ABOUT ME

   Hello, I'm Peyton Graham. I'm from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. I'm an 18 year old male. I enjoy playing basketball, baseball, and golf. I also enjoy being outdoors. My topic is on hunting. I hunt rifle and archery. I started hunting when I was eight years old. I have gotten at least one deer every year since I started but two. My first year of hunting I shot a four point with my dad. My adrenaline was insane. Since then, I have been hooked. My favorite part about hunting is that whenever you shoot one, you don't just waste it. You can get the meat and use it in many different ways. It's all natural and a common food in this area for hunters. It makes me feel good that I'm not just wasting the deer, but rather utilizing it for food and controlling the deer population. In some cities, it's considered a delicacy. I also started archery hunting at fifteen. It is a completely different strategy of hunting. This is because you can't shoot a deer from very far. You have to be completely still, silent, and scent free. You also have to place your stand in an area that the deer typically travel through. I have been passionate about hunting since I was young and want to spread my ideas on hunting to everyone else.

                                                             RIFLE HUNTING                                                        

   This sub-topic is about rifle hunting. Rifle hunting is more common in this area than archery. Rifle hunting is typically in November and December. The deer move a ton due to people shooting at them, unlike archery. While shooting at a deer, you want to aim for the vitals, which are right behind the front shoulders. This creates a shot that won't just wound the deer, but rather assure that it will be finished off. Before the season starts, it's smart to sight your gun in to make sure that it is accurate. It's typically colder at this time, so bundling up is very important, so that you don't get cold and can stay out for a long time. In my area, it is a rule that you have to wear bright orange clothing while in the woods. Having an adult license in my area means that if you shoot a buck, it has to have at least three tines on the main beam. A big key to helping pick the right area is setting up trail cameras to figure out where the deer are moving. Before the season starts, you can set up mineral or salt blocks to find out the amount and size of deer in the area the camera is set up at. If you choose not to use these, you can go out and scout during the day, at sunrise, midday, and sunset. Having multiple stands is important to for wind direction, so that the wind isn't blowing towards the deer from where you are. This prevents them smelling your scent. Rifles can be open sighted or scoped. Choosing the right sight is important. Open sighted rifles have a dot towards the stock side on top of your rifle and a gapped spot towards the end of the barrel so that when the dot is inside of the opening, that is where the bullet will go. They are easier to use in close distances. This is because you don't have to search for them in your scope and can find them easier. Deciding to use a scoped rifle is better for a further shot. You have more time to pick them up while moving in your scope and can be more accurate from a farther distance. Choosing the right spot and right weapon are important for success.


                       

                                                                     ARCHERY

                                                                                        

Another form of hunting is archery. This is with a bow and arrow. There are compound, recurve, and longbows. I use a compound. These are the most accurate form of bows. Archery season falls when the deer go into rut. This is the breeding season for deer. Archery takes much more strategy than rifle. There are also fixed blade and mechanical broadheads, the razors on the end of the arrow that penetrate the animal. I choose fixed blade because they are always open and don't have to open when they hit the animal. Either choice is good. Archery takes a ton of strategy. The deer have to come way closer in order to take a shot, which means you are more prone to being spotted, whether from your scent, movement, or apparel. Scent is a massive key in archery hunting. There are sprays to eliminate scent or cover your scent up. I use scent free soaps and wash my clothes in baking soda to get rid of any human smell. I also use earth scented spray on my clothes to make me fit in with the woods. Another big key is apparel. In most of archery season, you don't have to wear bright orange clothing. You can wear camo. Weather plays a role in what to wear, due to the temperature. The last thing you want to do is get all sweaty while out in your stand. I wear camo shirts, pants, boots, and mask. You also want to stay very still incase a deer comes in range or can see your position before you know they are in the area. I mark trees with tape to identify my distances for a more accurate shot. If you decide to start archery hunting, practice shooting a target a while before the season starts, as it takes a while to become very accurate. Setting your stand in a spot where the deer travel is key also. Find out the direction the wind typically moves so that you can assure that it will not blow from your location towards the deer, so that they don't pick up any scent of yours at all. I also encourage using lures, such as doe estrus. As of now in my area, due to a disease deer have been picking up in fenced in areas called CWD, lures are not allowed. Finding an area with fruit trees and acorns is also a plus as that the deer will feed on these. This typically becomes a more highly passed area for deer. I would also consider using mock scrapes while the deer are in rut to make a buck acknowledge that there is another buck in it's area and cause it to be curious and try to run the deer out and take it's land back over. Antler rattles can be used too for making a buck in rut try to keep it's area to itself and come over and allow a shot at a buck. Grunt calls also cause this. I hope this information helps anyone who needs advice on archery hunting.

                                                        HUNTING TIPS
                                                
    There are many tips to hunting. Typically the best times to be out in the woods or fields are during sunset and sunrise. I'm not a morning person, but it's its way easier to get up when you go out in the woods. Finding the right area is very important. When you find the most traveled areas, setting up food plots is a big benefit. There are many different kinds of food plots. You want your food plots to look natural and wild, rather than obviously farmed like you would grow in your backyard. This keeps suspicion away from the animals, and will create more wildlife to come to these spots. You don't want them to look manmade. Setting one up by a water source increases your odds even more. Set up your food plot in an area where deer can leave their bedding areas and not lose cover. This will increase your odds of the animals to visit your plot during daylight hours. They also will probably visit your location more during the winter time too, knowing that there is a source of food that is available. Choosing the shape is also a big must. Most hunters go with a longer, narrower plots. Diversifying your plot is a big must too. This will cause the deer to have a source of options and a year round spot for food. Another key to success in creating a food plot is to put it by an already working food source, such as oak trees and apple trees. This will create the best of both worlds for the deer. Set your stand in a spot with a decent amount of lanes to the plot and wind in your favor to allow easy access to a good shot. I hope these tips will help in your success during the year.