Carping Good Time

The Montana Bowhunters annual carp shoot was a big hit with the winning team collecting 162 carp. Man that's a ton of carp. Also think about how many times you have to shoot to come up with that many fish!

I took my canoe and and an electric trolling motor to cruise some of the back bays in search of the elusive carp. I tell you I must have shot at least 100 times. FINALLY, thanks to some help from a bowhunter in Anaconda, I learned to shoot shoot 1 foot to 1 and a half feet below the fish! I shot 3 of them slimy buggers and I earned every one of them. THANK YOU DAVE!

If you're going to shoot carp here's what I would recommend:

1. Use a recurve You will acutally get more shots with this set-up and shooting a tab or glove


2. Lighten up If you end up using a compound lighten the poundage on the bow. You certainly don't need to be cranking out 300 plus feet per second shoot at angle into the lake bottom. Not unless you enjoy having your arrow stuck in the mud and trying to wrangle it out.


3. Give up the Sites The sites on your bow are pretty much useless trying to look through a peep with the glare of the water is very difficult. So bag the sites and shoot instinctively.


4. Pair up with a Buddy You can take turns on spotting fish gives you a break from time to time


5. Join Montana Bowhunters It's a fun group of people that enjoy shooting and getting out to the field!