Jeff Blystone Missouri Bow Hunters Association Member United Bowhunters of Missouri Member Lifetime Conservation Federation of Missouri Member

Bowhunting Lessons Learned in the Field

# 1- Safety Always have fall protection on when installing, hunting from, or removing Treestands! Use an approved Safety Harness and stay connected to the tree or a lifeline at all times. Maintain at least 3 points of contact whenever your feet are off the ground.

# 2- Enjoy the Experience Bowhunting is about spending time in the field, enjoying the sights and sounds of nature. Its about the anticipation of getting closer to a deer than you've ever been before. Its about making that perfect shot to accomplish the goal of harvesting a deer with a bow & arrow.

# 3 – Accurate Shooting Practice enough so that you can hit a 9” paper plate with every arrow shot! That means every arrow, not 8 out of 10 arrows but EVERYTIME! This will determine your effective range.

# 4 – Draw Your Bow at the Right Time This varies with each situation but knowing when you can get away with the movement it takes to draw your bow is critical to getting the shot off. Try to draw when you are hidden from the animals vision. If that’s not possible then draw your bow in S-L-O-W motion. NOTE; make sure you are shooting a low enough draw weight so that you can draw the bow straight back slowly. A good way to test this is to sit on a stool with your feet off the ground and draw your bow. If you cannot get it drawn then you are shooting too much draw weight.

# 5 – Wait for the Perfect Shot This is tough to do but vitally important! If you have any doubt about making a perfect killing shot then WAIT! Realize that you may have to let that deer walk away but that’s much better than wounding the animal. Nothing will ruin your hunt quicker than knowing you shot an animal and not being able to recover it.

#6 - Enroll in a Missouri Department of Conservation Bowhunters Education Class. The class covers; Modern bowhunting history and development Bowhunter responsibility and ethics How archery equipment works, bowhunting and treestand safety Wildlife identification, game care, survival and first aid skills Shot placement, game recovery, trailing and field dressing Awareness about wildlife conservation and management Rules and information unique to Missouri Find class schedule & location at; trapping/hunter-education-and-safety. trapping/hunter-education-and-safety

# 7 – Find a Place to Hunt

MDC Website Links/Info hunting/urban-deer-hunting hunting/urban-deer-hunting search - Guide for the Kansas City Hunter. hunting/ managed-hunts hunting/ managed-hunts

# 8 - Join a Local Archery Club/Range ABI Archery – 285 NE 69 Hwy.,Claycomo President Lowell Swank Independence Bowhunters – Raytown President Tom Hood The Great Olympian Indoor Archery Range – Independence phone www.cbayou.org Jackson County Parks Archery Range – Landahl Park, Blue Springs phone www.jacksongov.org MDC Lake City Shooting Range – E. Truman Rd. Buckner phone www.mdc.mo.gov

# 9 - Join a State Archery Organization Missouri Bow Hunters Association – United Bowhunters of Missouri –