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Drawing on a Wary Whitetail

Drawing your bow is one of the most aggressive movements you need to make while bow hunting and is a main reason why hunting with a bow is so much more difficult than with a firearm.  Here a few tips on making a good draw:

First of all, how fast the deer is traveling makes a substantial difference in when you should draw.  If a deer is traveling at a good consistent pace, you can draw when the deer is far away and less likely to see you.  Hopefully, you'll be able to hold your draw until the deer reaches your range and your muscles won't be too fatigued to place a clean shot.  Provided that the deer doesn't hold up outside of your range, you have the most difficult part already behind you.  A much more challenging situation is when the deer is slowly moving along, stopping every few feet to investigate the surroundings.   Now you are faced with a tough dilemma – you are forced to either draw early and wait it out, or draw when the deer is in close range and risk detection.

Stand placement is an important factor in helping you draw your bow undetected.  When you set up, make sure your stand isn't too close to where you think you'll make your shot.  The more distance you put between you and the trail, the less likely that deer will spot you when you draw.  Obviously, you still have to be close enough to hit your target.

Give yourself a good backdrop.  Make sure that you have something directly behind you so your silhouette isn’t so obvious when you draw.  For example, being up against a tree that has some thick branches would work well.  If your tree is bare but there is brush on ground level, place your stand closer to the ground.

Take advantage of visual shields (branches, trees, brush).  If you can draw when the deer can't see you, the chances of being detected are much lower.  Use the surrounding vegetation or terrain to provide a natural shield and draw when the deer is out of view.  Cut shooting lanes to allow a good clean shot, but don't over cut since you will still need some brush to conceal yourself.  When you cut your shooting lanes, keep your cuttings and strategically place them to create or enhance a visual shield.  Consider cutting your shooting lane close to a large tree or bush.

Practice real life situations when you draw.  A slow smooth draw motion is more likely to go undetected by a wary whitetail and your arrow won't make as much noise sliding along the rest.  Drawing slowly is more difficult and takes muscle conditioning so you must practice this to get it right.  In addition to drawing back slowly, you should also practice letting your string down smoothly.  You never know when you'll have to do this in the woods without spooking a deer.  Practice your draw when you first get into your stand.  Check for branches that might interfere with your bow or arms.  Make sure you can comfortably draw in multiple directions.

Draw your bow in the direction you are going to fire rather than at the deer and then follow it to your shooting lane.  This way you will have less movement to perform in order to make the shot.  Hopefully, the deer will keep coming in and make it to your shooting lane.  I like to place a film canister of deer scent right on the deer trail where I plan to make my shot.  If I can, I put two canisters of scent on the trail - one to stop the deer coming from the left and one to stop the deer coming from the right.  I place the scent so the deer's vitals line up with my shooting lane when the deer stops to investigate.  It also gives me a second chance if the deer goes right by my first shooting lane.  I might give a grunt when the deer gets to the second shooting lane.

Once you start your draw, you need to decide if you're going to draw all the way.  Holding up in the middle of a draw is extremely exhausting and you may ruin your opportunity by wearing yourself out.  Two years ago, I was hunting in 5-degree MN weather and had been sitting for 3 hours as a light layer of snow accumulated on my arms.  Needless to say, my muscles were cold and stiff when I started to draw on a doe that was within range.  She sensed me and I tried to hold up at mid draw.  My arms couldn't take it.  They started wobbling and had to let the string back down.  Then, when I tried to draw again, I couldn't do it without shaking and the doe bounded off.