Photo by BillKinney.com.

By the time January rolls around, most deer hunters have venison in the freezer and, if they’re lucky, a head full of antlers being mounted at the local taxidermist. With the season winding down, they by and large begin putting away the deer gear and start focusing on other outdoor pursuits.

Undoubtedly, some brush the dust off their fishing equipment, finding that the state’s lakes and streams have suddenly begun to appear more enticing; others begin practicing with their turkey calls, anticipating the spring season only a couple of months away.

But those outdoorsmen and women who live and die by stick and string are generally of a different breed. Archers know that they’ve still got a full month left to hunt, so most of them can be found riding a climbing stand through cold rain, sleet and biting north winds until the last day of January.

People who bowhunt are a lot like fly anglers: Both qualify as purists. In the view of the chenille-marabou-and-feathers party, a fish that won’t hit a dry fly isn’t worth catching; likewise, archers will say that while anyone can use a rifle to down a deer, it takes a truly special type of hunter to sit watching dozens of possible targets over the course of a whole season, holding out all the while for that one deer in 50 to step into just the right spot at the proper distance from the stand before releasing an arrow.

More than one bowhunter has explained to me their intense pickiness about taking a shot, and spoken passionately of the profound education in the ways of whitetails that archers acquire while on stand. “To me, a deer is too valuable an animal to shoot unless the animal presents the proper angle and is within the range of my bow,” avid bowhunter Larry Pyle once told me. “While I’m waiting for just the right moment, I get to watch an awful lot of deer, and in so doing, I have learned so much about their behavior and why they act the way they do.”

Louisiana bowhunters are fortunate to have such a lengthy season in which to try their hand at arrowing a deer. Over most of the state, the season begins on Oct. 1 and lasts until Jan. 31.

For most archers, bowhunting is a year-round sport. You can pick up a rifle, run a few rounds through it and make the adjustments necessary for drilling a deer at 200 yards -- but you don’t have that luxury if your weapon is a bow. About the only muscle that the gun hunter uses is the one activating the trigger finger; the bowhunter, by comparison, must have muscles and reflexes trained to the point that drawing the bow and releasing the arrow becomes second nature.

Consider this scenario: Silent but alert, a bowhunter spots a trophy buck drifting his way. Whereas a hunter with a rifle can ease the weapon to his shoulder, look for an opening and squeeze the trigger, all within a matter of mere seconds, the archer has to wait -- sometimes for quite a while -- until the deer ventures within a comfortable range, which rarely exceeds 25 to 30 yards.

Having to wait until the deer gets this close brings other problems. A buck may not detect your subtle movement at 200 yards, but at 20, you can bet that it can see you blink. Therefore, the hunter has to come to full draw at just the right moment to avoid detection -- usually when the deer passes behind a tree trunk or heavy brush.

If the animal’s next step puts it in an opening behind the hunter’s sight pin, everything will have gone according to plan. If on the other hand, the deer grows suspicious and hesitates behind the cover, the hunter waiting at full draw has no choice but to make a quick decision. Just how long will his muscles enable him to hold the bow at full draw? Too often, a hunter makes the decision to ease off on the bow at the precise moment that the deer steps out. At 20 yards, you don’t have to guess the likely outcome: a snort, a waving flag and a disappointed hunter -- busted.

Bowhunters, like athletes, have to train long before the season begins, which in the archer’s case involves punching hundreds of holes in paper targets until the muscles are toned. Accordingly, many bowhunters never stop shooting, even after the season ends; being in shape for the shot all year marks the serious bowhunter.