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State hunter education course set
Aug. 25-26
Monitor Staff Reports
CANTON–A hunter safety course will be offered at Wiley’s Gun Shop, west
of Canton, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 25-26.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department course will be taught from 5-9
p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the gun shop, located
at 7009 Van Zandt County Road 2120.
This class is designed to give the Texas hunter 10 hours or more of
coursework and hands-on activities during the two days of instruction.
The course covers hunting rules and regulations, ethics and
responsibilities, and wildlife management.
Other topics include modern and primitive sporting arms/ammunition, safe
firearms handling, cleaning and storage, outdoor skills, survival and
first aid training, and wildlife identification.
Hunters born on or after Sept. 2, 1971, are required to pass a hunter’s
safety course in order to legally hunt in Texas, and you must carry your
certification card with you when you hunt. Certification is good for
life.
Individuals who are 12 and over may take the course to receive a
hunter’s safety card. If you are under 12, you may take the course and
receive an attendance certificate, but you must re-take the course to
get a safety card after turning 12.
Do not bring firearms to class. For more information, contact course
instructor C.B. Wiley at (903) 848-7912.
Time to ‘tune up’ for bowhunting
season
By Luke Clayton
Special to The Monitor
Believe it or not, we have only a couple of months to get ready for
archery deer season.
I’ve been shooting and hunting with a bow for many years. I am a member
of the Mathews Bows pro staff, and have the opportunity to stay attuned
to all the latest advancements in archery equipment.
Back in “the day,” I used to preach that it took a solid six months of
steady shooting and practice to get ready to head to the whitetail woods
with stick and string. Twenty or 30 years ago, when compound bows were
still in their infancy, it really did take a solid six months of
practice to hone shooting skills enough to feel confident hunting big
game. Bows were slower and much more difficult to keep tuned.
With the advent of single-cam technology, today’s bows are easy to tune,
and once they are set up to fit the draw length and draw weight of a
shooter, they are pretty much trouble-free. My point is this: If you
have been contemplating taking up the sport of bow hunting, there’s
still time, this season!
Get started right – The trick to shooting well is getting a bow that
fits you perfectly, especially in draw length and draw weight.
Your first step in preparing for this year’s archery season should be to
make a trip to your archery pro shop and have a qualified technician
measure you and see to it the bow you purchase fits you perfectly.
If you span a full 30 inches at full draw, a bow with a 29-inch draw
length will make shooting accurately next to impossible. I have
relatively long arms and a draw length of 30 inches. I have found I can
shoot bows within a half-inch of that length, but anything over that
severely affects my ability to draw, aim and repeat the point of impact,
shot after shot.
Little things like the precise positioning of a bow peep site might seem
like a minor detail, but in truth, it’s very important.
Your peep site must be at the proper spot when you reach full draw to
“naturally” align with your dominate eye. One inch too high or too low
will cause you to “self adjust” so you can line up your peep with the
appropriate sight pin.
Once your bow is set up properly, you will find that, with proper
shooting form, it’s not all that difficult to become pretty darned good
at plugging your 3D deer target in the “kill zone” every shot.
One last tip in getting set up properly: Most grown men can pull a
70-pound bow one or two times, but beginning with 55 or 60 pounds makes
a lot more sense.
Remember, you will be shooting many, many shots in your preparation for
deer season and pulling 60 pounds opposed to 70 becomes a lot less
strenuous, especially after repeated shots. You can always crank your
poundage up as the season nears, should you feel the need.
Practice, practice – Begin practicing at 20 yards, or maybe even 15
yards. Shoot these closer distances until you can shoot a good group
consistently.
When your shooting skills are mastered at 20 yards, set another pin for
your 30-yard target and begin practicing at that distance.
After years of bow hunting experience, I still take only close-in, what
I consider to be slam dunk shots at big game.
I might be able to group well out to 50 yards, but trust me, a lot can
happen under hunting conditions at the extended distances on live game
from the time the arrow leaves the string until it impacts the target.
There’s still time to prepare for the whitetail woods this season, but
better get moving quickly. Cooler weather and bow season will be here
before we know it!
Go to www.catfishangler.com and listen to Luke Clayton talk hunting and
fishing on his archived radio show. Also check out www.dannykings.com to
learn more about catfish punch bait.
Upcoming Games
Volleyball
Aug. 18-19
MHS @ Garland Tourn.
EHS @ Van tournament
KHS @ Bullard tournament
Aug. 22
MHS @ Rowlett
EHS vs Athens (dual)
KHS @ Mineola
Aug. 25
MHS vs Ennis
EHS Tournament
KHS vs Frankston
Aug. 29
MHS @ Greenville
EHS @ Athens
KHS @ Farmersville
Football
Aug. 19
EHS vs Westwood (scr)
MHS @ Mineola (scr)
KHS @ Grand Saline (scr)
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