence, and prepare you for the dynamics you will encounter on judgment day. Maximize your shooting capabilities by raising your ‘pin’ to a new level and shrinking your bull’s-eye to laser point focus.

Splicing arrows into my Big Green Target may elevate my archery mechanics, but it won’t make me any better of a hunter. Do you remember the last time you shot a bow outside? If I were to guess, I’d say that you were practicing somewhere around the 15-yard mark, standing straight up, feet perfectly squared to the target, and you held back your bow until the last gust of wind mellowed before your easy release. Now ask yourself, when was the last time you killed an animal that came into chip shot range, by himself, and stood broadside waiting for you to release? It just doesn’t work that way often enough.

Taking your archery practice to a higher level is an essential building block step in your killing abilities. Dedicate time to create your very own mock hunting experiences that you can share with your friends and family. You may want to implement tree stands, ground blind stations, and moving targets. There are endless opportunities and a mixture of fun situations to mock. It is a great way to increase your accuracy and boost your overall shooting confidence.

Below you will find a few tips that help increase lifelike hunting situations in your practice regimen.

High-rise:

If you plan on hunting from an elevated position, practice from treestand level. Shooting your bow from a deck or a gentle sloped rooftop will mock your average treestand shot. This will give you a firsthand perspective of what angles you’ll be shooting from once season begins.

Place your archery target in an assortment of positions. Tweak your angles broadside or quartering away to create natural challenges. This will give you the opportunity to slip your arrows into the correct crease and kill pocket during crunch time.

Take a Knee…or Two:

I never thought of practicing shooting from my knees until I ventured to eastern Colorado last fall and stalked monster mule deer with my bow. This tree-less prairie of muley paradise was my wakeup call and it proved impossible to take a simple standing shot. Belly crawling hundreds of yards, inching through tall wheat fields en route to a nearly hidden tine was an experience never to be forgotten. There was not one time we stood up and walked toward deer – neither will you.
Once we got within range, it was time to forget how cold and wet your hands felt from the snow, or how much your knees ached from clomping through bumpy fields. It was time to make the kill.

It takes a smooth and silent draw cycle and an immediate decision to align your pin on the buck’s vitals and let carbon fly before he busts you. Always be sure to carry a trusty rangefinder when hunting open fields or vast landscapes; objects in view may be closer than what they actually appear. My Halo rangefinder is always strung around my neck to give me the confidence that I’ll need when analyzing distance.

Take a seat:

Shooting a bow from a seated position can be difficult. You are against several variables that may deter your shot. The bottom cam kicking up dirt, weeds, or bumping your kneecap will toss an arrow off course and out of bounds – not to mention the extra strength it takes to crank the string back and hold the bow steady. Sitting against a tree and using it as a natural blind while turkey or elk hunting is a must when using stick and string.

Last spring I shot a turkey using my bow while playing peek-a-boo with a gobbler behind a huge oak tree. As the gobbler walked into my decoys, all I had to do was draw and quickly slink an arrow into the back of his tail fan. He pompously strutted into my setup and once he turned away, I killed him.

Like many of us, I’ve had just as many good hunts go bad and some just plain raw, but you’ll never know when you have to take an awkward shot at an animal.

Creating the most realistic practice scenarios will ultimately build enough confidence and experience to make your shot count when the moment of truth surfaces. Practice these different kinds of shooting forms and key in on perfect practice to help you on your adventure.

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How To Age Spring Tom Turkeys

Proud hunters often compare the size of their birds, and this can lead to many friendly arguments. But another, less tangible question often puzzles turkey hunters: How old is that bird?

Many myths surround this subject. Some say that any bird over 20 pounds is at least three years old. Others say that a 9-inch beard is a sure sign that your turkey is at least 4 years old. Still others claim that a sharp spur 3/4-inch long indicates a three-year-old bird. What’s the truth?

