Stealth a critical factor in bow-hunting success

Dan Preaus has enjoyed a good measure of success in the 10 years he has turned to archery hunting, taking 15 deer with his bow. But each successive season teaches him things about hunting in close proximity to the deer he pursues.

“You can’t be too careful when you’re bow hunting,” he said. “My goal is for a deer to be inside 30 yards of me with no clue that I’m there when I get ready for the shot.”

Accomplishing that kind of stealth is no accident.

“Two things I have learned help me a lot in that regard,” Preaus said. “First, I am super careful in choosing the route I take walking in from my truck to my stand. I am also careful when leaving my stand traveling back to my truck. You may have found a perfect spot to hang a stand, but if you spook deer coming in or going out, you’ve diminished your chances at taking a deer from that stand.

“Also, I may be considered old school, but cover scent is not nearly as important to me as playing the wind. I spray cover scent when I hunt, but I also check the wind direction. If I want to hunt a particular stand but the wind is wrong, I won’t hunt that stand. If I don’t have a stand favorable to wind direction, I may not even go hunting that day.”

About Glynn Harris 508 Articles
Glynn Harris is a long-time outdoor writer from Ruston. He writes weekly outdoor columns for several north Louisiana newspapers, has magazine credits in a number of state and national magazines and broadcasts four outdoor radio broadcasts each week. He has won more than 50 writing and broadcasting awards during his 47 year career.