Archery

Often from late March through the first week and a half of April, turkeys will still be in wintertime flocks. Love is on their mind for sure, but often after flying down, toms will follow a wad of hens to their morning breakfast location.

Typically, stick-and-string goers get the first crack at springtime noisemakers in most states. Archery-only seasons give bowhunters a chance to hit the woods, often for several weeks, before loud booms start filling the woods. 

I had a 2022 love affair with a pair of Hoyt bows, and when you fall in love, it’s hard to make the change. Hoyt’s new VTM 31 made switching worth it.

One of the best ways to break the routine, sharpen your bow shooting skills, and prepare for a freezer-filling fall is to pen the dotted line and enter a few (as many as you can) 3-D shoots. 

When I show up to a public-land hunt area, even if the location seems to be void of other hunters, I treat the dirt and the birds on it like they’ve been hounded to death. I’ve used what I learned to harvest pressured public-land birds with my stick-and-string. Here’s what you need to know.

I love a good ground blind set for springtime toms. A semi-brushed-in hub-style blind paired with some realistic turkey fakes will create some solid in-your-face action. However, being cloaked in ninja gear huddled in a blind’s back corner while you work a bird with seductive hen talk isn’t the only way to skewer a spring longbeard.

If you’ve never heard of Darton Archery, don’t feel bad. Prior to last year, I hadn’t heard of them either, but I had used them throughout my archery career and you probably have, too– I’ll explain

Whether you took the winter off, are looking to boost your spring/summer practice sessions, or are a brand new shooter, these three drills will help you be at your very best when fall arrives.

When an arrow proves itself in practice and then again in a hunting situation, it’s an arrow that will be in my quiver for a very long time.