Author Archives:

Hunting Fit

by Bob Butz

Become a backwoods badass with one of these at home, functional fitness programs.

Money can buy just about anything. But being in top physical condition is, arguably, the greatest equalizer where consistent success in hunting is concerned.

Out-of-shape hunters have poorer concentration, less determination, are less alert, and more injury and accident prone. A hunter with strength and stamina can hunt longer, hunt harder, and trek farther. That ability to keep going when the going gets tough is something you can’t buy in a store. And it’s that endurance and determination you can rely on to create opportunity more often than luck.

“Functional fitness” is the newest buzzword in the fitness industry. Simply put, this is training designed to prepare you for any physical challenge life may throw at you. No gym membership required. Minimal equipment. Here’s how some of the most popular stack up.

CrossFit, http://www.crossfit.com

A favorite training methodology used by police, firemen, and military Special Operations soldiers, CrossFit mixes bodyweight exercises, track and field running, power, and Olympic weight lifting movements into constantly varying circuit routines with very little rest between movements.

Cost: None. Online access to daily workouts is free.

Equipment: Olympic barbell set, pull-up bar, dumbbells, gymnastic rings

What to Expect: Ten to 20 minutes a day and workouts that rarely repeat and never get old. After a couple months of CrossFit, you’ll not only be able to jump up from your chair and finish a 10K in a respectable time but also still have enough in the tank to singlehandedly pack out an elk.

Misses: CrossFit offers free access to instructional videos, articles on diet, and loads of information on how to safely get started. But if you don’t know a “thruster” from a “power clean,” the learning curve can be steep.

Mountain Athlete, www.mtnathlete.com

When founder of Mountain Athlete Rob Shaul isn’t in the gym training mountain rescue teams, climbers, Green Berets, and Navy SEALs, he can often be found hunting around his Jackson, Wyoming, home. Shaul, a mountain fitness expert, tailors his high-intensity workouts specifically for high-altitude athletes—including big game hunters. His 6-week Big-Game Hunting Training Program is a mountain hunter’s crash course in strength, endurance, and mental fortitude.

Cost: $40, complete course available in the Mountain Athlete online store

Equipment: Olympic barbell set, dumbbells

What to Expect: About an hour a day, 5 days per week, and in 6-weeks you’ll build the lungs and legs necessary to hike thousands of vertical feet, perform well with a loaded backpack in the high country, and be “harder to kill” in case something goes wrong during your trip.

Misses: None. Mountain Athlete offers free access to exercise instructional videos and workouts can be scaled to fit your fitness level going in.

P90x

You’ve seen the infomercials, but here’s the thing—P90x actually works. The focus on pull-ups, pushups, and intense anaerobic circuit training makes P90X another favorite of military soldiers and anybody else looking for the fast track to total body strength and cardio health.

Cost: Around $150

Equipment: pullup bar, dumbbells or resistance bands

What to Expect: A diet plan and 13 instructional workout DVDs that will make you ripped and strong. The marketing may seem flashy, but the workouts are no joke. As for the high cost—and considering that P90X is the only fitness program that delivers on the promise to change your life in 90 days—it’s a bargain.

Misses: After the 90 days, you have to repeat the program. But if you want to get fit fast, the answer is none.

Ross Training, www.rosstraining.com

Former boxer, innovative trainer and author Ross Enamait offers one of the most intense total-body conditioning and functional strength training programs you can find. His book Never Gymless blends body-weight movements and weight training with everyday objects (sandbags, wheelbarrows, sledgehammers, tires) into a punishingly effective program that will help you go 12 rounds on any hunt.

Cost: $21.95

Equipment to Buy: None.

What to Expect: Remember when Rocky’s training went old school to beat the Russian? Pushups, pull-ups, hill running, sled pulling, and stuff like pushing around a wheelbarrow full of concrete blocks. Never Gymless offers a complete workout program with lots sample workouts and basic diet advice.

Misses: None. Enamait is the real deal.

