Breakaway Adventures: Early Deer Season
Breakaway Adventures: Early Deer Season
There is a Real Advantage to Learn to Hunt with a Bow & Arrow
Photo / Indrek Kongats
Early Archery Season is about to open in New York State on September 27, 2024 in the Northern Zone which includes the Adirondacks, and October 1, 2024 locally in the southern zone. The deer have just lost their velvet and the antlers from a good buck make for great décor!
There is a real advantage to learn to hunt with a bow and arrow as your deer hunting season starts well ahead of the November 16th regular hunting season when the deer are smart and hide during the day, so it seems every time I head out with my Winchester 30-30. At this time of year, the deer haven’t yet been pressured and their education is just about to start.
I see so many deer on my 35-mile daily commute from Ellicottville to my shop in Houghton that I have to break at least once, if not twice or even three times, to avoid a collision. It seems that every year there are more deer roaming about and the hunting has little effect on these over-populated critters.
The odds of hitting a deer is in the 1-in-60 range so it’s not ‘if’ but when every one of us will have the misfortune of crashing into one. The average cost of repairs from the impact with a deer is about $4,000 and your insurance will do up around $100+ per year as reported by the DEC. The only way to control the overabundance of deer is to hunt them as there are no natural predators other than human.
A quarter of all deer killed, about 280K deer in total, are accidentally by cars each year (70,000) while hunters harvested the other three quarters at 209,781 in the 2023-2024 season. A much grimmer statistic is that 238 people were killed in the US by deer collisions.
All this adds up to rising costs and economic inflation that is devouring our hard-earned annual income so to do your part, go out and hunt!
To get your archery license in NY, you’ll have to take a in-person bowhunter education course and possibly a hunter education course. This all-day course lasts a minimum of 6 hours. The next available locally offered course is at the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club in Dunkirk, NY, Saturday, September 28, 2024 from 9:30am-5:30pm. At the time of writing there are 48 of 60 seats available.
A very good friend of mine, David Townsend, has successfully hunted deer all over New York State with his compound bow. Dave was kind enough to take the time to share some of his archery tips:
Technique: it’s all about your grip (loose and relaxed) and not trying to hold the pin squarely on the bullseye. Let the pin float as you slowly squeeze the release and when it releases it should be a surprise. The object is to get that floating pin to waver in smaller and smaller circles as you aim.
Training and Practice: I start shooting in June pretty seriously, but only shoot a few arrows at a session. I start by spending an entire week of shooting with my eyes closed just to get the aiming and release procedure to be natural and relaxed. I will then periodically shoot a session with my eyes shut at close range. I acquire the target and get an appropriate pin on that spot, then close my eyes and go through the shot sequence. It is pretty amazing how tight the groups are.
Range and Distance: In terms of distance, I hardly ever shoot at a deer at more than 30 yards, but I routinely practice at 50 and 60 just to improve my consistency. It is also fun to shoot long distances so practice is not all work with no play.
Hunting Tips: My biggest archery tip is you can’t beat a deer’s sense of smell! Second is - don’t over-hunt a stand. Establish several stand sites so you can rotate spots and properly play the wind.
Please remember that hunters are some the most conservation-minded individuals. The tax revenue from licenses and tags go to multiple non-profit organizations, including state management of public lands for everyone to enjoy.
After your deer has been harvested, it's time to consider what to do with it. Venison isn’t for everyone but if cooked properly it is delicious and you’ll wonder why you haven’t tried it before. My dear but sadly departed friend, Mort Fadum, worked as a Colorado hunting guide and knew something about preparing wild game so in his own words here is what he recommends. “Cookin’ venison steak just one way. In a black iron skillet but a ¼ inch of grease (bacon bein’ best). When oil just starts to smoke, slap the deer to it. Cook 3 minutes, flip the steak… take the pan off the fire… Splash it with good hot sauce and eat… Keep her rare boys!”
Mort was also a very talented artist and poet publishing many of his art and poetry in several books. Here is his poem on preparing venison.
ABOUT COOKIN’ VENISION
A poem by M. Fadum
Tommy rolled the biscuits out
Puts bacon on to fry
Boiled coffee and pinto beans
Are waitin’ on the side
I’ve hunted hard the last 4 days
Saw nothin’ but the tracks
But if I go home without a deer
It’ll be biscuits bring me back
Pan fried Deer with onions
Canned peaches and border beans
That’s the dinner I always smell
When Deer run through my dreams
It’s best to wake
Before first light
When Tommy gives a shout
“Get out’a bed you city boys
Or I’ll throw yer biscuits out”
With archery start your kids off young, the age requirement in NYS is 12 years old, it’s a fun way to hunt and you can practice with them in your own backyard. The proof is in the pudding so to speak as proven by Lew Wright and his son CJ from Belfast NY, with their nice archery buck pictured above. Archery is a life long skill and instead of spent ammo you can recover your arrows, how cool is that!
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Indrek Kongats is an artist, traveler, outdoorsman, and business owner residing in Ellicottville. He operates River Dog Art Gallery in Houghton, NY, and his Breakaway Classic Adventures specializes in adventure travel destinations. Learn more about him at breakawayclassicadventures.com.
