What tactics are you changing this year, that you feel held you back last year?

[5 shot group]

Im not new to hunting, but this is my first year with a bow. Ive got good gear and I feel real good with my shooting. I've read through past posts and have watched some YouTube videos, but i am wanting input from fellow roksliders.

On the setup/calling/skill side do you believe kept you from being successful in years past? I have made my fair share of mistakes rifle hutning, I just feel this is my weakness going into archery.


Here are a few things I found so far:

*Setting up behind cover instead of in front
*not drawing when the animal couldn't see
*setup behind the "hang up" spot, not before it
*shooting ability from kneeling position
*calling without being ready to shoot
*calling too much/little
*not having a reed in to stop a bull as he enters a shooting lane

 

[Zac]

My biggest fault by far was purchasing the Spot Hogg Wiseguy. Switched back to the Truball HT this year and have already had success.

 

[Maldavis]

Im not new to hunting, but this is my first year with a bow. Ive got good gear and I feel real good with my shooting. I've read through past posts and have watched some YouTube videos, but i am wanting input from fellow roksliders.

On the setup/calling/skill side do you believe kept you from being successful in years past? I have made my fair share of mistakes rifle hutning, I just feel this is my weakness going into archery.


Here are a few things I found so far:

*Setting up behind cover instead of in front
*not drawing when the animal couldn't see
*setup behind the "hang up" spot, not before it
*shooting ability from kneeling position
*calling without being ready to shoot
*calling too much/little
*not having a reed in to stop a bull as he enters a shooting lane

Get the ElkNut app on your phone. I think it’s like $10 he has videos and sound segments to answer many of your points above.
Good luck
I’ve also been listening to multiple different podcasts to and from work which are also very informative.
I’m not able to make it West this year but am planning an archery hunt for 21 with my son. Can’t wait to hit the woods with some newfound knowledge, which will hopefully flatten
the learning curve considerably.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Beendare]

Calling elk solo last year with my recurve created problems on getting drawn. I've never had that problem with a compound.

This year...I think I have a solution.....using my decoy more.

___

 

[5 shot group]

Get the ElkNut app on your phone. I think it’s like $10 he has videos and sound segments to answer many of your points above.
Good luck
I’ve also been listening to multiple different podcasts to and from work which are also very informative.
I’m not able to make it West this year but am planning an archery hunt for 21 with my son. Can’t wait to hit the woods with some newfound knowledge, which will hopefully flatten
the learning curve considerably.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have the elknut app already. Paul did a great job with it. Last year I also did the elk101 course (fathersday gift) and Corey did a good job with the visuals on tactics and setups.

It should be a ton of fun chasing elk in the rut for the first time. I'm just trying to avoid many of the rookie mistakes.

Good luck to you and your son in 2021. I just got my SIL to start eating game meat and he agreed to go with me for my October antelope hunt. So I will see how he does. Hopefully next year we can be a caller/shooter team.

 

[5 shot group]

Calling elk solo last year with my recurve created problems on getting drawn. I've never had that problem with a compound.

This year...I think I have a solution.....using my decoy more.

___

I was looking at using a decoy since I will be solo hunting this year. But being my first year archery hunting, I am trying to keep things simple. I can see where it would definitely be useful

 

[SteveinMN]

My biggest fault by far was purchasing the Spot Hogg Wiseguy. Switched back to the Truball HT this year and have already had success.

What about the Wiseguy did you not like? I just got one and have liked it but am interested to hear about downsides I might not have picked up on yet.

 

[SteveinMN]

Im not new to hunting, but this is my first year with a bow. Ive got good gear and I feel real good with my shooting. I've read through past posts and have watched some YouTube videos, but i am wanting input from fellow roksliders.

On the setup/calling/skill side do you believe kept you from being successful in years past? I have made my fair share of mistakes rifle hutning, I just feel this is my weakness going into archery.