Matt Furey Enterprises, www.mattfurey.com

Former wrestler and martial artist, Matt Furey, took a page from the Charles Atlas school of fitness instruction and has created a mighty recognizable empire thanks to the success of a dozen best-selling books. One of the best known—Combat Conditioning—is one of the new classics of functional fitness training that focuses on body weight exercises and calisthenics to build superb strength and overall conditioning.

Cost: $39.95

Equipment: None

What to Expect: Furey bases his conditioning program on what he calls the “Royal Court” of body-weight exercises”—the Hindu pushup, Hindu squat, and back bridge. Theses exercises are demanding and, if perfected, practiced regularly, and supplemented with the other exercises in the book, will give you a basic foundation of muscular strength and endurance.

Misses: Combat Conditioning offers only basic guidelines for workout routines. But if you’re looking for a good place to start your mountain fitness regime, you could do much worse.

Backcountry Bowman

by Bob Butz

Backcountry Bowman 

All his life, Paul Medel had a passion for elk hunting.  Then in 1991 he started bowhunting them.  He hasn’t been the same since.  Now Medel goes by the handle “ElkNut.”  In Idaho where lots of public land, wicked terrain, and over-the-counter competition make it some of the toughest elk hunting there is, you got to be a little nutty to be any good.

Medel and son, Paul II, have hunted public land almost exclusively and racked up an astounding reputation for backcountry success that helped them launch ElkNut Outdoor Productions.  According to Medel and the regular flow of emails, photos, and thank you notes he regularly receives, over 700 bulls and countless cow elk have been taken by customers across the country—many of whom never hunted elk before in their lives—since the release of their instructional line of DVDs (namelyScouting Elk Country, Bugling Bulls and Beyond Volume 1-4).  Medel is also the man behind the popular “Chuckler” series elk calls and ElkNut’s Playbook—a unique spiral-bound, pocket-sized reference guide designed to be carried in the field by hunters looking for expert answers to almost any elk hunting question or situation encountered in the woods.

So what’s it take to be a successful backcountry elk hunter?  Medel offers these tips:

  • For those hunters not having the luxury of living in elk country they must rely on scouting from home, how is this done?

First, one must choose a state and, second, the desired unit. This can all be accomplished on the internet by examining hunter statistics and success rates for your desired area.

To get better acquainted with your preferred area, I recommend checking internet map services like Google Maps, which allow you to locate nearly all water sources, north-facing slopes, draws, basins, and parks—all high-odds elk locations—all from the comfort of your home.  Download these exact spots onto your GPS and head right to them once you get there.

If concerned about elk numbers and hunting pressure, don’t be afraid to contact the local game biologist by phone or email and share with him your areas of consideration.  Most will give their honest evaluation.  Just don’t let your first questions be about how big are the elk out there and where are they all at.  This implies that you someone else to do your homework for you—not a good idea.  Instead, share all the work you’ve done and that you’re looking for a little more information to assure that your choices are good ones.

At the same time, get your hands on real maps of your chosen area that can be carried with you in the field.  Picktopographical maps in the 7.5 minute size.  They are the easiest to read and use in combination with the reliable compass and GPS you should also have with you in the field.

  • In your opinion, what’s the best state for non-resident elk hunting and why?

For do-it-yourself elk hunting—definitely Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado because of the number of elk and the availability of over-the-counter licenses.  In states offering licenses by drawing/lottery, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada are my top choices—Nevada being the best, yet the toughest to draw a tag. 

  • Biggest mistake new elk hunters make before they even step foot in the woods?

Not being in proper mental and physical condition.  Conditioning the mind and body is crucial to having an enjoyable and successful hunt.  Elk hunting can be very demanding and tough, especially once a 600-pound animal is down and needs to be packed back to camp or a vehicle.

Second, is doing too little scouting—hunters coming west and not being familiar enough with the terrain.  Third, I would say is going cheap on optics and, last, heading into the woods not knowing enough about elk vocalization—that is, not knowing when and how to use the call.