Biologists with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism provide information that would seem to settle much of the debate about a turkey’s age. First of all, many things can affect the weight of a bird, so weight is not a factor. Spur and beard length, however, are important factors in determining a turkey’s age. Use the following rules of thumb to determine approximate age of your bird, keeping in mind that these are approximations for this region of the country and that habitat and other factors may affect these guidelines:

Spur Length = Age of Turkey
1/2 inch or less = 1 year (jake)
1/2-7/8 inch and blunt = 2 years
7/8-1 inch = 2+ years
1+ inch and sharp = 3+ years
1 ¼ + = 4 years

Beard Length = Age of Turkey
3-5 inches = 1 year
6-9 inches with amber tip = 2 years
10+ inches = 3+ years

To differentiate juvenile and adult birds from a distance, look at the tail fan while the bird is strutting. A bird with longer feathers in the middle or on the side of the fan is a juvenile while uniform length in tail feathers indicates an adult bird. With a harvested bird, you can distinguish adult from juvenile by examining the two outermost primary wing feathers — those longest feathers on the end of the wing. On adult birds, these two primaries will be rounded and have white barring extending to the very end. On juvenile birds, these feathers will be much more pointed and have no barring near the tip.

Of course, any tom turkey is a prize, and the opportunity to watch and hunt these fascinating birds is one of the most exciting outdoor activities of spring.

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How To Age Spring Tom Turkeys

Proud hunters often compare the size of their birds, and this can lead to many friendly arguments. But another, less tangible question often puzzles turkey hunters: How old is that bird?

Many myths surround this subject. Some say that any bird over 20 pounds is at least three years old. Others say that a 9-inch beard is a sure sign that your turkey is at least 4 years old. Still others claim that a sharp spur 3/4-inch long indicates a three-year-old bird. What’s the truth?

Biologists with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism provide information that would seem to settle much of the debate about a turkey’s age. First of all, many things can affect the weight of a bird, so weight is not a factor. Spur and beard length, however, are important factors in determining a turkey’s age. Use the following rules of thumb to determine approximate age of your bird, keeping in mind that these are approximations for this region of the country and that habitat and other factors may affect these guidelines:

Spur Length = Age of Turkey
1/2 inch or less = 1 year (jake)
1/2-7/8 inch and blunt = 2 years
7/8-1 inch = 2+ years
1+ inch and sharp = 3+ years
1 ¼ + = 4 years

Beard Length = Age of Turkey
3-5 inches = 1 year
6-9 inches with amber tip = 2 years
10+ inches = 3+ years

To differentiate juvenile and adult birds from a distance, look at the tail fan while the bird is strutting. A bird with longer feathers in the middle or on the side of the fan is a juvenile while uniform length in tail feathers indicates an adult bird. With a harvested bird, you can distinguish adult from juvenile by examining the two outermost primary wing feathers — those longest feathers on the end of the wing. On adult birds, these two primaries will be rounded and have white barring extending to the very end. On juvenile birds, these feathers will be much more pointed and have no barring near the tip.

Of course, any tom turkey is a prize, and the opportunity to watch and hunt these fascinating birds is one of the most exciting outdoor activities of spring.

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Hunting Turkeys with an American Warrior

One of my favorite people to hunt with is Al Mattox of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I’ve known Mattox for more than two decades, and he’s the type of fellow you enjoy spending time with in the woods. Mattox and I strategize together when we hear a turkey gobble, and we’ll have a good time whether we take a turkey or not. But we’ll usually get our bird. Mattox just returned from Iraq where he ran the explosives lab that blew up IEDs (improvised explosive devices) discovered by the troops. Mattox explains, “We’d take the IEDs apart to look for fingerprints to try to determine who made the IED, and who placed it where our troops might encounter it.” Mattox’s first deployment in Iraq was after 9/11. His favorite thing to do is hunt wild turkeys.

Question: Al, tell us about the toughest turkey you’ve ever hunted.

Mattox: A henned-up turkey that won’t gobble and stays out in the field all day is hard to take.

Question: How do you take that turkey?

Mattox: You’ve got to learn the turkey’s daily routine. He’ll develop his pattern, depending on what those hens do every day. So, you have to determine what the hens will do, and then get to a place where you can call the hens to you. Wherever the hens go, that gobbler will follow. If you can get the hens to walk past you, they’ll drag that tough ol’ gobbler to you.

Question: What’s another turkey that’s tough for you to hunt?

Mattox: A turkey that lives on public land that’s been hunted by several different hunters.

Question: How do you take that turkey, Al?

