(A) 14 Step Season Prep: Step 1

Step 1: Archery Equipment

Have you ever felt rushed or pressured when opening day of archery season finally arrived? Did you ever feel frustrated because the season was here and you still weren't ready. Maybe you still had deer stands to hang, hunting gear to organize, farms to scout, fall food plots to plant, broadheads to tune, the list goes on and on. Even as a fairly organized person, I still haven't had everything ready by opening day. This year, we are going to work together to stay organized and be ready for opening day. Through this blog we will talk about how to finish our projects using a 14 step process. We need to start now though, because we only have 7 months left. As you will soon see, spring will be the busiest time for us as we build our foundation for the rest of the season. We have a lot of work to do so let's get started!

Dust off that bow and start shooting.

The first thing we need to do is pull out our bow and start shooting at targets. This may not be what you expected as our first step but let me explain my thought process. With January bringing an end to our season, our shooting form should still be somewhat consistent. Continue to keep it that way. As a minimum try to shoot at least 30 arrows once or twice a week this year. This will help prevent the "September scramble" as you try to regain your form. You owe it to yourself, and the animals that you pursue, to maintain your shooting skills. Besides, target shooting can be fun (I will discuss shooting form and practice next time which is step #2). If you're like me and turkey hunt with a bow, turkey season is only a month away so start shooting your bow now.

I really enjoy turkey hunting. It is fun to call to, and communicate, with a big ol' gobbler. I look forward to the sound of him drumming as he struts his stuff coming in close enough for a shot with my bow. It is a great accomplishment for any archer to successfully harvest a turkey with a bow. However, I still enjoy deer hunting more than turkey hunting. So, I use turkey season as a trial run for my new archery equipment in preparation for deer season. If you want to change your bow set up (sight, rest, arrows, release, etc.), do it now. Don't wait until right before deer season. If you want to purchase a new bow for this season, buy it now. That way you can start breaking in your new equipment while having fun turkey hunting. Get your new equipment mounted, get your old or new bow tuned up, and start shooting. I usually find it exciting to change something on my bow set up and start practicing with it as long is I am not rushed.

If your a gun hunter, shoot that shotgun before the season and check your pattern. This will give you added confidence when your chasing turkeys. If you want more details on this process, check out the Primos DVD called "Mastering the Art: Guide to Spring Turkey Hunting". They have some great information and tips.

Tune up your bow and adjust as necessary.

If you are like me and will be shooting a new bow this year (I chose the Mathews Z7), we have some work to do. Start by shooting 120+ arrows with the bow. Then take it back to your archery shop to fine tune your string, peep and any other adjustments. This year I had to buy new strings and cables for my back up bow too (Mathews Switchback), so I'll repeat the process with that bow. Once your strings and cables are broke in, mark the position of your limbs on your cam. This will tell you if you have a problem with your bow or string later on down the road.

My new Z7 and a marked cam
(see the gray lines on both sides of the limb in the cam picture)

You may be asking yourself how often should you replace your strings or cables. That all depends. My general rule is to replace them every other season (I use Winner's Choice). Americas Best also makes good strings and I've heard that Mathews Barracuda strings have improved in performance. No matter how good your strings and cables are, they can stretch after a couple of years. It is important to note here that you need to stay current on waxing your bowstrings and cables. Now, if you are rough on your bow and your bow string shows signs of significant fraying, even after one season, replace your string and cables now. This will save you a lot of problems and time down the road. Keep your old string and cable as a back up though. You never know if you will need it, especially if you only have one bow.

Where should you buy your archery equipment? Well, if you live in the Kansas City area, I would highly recommend Roger's Sporting Goods. Their prices are very good and they have a knowledge archery staff to help you out. If you don't live in the Kansas City area, I would check out websites like Lancaster Archery, Eagle Archery, Bowhunters Supply Store and the Keystone Country Store. If you are looking for used equipment to buy or sell, try the Archery Talk Classifieds or Ebay. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions or need assistance with this.

Making your equipment checklist.

My last tip on your equipment: Go through all of your hunting equipment and check it. Make sure nothing is missing and replace any broken items. I wash all of my clothes and check them over for holes or tears. As I place my clothes or gear in plastic storage bins until next season, I make a list of things that need to be replaced, repaired or items that I wish to purchase. This helps me remember what I need prior to the next season. That way I can watch for sales or specials all spring and summer on items that I need. This saves me a lot of money annually!

