{"id":6525,"date":"2022-07-06T07:02:07","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T12:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3riversarchery.com\/blog\/?p=6525"},"modified":"2022-07-11T07:19:21","modified_gmt":"2022-07-11T12:19:21","slug":"traditional-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3riversarchery.com\/blog\/traditional-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"Traditional Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Fred Eichler<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Fred
The author poses with a Canadian Caribou.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I am often asked my opinion on what the most challenging animal to hunt with a traditional bow is.\u00a0It is not an easy answer.\u00a0I have had some hunts where the most difficult animal to hunt were the ones everyone told me would be easy.\u00a0Caribou for example have been super tough for me in the past simply because I didn\u2019t time the migration and the caribou were as scarce as hen\u2019s teeth.\u00a0It is hard to shoot something that is not there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the word challenging can mean a lot of different things to different people based on personal experience.\u00a0A species that may seem like a relatively easy one to harvest one day may be super difficult the next.\u00a0Lady luck sometimes plays a factor on hunts as does Murphy\u2019s Law.\u00a0For example, Antelope hunting is easy if you hunt an area with limited waterholes and the weather is hot.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Fred
Fred with a nice Antelope doe.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If a hunter goes antelope hunting on a week where there is excess water or it happens to rain that hunter could sit a week without having an antelope come within good binocular range.\u00a0Those two hunters would have very different opinions on the difficulty level of antelope hunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems I often have challenging hunts in locations where everybody tells me it is going to be a super easy hunt and things just don\u2019t turn out that way.\u00a0Like the Sitka blacktail hunt in Alaska with my good friend Mike Palmer a few years back.\u00a0We left with high expectations of harvesting Sitka blacktail.\u00a0I even purchased 3 tags because everyone I talked to said it was a super easy hunt and that the blacktails would be everywhere.\u00a0Turns out the island\u00a0 we hunted had been hammered by the locals and a freak snowstorm left huge drifts that made it tough to get around.\u00a0Needless to say neither of us shot a deer on that trip and I only spotted one buck that managed to elude me despite the deep snow we were both struggling with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I read articles or watch TV shows where I am convinced I am just a bad hunter because sometimes others make it look easy.\u00a0I cut my teeth watching Larry Jones and Dwight Schuh on VHS tapes where Larry would shoot Roosevelt elk at spitting distance.\u00a0My success rate on public land Roosevelt is one out of four.\u00a0Talk about taking a guy down a few notches.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Fred
Fred and his Roosevelt Elk.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I am not complaining mind you. I love bowhunting and it doesn\u2019t take an animal harvested for me to count a hunt as successful. However, if I was completely honest, I do occasionally use success, shot opportunities or lack thereof as a barometer of how good a hunt is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I go on some hunts that I expect to be tough. Coues deer for example is one that I go on and fully expect not to get something.\u00a0When I do it is a huge bonus.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Fred
Fred and an Arizona Couse Deer.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I should probably switch my way of thinking and always plan on not harvesting an animal on any hunt I go on but my optimistic nature just won\u2019t let me do that. The hunts where everyone says it\u2019s soooo easy and the description I get is, \u201cIt\u2019s just like shooting fish in a barrel\u201d are the type hunts that when I leave empty handed I feel like a goober.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes hunts are challenging due to weather conditions like on my blacktail hunt.\u00a0I have also been on hunts where terrain or lack of cover made getting in close to an animal dangerous or difficult.\u00a0Public land hunts can also be challenging due to both hunting pressure and other hunters.\u00a0I have even had four-legged predators blow stalks for me that seemed like a done deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So for my simple answer to the question, what is the most challenging species to hunt with a traditional bow? For me, my answer is all the species of sheep.\u00a0Mostly because of the difficulty getting to where sheep live and because once you get there the cover is usually sparse.\u00a0They are also sharp-eyed and sheep avoid predators by going to even rougher country that is often impossible to follow them into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My more complex answer on the most challenging species would be all the animals I was told would be easy that didn\u2019t end up that way.\u00a0I hope I am not alone in my feelings of ineptitude on hunts that no one seems to have trouble with but me.\u00a0If I am alone and no one else has had tough hunts for so-called \u201ceasy\u201d animals to hunt like javelina, caribou, Sitka blacktail, Kansas whitetails or spring black bear, please don\u2019t tell me.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Fred
Fred and the Sitka Blacktail he eventually harvested in Alaska.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As my wife often says to me when I have a confused look on my face when I don\u2019t understand something, \u201cIgnorance is bliss.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything Eichler<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Fred Eichler I am often asked my opinion on what the most challenging animal to hunt with a traditional bow is.\u00a0It is not an easy answer.\u00a0I have had some hunts where the most difficult animal to hunt were the ones everyone told me would be easy.\u00a0Caribou for example have been super tough for me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,5,1,75,15],"tags":[],"class_list":[],"yoast_head":"\nTraditional Experiences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.3riversarchery.com\/blog\/traditional-experiences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Traditional Experiences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Fred Eichler I am often asked my opinion on what the most challenging animal to hunt with a traditional bow is.\u00a0It is not an easy answer.\u00a0I have had some hunts where the most difficult animal to hunt were the ones everyone told me would be easy.\u00a0Caribou for example have been super tough for me […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.3riversarchery.com\/blog\/traditional-experiences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Archer's Den - 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