Mattox: You can’t do a lot of calling. You have to first look for signs of that particular turkey where he’s scratched in the leaves or along the hillside. Find out where that turkey is gobbling. If he’s not gobbling once he hits the ground, learn where he’s roosting by going early in the morning and listening to him gobble or late in the afternoon and trying to hear him fly up to roost. Then when you decide to hunt that turkey, get him as close to you as you can without spooking him. Barely cluck, purr and scratch in the leaves like a hen that’s feeding near him. I’ve found that scratching in the leaves to sound like a feeding hen is one of the deadliest tactics and calls I can use.

Question: How long have you turkey hunted?

Mattox: I’ve hunted turkeys for 28 years.

Question: What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened when you were hunting with a client?

Mattox: A hunter from Birmingham, Alabama, hunted a gobbler with me at White Oak Plantation in Tuskegee, Ala. This gobbler with dark feathers had nine hens with him, and he was strutting just over a ridge from where the hunter and I was set up. He was out in the field, working his way toward the shade of the trees on the edge of the field, because those dark feathers soak up a lot of heat. We were sitting near the shade where the turkey was coming. My hunter would have had an easy shot in the shade. While we were waiting on the turkey to show up, a copperhead (snake) came into the sun to warm itself only a few feet from my hunter. Now, the turkey was coming, and we were within 5 minutes of shooting the gobbler. When my hunter saw the snake, he turned toward me and said, rather loudly, “That’s it. I’m going home.” That snake scared him, and he just got up and walked off.

For more turkey hunting tips, check out my interview with expert turkey caller Chris Parrish here. To read the second part of my interview with Al, click here.

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Yamaha Outdoors Tip of the Week: Sit Between the Gobbler and the Hens

It’s pretty simple on paper: Get between the dominant gobbler and hens and you can sometimes close the deal.

In this kind of situation, you need to rise earlier than ever, and slip into the woods toward roosted turkeys that you’ve located. You should know the number of hens and gobblers in the group if possible. You should know where they like to fly down before gathering and moving off. You should know where they are positioned the evening before the morning you hunt them.

Then get in tight, between the dominant spring gobbler and the hens, and let the show begin.

Sometimes you can time it so that you hear him gobble early—especially if the light is just coming on in the morning. If so, slowly rise, and ease in his direction, knowing you might be walking right past a hen or two.

Use terrain if it helps your approach, then sit tight: quietly waiting for the woods to wake up.

For tips on how to avoid hand movements and get the longbeard in range, please visit – http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outdoor/events/dynamicevent/2/1623/yamaha_outdoors_tips_-_sit_between_the_gobbler_and_hens.aspx. 

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Shed Hunting: Be a Year-Round Hunter

For some outdoorsmen and women, March can be a time of idleness and longing for the next deer season. Shed hunting is one way to get a deer hunting fix while you prepare for the next season – and it may be able to give you an edge over other hunters.

Well-known deer manager and writer, Bob Zaiglin of Houston, Texas, a certified wildlife biologist, has overseen numerous Texas ranches through the years. According to Zaiglin, hunting sheds helps you learn where deer are concentrated on any particular piece of property. The area where you find the most sheds will be the regions where you will discover the most deer. Also sportsmen can pinpoint the corridors deer are using to enter agricultural fields to feed, water and bed and the places where the deer are hiding from hunting pressure.

The outdoorsman who wants to become a trophy hunter and consistently take big deer must learn to hunt all year long and carry his gun into the woods only during hunting season. Not enough time is available during hunting season in most states for a trophy hunter to unravel the mysteries of the big bucks. Even if the sportsman does determine what the deer in his area are doing, the season may be over before he has a chance to intercept a buck in the woods. Although deer are not that smart, they have learned to avoid hunters.

Most always on any given piece of land, a few bucks will continuously escape hunters. These deer seem to have a sixth sense about how to avoid hunters. Unless a hunter is willing to hunt trophy bucks all year long, he not only never may find a trophy buck to hunt, but also he’ll never develop a strategy for taking that deer. If you truly want to hunt a trophy, the odds of bagging that trophy buck are best for the hunter who makes the commitment to hunt deer all year long. Shed hunting is an integral part of trophy buck hunting for outdoorsmen who understand what sheds mean, where to look for the sheds, and what to do after they find them.

Click here to read more of Zaiglin’s tips for shed hunting.

