Wired To Hunt has moved to WiredToHunt.com

ATTENTION: Wired To Hunt Has Moved!

I’m very excited to announce that we are moving Wired To Hunt to a new URL. We can now be reached at www.wiredtohunt.com.With are new URL and hosting service we’ll have a simpler web address, more flexibility in the features  we can offer and hopefully we’ll be able to share with you the readers better content in a more appealing way. Our mission to provide great deer hunting information for the next generation will stay the same but we will continue to evolve and innovate as fast as the technological world around us. So head on over to Wired To Hunt‘s new home page and let us know what you think!

Check out the NEW Wired To Hunt now!

• MyOutdoorTv.com
• Midwestwhitetail.com
• Outdoor Channel

I also love the Versus Country commercials. They focus on how us outdoorsmen are the orginal conservationists and I really agree with that.

Check this one out…

If you have any success please let us know!

Attention: Wired To Hunt has moved to WiredToHunt.com. Come check out the new site!

The arrow is released,  the follow through is solid and your mark is true. What could possibly go wrong at this point? Well a lot of things, but in many cases your arrow sails over the back of your buck as he crouches and then springs away. Most of you have probably experienced or heard of a scenario similar to the the one I have just described. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as “jumping the string.”  For those of you unfamiliar with this idea, here is a quick video of a buck jumping the string.

So what is actually happening here? The deer is not consciously dodging the arrow, rather it is instinctively reacting to a stimuli. The moment the deer hears an unknown surprising sound it’s “fight or flight” reaction kicks in gear and it immediately drops and loads up to bounce away. Unfortunately this often also helps them by ducking underneath many unfortunate hunters arrows.

So how drastic of an effect can this have on your chances of sticking a buck this year? Well lets consider how much a deer can move once you release your arrow. According to secondary data I’ve found, a deer can drop about 1 in in .1 seconds. So that being given and assuming you are are using a newer bow shooting about 300 fps, your arrow would take about .2 seconds to reach a deer at 20 yards. That would give the deer enough time to hypothetically drop 2 feet, but given the time it would take for the deer to initially hear the bow, you can estimate that a deer could still drop as much as a foot. This math seems to back up what many people have seen in real life or on shows. All of this being said, what is there that we hunters can do to reduce the chances of a deer ducking our arrow?

It seems that solutions to this problem are varied and much debated in hunting circles. There seems to be three general options or steps you can take.

• Shoot a faster bow
• Shoot a quieter bow
• Compensate and aim low
• Do not shoot at alerted or “jumpy” deer

1. First lets talk about shooting a faster bow. I can see the benefits of shooting a faster bow for increasing accuracy or range, but when it comes to trying to out run sound, its not going to happen. The fastest bows today travel at around 340 fps, thats fast but sound travels at nearly 1100 fps, so lets assume no matter how fast your bow is, the sound will reach the deer much faster than your arrow.

2. On the other hand the act of silencing your bow can have better results. Dampening the noise of your bow can help decrease the chances of a deer jumping the string and it can be achieved in a plethora of ways. Silencing your bow is a whole story for another time, but in short you can buy a variety of silencers and dampeners that can be attached to your bow or strings that can reduce the noise produced. The quieter you can get your bow, the better.

3. The idea of compensating for this “jump” is possibly the most debated aspect of dealing with this. Should you aim low or shouldn’t you?

In my opinion it makes sense to try to compensate for this to a certain extent. I would not want to aim outside of the kill zone, but it definitely makes sense to me that you should aim at the lower third of the vitals. If the deer doesn’t coil I hit the bottom of the lungs and heart. If the deer does coil, I hit the top of the lungs and still have a dead deer down. This compensation won’t always be enough, but it seems to be a safe way to balance the probability of either situation occuring.

4. Last you must consider whether the deer is spooked or not. Ideally you want to be shooting at a deer that is completely oblivious to your existence, but thats not always how it goes down. These “oblivious” deer still can jump your string, but it seems that it doesn’t happen as often. A deer that has tensed up and is on the alert is much more likely to quickly react to a strange noise and book it out of there. If you can try to take your shots at unspooked deer, if you aren’t so lucky it is definitely a good idea to assume the deer will coil and aim a little bit low.

