Shellshock Live Gear Hack

[Armanda Kicks]

WhyHunt Urban Deer?I was here because my buddy and host on this trip, Taylor Chamberlin, told me that urban deer hunting is some of the most fun you can have with a bow in your hands. That was pretty convincing coming from someone who hunts urban environments upwards of 200 days a year, so I packed my bow, bags, and tree saddle and caught a flight to Dulles International Airport.

With long seasons, high deer numbers, and a short commute to hunt, urban bowhunting presents a tremendous opportunity for hunters living amidst the concrete jungle. According to Chamberlin, 200 to 400 deer per square mile reside in some areas like this. That includes does, fawns, yearling bucks, and yes, even big ones. Right out the backdoor are all the deer you could ever want.

The Rules of Urban Deer HuntingMy first hunt would be a tag-along with Taylor to pick up as many best practices for urban hunting as possible. We drove ten minutes outside of D.C., swinging left and right around narrow curves that dropped in and out of gullies and, finally, into a secluded driveway tucked amidst looming upper-middle-class homes. We parked on the blacktop, got dressed while hidden behind our vehicles, and immediately began my lessons. Chamberlin told me that the first rule of urban deer hunting was to be inconspicuous. Out of sight, out of mind was the best approach to the mostly non-hunting and sometimes suspicious residents in these areas.

As we lounged back in our saddles and impatiently awaited the neighboring lawn care service to wrap up their work, Taylor explained another key difference in this kind of hunting. The supreme importance of shot selection.

In all, I knocked on 14 doors, and by the end of that eight-hour marathon, I was emotionally reduced to a corn husk. Out of all that knocking, I got mostly polite nos, a handful of dirty looks, and once, miraculously, a yes. It was just a thin sliver of a couple acres alongside a road, but it was something. In addition to that, after seeing me suffer, Taylor generously offered a few of his spots as well.

First HuntsI shuffled out that first night, still in a state of shellshock, and slipped into a small wooded creek bottom tucked between two neighborhoods. High in a tree, it felt like I was hunting back in the Midwest for just a moment. It was still. The leaves lightly shook in the breeze and birds sang.

The TruthThe truth is that urban hunting can be a heck of a good time. I can see why Taylor enjoys it so much, and I have an immense level of respect for what he and other avid urban bowhunters can achieve in these environments. This is not easy hunting, but the most rewarding hunts never are. For those that live in these urban areas, the opportunity to hunt close to home seems an absolute godsend.

At the same time, I recognize that this kind of hunt is not for everyone, myself included. Despite the high deer numbers, nice bucks, and great coffee. A successful hunt, by definition, entails the seeking out of a thing one desires. But for me, I realize now that it involves the escape from something else too: All that is urban.

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