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Show Archery Season Hunting Tips Utah's archery hunt may be one of its safest, with only one recorded death of a hunter during the hunt's history. But while only one death has occurred during Utah's archery hunts, there have been numerous instances of hunters hurting themselves. them-selves. "Most of the injuries during the archery hunt are self-inflicted," self-inflicted," said Lenny Rees, hunter education program coordinator coordi-nator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. Rees said most accidents involve in-volve two practices - hunters being be-ing unsafe in tree stands and hunters having arrows out of their quiver when they shouldn't. Rees provided tips on how hunters heading afield for the Aug. 23 opening of Utah's archery deer hunt can avoid these accidents: acci-dents: 1 ) tree stands - hunters should make sure the tree is large enough to hojd their weight. After climbing into the tree stand, the first thing a hunter should do is attach the safety line. Rees also recommends using a portable tree stand, rather than constructing a "permanent" one. "Permanent tree stands have a tendency to deteriorate and, over time, become unsafe," he said. "They are unsightly, too, and a person damages the tree by putting put-ting nails in it." 2) "Keep your arrows in your quiver, until you're ready to shoot," Rees said. One of the most common accidents during the archery hunts involves archers jabbing themselves or hunters walking close to them, while carrying car-rying arrows in their hand that should oe in their quiver. State law requires that arrows be cased while in or on a vehicle. While outside the vehicle, it's left up to hunters to protect themselves. them-selves. Rees also provided tips on preparations to make before the season, safety items to remember while in the field and tips on tracking animals and preserving meat. 1 ) preparation a. equipment checks - make sure laminations are not flaking or separating, that strings are not fraying and that the pulleys and cables on compound bows are in good working order. Also, be sure your equipment is matched, that your arrow's spline (the stiffness of the arrow's shaft) matches your bow's draw weight. If your bow's draw weight produces more force than your arrow is designed to handle, your arrow will likely fly off target. b. broadhead sharpening - be careful to not cut yourself while sharpening broadheads - your broadheads should be razor sharp but don't hurt yourself in the process. proc-ess. c. practice your shooting as much as possible. d. obtain permission from private pri-vate landowners, before hunting on their property. e. obtain your Wildlife Habitat Authorization and the proper permit per-mit for the area you wish to hunt. Know the boundaries of the region you'll hunt in and where that region's re-gion's limited entry hunt areas are. 2) before releasing your arrow, be sure of your target and what's beyond it. 3) after the shot a. go to the spot where you last saw the animal and find your arrow, to see if there's blood on it. If there is, determine the direction the animal last took. If you have a compass, take a reading of the direction the animal went. Then wait 30 minutes before tracking it. Hunters who track an animal too soon can spook it into running. Most deer shot will be found dead by the hunter at a reasonable distance, dis-tance, if the hunter waits 30 min- L utes before beginning to track it. , b. when tracking an animal, look for blood not only on the ground but the brush, too. If you begin to lose the trail tie a piece of biodegradable paper on the last spot you see and then search for : the trail, walking a circular pattern pat-tern out from the paper. The paper pa-per will serve as a marker, letting ! you know where you started from. Also, tying paper at the locations loca-tions of the last three or four spots you see, and then standing a distance dis-tance away and looking at the paper trail, is a technique that will help you visualize the direction direc-tion the animal last took. c. once you've located your animal, field dress and cool the -meat immediately. The warm weather that normally accompanies accompa-nies the archery hunt can cause meat to spoil quickly. Keep flies off, as well. |