Hopefully being aware of the phenomenon of “jumping the string” and being able to prepare for it will help increase your chances of bagging a buck this fall. For more info check out these resources

North American Hunter clip, Bowsite.com Article, DIY Hunting article

Have any other thoughts or ideas on the topic? Let us know! I know there are a lot of opinions out there, so lets hear em!

Now here is a cool idea. MidwestWhitetail.com is an internet only deer hunting show which is filmed and then uploaded only days after the actual footage is shot. But it gets better, this year there will be unique shows for every Midwest state! The upside of this type of show is huge because you can get from the field updates in your own hunting areas only a day or two after it actually happens. For those of us who can’t be out in the woods every single day, this kind of information can be incredibly helpful when planning your hunts. First and foremost I can see this type of semi-live coverage being really helpful when trying to figure out the progress of the rut.

There will be 10 unique shows this year covering all the “Midwest” states and they already have a  lot of great episodes from this fall’s early seasons. You can check out the home page at MidwestWhitetail.com and if you are a Michigan hunter like me, you can get to the Michigan online videos directly by following this link . This series covers the hunting season from preseason scouting all the way through the fall. I highly recommend checking out your own states videos as your season progresses. Who knows you might pick up a tip or trick that will help you out the next time you hit the woods!

Here’s a sample of a video from last season with the founder Bill Winke…

“Sittin here waitin on a deer, drinkin beer and wasting bullets.” Haha gotta love those good ole country lyrics.

Da Turdy Point Buck

“Did you see Da Turdy Pointer!?” was a phrase I remember fondly from one of my favorite hunting songs, “Da Turdy Point Buck.” Growing up I always thought that a thirty point buck was only the figment of wild imagination, but it looks like things have changed. Wayne Schumacher of Wisconsin downed a 4-5 year old 30 point buck with his bow and arrow. Speculation has flown and the buzz is that this buck could become the state’s new record buck. Plenty of additional information can be found all over the web. The Post Crescent reported that Wayne made his shot at 15 yards and that the monster ran no more than 70 yards before falling.

Here’s a nice little youtube video someone shot of an interview with Wayne Schumaker as he explains this once in a lifetime deer. The interviewer kind of loses some credibility with me at the end when he asks Wayne, “Would this be a regular rack or is this…?” Nontypical buddy, this is obviously a nontypical. But nonetheless the video has some pretty interesting tidbits of info, not to mention amazing footage of this stud buck.

Even CNN covered the story!

Embedded video from CNN Video

This story was talked about so much that on Sep 24th it was the #9 most searched term on the internet and the 30 point buck even made it on a website entitled “Stupid Celebrities Gossip.” Unbelievable. Congrats to Wayne.

And to anyone that has any hunting ideas in Northern California, I’d love to hear!

Should crossbows be allowed during archery season?

I recently read an article in Outdoor Life magazine, entitled The Crossbow Controversy, discussing the current controversy surrounding the spread of crossbow use in America. Seems that crossbows are increasing in popularity and are being legalized in many states during their bowhunting seasons. One side believes that crossbows are a great new tool for hunters, increase accuracy and the amount of ethical kills and they bring more hunters into the woods. On the opposite side, traditionalists claim that crossbows take away the spirit of the hunt. Being that they are too easy and technically similar to guns rather than bows.

In this article, Ed Wentzler, the legislative director for United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania explained his issue with crossbows by saying,  “Archery equipment should be defined as implements that are held by hand, drawn by hand and released by the motion of the hand in the presence of game,” he says. “If you are shooting a crossbow, you are not drawing the string in the presence of game. That alone gives crossbow shooters an unfair advantage. It is not bowhunting.”

On the side for crossbows, Ohio’s wildlife management chief supported crossbow use,  explaining, “ Crossbows allow hunters to get out in the woods more often, and allow them to be more successful hunters,” says Risley. “For wildlife managers trying to kill as many deer as possible, crossbows have become a necessary tool.”

In my opinion I would have to agree with Wentzler, I feel that bowhunting is so special because it is so darn difficult. The key attribute of a bow is that you must pull back and hold the bow string when your target moves into range. This is the greatest challenge of hunting during archery season and it is part of what preserves this traditional way of hunting. I don’t have an issue with hunters using a crossbow, but I don’t believe they should be categorized or used during archery season. Instead they could be used during the firearm season, muzzleloader season or possibly in their own short period.

What are your thoughts? Should crossbows be allowed during bow season or do they pose an unfair advantage?