5 Tips to Snag a Deer With a Crossbow

As you probably know, bow hunting is a much different animal. Certainly different than rifle hunting. When you choose to shoot with a bow, you are intentionally shortening your range. This changes the game in subtle ways.

In fact, it’s probably more sportsman-like to hunt with a crossbow over a rifle. You are evening out the playing field between you and the deer.

Yet, because of this change in advantage, you’re going to need all the help you can get bagging that deer with your crossbow (especially if you’re a stormtrooper). Here are five tips you can take with you into the woods.

1. Don’t Stink

We all know you love that lily-scented clothes detergent. Don’t use it on your hunting clothes. Just toss in some baking soda into the washer. Also, same goes for fabric softener. Deer can smell fresh clothes from a mile away. Especially scented clothes.

Do you smoke? Chew? Do snuff? Don’t. Not only will you save your health, but you won’t stink like tobacco. Sorry to say, but deer rely on their sniffers more than you might think. And that tobacco smell spells “H.U.M.A.N.” more than your own B.O.

And, lastly, drop some deer scent nearby. Distract them with that musk. They’ll be ripe for it.

2. Shhhhh!

Do everything quietly. Be like molasses. Or a sloth. Or a sloth made of molasses.

You don’t want to give away your position to any deer. Pretend you have an enemy combatant approaching your position and you can’t give away your hiding spot. It is imperative you make no noise.

When that deer come within range, slowly release the safety on your crossbow. Don’t let it click. Be very gentle. Treat it like a lady.

3. Find The Wind

Have you ever been downwind of flatulence? If you have, you know what it’s like to be a deer downwind of you. Deer can smell the age of a scent. So, it’s nearly impossible to hide scents from a deer.

Unless you are downwind from the deer. Here’s a trick. Lick your finger, stick it out. Find the wind. Which way is it blowing? Now, you might have to observe an area before you know this, but find how the deer approach your preferred hunting ground. How do they move through? Now, position yourself downwind of their approach. You are sure to eliminate the danger of being spotted by scent.

4. Be Invisible

In rifle hunting, camouflage is really just there to make you feel like you’re a cool hunter. But in bow hunting, it’s actually a useful tool.

Camouflage is designed to blur your outline. It will never make you completely invisible until we actually build invisibility cloaks. (People are actually working on it.) But, if you use camo with already blurred outlines, the kind of camo with leaves and jagged outlines, you will be less visible to the deer.

5. The Early Bird Gets The Buck

You are a presence. Humans disturb their environment every time they walk into it. This is why nature photographers have to settle in before they can capture an animal. The same concept is true for hunting.

You want to get to the area, stake out your spot, and settle in at least an hour before sunrise. This way, the woods will settle down and the deer will be more at ease.

Conclusion: Hunting Basics

A lot of hunters get cocky and forget to return to the basics. Don’t forget the basics when hunting. And get yourself a buck!