Syracuse.com - Primed for success: CNY bowhunters getting ready for the Oct. 1 opener

[HuntingNY-News]

No one wants to carelessly stick a deer with a poorly shot arrow and cause a non-fatal wound. That's why responsible, ethical bowhunters practice and practice their sport.

Mike Jones said he can hardly wait for September to end.

“Oct. 1 is like Christmas for me,” said the 36-year-old bowhunter.

This year, the bowhunting season for the Southern Zone starts Oct. 1, two weeks earlier than last year. Many Central New York bowhunters this month have been diligently checking their trail cameras, putting up tree stands and practicing for the opener. That’s what being a responsible, ethical bowhunter is all about, Jones said.

No one wants to carelessly stick a deer with a poorly shot arrow and cause a non-fatal wound, the East Syracuse resident explained.

“During the week, I practice over at Maxwell Park, shooting from the ground. Each night I shoot close to 50 arrows,” he said. “On the weekends, I go down to my uncle’s house in Canastota and there we have different 3-D targets we shoot at from different yardages from a tree stand.”

Fay Sorrells, 62, of Bridgeport, said he tries to shoot arrows year-round. “I just got off the hill this morning, checking for signs of deer and looking over my tree stands,” he said Tuesday.

Sorrells said he’s been traveling weekly with several buddies to the Izaak Walton League Cortland Field Archers club in Homer. There, he and his friends shoot at ground level, aiming at 3-D styrofoam targets at various distances. He also practices from a tree stand he set up in his yard.

“I’ve been doing this for more than 40 years,” he said. “I usually wait for the bigger ones. I trophy hunt and I do eat the meat. I don’t hunt anything I don’t eat.”

Sorrells said he likes bowhunting because it gets him outdoors in the early fall. He also enjoys seeing “the deer acting naturally before their behaviors get changed as a result of the start of the firearms season.”

Chris Nutter, of Cicero, a bowhunting safety instructor, says you can never have too many tree stands. He has been busy this month putting up or checking the more than 30 he has in three counties.

“It’s that time of year,” he said. “I’d just like to encourage everyone in a tree stand to use their safety devices.”

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog