Question for the bow hunters.....

[iccyman001]

How critical is your draw timing when you are ground hunting.

I read mix reviews on it, but I would imagine it\'s pretty important when you get in close.




Do you wait for stuff like it to drop its head or look the other way? Or are you just drawing and hoping the elk doesn\'t see....

 

[Swede]

Buddy it depends on the situation. If the elk will see you, don\'t move. If you get just a couple of seconds where he is looking away or his head is behind something that blocks his vision, you may need to draw exactly at that moment. Sometimes you can wait for the animal to pass by so it is looking away before you draw.
My advise is to practice on every doe or other undesired big game animal you can draw on, to experience coming to full draw at the right moment. In time you will see what you can get away with and what is a bad risk. Remember it is not rocket science, or Brad would never have figured it out. :lol:

 

[timberland]

To me this is the one thing about bowhunting that you can\'t teach to another hunter. Trial by fire only. I have drawn on them while being in the wide open without them seeing me because they were walking. What I can add is that they aren\'t nearly as flighty as whitetails. If an elk is walking in the open and catches your movement, seems like they will stop, turn and look, giving you a few seconds to shoot. If they have you pegged, any movement will send them off.

 

[cnelk]

Dan
Many hunters have blown easy opportunities by now knowing when to draw/shoot.
Swede is right, it isnt rocket science, but more of \'\'prediction\'.

As an elk is moving into my setup, I am tracking the direction and looking at shooting lanes I have predetermined
Last fall when I shot my bull, I had two shooting lanes. He moved into one of them and came right at me.
I almost dusted him at 20yds with a frontal shot but didnt. I continued to hold my draw
He turned to my left and when he did that the arrow sank. that was at 15yds.
If I didnt shoot when I did, there would have been a good chance I couldnt have until he crossed into the next shooting lane as it was so thick.

I will post more on this soon.

 

[cnelk]

More on the ?prediction?.
Many guys need to draw slowly, settled in, anchor, sight and release. This isn?t a bad thing, it just means you better know your shot opportunity window.
Some guys like to draw and hold. Some guys draw, let down if the shot doesn?t present, and draw again. [I do this]
I like to practice fast shooting sometimes. There just doesnt seem to be a controlled environment when the moment of truth come along.
But it is a ?knack? to predict when the shot opportunity can arise. I have seen a few WT hunters blow a really good shot by thinking the elk will react like a WT.

 

[bnsafe]

i agree, elk do not seem to act like wt. there is plenty of brush where i hunt to give me ample time to draw. just dont draw when they are looking at you. head behind brush, looking the other way, etc should work fine. its a feel thing that you will only get with time.

 

[Jaquomo]

If I\'m wearing my elk hat and have called/deked him in, I draw whenever I want, whether he\'s looking or not, when the shot angle is right. I practice draw on ones I don\'t want to shoot, and with the hat fooling them, I can draw, let down, draw again, and they usually stand there looking at me. Getting them to leave can be the problem.

Otherwise I draw when he turns his head or after he has walked past since I shoot stickbows. Or if his head passes behind a tree I\'ll stop him with a hard voice grunt with his vitals exposed but eyes shielded. If you\'re shooting a compound you have a lot more options because of your ability to draw and hold. Guys I\'ve hunted with shooting compounds have blown it with too much drawing motion when the bull can see them. Instead of drawing straight back with the bow already in vertical position, they reach for the sky, twist around, go through violent drawing contortions, all of which will spook the bull or nearby cows.

 

[Jaquomo]

+1 on Brad\'s suggestion about planning ahead and plotting the shooting lanes. I start doing that as soon as I decide it\'s one I want to shoot. Even when he\'s getting close I\'m still planning the draw and the shot, since they don\'t always come where we want them to come.

 

[Deertick]

If I\'m wearing my elk hat and have called/deked him in, I draw whenever I want, whether he\'s looking or not, when the shot angle is right.

Lou, that hat decoy thing better not be a practical joke, \'cause I\'m counting on it this year! I\'d don\'t need you silverbacks playing jokes on me -- my ego is way too fragile!

I personally think the drawing thing is the biggest issue for me as a lone hunter.

 

[iccyman001]

I should have rephrased. I understand it\'s not rocket science. I can draw on WT with no issue.
This was tailored more to Elk alone and it seems like I got a lot of responses that helped.


\"Many hunters have blown easy opportunities by now knowing when to draw/shoot.\"
\"I have seen a few WT hunters blow a really good shot by thinking the elk will react like a WT.\"

This is mainly why I was asking Brad. I was worried there would be a bit of difference in ground drawing on an elk, even more when they are answering calls. I am worried that by going alone, if I a calling something in, it will come directly at me and I\'ll spook it on the draw or because it will continue coming at me until it winds me and explodes off. I do not feel comfortable on a frontal shot.



Lou, I really like your hard voice grunt idea to block his eyes, but expose the vitals. I will keep that in mind.



John, why is that? Because you cannot have someone behind you calling? Or have you just had issues with this before?

 

[elky McElkerson]

i tend to draw too early on ANY animal.

a wild pig will make you sit there at full draw for a long time if it senses something wrong.

that said, i went bow shopping for a easy hold bow. well see how this plays out..

 

[Jaquomo]

Deertick, watch for my upcoming feature in Bow and Arrow Hunting magazine later this fall re: using the elk hat. It worked for Ishi, and it works for me. ;-)

Iccymann, a cow mew will stop them sometimes, but they\'ll often take a few more steps looking for the cow. This is especially true if you\'ve called them in with cow calls. A hard grunt (I suck air in, same as a voice bugle) ALWAYS locks them up in their tracks. I plan when to stop them and hit the grunt the instant their eyes start to go behind the tree.

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

Everyone on this post made good points.

Looking for shooting lanes serves a dual purpose. Opportunities to shoot and opportunities to draw.

Like Lou I gulp air to get them stopped. But only at close range. At 50-70 yards I don\'t want them locking onto me. Just personal preference.