Tips for a Successful Hunt with a cross bow

	Hunting Tips Let the game come to you.Hunting from treestands and ground blinds positioned 20 yards downwind from active game trails will give you the best opportunity for a close, well-placed shot at a relaxed animal. Stand hunting offers the best odds for harvesting an animal. However, for big game hunting such as elk and caribou, rifle hunting tactics such as still hunting can also work if you are capable of getting within 30 or 40 yards of an animal without alerting it.
	Hunting Tips Know your animal anatomy.A razor sharp broadhead that passes through both lungs of a big game animal will dispatch it in mere seconds. The only shooting angles that will allow this to occur are broadside, and quartering away. Frontside and quartering toward angles will only permit hitting one lung and should be avoided.
	Hunting Tips The nose knows!A whitetail deer's nose is its number one defense. Chances are you will never see the deer that smells you. It is amazing how far away a wise old buck will smell and avoid a human being if the wind is in his nose. To lower the odds a little more in your favor, bathe often using no-scent soap and deodorant. Keep your camo hunting clothes as scent free as possible by washing them in baking soda and storing them in containers away from household odors. The most important thing you can do is to keep the wind in your favor.If you sit in your favorite stand just once with a wind wrong, you may ruin it for the rest of the season. Set up multiple stand locations and choose the one that suits the wind that day.
	Hunting Tips Match your equipment to the game.Remember, an arrow kills by hemorrhage, not shock.  you must thoroughly understand your bow's trajectory and limitations. For best penetration on heavy boned animals, use a fixed blade broadhead with a heavy arrow. For best accuracy and flatter trajectories, use expandable broadheads like the Hunter EX style. Selecting the proper arrow/broadhead combination is no different than matching a bullet with a specific caliber. The choices are many and at times confusing but practice and patience will produce trophy results.
	Hunting Tips Know your crossbow, it's not a gun.The maximum recommended hunting shot range  is 40 yards. As illustrated in the trajectory chart, a modern hunting crossbow sighted in at 20 yards, will impact the arrows 21 inches low at 40 yards.During the off season, practice shooting at unknown yardage, and guessing yardage to your hunting target in the woods. a scope can greatly help you reach your accuracy potential. Because of the trajectory associated with crossbows and all other archery associated weapons, it is a good idea to clear out and establish open shooting lanes. Down range obstructions like overhanging tree limbs can spoil the shot of a lifetime!
	Hunting Tips After the shot, know when to go.A general rule is to remain quiet and motionless in your stand for one hour before beginning the tracking process. Mark the last spot you see the animal after the shot. An animal hit properly that is not pushed will bed down and expire quickly. One that has been pushed quickly after the shot might travel long distances. When tracking the animal, follow the blood trail slowly, marking the trail on a regular basis. If you loose the blood trail go back to the last spot marked and begin making small circles until you pick up the trail again. Normally, a mortally wounded animal will travel downhill to thick cover or water. When tracking after dark use a camping lantern which casts a wide circle of light and causes the blood trail to glow. Once the animal is located it should be tagged immediately and then field dressed to permit quick cooling from the inside out. Handling the animal properly from field dressing to freezing determines the quality of the table fare. There are many guides available at your favorite sporting goods store to help in this area.