(A) Moon Phases

For the last two deer seasons I have purchased Jeff Murray's "Deer Hunters' Moon Guide". I have heard Mark and Terry Drury refer to moon phases in almost every one of their videos. I have also heard Adam Hays, from Whitetails Unlimited and Lone Wolf Tree Stands, swear by this particular product. So, I purchased it so see if it would help me in my deer hunting, especially when I had to plan my days in the stand. Initially I would be very excited about applying it to my hunts but as the season went on I really did not rely on it much. As I was going through my hunting equipment the other day I saw the Moon Guide and threw it in the trash. Then I thought to myself. Did I really analyze how accurate this information was based on my hunting the last two seasons? No, I did not. So I pulled it out of the trash and started comparing dates with moon phases. I can be a very analytical person so this project was fun for me.


The first thing that I did was look at the moon phases and compared them to when I shot my last 10 mature bucks. Then I looked through my notes of my hunting log book to compare the moon phases over the last two seasons when I saw mature bucks on their feet (these deer were seen but not harvested). I was shocked at the findings. First of all, I admitted to myself that I lost faith in this tool because I did not always see mature deer when the moon phase was good for deer movement.

Let me break it down for you then you can come to your own conclusions. I like to hunt around the new moon phase and I have avoided hunting around the full moon if I can. The rut is always the exception though. I learned that 35% of my mature deer sights or harvests were within a couple of days of a full moon. 30% of my harvests or sightings were within 8 days after the full moon. Only 15% were around the new moon. All other deer sightings or harvests were around 5% or less during other moon phases.

This information made me feel a lot more confident about hunting around a full moon. Here is a suggestion though. If you have clear skies overnight during the rut with a full moon, sleep in the following morning. This is a good opportunity to catch up on some sleep and re-energize your body or immune system. Many times the bucks will chase at night under these bright skies and will bed down to rest in the morning. Try to sneak into your stand around 8 am. because those bucks will probably get up and start scent checking for does between 10 am and 12pm once they are rested. Once in your stand, plan on sitting all day to cover the mid-day movement and evening movement.

The next item that I analyzed was the time of day that the animal was seen or harvested compared to the recommended "Moon Times" were listed. I was once again surprised at the results. The suggested deer movement times were within a couple of hours of harvest times 55% of the time. If you expand that to mornings vs. afternoons, the "Moon Times" were correct 80% of the time. Obviously you are not going to see mature deer every time that you hunt. Hunting pressure, the rut, severe weather or high winds will also affect the accuracy of this tool.

The Moon Guide also provides suggested hunting locations such as feeding areas, transition areas or bedding areas. I tried to follow these recommendations as best as I could last season. However based on my notes, these recommendations were not very accurate for me on my farms. Actually 50% of the time that these mature animals were seen or harvested were on days that the Moon Guide suggested I hunt near the bedding areas because activity would be slow. This information also proved valuable because I will probably be more successful choosing stand locations based on wind direction, time of year, weather, and phase of the rut than what the moon phase is. Something else to keep in mind is that most of the farms that I hunt experience very little hunting pressure which could also impact these results.

Another controversial topic about moon phase is how it affects the does estrous cycle. Many experts suggest that the moon phase triggers these female animals to begin their breading cycle. However, I have not witnessed this to be true in my hunting area. The moon phase seems to be at different stages from year to year. What I have found is that does seem to go into estrous about the same time every year which is triggered by the length of day. As you move from northern Wisconsin, south to Texas, the length of the day changes in the fall. The rut starts earlier in the north and ends in the south as the days become shorter each day in the fall. However, the rut can be delayed based on weather conditions. An example would be if the temperature reaches above 55 degrees it will slow down the estrous cycle possibly delaying the rutting activity for some does. These are all things to keep in mind but I will let you draw your own conclusions.

I am glad that I pulled that Moon Guide out of the trash can. It was another reminder that I don't know everything and that this sport is a constant learning process. Will the "Deer Hunters' Moon Guide" always be correct? No. Will you have the same results that I have experienced? Maybe not. Will I be purchasing the 2010 version of the Moon Guide? Absolutely and you should too!

(P) My first blog post!

