Bow Hunting School
Instructional Material Outline
- Tree Stand Use and Safety We teach you the basics along with some advanced techniques for the placement and safety of tree stands. We discuss and demonstrate examples from all the major categories of tree stands.... climbers, hang-ons, ladders, belts, & sling types, etc. We'll show you revolutionary stands you never knew existed along with the advantages and pitfalls of each. We'll show you examples of the numerous methods of climbing a tree with special emphasis on the safety of each.
- Scouting Nothing about deer hunting is more important than scouting. But not knowing what you're looking for is like going prospecting for gold. If you don't know what the various types of ore look like, you are not very likely to find anything of significance. Scouting for deer "sign" is the same way. We take you to the woods and build a framework of basic scouting skills that you can add to as your seasons of experience pass. But, again, having the basic skills of how to look for sign is the key to productive scouting.
- Deer Attracting Techniques We explain and demonstrate the various techniques of calling deer (calls, rattling, scents, mock scrapes, etc.) and teach you when and under what conditions each may prove productive. We would be remiss, however, did we not tell you that we do not rely upon these tactics for our own success. Most are simply wishful dreams of instant success that will not materialize in real hunting.
- Shooting Instruction Many of you will already have the basic shooting skills that need only practice to achieve a level of competence adequate to take a whitetail with a bow. Only time in the woods and exposure to many shooting opportunities will perfect your skill. But some will need some help to get the proper form for good shooting down pat. Others may need help learning to tune a bow for more precise accuracy. Matching arrows to your particular bow weight, style of bow and draw length may be all you need. Whatever your level of competence, we will enter instruction at your own level to improve your chances of becoming a successful bowhunter.
- Deer Habitat Learning more about the specific features of a deer's home and how he uses these features to avoid hunters is another key to consistent success. A common problem we encounter in this category is how deer change their use of the same habitat from early in the bow season to late in the gun season. An incredibly productive spot in October will yield day after day of absolutely nothing in January. Come hunt with us and learn how to recognize these pattern changes and then apply your precious hunting time to highly productive areas as the season progresses. Learn how to hunt food plots effectively with a gun or a bow. The approach is dramatically different for different weapons.
- Trailing Wounded Deer We put you on your hands and knees in a common sense pursuit to learn one of the most gratifying aspects of taking a deer with a bow. This is what made the Indians eat or go hungry.
- Handling Capes and Meat Taking a trophy and butchering the cape is a real tragedy. We will teach you the simple hands on techniques of getting your trophy to the taxidermist in prime shape. Well prepared venison is a treat not many of us experience. But if you ever do, you will realize that the key to making this delectable meet tasty is proper handling, cutting and packaging before the cooking begins.
- Management Principles We cover the principles involved in managing whitetail deer in its various habitats and show you how to apply these to the lease or land you hunt at home.
- Aging Techniques The technique of pulling jaw bones for aging deer is demonstrated and this data combined with weights of various age classes of deer in the herd are combined to give the hunter an understanding of managing a herd with various goals in mind.
- Your Instructors Dr. Bob Sheppard is a physician practicing in Pickens County, Alabama. Ronnie Groom is a sporting goods retailer from Panama City, Florida. David Stokes is a former CPA who now manages family-owned timberland in Pickens County, Alabama. Your instructors are folks just like you who started hunting knowing nothing. We learned by thousands of hours in the woods, hunting and scouting, talking with veteran hunters and by teaching dozens of hunting schools for more than twenty years. There is no magic in taking deer with a bow. Consistent success comes with experience, hard work and repeated exposure to the real thing. We learned by the sweat of the brow like many of you will. But we have one added piece of knowledge... years of experience teaching others the skills of taking whitetails with a bow. Some of the most skilled hunters in the country have tremendous difficulty explaining the nuts and bolts of their successful techniques to anyone. Many have gone down the trail of hunting gadgetry and instant success thinking. We are hunters just like you. We don't put up a front of having all the answers nor do we propose to have a monopoly on all the skills of bowhunting. We miss, select the wrong stand site, and often come home wet and empty handed just like you will if you hunt whitetails for very long. Cumulatively we have taken over 600 whitetails with bow, rifle and black powder weapons. That much exposure to these animals is rare in today's highly pressured deer herds. Everyone has an ego and we are no different. But we will try to stay off that high horse and share honestly what we know with you. Perhaps you can come to enjoy these wonderful creatures from God's creation as much as we have. We promise you only two things in our schools. First, the opportunity to hunt some of the best whitetail herds in the country and second, our best effort to teach you what we know about deer hunting.
- Just a Taste! Come hunt with us. You can jump the trial and error approach by half a lifetime. These are but a taste of what we will cover in an action packed three days of hunting and learning at some of the finest commercial deer hunting lodges in the South.
- Come Hunt & Learn With Us Contact Dr. Bob Sheppard at 205-367-8915, Ronnie Groom at 850-769-2317, or David Stokes at 205-367-8486 for more details or booking arrangements or write Bob at P.O. Box 428, Carrollton, AL 35447 or David at P.O. Box 168 Carrollton, AL 35447.
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BENT CREEK LODGE
October
2003, Bow Hunting School
with
Ronnie Groom, David Stokes, & Dr. Bob Sheppard
Thursday
10:30 am Introduction of Staff & Instructors
11:00 pm Tree Stand Placement & Safety; Bob Sheppard & David Stokes
Noon Lunch, Bent Creek Staff
1:00 pm How To Effectively Bow Hunt a Food Plot; Stokes & Sheppard
2:00 to 6:00 pm Hunt
7:00 pm Dinner, Bent Creek Staff
8:00 pm Tree Stand Placement & Dealing with the Wind; Stokes &
Sheppard
9:00 pm Deer Management Principals & Philosophy; Sheppard & Stokes
10:00 pm Hit The Sack
Friday
4:30 am Awake call & breakfast, Bent Creek Staff
5:30 to 10:30 am Hunt
11:00 am Blood Trailing Techniques, Sheppard & Stokes
Noon Lunch, Bent Creek Staff
1:00 pm Three D Target Course Shoot
2:00 to 6:00 pm Hunt
7:00 pm Dinner, Bent Creek Staff
8:00 pm Whitetail Habitat Characteristics & Management; Sheppard &
Stokes
9:00 pm Principals of Hunting Trophy Whitetails, Stokes & Stokes
10:00 pm Hit the Sack
Saturday
4:30 am Awake call & breakfast, Bent Creek Staff
5:30 to 10:30 am Hunt
11:00 am In the Woods Deer Habitat Recognition & Management, Sheppard
& Stokes
Noon Lunch, Bent Creek Staff
1:00 pm In the Woods Stand Placement and Wind Considerations, Stokes &
Sheppard
2:00 to 6:00 pm Hunt
7:00 pm Dinner, Bent Creek Staff
8:00 pm Awards & Wrap Up Session
9:00 pm Hit the Sack
Sunday
4:30 am Awake call & breakfast, Bent Creek Staff
5:30 to 10:30 am Hunt
11:00 am Skinning, Capeing, & Aging Deer; Bent Creek Staff
Noon Departure..