  • Biggest mistake elk hunters make when they get into the woods?

Literally hunting way to slow and lacking in aggressive nature!  Too many hunters hit the elk woods with a whitetail-hunting mentality.  Unless a hunter is heading for a particular location to sit a water source or wallow, too many waste time covering terrain in a tip-toeing fashion.  This is not necessary in elk hunting.  You must cover ground and locate elk.  You slow down once elk are located.

A lot of hunters also don’t have the supplies in their packs to take care of an animal once it’s down.  Also, you should never leave camp without all the times necessary to take care of yourself overnight if needed.  Having the basic skills to build a shelter, find a clean water source, and the tools to get a fire going are things that should always accompany a hunter once he hits the woods.

  • What is the basic list of items every backcountry elk hunter should have in his pack?

I carry the following items with me no matter if I’m on a half day elk hunt or an all-day hunt.  Everything fits inside my Badlands “Superday” or 2200 with room left over and weighs only 15 pounds.  This list can be used by drop-camp hunters or solo, backcountry hunters.

Water bladder, 60-ounce minimum

4 elk-sized game bags

Wyoming pack saw

Orange flagging tape

Food for all day

5 backup Wilderness Athlete energy bars

A good space blanket

1 large plastic garbage bag

1 25’ nylon rope

1 50’ nylon rope

Water purifying carbon straw

Roll of athletic tape for first aid emergency use

Ziploc bag with matches, lighter, fishhooks, flies, 20’ fishing line, etc  

2 knives and carbide sharpener

Small Leatherman-style multi-tool

Mini-Maglite and Petzel headlamp

4 extra AA batteries

Garmin GPS 130

Compass and maps

Small notebook and pen in Ziploc bag

6-extra .357 rounds

Extra longbow string

Eye glasses

Aspirin, Benadryl for bee stings, pain medication and muscle relaxants for sore muscles, strains, and pulls

Disposable, 36 photo camera

  • Is knowing how to make elk talk vital for success?

To a degree.  But not all elk hunting during the rut requires a hunter know how to call.  At times elk are vocal enough to allow a stealthy hunter to slip in to bow range.  A lot of it just depends on what a hunter is after. Many hunters just want an elk and the size of bull doesn’t matter.

When this is the case, calling can be beneficial as most satellite bulls are very vulnerable to a well timed cow call or cold-calling sequence.  Ninety-percent of the time some type of elk sound is needed to “seal the deal.” 

But, fortunately, you don’t have to be a world class elk caller to lure elk your way as long as you use the right sound at the right time.  In other words, you want to be able to “fit in” to an encounter with your sounds.  This is very important on OTC units where elk are pressured.  The better caller you are, the better you will do when it’s time to use selective sounds.  By knowing how to call—knowing what sounds to use and when—you will have the confidence to issue forward the needed sounds instead of shrinking back from intimidation because of a fear you’re going to send the elk the other way. 

  • What are the basic elk sounds everyone heading west should know?

By concentrating on cold-calling setups and learning basic cow sounds such as social contact sounds and re-gathering sounds, you can up your odds considerably. In addition, learning to give a classic type bugle with no grunts or chuckles on the end is a good idea.  

  • What are the biggest mistakes hunters make when calling?

Many experts would say over-calling, but I don’t agree.  It’s far worse to make the wrong sounds at the wrong time. 

  • Once you kill an elk, what gear do recommend for getting an elk out?

Once an elk is down, we take care of him on the spot by getting him quartered and into game bags.  I use the gutless method described in my new playbook.  Since you never know when your luck might turn, a hunter needs to be prepared every time he goes out with the needed items in his pack to take care of a downed animal.  You need to get the meat in game-bags so as to get it cooled down.  I generally use a backpack that carries all the field dressing necessities (see packing list above). This same pack we use has the option available with a vinyl/canvas seat on the outside of the pack so an elk quarter can be secured into place. This keeps any blood & possible hair off our inside items. We then carry that load out in addition to the rack. Once back at camp we trade these packs for Kelty external pack frames that are designed for packing heavy loads.  These packs do not need a pouch, just a seat along with two wings on the outside that buckle together around the quarters to hold quarter firmly in place.

