Bow Hunting Basics

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name's Chance Platt from Humphries Archery here in American Fork, Utah. Today we're talking to you about bow hunting basics. What you need, really, to bow hunt is one: a bow, arrow, broad heads. Your stipulations on bows and arrows and that sort of thing, again, change from state to state. So you want to make sure you check your....with your local division of wildlife resources. Make sure that you are in compliance with all that. The biggest thing is....that most people don't realize is bow hunting really starts on the range. A good rule of thumb I always like to use is, until you can shoot ten out of ten arrows at....at a target and get it within a six inch circle, then you really don't have any business shooting at an animal at that range. And so that's kind of been my guiding principle. Until you can do that at fifty yards, you shouldn't be shooting at fifty yards. If you can do it at twenty yards, but you can't do it at thirty, then that basically says that you need to be within about twenty yards of whatever your target is in order to shoot, and actually pull an ethical shot, in my view. Ethics are something that's open to debate, though, so. Okay, so depending on....depending on different laws and rules and what types of animal that you're hunting, you'll use different things. I generally like to use a compound bow. I like to take advantage of the newer technology and newer speed, and, lethality that the archery business has been able to produce. A lot of people are more in traditional, and they're more into the authentic nature of it, which is great. They'll shoot a re-curve, or something of that nature. For instance, this would be an arrow with a broad head on it. This is a fixed blade. Some states only allow fixed blades. Utah, as of right now, they'll allow fixed blades and mechanical blades. But they have to be of a certain diameter. So, when you're out hunting, the biggest thing is to be sure of what you're shooting at. Be sure of your game. And probably to get a real good....real good hold ahead of time on where you need to shoot the animal in order to pull off a lethal shot. Part....part of the point of hunting is really, I've always said it's not so much about killing something, but if you're going to go about killing something, you should probably do it in the most lethal way possible so that they're not going to suffer any undue suffering than they need to. So you should....the last thing in the world you want to do is wound an animal and have it get away, and just to go and have problems down the road. Number one thing is make sure you can be ethical in all that you're doing."