Brand New Bow Hunter

[Dextera Frugis]

Thanks for all the comments

[CastAndBlast]

Thermacells, scent control/wind, patience, practice shooting different scenarios

[smokeless]

Welcome to the fire. Your addiction has begun.

[HighwayHunter]

Practice getting in different trees with your tree stand, before you decide to walk into the woods with your tree stand.

Practice shooting bow from said tree stand.

Buy a range finder, attach it to your chest so it’s always ready to use.

Get a screw in bow hanger with an elbow on it. Having it further away from the tree makes for a more comfortable grab and spin if necessary.

Walk in and hunt with the wind blowing away from where you think deer are coming.

Wear a harness.


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[J Loves Huntin]

Along with a lot of the other great advice. Don’t feel like you have to buy new. MAKE sure you get measured and know your bow and ideal draw weight. Just because you can hold 70lbs in a shop doesn’t mean you can in a treestand. I can hold 70 but choose to hunt with 50lbs. I have a good used sight you can have for free if you want. Always consider that “new or expensive” equipment Is not as important as the shooter and the practice going into it. Don’t second guess yourself and wish you had done more stuff. Find a decent platform for you and use it.

[Turboe]

Practice getting in different trees with your tree stand, before you decide to walk into the woods with your tree stand.

Practice shooting bow from said tree stand.

Buy a range finder, attach it to your chest so it’s always ready to use.

Get a screw in bow hanger with an elbow on it. Having it further away from the tree makes for a more comfortable grab and spin if necessary.

Walk in and hunt with the wind blowing away from where you think deer are coming.

Wear a harness.


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I vote for ^^^ especially the harness.
Looking forward to hearing how it turns out!

[Ginja Ninja]

Control your scent.
Wait to draw until all eyes are off of you.
If you're in a ground blind, clear debris to make sure you can move your feet around without making noise.
A 20 yard shot from ground level vs. elevated could be a different pin.
Make sure you have clear shooting lanes. An arrow grazing literally anything doesn't end well in my experience.
Even after a well placed shot, give 'em time.
When you're practicing, practice letting down, as well as finding a comfortable holding position in the event you can't let down.

Best of luck!

[crittergetter76]

1. Quiet clothing! On a windless morning you will not be able to draw successfully with scratchy, noisy clothing or gloves. (In my experience) For me that means wool or fleece.
2. Be mindful of the wind direction. Reduce your scent as much as possible with scent killing laundry detergent, sprays, ozone generator, etc. But wind direction is king.
3. Practice yardage estimating. Sometimes there isn't an opportunity to use a range finder. You can also pre-range a few landmarks to give you a quick reference if it all goes down fast.
4. Wait after the shot. Unless I see them go down in sight, I wait 30 min. before quietly following the blood trail. Depending on what blood I find I may back out and wait longer.
You don't want to push a wounded critter.

Hope you have fun and much success! Looking forward to seeing your first bow kill.

[muzzlebrake]

Rage Broadheads. You can't kill anything without them

[Hart8]

Move like you're on day #3 of the worst flu bug ever..Being still,and deliberate in your movements are still the hardest thing's for me,in a tree.Good luck amigo!

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[bakin7005]

New bowhunter??...eff the practice....just get a thermocell and start flinging arrows at the first brown animal you see!

[SmTx]

Don't forget to have fun

[texan16]

practice. It is not a part time hobby. Accurately shooting your bow consistently takes practice, practice, practice.

This is by far the most important thing. You can be the best woodsman that ever went into the woods, have your thermacell and ozonics, have the wind in your face, top of the line camo and whatever else you want......but when it all comes down to the moment of truth....you have to be able to shoot accurately. Lots of other good tips in this thread, but you have to put in the time shooting your bow and getting proficient.

[JES]

Don’t shoot at a deer beyond 20 yards.

[Lone_Wolf]

Aim low. Deer tend to drop, loading up to run away at the sound of the shot. If they do, and you aim low, you're still more likely to hit them in the vitals. If they don't drop, you still smoked the deer. My first errors was shooting over the top of a couple of deer.