Archery

Every year, I eagerly dive into the world of flagship compound bows, testing and tinkering with numerous models. It’s not just a job for me, it’s a passion that I’m fortunate to have.

What long-range practice does is it makes those 40-yard-and-in-whitetail shots feel like chip shots, and when you head West, and a velvet-racked muley has his face stuffed in a herbaceous plant at 62 yards, you can draw, anchor, and execute properly.

Often from late March through the first week and a half of April, turkeys will still be in wintertime flocks. Love is on their mind for sure, but often after flying down, toms will follow a wad of hens to their morning breakfast location.

Typically, stick-and-string goers get the first crack at springtime noisemakers in most states. Archery-only seasons give bowhunters a chance to hit the woods, often for several weeks, before loud booms start filling the woods. 

I had a 2022 love affair with a pair of Hoyt bows, and when you fall in love, it’s hard to make the change. Hoyt’s new VTM 31 made switching worth it.

One of the best ways to break the routine, sharpen your bow shooting skills, and prepare for a freezer-filling fall is to pen the dotted line and enter a few (as many as you can) 3-D shoots. 

When I show up to a public-land hunt area, even if the location seems to be void of other hunters, I treat the dirt and the birds on it like they’ve been hounded to death. I’ve used what I learned to harvest pressured public-land birds with my stick-and-string. Here’s what you need to know.

I love a good ground blind set for springtime toms. A semi-brushed-in hub-style blind paired with some realistic turkey fakes will create some solid in-your-face action. However, being cloaked in ninja gear huddled in a blind’s back corner while you work a bird with seductive hen talk isn’t the only way to skewer a spring longbeard.

If you’ve never heard of Darton Archery, don’t feel bad. Prior to last year, I hadn’t heard of them either, but I had used them throughout my archery career and you probably have, too– I’ll explain