Here are a few things I found so far:

*Setting up behind cover instead of in front
*not drawing when the animal couldn't see
*setup behind the "hang up" spot, not before it
*shooting ability from kneeling position
*calling without being ready to shoot
*calling too much/little
*not having a reed in to stop a bull as he enters a shooting lane

I've had 2 issues coming from rifle hunting. First is setting up too far from a solid game path. Last year I was sill hunting down a very solid path and could smell elk. I moved 20 yards up from the trail and set up. Elk ended up taking another very faint path that put them just barely within range but beyond any shooting lanes. If I'd have set up 10 yards off the trail instead would have been fine.

Second issue won't apply to archery elk often, but was whitetail hunting in MN in November. Didn't do any practice in my bulky warm clothing. Release got snagged on my jacket and I couldn't get to full draw. That was both dumb and preventable.

 

[MajorAR]

I'm curious as well to the Wise Guy comment. I have it and love it. Hair trigger.

 

[Page Master]

Shooting. A lot more. I think it was on one of the Meateater podcasts of ''Man, I hope when I shoot this animals, I hit it and it dies.'' instead of ''When I shoot, this animal will die''. I don't know if I have gone more than 2-3 days without shooting a few dozen arrows since December. I know my effective range and I just have to find the opportunity to get into it.

 

[n8saki]

Being more mindful of the wind and being more aggressive. Those two last year got me busted and made my hunt a lot longer than it should have been. It is possible to be too timid on stalks.

 

[Zac]

What about the Wiseguy did you not like? I just got one and have liked it but am interested to hear about downsides I might not have picked up on yet.

It's impossible to execute a proper shot sequence with that release due to the inability to rest a finger on the release. A proper shot starts with loading pressure onto the trigger and pulling until there is a clean break. If you are amped it is very difficult to rest your finger on the trigger, let alone apply consistent pressure. This usually leads to the shooter looping his finger around the release and punching it, or the famous hovering technique so commonly seen with shooters like Cam. I attended a seminar of Phil Mendoza's where he covered index releases. He gave the explanation above regarding index triggers that were too light to load. Joel Turner also stated that he would not recommend the Wiseguy due to the same issues. He recommended the polar opposite in the Like Mike from Carter. That model boasts the stiffest sear weight of any index release on the market. I'll include a video that demonstrates these issues.

 

[Roksliding]

Mine is NOT being to aggressive, this years motto-“start small” I can turn up the intensity.

 

[406unltd]

For me it’s picking the right time to draw. Everything else was going pretty good last year. So being just a little more patient getting to fill draw will help.

 

[N2TRKYS]

My biggest limiting factor is having a shooter on the property I hunt. I’ll know in a few weeks if there’s one using it early or if I’ll have to wait until the rut starts.

 

[5 shot group]

Coming fro

I've had 2 issues coming from rifle hunting. First is setting up too far from a solid game path. Last year I was sill hunting down a very solid path and could smell elk. I moved 20 yards up from the trail and set up. Elk ended up taking another very faint path that put them just barely within range but beyond any shooting lanes. If I'd have set up 10 yards off the trail instead would have been fine.

Second issue won't apply to archery elk often, but was whitetail hunting in MN in November. Didn't do any practice in my bulky warm clothing. Release got snagged on my jacket and I couldn't get to full draw. That was both dumb and preventable.

Coming from rifle hunting, if I got within 300 yards or so, it was game over. It didn't matter what trail the animal took or what side of the tree he went around as long as i had a clear shooting lane. With archery, I am going to have to pay attention to where the animal is going to go and then choose my setup based on that.

Shooting. A lot more. I think it was on one of the Meateater podcasts of ''Man, I hope when I shoot this animals, I hit it and it dies.'' instead of ''When I shoot, this animal will die''. I don't know if I have gone more than 2-3 days without shooting a few dozen arrows since December. I know my effective range and I just have to find the opportunity to get into it.

My job has me home one week, away the next. So shooting everyday is not possible for me. What I do when I am away though is practice with a Silverback and a shot trainer. This way, i get to really focus on each aspect of the shot. Having no arrow to shoot, no target to focus on, no score to worry about, really let's me pay attention to the fundamentals. I believe this has really helped me to get as proficient as I am, as quickly as I did. I have nothing else to do in a hotel room at night, so why not (and yes I practice with my calls also, I just save the bugeling for outside. LOL) When I am home, its usually 100+ arrows a day. Most on the target range, the rest on the field course.