Petersen's Bowhunting

Petersen's Bowhunting is the source for the tactics, tools, and techniques necessary for successful bowhunting. Get practical shooting tips and useful information on archery, equipment tests, clothing, and product evaluations.

ELK HUNTING’S GREATEST GIFT • THERE’S SOMETHING magical about bowhunting elk.

Petersen’s Bowhunting

EXPECT CHANGE • FINDING A GROUP of bachelor bucks in the summer is one of my favorite things. The velvet-covered antlers look a little bigger than they really are, and the bucks seem to have no problem traveling in daylight. This makes summer scouting trips, or even checking trail cams, a lot of fun. The entertainment value big velvet bucks provide is exactly what a bowhunter needs to get fired up for fall.

ACORN ATTRACTION PART 1: INCONSISTENT BUT LETHAL! • AS A GREEN, high-school aged bowhunter growing up in the hilly farm country of Pennsylvania, I quickly learned that oak trees, and the succulent whitetail candy that rained from them each fall, were a key component to successfully filling my tag. Acorns contain critical nutritive and attractive components that lead to more daytime deer observations. It eventually dawned on me that if I scouted out the better acorn-producing trees, I would find something else scattered all over the ground: deer droppings!

YOUR FUTURE IN BOWHUNTING • WE HAVE SEEN a huge change in land ownership and land use during the past 20 years, especially as it relates to “recreational land,” aka hunting ground. So, where is this all headed? You may as well accept the future and do something about it, or you will someday end up on the outside looking in.

AVOID HURRYING YOUR SHOT • WHEN I BEGAN BOWHUNTING, I had many bad habits plaguing me. Over time I whipped most of them; however, one habit I have not been able to overcome completely is hurrying the shot during the moment of truth.

TARGETING BIGGER GAME • IT WAS DARK when we left the truck and started our trek around a large hayfield. We could hear bull elk screaming and cows mewing. The sounds generated immediate excitement, and we scurried through game trails and skirted the field to ensure the wind would be in our favor.

FINDING FORGIVENESS • WHEN WE FIRST got into archery, bow tuning was a little foreign to us.

PRIME REVEX 4 • WHEN PRIME ARCHERY’S engineering team set out to design the company’s flagship bow for 2023, they wanted a rig that was super stable, smooth drawing, mechanically efficient, rock solid on target and deadly accurate.

AWESOME ELK HUNTS • HERE ARE THE EPIC STORIES BEHIND THREE OF 2022’S BIGGEST BOW-KILLED BULLS

Living for September • For This Montana Father-Son Duo, Chasing Elk Isn’t a Hobby. It's a Way of Life .

Easy Elk? • NO MATTER YOUR APPROACH, BAGGING A BULL IS A CHALLENGE

THE BAD BACK BULL • HERNIATED DISCS, COMPRESSED NERVE PUSH A DIY ELK HUNTER TO HIS LIMITS

Make it a HOME-RUN SEASON • SUCCESS IN THE WOODS IS ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE

Bowhunting the ROCK • Newfoundland Offers Some of the Best Moose Hunting in North America

MISSION SUB-1 LITE • WHEN BUYING A Mission Crossbow, you aren’t just getting that particular crossbow — you are getting the whole Mission experience.

A NEW VISION FOR BLINDS • AN INNOVATIVE big-game hide from waterfowl-hunting masters!

LIGHT, RUGGED, RELIABLE BOOTS FOR ANY HUNT • WHEN IT COMES to most products, the saying, “You get what you pay for,” is usually true.

NEW GEAR

GILA REDUX • AS I ROLLED into the Gila country of southwestern New Mexico in early September of 1989, I was excited.