 

For more information on Wedel’s calling and scouting DVDS, elk calls, or a copy of his new books, go to www.elknut.com

Mr Incredible

by Bob Butz

Mr. Incredible

The greatest longbow archer in the world, Byron Ferguson, on his most embarrassing miss, common bare-bow mistakes, why he’s not an “instinctive” shooter, and why you shouldn’t be either.

Why do you shoot instinctive?

Well, first of all, I’m not an instinctive shooter. I’m an “instinctive gap shooter.” Howard Hill who once said he literally saw hundreds, maybe thousands, of instinctive shooters in his life—but he never saw a good one. Howard Hill used a “split-vision” style of aiming. I basically use the same technique. It’s the system I laid out in my book Become the Arrow.

What’s the biggest mistake you see committed by bare-bow shooters?

Not getting the elbow back in line with the target. I only discovered this in the last year or so. If, at full draw, you have everything in a straight line to the target—the elbow, down the arm, the bow hand—the arrow can’t go any other place than on the target. You might miss high or low, but you’ll never miss left to right.

What’s the best excuse you ever heard for missing?

I got so many excuses I have them numbered. The sun got in my eyes. The arrow was deflected—that’s always a good one. Even shooting in an open field the arrow can always get deflected.

Your most embarrassing miss?

Recently? On a hunting lease I own, I have this place called “the bow plot.” Any animal that sets foot on this plot is in bow range. Years ago, I had a big doe come in long before dark. She was within ten to fifteen yards for over an hour. We both got real comfortable. Nothing else was coming in and it was getting dark so I finally decided I might as well shoot this doe. So I aimed for the heart and do all the things I normally do. And I shot under her. Fifteen yards and I just plain missed.

What’s the biggest reason people miss?

They shoot at the whole animal and don’t pick a spot. Or, when things get exciting, they shoot at the whole kill zone and think they’re picking a spot. That’s called “zone shooting” and I’m the world’s worst at it. You have to pick a spot—a wrinkle of skin, a hair—the smaller the spot the better that way if you miss that exactly spot you’re still in the kill zone.

What is the biggest misconception that won’t die about instinctive shooting?

A lot of young guys used to shooting compound bows will pick up a traditional bow and expect to shoot one-eight-inch groups at thirty yards. It’s not going to happen. It’s like trying to compare a bench rest rifle to an old, reliable lever-action Winchester. The bench rest rifle is fun to shoot and, when conditions are perfect, it’s very, very accurate. But what are you going to grab when it’s time to go hunting—that big old bench rest rifle or the Winchester? Me, I grab the thirty-thirty.

Why are there so many theories on how to shoot a bare bow properly?

It’s an individual thing. What works for me won’t necessarily work for you. People are built differently. Head shape, for example, can effect where you anchor. You have to get the arrow under the pupil of your dominate eye. That might mean anchoring on the last tooth of your lower jaw or, like me, more in the middle. That’s just one subtle difference. But when you get down to the bare-bone basics, some things are absolute. You absolutely have to have good, consistent form. Things like hand pressure, finger pressure on the string, a consistent anchor point, release…and follow through—which means holding the bow on target until arrow hits the target—is especially important. It’s another common mistake. A lot of guys want to drop the bow down so they can watch the arrow fly to the target. But all they end up seeing is a bad shot.

For more information about his personal appearances, three-day shooting schools, instructional videos, books, and signature equipment, visit Byron Ferguson’s website at www.byronferguson.com.

