Hunting is an ancient process of killing or trapping wildlife or feral animals or birds or fish to collect food, recreation or control predators which are harmful to human or household animals.
Hunting has a long history and it pre-dates since the emergence of Homo sapiens. So, we can say that hunting is an inherent quality of human being and it challenging to find a person who not likes to hunt?
However, without having details knowledge, it is quite stubborn to shot a target precisely by using a bow or any other weapons. Though you will found many modern hunting weapons around you, using a bow especially recurve bow will bring you back to basic.
Either you want to grow as a serious or recreational hunter. First, you have to know how to start bow hunting and here we discuss The Basics of Bow Hunting For Beginners.
Bow Hunting For Beginners Guide & Succession
Though we all love hunting before shot an innocent animal we have to distinguish between lawful hunting and poaching to reserve our ecosystem. Like this human law, many nitty-gritty things should you need to know before starting first time bow hunting.
So, what should you have to follow and what you would not do to be a successful bow hunter? In this editorial, we will try our best to cover tips and tricks about bow hunting for beginners to start in the right direction.
What Brings You To Bow Hunting?
Bow hunting is a skill of chasing game animals by archery. Game or quarry animals are those who are hunted for collecting meat or for sports, and the list of game animals vary from place to place. So, found recreation or attempting to narrow the gap between food and table might be the reasons behind bring you into bow hunting.
Moreover, to follow the traditions of your forefathers or to link more profoundly to nature via conserving, or stretching your hunting season with archery gear, you’ll never run out of great reasons to try bow hunting.
Perhaps you are getting tired to chase with a cartridge or other shotgun. Probably you have mastered firearm shooting and merely want to try your hand at new weapons. Alternatively, perhaps you are entirely novel to any hunting and need to discover what this bow hunting thing is all about.
Whatever your reason or age, we think you’ll discover that bow hunting is not only enjoyable, but it will train patience, dedication, professionalism, attention to detail and concentrate.
Hunting Education and Safety
Hunting education is an essential pre-requisite to get a hunting license as well as it teaches you the safety issues, hunting techniques and responsible, ethical hunting practices.
You can access to any hunting education center physically or online from any state. There are many institutes in the USA offering attractive and useful learning courses on hunting or bow-hunting.
Here we mention some of them for your assistance –
Hunter-ed.com – is an official hunter safety courses for today’s hunter approved by IHEA-USA (International Hunter Education Association). It is available almost every state of the USA and even outside of America like Mexico and Canada.
You can learn critical laws and regulations, game identification, and safe, responsible weapon handling in this hunter’s safety course.
Hunteredcourse.com – Those who want to learn fast and pay less hunteredcourse.com is for them. You can also take hunter education at your convenient time from here with their online courses. After completing your course successfully, you can also achieve a certificate from them. It is 100% approved by selected states.
Bow hunting is a huge responsibility. To do it the proper way you have to know the rules and regulations, game identification process, safety, and responsible handling of weapons or bows. So, there is no alternative to acquiring proper hunting education and practice.
Except for the above list, you could discover many more options for the beginner bow hunting package at your locality or online pages. Where are you go or whatever you do, do it correctly, otherwise it may cause serious harm to you.
Here, we try to give you an overview of how to start bow hunting as a beginner –
What Can I Hunt with a Bow?
The cool answer to this question is that you can hunt anything with an arrow and a bow what you can do with a gun, but you have to keep in mind that precision plays a vital role in hunting.
Bows are only capable to shoot up to 50 yards accurately, and you might easily miss your target even at this distance. However, it is worthy of starting with traditional bows as a beginner to prepare your hand to play one’s card well.
Study, Study
If you take HUNTING as a passion, then you have to spend some time to learn it well. For research, you can have the help of online resources like videos, TV programs, eBooks, and blogs on bow hunting tips.
Visual aids are great for learning anything quickly and easily. However, another medium also equally helpful.
