© 2014-2021 Copyright by P. K. H. Groth, Denver, Colorado, USA All rights reserved - See contact page for for permission to republish article
excerpts.
Hunger
Games
Wanabe
Archers:
I
anticipated
the
blockbuster
movie
“The
Hunger
Games”
would
spawn
a
new
wave
of
archers,
and
it
did.
My
trailer
hitch
ball
shattered
on
a
mid-road
boulder.
An
outfitter
from
another
hunt
area
stopped
to
help.
He
was
headed
down
to
Budge’s
Resort
to
visit
and
commiserate.
He
had
done
his
scouting,
and
seven
archers
in
his
group
struck
elk.
Not
one
of
the
elk
was
recovered.
Seven
animals
in
his
domain
would
suffer
a
slow
death,
and
this
would
not
be
a
good
record
legacy
in
his
Forest
Service
and
Wildlife
reports.
Elk
are
not
white
tail
deer,
but
huge
animals
with
thick
bodies,
large
amounts
of
blood
(for
the
small
wound
size),
unnatural
stamina,
and
long
legs
for
distant
panic
escape
runs.
Tracking
minimally
wounded
elk
in
the
snowless
season would have taken experienced hunters. These people were not.
Elk
demand
a
high
draw-weight
bow.
Use
FIXED
broad-headed
arrows
so
that
the
arrows
completely
exit
the
far
side
of
the
animal,
allowing
copious
bleeding
on
both
flanks
that
quickly
weakens
the
animal
–
AND
allow
blood
trail
tracking.
I
do
not
know
the
details
of
the
seven
archers,
but
suspect
they
had
not
perfected
accurate
shooting
,
and
had
arrived
at
camp
with
fancy
weak
bows
and
elaborate
new
mechanically-expanding
arrow
heads
which
lack
impact,
stop
at
bone,
and
bulge
out
rather
than
penetrate
very
thick
elk
hide
on
the
exit
side
.
The
inexperienced
hunters
also
may
have
too-quickly
pursued
the
elk.
The
rule
of
chase
is:
wait
at
least
30
minutes
for
rifle
wounds,
but
at
least
one
hour
for
arrow
wounds.
A
frightened,
adrenalin
fueled
elk
can
easily
outrun a walking human! Do not be impatient and loose a valuable prize!
Deadfall
Archery
Stalking:
Avoid
the
risk
of
stalking
by
walking
on
deadfall.
One
slip
on
rotten
wood,
a
trip
by
a
branch
or
your
boot
slipping
on
frost
can
impale
on
branches
–
or
even
drive
a
branch
into
your
can
–
and
a
flesh
wound there is not only painful, but slow healing and a nuisance to us continually siting humans.
Colorado
Fall
Bear
Hunters:
Use
a
large
caliber
gun
capable
of
completely
penetrating
a
bear.
Bears
gain
a
lot
of
fat
during
hyperphragia
fall
gorging.
The
body
fat
can
plug
the
bullet
wound
and
prevent
bleeding,
allowing
the
animal to travel far before dying. Give a wounded bear time to linger and succumb rather than flee.
Archery Equipment Problems