Well, today I have officially entered the blog world in an effort to learn from and help my fellow hunters. As you will see on this sight, I have opened up my hunting boxes to display the hunting equipment that has helped make me successful in my quest for the elusive Pope and Young Whitetail Deer. Over the last 11 years I have experienced only 3 seasons where I have not successfully harvested a quality whitetail. The first year was in 2003 when my grandpa (hunting buddy and best friend, next to Dad) passed away. He was all I could think about as I sat out in the woods that year. It was very emotional for me back then and still is today. It was so strange not having him around because he was always the life of our deer camps. I wanted so badly to feel his presence with me in the tree, like we were hunting together just like old times. However, I knew he was in a better place because I didn't feel like he was with me. Besides, I know of no other that was more prepared to meet our Lord and Savior. My 2003 goal was to shoot my biggest buck ever (170"+) for my grandpa. Not everyone can say that one of your best friends and hunting buddies is also your grandpa. I passed on some nice deer that year but never let an arrow fly. Sometimes that's bow hunting. Especially when you set very high goals for a season and stay true to them. Grandpa Fred died opening day of the 2003 Wisconsin deer season at the age of 81. He had a heart attack that night after returning home from his deer stand.

Grandpa's last buck at the age of 80.

My 2007 season was spent mostly in Iowa chasing a 160" plus whitetail. We spent 3 weeks there with various challenges. The first week was wet after central Iowa received over 2" of rain a few days prior to our arrival. All of the crop fields were still waiting to be harvested. The second week we experienced abnormally warm temperatures. We started to finally dial in on the deer during the last week as they harvested the crops. I passed up on a main frame 135" 8 point and a 145" 9 point. I almost had a shot at a 150" main frame 10 but he stayed out of my shooting lane. My cousin hit a limb and missed a 160" buck while my brother-in-law shot a main frame 8 point on the last day. I should regret not shooting the 145" 9 point who gave me a 15 yard shot for almost 5 minutes but then I would not have experienced the encounter with the main frame 10. There in lies the gamble when you let good bucks walk while waiting for the buck of a lifetime.

Well, let's discuss the 2009 season which happened to be my third season without tagging a buck. My expectations for the year were to shoot a 150"+ deer in Kansas, Missouri and Iowa. That is a big order to fill, isn't it? Well, based on my trail camera pictures and experience on our hunting properties, I really thought I could complete at least 2/3 of my goal. I was wrong! I truly believe that sometimes hunting needs to humble us to remind us how special a Pope and Young animal really is. It is the excitement and adrenalin rush that reminds us how we felt when we found our first harvested animal. Maybe that was a spike buck or even a doe. For most of us, this brings us back to a simpler time when we were kids just getting into the world of hunting.

Well, the 2009 season in the central Midwest was full of surprising weather. We had one of our coldest Octobers in history which significantly affected the growth of our fall food plots. Then we experienced rain, rain and more rain. This fall was so wet that there are still standing fields with soybeans and corn waiting to be harvested. The deer seemed to be scattered and hard to pattern. We had a full moon in November which was accompanied by clear nights and warm weather. Many hunters believed that the bucks were chasing the does at night under a bright sky. Then December brought unseasonably cold weather with significant snow falls. This week we should break the all time record of days in a calendar year with snow conditions.

I would estimate that I put 35+ days in the woods chasing bucks this fall. My wife could probably give me a more exact figure as she stayed home raising our 4 kids all under the age of 8. I passed on bucks in the 130 and 140" class in an effort to harvest a buck of a lifetime but it never happened for me. I was primarily hunting a 160 class main frame 12 point that we had numerous trail camera pictures of and a "main frame 10" (see the pictures at the top of this sight). During the peak of the rut I was fortunate to see an approximate 175" buck about 80 yards away from my stand but he would not respond to my calling. I had never seen him before and I haven't seen him since. Towards the end of the season I drew my Mathews bow on a huge 160 class main frame 8 point but it was getting so dark that I could not find my peep. I had to let him walk. I have since changed my peep size and sight.

As I reflect on the 2009 season I can't say that I made any significant mistakes that cost me the buck that I was after. Wait, I take that back, because I did rattle in the 12 point I was after on November 10th at 10:45. He came into my set up from behind me where I was not expecting him. The buck caught me reaching for my bow at 35 yards (rookie mistake). There are always little things that we wish didn't happen but I hunted hard and had a good time in the woods. My Dad, youngest brother and cousin all scored on respectable trophies. So really, our season was a great success. This year I was reminded that we hunt for the challenge and camaraderie not the total inches of harvested antlers. If this sport was easy it would be called killing not hunting. I am already working on my preparations for next year. It can't get here fast enough! God Bless!

As my brother-in-law, Aaron, affectionately displays with his 160 class "main frame 10": "Sometimes deer get the best of us".