Visit Local Archery Shop
Your local bow shop is a useful resource for anyone who wants to start their journey of bow hunting. There you will see a tone of branded products which you may not look at social media as those are show products what pushed by some of the companies.
The significant advantage is that you can touch them to get real feelings.
Choosing a Bow for Hunting
If you already purchased a bow or you have one in your collection from existing before then, there is no question to select a new one, better stick with that. It is always better to use an old and primary type bow which you know well instead of using a new and fancier one as you will get only one chance to shot during hunting game.
However, in the case that you have no one or you still not choose any then take your decision carefully. If required take expert opinion before purchase. We discuss the types of traditional bows in our earlier article elaborately. Here we try to cover the types of bows for hunting in short.
Recurve bow or Longbow
Recurve or longbows are the most traditional and basic types of bow and not as powerful as the other two styles – compound and crossbow. Those who are highly expert in archery can shoot big games with this kind of bow, mostly suitable for small games like rabbit, squirrel or turkey.
During selection of recurve bow, you have to consider a few more things like draw length and weight. If you visit your nearby bow shop or any pro archer, they will help you to measure your draw length. Based on your draw length you can choose the draw weight.
The minimum recommended draw weight is 45 pound for hunting any game. The more draw weight you can pull, more big animals (deer or elk) you can shoot.
Compound Bow
A compound bow is the modern version of recurve bows which using pulley mechanism and commonly used, powerful as well as an accurate bow on the market.
The main advantages of this bow are that it allows you to pull substantial draw weight effortlessly and hold it several minutes while you wait for your target animal rolls into a shooting lane or changes positions.
Compound bow also allows you to attach different accessories like bow fishing. However, it seems a bit difficult to shoot a moving animal with a compound bow.
Cross Bow
Crossbow acts like a gun. You only need to drag the trigger to fire the arrow once the bow is angled. Crossbows also require the least movement, so your game is less likely to be articulated. They’re even the most precise bow you can buy.
Before select any bow, first, you have to decide what kind of hunting you want to do. Based on that you can select your preferable bow with a combination of quality and price. Don’t be hurry, take your time and then pick the right one to avoid unnecessary cost money.
Remember that a crossbow needs to use scope to get accurate shooting. You can collect the best types of hunting scope on the market.
Bow Hunting Accessories
Once select your preferred bow it’s time to choose other accessories like arrows, arrow rest, release aid, bow sight, broadheads, armguard, treestand, and so on.
We can divide the accessories into two categories: bow accessories and hunting accessories. Let’s join with us to get some overview of those.
Arrows
Once the selection of a hunting bow is over, it’s time to pick your arrows. The spine weight (stiffness) must match the draw weight and draw length of your bow. Also keep an eye that the shaft has to flex as it starts flying, but it shouldn’t be too flexible.
It is better to consult experts at the nearest archery store to make sure you make the right choice. chick here to see best arrows for hunting.
Arrow Rest
Drop away – style rests are the current trend right now, but for their simplicity and durability, we like full – capture / Whisker – Biscuit – style rests, and they’re precise enough.
Release Aid
Target style release aids are popular and have their place, but there is a caliber – style wrist strap release which good for learning bow hunting. You will find more styles online too.There are few more accessories be present which you found to use in archery like sight, stabilizer, quiver, and so forth. Everything you will see by matching with your needs at your nearby archery shop or online marketplaces.
Other Hunting Accessories
In addition to the above accessories, you also need the following when you start bow hunting. Let’s check those.
Broadheads
During practicing target, archer usually uses point head arrows. However, when it comes to preparation for bow hunting season, a broadhead is the perfect match to gives you ethical harvesting. Broadheads wield razor-sharp blades helps you to cut through the flesh, hide and organs of game animals quickly and morally.There are many broadheads available on the market, but 125 grain is perfect for its razor-sharp blades. Additionally, you could take expert advice before selecting one.