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Competitive Turkey Calling for Tough Turkeys with Chris Parrish

Chris Parrish of Centralia, Missouri, is a quiet, gentle fellow who doesn’t stand out in a crowd. But when he walks out on the stage of a turkey calling contest, he rules the roost. Parrish has won eight World Turkey Calling Championships and a number of other turkey calling contests. When Parrish walks in the door of a turkey calling contest, other callers will just drop their heads, because they know that they’re in the presence of one of the world’s turkey calling masters.

Question: Chris, what do you have to do to win a World Turkey Calling Contest?

Parrish: The most difficult ingredient required to win a World Turkey Calling Championship is finding the time needed to practice calling enough to be able to win. The second challenge is to realize that you’re going up against some of the greatest turkey callers the world ever has seen. Because they’re all good, any one of the top echelon callers can win on any given day.

Question: What do you think you do better than anybody else in a turkey calling contest?

Parrish: I’m a consistent caller. I always call clean and call the same every time I compete.

Question: What’s the difference between calling judges and calling turkeys?

Parrish: In a turkey calling contest, you have to be mistake-free, because a judge will count off for the least little mistake you make. But when you’re calling turkeys in the woods, making a mistake is no big deal. Rarely will you ever hear a hen in the woods call flawlessly. Hens don’t call perfectly, and turkey gobblers are much more forgiving than turkey calling judges. So, even if you can’t call perfectly, you still can call turkeys in the woods. Just listen to the turkeys out in the woods and try to imitate the rhythm and the cadence that they use when they call.

Question: What call do you recommend a beginning turkey hunter use?

Parrish: A first-time turkey caller needs to start with a simple call, like a push-pull or a box call. The sound is built into those types of call, so all the hunter has to do is learn the right rhythm, and he can call in a turkey. Once someone learns the rhythm of the call, I suggest he or she switch to a pot-type call (a slate or a glass friction call). When this person’s ready to start using a mouth call, I recommend starting with a straight double reed call, because that type of call will allow them to soft-talk to a gobbler when the turkey becomes accustomed to the hunter.

Question: What’s the hardest turkey for you to take?

Parrish: All turkeys at some time give me a problem. But if I have to pick one turkey that’s tough for me, it’s the Osceola gobbler. Finding a place to hunt that turkey can be more difficult than actually hunting the bird. When you have limited places and numbers of turkeys you can hunt, you can’t make a mistake and still take a tom. So, the Osceola is the toughest for me.

Question: How do you hunt the Osceola turkey?

Parrish: If you’re hunting a small tract of land, and there are very few turkeys to hunt, don’t call a lot, and don’t be aggressive. If you move around a lot, more than likely you’ll spook the gobbler you’re trying to call. If you don’t spook a gobbler today, you can hunt him again tomorrow. If you do spook him today, you may not be able to find him tomorrow. When I’m hunting the Osceola gobbler, I try to be extremely stealthy, sound like a turkey and stay far enough away from the turkeys that if I can’t call them in, I won’t run them off.

Question: What calls do you use other than the calls you buy in the store?

Parrish: I scratch in the leaves to sound like a turkey scratching in the leaves, looking for something to eat. I hit my hat against my leg to sound like a gobbler stretching his wings or flying down off the roost. Many times I’ll carry the tail feathers (a turkey fan) of a gobbler into the woods with me in the back of my hunting coat. You’ll be surprised at the type of response you’ll get from another gobbler when you flash a turkey fan at him. If you’ll be using this tactic, be careful, especially if you’re hunting on public land. If that turkey will come to a strutting gobbler decoy, he’ll come to that fan when he sees it. I try to break-up my profile when I use this tactic. That old gobbler will think there’s another gobbler strutting and will come running to you.

This article is part three of a series on how expert hunters take experienced turkeys. To read Harold Knight’s interview, click here. Click here to read my interview with veteran and expert turkey hunter Al Mattox.

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Yamaha Outdoors Tip of the Week: Make the Most of Spring Hunts

Turkey seasons are in full swing across much of the U.S. this month and many a dedicated turkey aficionado will be looking beyond the borders of their home state for more and different hunting opportunities. For some, turkey hunting alone is enough to justify a trip of several hundred, or over a thousand miles. Others might need a little more incentive. If you’re among the latter group, there are several options to sweeten the pot.

Hogs

Feral hogs are widespread over much of the southern half of the U.S.  They make for great sport and table fare, and can be a nice addition to, or integral part of a spring turkey hunting trip.