Traditional Reads

by Bob Butz

Shooting the Stickbow, 2nd Edition

by Anthony Camera

A big problem with books about shooting traditional equipment is no one volume seems to answer every question and problem a hunter may encounter when trying to learn to shoot a traditional bow without sights.  So in manic bid to get better, you end up buying every book on the subject—trying a little of this and a little of that—and in the process go cat-kicking mad wondering why your bookshelves are bowing and you still can’t hit the broadside of a barn even if you were standing in it.  Then one day a hefty package arrives and inside is a 390 page tome that promises to set you free—and it does.

Hits

Camera doesn’t waste space on Zen-master, “arch of the arrow” musings.  If you want to know how to properly tune a bare bow—he tells you straight.  You want to know why your arrows keep grouping high, low, or left, and right?  Why does the bow string keep slapping your forearm and, more important, how do you fix it?  The chapter on “Common Error and How to Correct Them” is sheer mana from The Gods.  The volume and scope of information here makes you wonder if Camera does anything with his time outside of hunting and shooting—lucky him and also lucky for the rest of us that he also took a little time to write it all down.

Misses   

Close your eyes and what do you see?

Recommendation

Are you still reading this?  Go to www.shootingthestickbow.com and buy the book and change your life for only$19.99.

First Broadhead to the Moon

by Bob Butz

Everyone has seen the iconic image of Apollo 14 commander, Alan Shepard, swinging a Wilson six iron on the surface of the moon. But if Fred Bear’s marketing team had their way back in 1971, Shepard would have instead shot an arrow from a Bear “Kodiak” recurve.

In his book, I Remember Papa Bear, Bear’s sidekick and public relations man, Dick Lattimer, remembered how a chance meeting at a 1969 trade show in Houston eventually led to a friendship between many of the Apollo astronauts—namely Joe Engle—and iconic archer Fred Bear.

“These young astronauts,” wrote Lattimer, “many of whom were also hunters and fishermen, grew up reading stories and watching television shows of Fred Bear’s daring bowhunting adventures. And, so, once the trade show opened…our Bear Archery booth was awash in young astronauts, the very men who were in training to fly to the moon and make history. They all wanted to meet Fred Bear.”

As a publicity stunt, Lattimer recounted a discussion he had with highers-up in the fledgling space program. Wouldn’t it be neat to see an astronaut shooting an arrow—from a Bear bow, of course—on the surface of the moon?

Instead, as a favor to Bear, astronaut Joe Engle asked Colonel Charlie Duke—commander of the Apollo 16 mission—to carry a Bear Razorhead® with him on his 1972 moon mission. Duke obliged and at a Pope & Young meeting that same year Engle presented Bear with the broadhead that became a popular exhibit in Bear’s Gainesville, Florida, museum until Bass Pro Shops acquired the collection in 2003.

Traditional Gadgetry

by Bob Butz

One of the funny myths of modern traditional bowhunting is that in some bygone era the pastime was somehow more…pure. Page through any old issue of Bow & Arrow magazine from the late 1960s and early 70’s and you’ll see that our wool-wearing, stickbow shooting fathers and grandfathers loved bold sales claims, flashy advertisements, and good (all be they gimmicky) gadgets that promised better bowhunting.

If you’re old enough to remember metal Fred Bear’s “become a two season hunter” campaign, you probably remember the advertisements for Browning “Serpentine” broadheads. The full-page, four-color ads showed a red apple with a hole in it big enough to put your fist through, supposedly put there by the radical looking head with thin, spiral-shaped blades—more drill bit than broadhead—that clearly no mortal could ever re-sharpen.

Sprandel’s Bowsight Company more or less promised you’d never miss a deer again with their new “automatic range finding bow sight.” Use DEI’s “Telescopic Bow Stringer” and you’d never twist a limb again. The “Shockalator” was a mercury-filled—yes, mercury—bow stabilizer.

And T.K.O. Products, Inc. was a “double arrow rest…endorsed by Wisconsin’s pioneer bowhunter Art Laha” that allowed a bowhunter to nock and shoot two arrows simultaneously.T.K.O. stood for “Total Kill Option” but it could have just as well been called “totally kooky,” which is probably one reason the double arrow rest never took off.