Armguard
Purchase an Arm Guard if you’re planning to hunt in cold weather. It counters you from getting in the way of your jacket or bulky clothing — something that will make you miss your objective.
Clothing and Boots
Camouflage and bowhunting go hand in hand. Camo helps bowhunters stay unseen, so that game approaches within range are without any wary. It may feel overwhelming to match camo to your hunting area, but experts at an archery or sports goods store can help. Whatever you choose, make sure you dressed in layers.
Bowhunting may require heavy, sweat-pumping activity followed by long stretches of wet, chilly waiting in harsh elements. By adding or taking out layers to match the situation, layering helps you stay comfortable.Besides clothing, it is also essential to get excellent quality boots. Select such quality boots that provide comfort during hunting, and even walking through the woods.
Ground Blind/Treestand
You will need a treestand and a safety harness if you plan to hunt from a tree. You will also need a pull-up rope after climbing to it to pull your bow into the treestand. Although not mandatory, purchasing a laser rangefinder should also be considered. This range device makes it easy and accurate to judge the range to your target, thus increasing your chance of a perfect shot.
Practice, Practice, and Practice
Is bow hunting hard? You may have years and years of firearms hunting experience, but archery is another kettle of fish. You’ll probably get only one shot with most types of bow hunting. Furthermore, with a bow, the margin of error is much more significant.
If you wish to eradicate error, there are very few alternatives other than practice as much as possible. Practice and only practice can help you to achieve accuracy. Exercise will help you to accomplish a few more things – one is muscle memory that assists you in entering into the rhythm of the nocking arrow, draw-string, targeting, and releasing with consistency.
Another practical benefit is that you reinforce the muscles that keep your drawback power steady. It can be tough to hold your pin onto your target even with a compound bow without strengthening the correct muscles. It includes your back, shoulder, biceps, triceps, forearms, grip and your legs as well.So, practice and only practice can make you a perfect hunter.
Target The Time
For practice, it is necessary to fix a regular time which is convenient for you. Beside camp or club practice you can also choose to shoot at home. Practicing at outdoor camp is a very good option indeed but you need to spend some extra costs for managing necessary camping gears. Always be sure to set your target in a safe place where there is no chance of any individual shooting an arrow.
It does not include fire to houses, streets, sidewalks or any other place where people may be standing or passing by. It’s also a great idea to put some backstop behind your target. The barrier will help block a missing target’s errant arrows. Make sure you have a much bigger fence than your destination.
Don’t Forget Your Hunting License
You may already be a hunter who learns to hunt with bows. However, if this is your first hunting trip, be sure before you get out for a hunting trip, you have a license with you. You can contact your state’s Department of Natural Resources to purchase a license. Some local outdoor shops also sell licenses for hunting and fishing. You can also go online to buy a license for the state you lived-in.
Be Ethical During Shot
Only take a shot when the quarry animal is broadside to you, which means that it is sideways or slightly quartered off.
In this position, you will get a more wide sight to shot. Always avoid aiming at the head, neck or rear.
Start with Big Game
Once you complete study and practice and confident enough to hunt then start with a big game. Because you want your target animal to be reasonably plentiful to take a shot.
You also want to have the target animal big enough to hit it with your arrow. Start with a small game like squirrels or rabbit may frustrate you if you miss your target in the first hunt.
Step Up to Small Game
You can start to pursue smaller goals after you have confidence in your ability to hunt big game. Do your research to discover where you can shoot, just as with big animals.
Keep your expectations reasonable because missing a rabbit, squirrel or bird is common phenomena. If you want a unique experience, you can also try bow fishing.
Finish Up
Bow hunting is not only skill or enjoyment; it is a relationship between you and your animal. The more you study and practice, the more you realize and become a perfect hunter. So, collect your meat or get immense pleasure whatever the reason as a beginner try to follow all the procedures and you will surely touch the target one day. It is all from us about Bow Hunting For Beginners. Run with your passion along the way you like. Happy Hunting.
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