Conventional methods include spot-and-stalk or hunting over bait.  Because they are feral, and often considered a nuisance, many states allow hog hunting at night; so you can hunt turkeys during the day and hogs at night.

Popular night hunting methods involve running with dogs, or riding in trucks or ATVs and spotlighting agricultural fields – where hogs are considered vermin.

Exotics

Florida, Texas and other southwestern states have a variety of exotic species, like sika, axis and fallow deer, aoudad, blackbuck and even African plains game.  Because they’re not native game species, seasons and bag limits are much more liberal, and spring hunting is often allowed.  Methods vary with species and terrain.

For information on how bowfishing can be a different hunting opportunity as well, please visit – Make the Most of Spring Hunts on Yamaha.com.

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How To Set Up on a Gobbler Strutting in the Field

The gobbler strutting in the field is often the easiest turkey to find but can be one of the most difficult birds to set up on and call. Usually when a tom’s out in the field, he either has hens with him or is in a place where hens should come. The natural order of things is that when a hen sees a gobbler, she should go to him. There are three ways to set up and take this type of tom.

• A daylight field gobbler is a tom that flies from the roost at daylight, remains in a field all day long and then flies back to the roost at dark. He’s a difficult bird to kill. However, if the hunter reaches the field before daylight and takes a stand 10-15 yards in the woods off the edge of the field, he can confuse a gobbler and make him come to his call. Once the hunter has taken a stand, he can begin to call to the gobbler before daylight and before the tom has started gobbling or any other hens have awakened. The hunter should begin his calling just as light is beginning to glow in the east. When the bird wakes up and hears a hen calling to him from the field before fly-down time, he wonders if there’s a new hen moving into his area. He’ll often fly-down from the roost to meet her before the other hens wake-up.
• Hens will leave a gobbler by 10:00 am to return to their nests, especially late in the season, which leaves the gobbler all alone in the field. If the hunter takes a stand 30-40 yards off the field and begins calling and using light yelps, clucks and purrs, he can get the gobbler’s attention and make the tom believe there’s one hen left to breed before the day’s over.
• The hunter may have a chance to take a subordinate bird, if there are three or four gobblers in a field with a group of hens. Remember that since the boss gobbler claims the right to breed the hens, subordinate toms may not have had an opportunity to breed any of the hens in the field. Therefore, if you set-up fairly close to one of these subordinate gobblers that’s not strutting, you may be able to call him to your blind.

These tactics are just a sample of what you’ll learn in the new Kindle eBook, “Turkey Hunting Tactics” by John E. Phillips. Check out the book on Amazon by clicking here.

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Shed Hunting and Finding Locked Horns

For some outdoorsmen and women, March can be a time of idleness and longing for the next deer season. Shed hunting is one way to get a deer hunting fix while you prepare for the next season – and it may be able to give you an edge over other hunters.

Well-known deer manager and writer, Bob Zaiglin of Houston, Texas, a certified wildlife biologist, has overseen numerous Texas ranches through the years. According to Zaiglin, hunting sheds helps you learn where deer are concentrated on any particular piece of property. The area where you find the most sheds will be the regions where you will discover the most deer. Also sportsmen can pinpoint the corridors deer are using to enter agricultural fields to feed, water and bed and the places where the deer are hiding from hunting pressure.

Shed hunters also may find one of the most discouraging sights in all of nature – two bucks with antlers locked in combat, and both deer dead. When a hunter discovers two locked racks, the first thing he knows is that the sex ratio of the deer herd is probably approximately one buck for each doe, because bucks fight more and therefore lock horns more often when there are fewer does. Finding two bucks locked in combat was thought to be very uncommon in past years. However, one time, the ranch I managed had 15 bucks radio-collared. Out of those 15 bucks on the 100,000-acre ranch, one of those radio-collared bucks locked up with another deer. One year we found two sets or four bucks that locked antlers – one pair in December and the other in February. These bucks were a tremendous size. Two of these deer had racks that scored close to 170 points on Boone and Crockett. When you’re out hunting sheds, you may discover bucks with locked antlers.

Read more from Bob Zaiglin on using shed antlers to study deer by clicking here. To read the final part of this series on shed hunting with Bob Zaiglin, click here.

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