Learn Now, at Deer Events

Once again, the seasons are over for the year and it is time for a lot of hunting archers to gather together and see what the past season has produced. There are a good number of white-tailed deer shows going on in the next few months. It is well worth your time to head to one and see what has transpired this season.

There will not only be a good number of whitetail bucks on display, but there is also information about deer and hunting. These outdoor shows can be a real boon to the hunters, but if you are newer to the sport, then the shows are an even greater opportunity.

For example, if you were not hunting the greatest spot, you just might find a great place for next season. This can come in the form of meeting guides who frequent these shows, and you can sign up for hunts next season with them. This approach is an advantage for the novice hunter not as skilled in scouting out good hunting sites, or because one simply cannot find a good hunting site.

A good guide is the way to go, as they will do all the scouting work for you and help in setting in the right spot for a chance at getting a shot at a nice buck or doe.

This kind of work use to fall to the older hunters who would pass on their knowledge to the newer hunters, but for reasons not all that clear, we are running out of older hunters. Those who are still active in the bowhunting community often attend these outdoor shows, and if you get a chance to talk to them it is almost a sure bet that you will learn a thing or two that will help you in your hunting efforts. The older hunters are easy to spot, and it is a very rare hunter who is not willing to help a newer bowhunter. You may hear a tip or idea you never thought about before that might just be the trick for you to score big next season. Looking around at one of these shows you can easily see that there are literally hundreds of hours of deer hunting experience around.

Another facet to this change in our chosen sport is that we are seeing fewer bowhunters in general. This is both a boon and a problem to the sport. On the positive side, you have less competition trying for the same deer as you, but on the other hand, with fewer hunting archers, there is less and less activity in the bowhunting markers. This may or may not have a direct influence on your hunting activities, as only time will tell. But with these changes, why would you not spend some time rubbing elbows with fellow bowhunters and learn all that you can?

Another plus to the various deer and turkey shows is that many vendors will attend. You can take a look at the newer equipment they are bringing to the sport. Plus, you can often talk with the manufacture’s representatives themselves. This is another area of great information you can take advantage of while attending. Often, you will come across a piece of equipment that will fix a problem you have encountered in the field, and you will be in much better shape for next season.

You can look at new bows and arrows at your local archery shop, but at the shows you have a golden opportunity to talk to people in the forefront of new equipment. Often, items of interest are unfamiliar, and by learning you can incorporate them into your personal equipment. These may be pieces of equipment you already have too, but just from a different vendor. They can tell you why theirs is possibly better than what you are using. They are quite knowledgeable about the various products, so you just might find a better way of doing something in the field.

The “biggie” at all of these shows is the different whitetails that have been taken by hunters. You can admire the various deer heads on display and chat with the hunter who took one of the bucks. These bowhunters did not just become lucky and come upon a magnificent buck in the field; they worked very hard to get a shot at such an animal. That takes a lot of knowledge and you can learn a good deal from talking with them. The more you can learn about hunting deer with the bow and arrow, the better hunter you will become.

All of the deer on display will have their score noted, and if you are not familiar with how a white- tailed deer is scored, you can observe it being done at the show. There are often a number of official scorers at these various events. If you learn about the way a deer grows its various racks, you can be well armed and decisive if you are ever in a spot where you have more than one large buck to check out and which one to concentrate on.