Fully prepared for the hunt with a silent bow and a deer decoy fitted with plastic on the tail for added movement, the author heads for his deer stand. He did most of the prep work in late summer. Photo by Curt Wells.

Over the course of summer, a bowhunter is really just another archer determinedly shooting endless targets -- mostly paper -- in order to achieve a number of interrelated objectives: strengthening the appropriate muscles, perfecting shooting form, sharpening the aim, working on obtaining perfect arrow flight. The bow is tweaked and tuned until the correctly matched arrow reliably strikes the target precisely where it's supposed to connect.

But once summer wanes, thoughts of bow season creep into the archer's psyche, and the transformation of target shooter into hunter takes place. Likewise, equipment must undergo the transition from gear suitable for the archery range to fieldworthy tackle. No doubt about it: There's work to be done!

SILENCING THE BOW
Paper targets can't hear, but the noise that your equipment makes develops into a major consideration when hunting season arrives.

You'll never silence the sound of your bow to the point that an animal can't hear it go off on a calm morning. But when you shoot a deer, it doesn't suddenly realize it's been shot with an arrow: It simply hears the bow, spooks and runs -- and the louder your bow is, the farther that animal's likely to run. If it hears only a faint thump, or if a breeze suffices to cover the sound of your bow, that animal may not run nearly as far. If your bow is quiet, an animal may not "jump the string" as quickly or as intensely as it might if the bow sounds like a gun going off.

Most of today's bows come with silencing accessories. Dampeners in the riser or on the limbs help reduce vibration, and string silencers and other devices cut down on string oscillation and the noise that generates. If your bow doesn't incorporate these accessories, you can install them yourself. Limb silencers have adhesive backing or will wrap around the limb in some way. Most string silencers require a press of some sort to relax your bowstring; if you don't have a press, a pro shop can do the job for you. A stabilizer will reduce vibration and hand shock, thus improving accuracy.

These devices should be on your bow during all your practice sessions. String silencers alone may affect your groups, so don't wait until hunting season before adding them.

Another useful aid: adhesive fleece. Nothing can ruin an encounter with a big-game animal quicker than the hissing of an arrow drawn across a metal rest or the clinking of a shaft against the riser of the bow. My advice is to get some camouflage adhesive fleece and cover the entire shelf, including over the lip toward your grip; then, run it up the inside surface of the riser to the highest point an arrow shaft could reach if it were bumped at an inopportune time.

I also like to put fleece on the underside of my upper limb right up to the cable; my bow may be hung on or removed from a bow holder of any kind without it making any noise. In general, try to imagine anyplace on your bow that could make noise, and cover it with fleece.