Page two of the hunting tips and techniques that were submitted in our Archery Hunting Tips Contest. Thanks to all who entered and shared their knowledge of hunting. Some are conventional in wisdom and some utilize items or methods a little unconventional. Either way, they seem to work. 

 

 

Safety After Your Bowhunting Kill –
When hunting in heavily trafficked areas, take an extra orange vest to put on your kill. A friend of mine had a deer shot off his back while carrying it out! Luckily, he was ok.


Waxing Your Bow String - Jayar K|Nevada
When waxing your bow string, take some string serving and loop it once around the string at one end. Hold it tight and run it up the string to remove the old excess wax. After this is accomplished, generously apply the new wax to the string. Rub the wax into the string using a soft piece of leather. This will ensure you get adequate coverage and help the wax melt into the string.


Lose the Gamey Taste - Dustin W|Nebraska
I have always enjoyed eating my game after the hunt, so here’s a couple tips are to make the meat taste less gamey for the finicky eaters. Soak any wild game in a salt water brine for 24 hours to pull all the blood out of the meat, then treat it just like beef or chicken and you will not have a single complaint.


Tendon Free Pheasant Drumsticks - Dustin W|Nebraska
I have always liked eating pheasant but the problem was the drumsticks are just full of those pesky tendons and small bones. I figured out a way to remove a good majority of those before cooking. To do this you will want to leave the legs attached until you are prepared to cook or freeze them. Then between the foot and the "knee" snap that part of the leg bone. While trapping the leg between the ground (have found its best to do it on concrete) and your foot, grasp the top half of the leg and pull. It will take some force but when you’re done you will have pulled a good majority of the tendons and bone out of the drumstick.


Treestand Bearings - Ronald S|Georgia
Always carry your compass in the tree stand. After making a shot at game listen carefully for the crash or any other noise that would indicate where your game fell and get a compass bearing from the tree, estimating the distance at the same time. Many times this eliminates the need for tracking or helps in the event of little or no blood. Even if you do not have a compass, mark a tree or something in line to your mark. Very often you cannot climb straight down your tree and you could take off on a tangent. This tactic does not eliminate the need to locate your blood trail and arrow if possible, but every trick helps.


Eyelid Wind Detection – Skid M|Oregon
Everybody knows the importance of keeping the wind in your favor. To keep tabs on thermals some people carry a talk bottle. Others note the direction that the flame bends on a lighter. I've also heard of stand hunters hanging a feather from their bow limb with a thread. Here is another good way. Since the area around our eyes is so sensitive, you can get the lower eye lid moist by licking the end of your finger or from dew or rain on the grass and other surrounding items. Then rotate your head slowly. When you are looking into the wind your moist lower eye lid will be notably cooler.


Four Steps of Prevention
I have what I call a four prong plan of prevention. Step One: Soak my clothes in Permethrin, which keeps most all bugs off. Step Two: When I come out of the woods, I take a shower with medicated flea & tick shampoo, just in case any bugs did get past the Permethrin. Step Three: I take a shower with lye soap, that kills all the oils and germs from plants like poison ivy- oak -or sumac. Step Four: I'll take a shower with regular soap and shampoo, because the lye soap leaves you fee