Steve Bartylla - Bowhunting Tactics That Deliver Trophies: A Guide to Finding and Taking Monster Whitetail Bucks

Bowhunting
Tactics

THAT DELIVER TROPHIES

Bowhunting
Tactics

THAT DELIVER TROPHIES

A Guide to Finding and Taking Monster Whitetail Bucks

Steve Bartylla

Skyhorse Publishing

With a portion of the profits from this book going to the Bowhunting Preservation Alliance, I was handed the rare opportunity to truly give something back to the sport that has provided my life with a fullness that is surpassed by precious few things. Many talk about the need to help protect the sport and recruit younger members. Im extremely thankful that Ive been given the chance to actually help accomplish those tremendously worthy goals.

Steve Bartylla

We hope each time you see this book on your shelf, youll imagine kids enjoying archery in your local schools, young bowhunters finding opportunities to hunt in their communities, and seasoned bowhunters still able to spend quality time in the woods. Thanks to your purchase of this book, the Bowhunting Preservation Alliance will change these hopes into realities. Growing archery and bowhunting and saving our bowhunting heritage is our mission and everyone associated with this book wants to not only help you be a better bowhunter but wants you to help us build a solid future for archery and bowhunting.

Jay McAninch
CEO/President, Archery Trade Association

Copyright 2012 by Steve Bartylla

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-61608-674-9

Printed in China

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1
Dress to Kill

CHAPTER 2
Making Equipment Work for You

CHAPTER 3
Making Your Bow Setup Sizzle

CHAPTER 4
The Formula for Beating a Whitetails Nose

CHAPTER 5
Stand Placement: 7 Steps to Staying in Bucks All Season 43

CHAPTER 6
Secrets for Hunting the Hot Food Source

CHAPTER 7
The Facts About Interpreting Deer Sign

CHAPTER 8
Following the Map to Trophy Bucks

CHAPTER 9
Insider Tips to Patterning Bucks

CHAPTER 10
Hunting the Wind: What Most Experts Wont Tell You

CHAPTER 11
Tricks to Making Almost Every Tree-Stand Location Work

CHAPTER 12
Mastering Hunting From the Ground

CHAPTER 13
Consistently Scoring on Public Land

CHAPTER 14
Understanding and Taking Advantage of Weather

CHAPTER 15
Deadly Scent Tactics

CHAPTER 16
Making the Shot

CHAPTER 17
Blood-Trailing Techniques That Produce

CHAPTER 18
Remembering Why We Hunt

APPENDIX
Rut Dates Table

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my mother, Bonnie Bartylla. Simply put, she dedicated her life to ensuring that my brother Joe and I could achieve virtually anything our minds could dream up. Raising both of us on her own, she refused any form of government assistance. Instead, back in the days when being a divorced woman was looked down upon, she worked two and often three jobs to support us. Sure, we were still poor, but Joe and I never realized it. Mom made sure we didnt by consistently going without so that her children had everything they needed, and so much more.

Of course, theres far more to raising children than providing them with objects. Thats where mom truly excelled. Despite working so many hours, she was somehow always there for us when we needed her. To this day, I know she would drop everything to help us, if the need ever occurred. Thankfully, she no longer has to bail us out of jams.

However, thats also in large part due to her work as a mother. When we were growing up, she constantly drilled into our heads that we could achieve anything. Before we even began junior high, she had made it so clear that wed be going to college that we never questioned it. Though she never shied away from teaching us lessons and disciplining inappropriate behaviors, there was never a doubt in either of our minds that she loved and supported us. With that type of foundation, we were set up to be successful. Because of that, anything we achieve truly is a reflection of the sacrifices she made and her skills at being a single parent. I owe her my life in more ways than one. Thank you Mom, simply for being the person you are and making me into the person I am.

Acknowledgments

I can still remember it clearly: Sitting on the edge of an alfalfa field when a doe and fawn emerged from a distant wood line. With my heart in my throat, I watched them for the last 30 minutes of light. Though they never came closer than 200 yards of my tree, it was a thrill of a lifetime. Just that quick, I was hooked on bowhunting.

Cutting my teeth on bowhunting Wisconsin whitetails in the late 70s was a challenge. Deer populations were low, the big woods were seemingly endless, and experienced bowhunters were almost nonexistent. Somehow, I managed to take an adult doe at the age of 12, but looking back on it, all the stars in the heavens must have aligned themselves perfectly for it to occur.

Though the land around my home held many fields, the area I hunted mostly consisted of big woods and little agriculture. Furthermore, baiting wasnt an option. When that setting was combined with low deer numbers, simply seeing a deer was an event.

Then, of course, there was the equipment. At 11 years old, I began using a 45-pound Shakespeare recurve. Three years later, I picked up a second part-time job. The only reason I did it was to be able to afford a used Allen compound bow. I can still remember feeling so cool, as I lobbed arrows at targets with my very own compound! Little did I realize, and no one could have convinced me, that Id been so much better off with the recurve.

At the same time all of this was going on, I was already well on my way to becoming a successful trapper. From the age of 10, Id taken it upon myself to learn the art of trapping furbearers. Having caught a grand total of one muskrat that first year, I managed to improve my catch and expand my lines each year after.