Preparation for bowhunting season | Wasp Archery

Proper Broadheads and Bow Setup is Crucial for Women Hunters

Oct 1, 2014

As a female hunter, one of the first questions I always am asked is, “What poundage are you pulling?”  Or another one, “What broadhead do you shoot?” My response: 48 pounds and the Queen 75-grain, fixed-blade broadhead, and yes, I feel confident with both!  

First let me start by saying we practice. We practice a lot during the summer and continue to shoot during the season. I practice shooting at 40 and 50 yards. Although I will never take a 50-yard shot, shooting at these distances makes me a better shot at 20 and 30 yards. I practice with field points first and then I put on my broadheads and put them to the test.

I changed my setup this year too. I got a new bow (Mathew’s Chill SDX), new arrows, and even went to feathers, shooting a logo’ed Gateway feather. Although these tools don’t make me a better hunter, they did assist in preparing for my opening weekend hunt!

I couldn’t have been more excited to hunt this season! Last season, I was pregnant and was limited to the stands that I could get into safely and remain comfortable. This season, I was excited to hop back into old stands and new ones. After looking at trail camera pics from late summer, I decided to hunt a new stand location where we had been seeing some nice bucks. Saturday was full of action, but there was a lot of rain and wind and no shot opportunities. And to be honest, I was out for a mature deer.  Buck or doe, I was just ready to try out my new setup! We always say we’ll take a doe early in the season, then we all wait and either we don’t get one or we shoot a breed doe! (We can talk about that in a different blog!)

Sunday saw a fewer deer, but at around 9 a.m., I saw a mature doe coming down a trail with a pretty significant limp in the right front leg. I ranged the area I thought she would head and discovered she was going to be at about 35 yards. I stood up, grabbed my bow and my heart and mind started to race. Did I feel confident shooting out to 35 yards? Was my setup safe for a 35 yard shot? As she stopped broadside, I ranged one last time, 36.4 yards. I drew back and anchored. After placing my 30- and 40-yard pins just behind her shoulder, I released my arrow and watched the doe take off and run. I thought I saw her go down, but wasn’t sure!

Giving her sometime and hopping from the stand, we came back for the recovery about 30 minutes later to discover, we probably didn’t need that long. Even with the 1-inch cutting diameter of the Queen broadhead, I had a great blood trail to follow. I had a complete passthrough, taking out both lungs. It was a clean shot.

I didn’t need get a large cutting broadhead to kill this deer. She had only run 40 yards, and as I mentioned, I had a complete passthrough. In fact, a larger-cutting diameter may have prevented a passthrough. I had effectively and humanely taken this deer and was excited beyond belief! 

What women need most when hunting is confidence! They don’t need a draw weight of 60 pounds or a 2-inch cutting diameter broadhead when hunting for whitetail. They just need to practice and have the right setup so when that buck of a lifetime comes in, or even a doe to provide your family with meat, you are ready for that shot.

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